I don't have part numbers - I bought the ones on sale for $50 (the non-digital dial-type). Used them for 2-3 years and although I haven't had their accuracy verified, I figure as long as it's precise (as opposed to accurate) then that's good enough for the odd-jobs I use them for.

 

Sears has never backed their torque wrenches. Craftsman tools are mediocre with the exception of simple hand tools, which are excellent for the price.

All their electronics are relabeled overseas junk, (their power tools probably are too.)

 

I want to bash craftsman ratchets.
I have a couple of the 3/8 drive and they get confused! They will turn one way, then lock up and turn the other way if at all. Sometimes they freewheel.

btw, I cheaped out and got a harbor freight torque wrench. A couple years and a couple motors later, I checked it against other TW's at some local shops. It was still pretty good.

 

geezus this all sounds pita scary. i recently bought a click-style TW from Sears, now I'm wondering if I should just throw it in the garbage!

 

Their ratchets aren't as bad as I thought, yeah the gear mechanism can get confused, but they take a helluva lot of torque before they twist apart. I've broken a 1/2" ratchet, best part is, took it to sears for a new one, and bought a breaker bar... no questions asked.

 

Me too. Explain the advantage. The beam is simple, there is nothing to bust or render inaccurate.

 

Simply put, you can't always fit the beam type in there, it only goes on the socket 2 different ways, and you're not always in position to read it. Wouldn't be a bad idea to keep one handy though, you could look old school while wrenching, and use it to check your junk craftsman wrenches every now and then.

They also say it's very important to unload the wrench when not in use. Most of us leave that spring left at 60+ or something, that weakens it.

 

My first job was as a Calibration Technician in a Cal Lab. Being the new guy I had the pleasure of calibrating torque wrenches and pressure gauges for the aircraft industry. I did this for about 6 months until the next new guy checked in!!

In spite of a number of years of hands on experience with torque wrenches before this, what I learned was;
1) the bottom and top 10% of the scale is the least accurate (but not by much)
2) beam type TW's (external pointer on top) were not used - deemed too inaccurate and easy to damage
3) dial indicator TW's were some of the most accurate
4) click type TW's were a very close 2nd
(of course this was before the new electronic torque wrenches came on the scene…)

But most of all, if you treat them like a precision instrument by keeping them in their case when not in use, don't use them as a breaker bar and unload the tension on click types, they will hold their calibration for a very long time, in many cases years.

If you treat them rough, expect to need re-calibration periodically.

By the way, only Snap-On in my tool box… it's all I can afford.

GUSTO

 

That's the one reason I've replaced all my beam TW's with clickers.
1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" so I can check everything from a few inch/ounces to several hundred foot/pounds.
And I have them calibrated every two years.

Good advice, GUSTO, to not use a TW in the high or low 10% of its range.

Larry
code5cope

 

I have not used Sears TW, but thier hand tools are excellent. I have returned 2 in my life with a "go get another off the shelf" comment each time. Sounds like the comments made here about taking care of equipment is necessary for any torque wrench instead of just leaving it at a torque setting and throwing it in the box.

I have a Snap On catalog and buy an occasional tool from them. I usually start to hyperventilate every time I look at their prices, but I think their quality is tops. Guess the moral is, if high end performance is THAT important, be prepared to step up to the plate and bend over. But don't buy 'cheap(er)' and expect the same performance (Isn't his the same rule for high performance engine parts?)

 

I had some like that...I fixed them pretty easily.

Take a snap-wring plier set and pull the retaining ring out.

Remove the ratchet mechanism and clean.

lube with a light moly grease

Reassemble

Have worked like new since.

Found a small piece of copper wire inside one of them Sometimes the bloody thing would work, other times it went dumb.

Sand, dirt & grit inside the mechanisms will make them stop working.

 

Griots garage has a lifetime testing on their torque wrenches. 3/8" is $169.00, and 1/2" is $189.00. You can find them at www.griotsgarage.com

 

Talk about an unsophisticated arrangement.

• Spring tension
• Friction
• Dirt
• dryed out grease

When you talk about accuracy, are you talking about from one bolt to the next bolt or are you talking about from one month to the next.
History lesson as told to me by my father years ago. In the early part of the last century, much of America was rural America. Many of the products and in particular, tools were purchased from the Sears catalog or at county fairs. At one such fair my father saw a man with a bare 4cyl block. 4 pistons and 4 blocks of wood. Asking the many farmers and mechanics within hearing distance to torque the head down by hand as they usually did. As each did so, the blocks were pulled out and the pistons remained in the block. The demonstrator replaced the pistons and blocks and torqued the head with a torque wrench. He pulled the blocks and all four pistons fell to the ground.
I would not guarantee my beam type torque wrenches to be accurate to any specific setting, but I guarantee every bolt on a head to be the same. There is no way I would trust that toy contraption in the drawing.
A few years ago my brother rebuilt an import engine that went bad about a month later. I was helping him on the second try, at his place with his tools and his clicker wrench. I was using his clicker to get 120lb on some bolts and I knew on the first pull it was wrong. Checking it against my beam showed it to be less than 80lb. He was so used to just pulling to the click, he never paid any attention to what his arm should have been telling him.
If you have a clicker calibrated every twelve months and find it bad, when did it go bad? Was it bad when you rebuilt that engine in the eleventh month? Was it bad when you put in the wheel hubs in the tenth month? The new ring and pinion in the seventh?

 

I have always gotten great service from them, re calibrations are free, and they do lifetime warrantee nearly everything they sell, I do not recall a disclaimer in their book for torque wrenches.

 

I read on the first page in response to Sears quality that a member made reference to an "air compressor" as an example of bad quality Sears products. I've had a Sears 3 gal. compressor for over 20 years, and the only thing I've done is change the bleeder valve that my son mangled tightening it with a wrench. I guess my then Christmas gift was one in a million. Don't own a torgue wrench, as I "suck" at being a mechanic. My .02.

Joe B.