I'm in the market for a torque wrench and I'm having trouble deciding on a brand and style. I was going to buy a craftsman 5-80 foot lbs click style but after talking with some people I've decided to look around. I've been told that the clicker style might not be accurate in the lower and upper range. Is this true? It was suggested that I pick up one that uses a dial or a bending one. any suggestions - brand,style ect. I'm looking to spend under a $100.

 

the ratchet type are very good but the higher the torque it goes to the less accurate it is on the lower scale so its best to get a small and large I have the 250lbft for the bigger jobs and a micro for the little jobs 5lb to 20 lb ft,
I use snap on and halfords but both as good as each other in my opinion

 

i have no idea what a torque bar looks like, why not just get a breaker bar and torque donw until it feels tight and right.

 

Just about all torque wrenches are most accurate in the middle of range. Try to get one with narrow range. The 10ft - 300ft ones are not going to be very accurate. Sears also makes some sweet digital ones. I know there are places that can calibrate them. Never store them at range, put it back to 0.

Really the dial ones are the most inaccurate, due to the scale. While 10ft might be 10ft. It's really hard to keep it at 10ft, for each & every bolt. Depending on your angle to the meter, 10ft might be 15ft.

In the end, a few FT either way isn't that much of an issue, what is most important is even torque between all the bolts. So if they are all a little over or under it's not that big of a deal, as long as they are all over or under the same amount.

 

if your going to get a Torque wrench you best find out if you are going to need ftlb, or inlb. They are two different types of wrenches