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Technical Torque wrench

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Technical Torque wrench

Confuzzlehogle

Confuzzlehogle

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I'm starting to get a few decent tools together to tackle a few jobs on my 06 8v Punto. After years of make do and mend bits and bobs. Can anyone recommend a decent torque wrench with a Nim range that will cover most nuts on my car plus best drive I'm thinking 1/2 inch drive best? I have already ordered a 1/2 inch socket set so thought it best to match those sockets?
I'm only looking around £20-£25 as I'm only going to be doing oil changes brake disks wheel nuts etc not stripping down the engine any time soon lol
What do you recommend and where from?
Thanks in advance ?


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I'm setting myself up here, but I'd probably go for a 3/8 drive. The cheap 1/2 wrenches are typically monsters, and you'll hardly ever use the top end of torque. Then you just need a size converter.


PS tell me you bought 6 point sockets?
 
To be honest... i rarely use a torque wrench. Common sense and feel is generally enough. Unless you're doing internal parts then i don't really think you "need" it. The only time you really do (and more for a check than anything) is if you ever do hub nuts, and even then the majority on the shelves don't go up to the high enough torque to do them!

Kinda agree though, for the vast majority of jobs, a 3/8 drive will be ample, i personally just always use 1/2 drive everything because it fits my other sockets and it's good to be able to interchange parts when required.
 
Im glad this thread was made, i was about to go and buy one! Ill just stick to common sense and not to over tighten stuff
 
Torque wrench is handy for doing headgaskets etc,
or for those that dont realy 'know there own strength,

you can pick a fairly decent torque wrench up now 'adays for under 20notes from places like Aldi/Lidl. or <Market trader's sell them, sunday markets/carboot sales. Ex army surplus' stores is where id go,.
 
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I've got a digital one, it's an attachment that goes between any ratchet/bar/spanner, you can pick them up for 30'ish squids.

I find it far easier to use and store than those long cheapie ones you get in Agros/Halfrauds
 

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About torque wrenches.
They give the impression that they make the tightening job idiot proof - the reverse is true.
The danger with torque wrenches is failing to ensure threads are clean, started and snugged up correctly by hand. Only then use the torque thing to finish the job. They tend to be awkward and it's real easy to cross a thread or strip internal threads because you loose 'feel'. Too many times I see people pulling on them way past the point when something is clearly wrong , they just get target fixated on the set torque and ignore the fact that swarf is falling on the floor.
The use of them is overspecified in the Nanny world we live in. I'm waiting for the day you can't go out unless the tension in your shoelaces is checked to BS yada yada. You'll find torques for bleed nipples, thermostat housings, knock sensors and water pumps. Pumps and stats are cases where stripping threads can easily happen with the Rambo torque gun. Use the Force instead. This is where years of experience comes in and is not explainable or at least you won't get it in a book.
Highly stressed moving parts and or where stretch fasteners are specified are where they are useful but in truth unless they are calibrated in a lab regularly and the condition of fasteners is controlled the variability is such that a good mechanic will be at least as good.
P.S. I don't class myself as a pro so I use one for critical jobs.
 
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Very true Bren !

I've seen lads put coppaslip on threads and then torque them up, the only way you'll get a reliable torque is on a clean dry thread, I use mine mainly for low torque stuff, you don't want to be going in heavy handed and stripping the thread on the magnesium cases on my Triumph :cry:
 
Brendan W said:
About torque wrenches.
They give the impression that they make the tightening job idiot proof - the reverse is true.
The danger with torque wrenches is failing to ensure threads are clean, started and snugged up correctly by hand. Only then use the torque thing to finish the job. They tend to be awkward and it's real easy to cross a thread or strip internal threads because you loose 'feel'. Too many times I see people pulling on them way past the point when something is clearly wrong , they just get target fixated on the set torque and ignore the fact that swarf is falling on the floor.
The use of them is overspecified in the Nanny world we live in. I'm waiting for the day you can't go out unless the tension in your shoelaces is checked to BS yada yada. You'll find torques for bleed nipples, thermostat housings, knock sensors and water pumps. Pumps and stats are cases where stripping threads can easily happen with the Rambo torque gun. Use the Force instead. This is where years of experience comes in and is not explainable or at least you won't get it in a book.
Highly stressed moving parts and or where stretch fasteners are specified are where they are useful but in truth unless they are calibrated in a lab regularly and the condition of fasteners is controlled the variability is such that a good mechanic will be at least as good.
P.S. I don't class myself as a pro so I use one for critical jobs.
Click to expand...


I appreciate your reply and looks like I've touched a nerve which wasn't my intention. But having had warrantied company cars for years and after buying my Punto as a cheap runaround second car I haven't got years of experience crawling round under cars. This will be the first time I have even changed my own oil. But what I sadly lack in experience I make up for with enthusiasm and am certainly not scared of getting my hands dirty. It doesn't help when beginners like myself buy a Haynes manual which at every page tells us to torque bolts up on everything including fitting a magic tree!
This post has been very enlightening and I now realise that a torque wrench will probably be surplus to requirements and will be better spending the cash on something else.
One thing is for sure it is very reassuring to know that this forum is here so i can pick your brains when I get stuck ?


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MikeSalt said:
I did not know this. I use copperslip on quite a few bolts and torque them up and not had any problems so far. What sort of adjustments do you make when using anti-seizure compounds?
Click to expand...

This goes right to the heart of it. You probably won't have any. Torque is usually intended to be applied to clean dry fasteners, by applying a lubricant you will stretch the fastener more than was intended. Point is will it make a difference - I doubt it. The world is fairly evenly split into those who grease wheel screws and those who don't and the sky isn't falling.
The other hoary chestnut is you will hear people say that too much grease in a blind hole will lock the screw before it reaches full depth and the torque wrench will trip before the screw is tight. That's one for Specsavers.
 
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Confuzzlehogle said:
I
This post has been very enlightening and I now realise that a torque wrench will probably be surplus to requirements and will be better spending the cash on something else.
One thing is for sure it is very reassuring to know that this forum is here so i can pick your brains when I get stuck ?
Sent from my iPad Air using FIAT Forum
Click to expand...

I'd still plan to get one. Used carefully on things like brake calipers, wheel screws and engine mounts it will at least put your mind at rest as you develop your own feel.
 
Brendan W said:
I'd still plan to get one. Used carefully on things like brake calipers, wheel screws and engine mounts it will at least put your mind at rest as you develop your own feel.
Click to expand...

good point

i think what you have said in all these posts is excellent by the way
im a very rare user of torque wrenches unless i consider it safety critical either for a life changing failure or a wallet bender


i would never use a torque wrench on any of my vehicles wheel nuts though,i prefer to feel and even if i use a cracking bar and pole on my larger vehicles im happier with the feel rather than a gauge


so yes buy a torque wrench but only buy new and a reputable make,remember its only a spring inside with temperament so misused and its scrap
always set back to zero after use too
 
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