I'm looking for a suggestion for a good torque wrench. It's really only for taking wheels on and off my cars for snow tire changes, so I don't need anything too fancy. But I don't want to get Craftsman junk either.

I have a 6 year-old Husky wrench, but I can't seem to find a way to get it calibrated for less than the cost of a new one.

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance

 

Nothing wrong with a craftsman torque wrench for wheels. If you want to spend big dollar money, then get a snap on digital, but I think that is overkill. For the lower end torque wrenches, don't waste your money getting them calibrated, just buy a new one. As long as you set the torque back to zero when you aren't using it, they won't lose their calibration even after years of heavy use.

 

Thanks for the reply. As for craftsman, I was using a craftsman socket extender piece to put my lug nuts in and the extender actually sheared off at the bolt. I got an ACE hardware branded part as a replacement - nothing fancy - and it just looks like 10 times the quality. That's mainly why I'm staying away from craftsman.

Agreed that I don't need a big money digital one for this.

But I will confirm that I didn't know to reset to zero and my torque wrench was set for about 80% of its torque for the last 6 years.

 

Oh, there is no doubt, you will break craftsman stuff on occasion, but for the money, IMHO the quality is hard to beat. I break the snap on stuff as well on occasion, and it is 4x the cost.

 

I would not use the torque wrench for removing lugs just for tighening. The Craftsman torque wrench should be just fine for your purpose.

 

I agree with larryv, use a breaker bar to remove the lugs and the torque wrench for tightening. I have a snap on clicker type and always set it to zero when not in use.

 

I use Craftman torque wrench to remove my wheels on and off during track season. No ploblems.

 

Cant beat sears

 

+1 on using a breaker bar to loosen the lugs. Yes, a torque wrench will work but is not ideal and not worth risking IMO.

Craftsman torque wrenches are fine, just don't buy the cheapest variant. If you want to get crazy do as the others have said and pick up a Snap On. You should have taken the socket extender back for its life time replacement. But I have to ask -- why aren't you using deep sockets to remove the lug bolts?

 

Actually, I have a deep 19mm socket for the lug bolts. My socket is 2.5 or 3.0 in, I can't recall which. I haven't been able find anything longer than that as a standalone socket. If you know of one, I'd be interested to hear, as the extender is a bit less stable than a long socket by itself.

Even with the 2.5 or 3.0 in socket, the wrench handle just barely clears the wheel rims. I can't really get my hand around the wrench properly without the extender.

Thanks for the replies!

 

Great question -- maybe someone with the clearance issues that you suggest can chime in. You might want to take a look at Snap On or SK. I bought a SAE/Metric socket set from Northern Tool last spring and they work well for me with no clearance issues on my M3.