Torque Wrench Advice Needed

Hey Bing, what's your take on the Harbor Freight torque wrenches? I know you work on bikes. What do you use? I'm in the market for a torque wrench as well. The Spin Doctor one at Performance is on sale for $55 right now.

 

I have the 1/4 and the 3/8 and have never had a problem. I do check the calibration with some weight plates and a vise just for my own peace of mind, but they've been pretty much on the dot. I use the harbor freight units and a ritchey torque key for small stuff. Haven't stripped anything yet.

Warning. The hf units are marked in pounds and kilos. Make sure ur looking at pounds.

tip: you can use the torque wrench to guesstimate the various torque levels of your torque controlled cordless drill

On a bike, your main purpose is to not strip stuff. For that, these things are good enough. The spin doctor, park and shimano units are all made in China anyway. If you need the good stuff, buy a CDI or Snap On off amazon for about 150 bucks.

 

This might be relevant for those of you whose torque wrenches are not marked in the units you like to use. Just ask Siri. "Siri, convert 14.5 Newton meters to inch pounds." Google's App will do the same thing, but takes a couple taps on an iPhone.

 

I <3 Siri

 

I love my torque wrench.. I bought the Park TW-6, more correctly the misses got it for me for Christmas (SCORE!).. .probably didn't need to ... but I feel good when torquing bolts on my carbon frame..there are some big bolts pivot bolts. Also I bought a smaller one as well different one but use it too...

 

My wife gets excited when she sees Tiffany blue under the tree. Park blue gets me giddy

 

My dad gave me his old SnapOn (he's a technician) and I bought a 4, 5, and 6Nm CDI T handle torque wrenches. I haven't used the big SnapOn in years for bike use. I'd recommend the CDI or the similar Ritchey Torque Key.

http://reviews.mtbr.com/cdi-preset-torque-limiting-t-handle-review

 

http://www.amazon.com/CDI-Torque-Pr...TF8&qid=1408462926&sr=8-2&keywords=cdi+torque

This unit covers 90% of bicycle torque requirements, with the exception of older crank installs and maybe plastic grub screws like those on Magura brakes.

What I don't like about it is that at the high end, 8nm/77 inch pounds, the T handle can stress the wrist. It also doesnt look too useful with Crow Foot wrench applications.