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My Torque Wrenches.

493 Mike

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I just read the post on adjusting front wheel bearings and it made me think about my wrenches. I have accumulated these in the last 55 years.
From the left:
Dial readout 1/2" drive Kwik-Way (currently broken) (Army-Air Forces) Army Surplus
Dial readout 1/4" drive Snap On Army Surplus
Beam type 1/2 drive SK
Beam type 1/4" drive (set up for TF band adjustment-Chrysler special tool)
Beam type 3/4" drive Sturdevant/Richmont (this wrench came from the Chrysler Proving Ground facility)
Click type 1/2" drive JC Penny (new in 1969, I sent it in for testing a couple years ago-still within specs!)
Click type 3/8" drive SK
The monster will torque those pinion nuts!
Mike
IMG_2917.JPG
IMG_2918.JPG
 
I have a 4 to 1 torque multiplier. I bought it mainly for heavy equipment. Came in real handy on a Dana 80 last week with a 450 to 500 foot pound torque on the pinion nut..
 
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I do like the smaller dial wrenches. Never owned one. But the interesting part is how you would calibrate a click type..
 
I have several click type , two craftsman that are older, 3/8 & 1/2 and they still test good. I bought a nice snap on digital 1/2 to work with engines for torque angle and eliminate the extra step in the process it works well, vibrates and beeps when you get it to spec. The biggest I’ve used was for crab bolts on a emd engine, it was a hydraulic torque wrench, if I recall 2500lbs of torque, I maybe off as it’s been years since I’ve done those. I think the old stuff is better made.
 
I just read the post on adjusting front wheel bearings and it made me think about my wrenches. I have accumulated these in the last 55 years.
From the left:
Dial readout 1/2" drive Kwik-Way (currently broken) (Army-Air Forces) Army Surplus
Dial readout 1/4" drive Snap On Army Surplus
Beam type 1/2 drive SK
Beam type 1/4" drive (set up for TF band adjustment-Chrysler special tool)
Beam type 3/4" drive Sturdevant/Richmont (this wrench came from the Chrysler Proving Ground facility)
Click type 1/2" drive JC Penny (new in 1969, I sent it in for testing a couple years ago-still within specs!)
Click type 3/8" drive SK
The monster will torque those pinion nuts!
Mike
View attachment 1655349View attachment 1655350
That's quite a collection
 
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I do like the smaller dial wrenches. Never owned one. But the interesting part is how you would calibrate a click type..
They are adjustable with a screw through the handle. It adjusts the spring. Parts can wear and adjusting can bring it in spec at one range and it can still be out in another.
 
Snap On ft/lb 1/2” dial type
Snap On in/lb 3/8” dial type
Proto 1/2” click type, the POS has been repaired 2 or 3 times so I don’t trust it
Craftsman 1/2” beam type

The beam type gets used on non-critical fasteners, for important stuff I bring out the dial torque wrenches…
 
The click type are most prone to going out of calibration and needing repairs. The Precision Instruments (Snap On style) aren't as accurate but they are easy to use and seem to stay in calibration longer. I believe they use a tuning fork mechanism in side.
 
They are adjustable with a screw through the handle. It adjusts the spring. Parts can wear and adjusting can bring it in spec at one range and it can still be out in another.

The click type are most prone to going out of calibration and needing repairs. The Precision Instruments (Snap On style) aren't as accurate but they are easy to use and seem to stay in calibration longer. I believe they use a tuning fork mechanism in side.

The point I was making, is essentially some type of beam style checking is used to calibrate.
The beam style is the best for accuracy , click types are good for wheel nuts and other non accurate requiring fasteners .
IMO.
 
The point I was making, is essentially some type of beam style checking is used to calibrate.
The beam style is the best for accuracy , click types are good for wheel nuts and other non accurate requiring fasteners .
IMO.
Yes you can check the accuracy against a known good torque wrench. That will get you close. May be within 10%. Really, for many applications, even torque is important. The ones I got calibrated when I was in the tool business, would be within 1 or 2% and were certified in case any accuracy questions were asked. The clickers were built to be within 2% and the Precision style were good to within 4%. That's 8 at 200 and 10 @ 250 ft/lb.I have never had a beam style checked. They stay pretty accurate. The dial wrenches are very accurate as well and I have sent a few in to be checked. Many of mine got sent in through MAC but they had to be MAC branded to be repaired and calibrated. ANy that were not MAC brand I took to a local shop that does all the torque wrench and gauging for John Deere here in town. Not cheap but done correctly.
 
I got a 55 year old beam type I got back then, and a dial-indictor type I got... later.
 
Torque wrench wisdom from a 29 year retired Snap-on rep.
The digital types from Snap-on and others are the bomb, they use an electronic strain gauge, the same type of instrument used to do calibration. Nothing better for accuracy or dependability, moving parts are not an issue.
The dial indicator wrenches are extremely accurate and use a bending beam inside that is directly connected to the pointer. There is exactly one moving part, and no friction loss. They are great for extremely low torque requirements like pinion bearing resistance etc. They are a little fussy to read, and easily over torqued and damaged. Unless they are damaged they seldom need calibration.
Click type are next best, there are two styles. One has a rectangular body and a fulcrum runs along a beam to set the torque. These are generally quite reliable and are what I use. I have a 100 foot pound 3/8 drive and a 250 ft pound half inch drive.
The second style is the round body that uses a coil spring and cam internally to make the click. When you turn the handle to adjust the torque, it compresses the coil spring. Always return this type of wrench to zero when you are done using it, otherwise the spring is constantly compressed while it sits in your toolbox and it loses accuracy as a result. Accuracy is fairly good, but there are moving parts and friction involved, these will not be as accurate as the above types.
Bending beam pointer style wrenches with the indicator near the handle are very old school. They can be accurate, but fussy to read and can't really be calibrated at all. Just bend the pointer back to zero and cross your fingers.
I was constantly asked how often a torque wrench should be calibrated. The answer is how much do you use it, and how much do you trust it? Many manufacturers including Snap-on will do calibration for a reasonable fee. Snap-on's policy is that if a wrench is out of calibration and requires more than 50% of the new cost to repair it, they will not proceed and will notify you. In some cases they will even sell you a new one for half price, ask your Snap-on rep (if you are a good customer). They have some latitude, but they make money by selling tools, not so much on repairs and calibration.
There are independent calibration labs in most big cities who can calibrate and repair most major brands. Don't waste your time with Chinese junk.
A torque wrench is a precision instrument that converts friction and resistance to turning torque. The more moving parts, the less accuracy.
Never ever use a torque wrench as a breaker bar. It might be the longest thing in your toolbox, but tightening it to a load and then a fastener breaking loose and it instantly returning to zero is almost the equivalent of shoving your tranny from neutral into gear while rolling at 60 miles an hour.
Sermon over, I hope this helps.
 
Torque wrench wisdom from a 29 year retired Snap-on rep.
The digital types from Snap-on and others are the bomb, they use an electronic strain gauge, the same type of instrument used to do calibration. Nothing better for accuracy or dependability, moving parts are not an issue.
The dial indicator wrenches are extremely accurate and use a bending beam inside that is directly connected to the pointer. There is exactly one moving part, and no friction loss. They are great for extremely low torque requirements like pinion bearing resistance etc. They are a little fussy to read, and easily over torqued and damaged. Unless they are damaged they seldom need calibration.
Click type are next best, there are two styles. One has a rectangular body and a fulcrum runs along a beam to set the torque. These are generally quite reliable and are what I use. I have a 100 foot pound 3/8 drive and a 250 ft pound half inch drive.
The second style is the round body that uses a coil spring and cam internally to make the click. When you turn the handle to adjust the torque, it compresses the coil spring. Always return this type of wrench to zero when you are done using it, otherwise the spring is constantly compressed while it sits in your toolbox and it loses accuracy as a result. Accuracy is fairly good, but there are moving parts and friction involved, these will not be as accurate as the above types.
Bending beam pointer style wrenches with the indicator near the handle are very old school. They can be accurate, but fussy to read and can't really be calibrated at all. Just bend the pointer back to zero and cross your fingers.
I was constantly asked how often a torque wrench should be calibrated. The answer is how much do you use it, and how much do you trust it? Many manufacturers including Snap-on will do calibration for a reasonable fee. Snap-on's policy is that if a wrench is out of calibration and requires more than 50% of the new cost to repair it, they will not proceed and will notify you. In some cases they will even sell you a new one for half price, ask your Snap-on rep (if you are a good customer). They have some latitude, but they make money by selling tools, not so much on repairs and calibration.
There are independent calibration labs in most big cities who can calibrate and repair most major brands. Don't waste your time with Chinese junk.
A torque wrench is a precision instrument that converts friction and resistance to turning torque. The more moving parts, the less accuracy.
Never ever use a torque wrench as a breaker bar. It might be the longest thing in your toolbox, but tightening it to a load and then a fastener breaking loose and it instantly returning to zero is almost the equivalent of shoving your tranny from neutral into gear while rolling at 60 miles an hour.
Sermon over, I hope this helps.
Awesome post. Thank you.
 
A couple of clarifications regarding my previous post.
On a dial type torque wrench, a beam is welded directly to the square drive, a small arm on the other end moves the pointer on the dial. Because the dial is a precision gauge, they can be calibrated.
Regarding calibration, I've seen elsewhere a recommendation that torque wrenches be calibrated every 7, 000 cycles.
A note about click style wrenches -The click is made by a cam that is under spring tension, there is no clutching mechanism. That means if you keep pulling after it clicks, the fastener continues to turn. Don't yank on it, pull smoothly until it clicks.
As I stated earlier, torque wrenches convert friction and resistance to torque. However, torque is just a means of attempting to measure the clamping force in the joint. You can't actually measure the clamping force, so torque is a means of estimating it.
Bolts stretch as they are tightened, and will become fatigued after too many cycles. After too many cycles, the bolt will stretch so much that it breaks. A fatigued, stretched bolt will not create the desired clamping force, it will be less.This is why you always replace bolts in critical joints, like connecting rod bolts.
All torque wrenches should be gripped in the center of the grip area. Torque is commonly measured in foot pounds, so the output of a one foot long wrench with 1 lb of force applied is one foot pound. Double either the length or the force applied and you get two foot pounds. Holding the wrench closer to the head means you are applying less torque, holding it all the way on the end means you are applying more. For this reason you should never use a cheater bar on the end of a torque wrench.
You will notice that the scale on all of the styles except the electronic and dial types does not start at zero but typically starts at 10 or 20% of the maximum torque. This is because, due to their construction, the lower 10% of the scale is inaccurate. Try to choose a torque wrench with a scale that allows your desired torque to fall somewhere in the middle of the scale.
Always use a torque wrench where there is a torque spec provided, if the engineers feel it is important enough to have a spec, you should try to meet it.
 
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