• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

Torque wrench....

Rich Z

Rich Z

Internet Sanitation Engineer
Staff member
I have a confession to make. Not only do I NOT own a torque wrench, I have NEVER owned one. :o

So since everything on the new vehicles now seems to have torque specifications, I guess I need to buy one, huh? Or do I need more then one? Seems I see all kinds of specs, and I doubt one wrench could handle them all accurately. So what brand is "acceptable" in quality? I don't need to have the best one around, just one that is adequate for a shade tree mechanic. I'm not going to be pulling transmissions or heads or stuff like that, mostly just light duty stuff that are befitting some 55 year old guy who just likes to putter around on occasion. So with that in mind, do I just run to Sears and buy one? Or would a Walmart special do just fine?
 
When it comes to a torque wrench quality matters. A torque wrench is a highly calibrated tool that is useless when not working properly.If you plan on purchasing one make sure it is a high quality piece. I have three Snap On wrenches that are pampered. Also torque specs have been provided for cars for as long as I can remember....nothing special about new cars.

As for weather you need one....not from what you are saying. You will have no problems using common hand tools along with common sense when working on your car. Not to mention if you ever really needed a torque wrench you can rent one or I am sure someone on the board will loan you one.
 
The Sears one should work fine for occasional use, just make sure that it is stored with the reading on zero each time.
 
Z06 Rocket said:
I've never owned one either.
Click to expand...

Me too. I plan on buying one soon. Probably the biggest thing is the wheels. Is there a master listing of torque specs? I'm guessing the 3 book manual for the Z06 would have it?

Scott
 
I have 2...one from Sears and one from Home Depot....Sears had them on sale last week damn near 50% off.....

It is one of those tools that you really need more than one....
 
Well I went to Sears today and bought a 3/8th inch torque wrench that was on sale. Got it for around $55 I think. I may go back and get the 1/2 inch one, just for the heck of it. I'm a tool-a-holic anyway so the more the merrier! Doesn't matter if I never use it! But at least I will have it. I bought a milling machine and a small lathe a while back and about every piece of tooling you can imagine. Haven't used but about 1 percent of the stuff........ :)
 
Gotta have TQ wrenches. I use em on everything. From wheels to sparkplugs to get this.............oil drain plugs!! I know. i have a problem. "Hello, my name is Gary and i am a torq-aholic." hehehe

gary
 
Zyell06 said:
Gotta have TQ wrenches. I use em on everything. From wheels to sparkplugs to get this.............oil drain plugs!! I know. i have a problem. "Hello, my name is Gary and i am a torq-aholic." hehehe

gary
Click to expand...
:iagree:
 
Rich Z said:
Well I went to Sears today and bought a 3/8th inch torque wrench that was on sale. Got it for around $55 I think. I may go back and get the 1/2 inch one, just for the heck of it. I'm a tool-a-holic anyway so the more the merrier! Doesn't matter if I never use it! But at least I will have it. I bought a milling machine and a small lathe a while back and about every piece of tooling you can imagine. Haven't used but about 1 percent of the stuff........ :)
Click to expand...


yep...don't worry you will use them....I have more crap I don't need due to buying stuff I do need because it usually comes in a set that is priced so low that buying the 1 piece would be stupid...:lmao:
 
MADN3SS said:
Me too. I plan on buying one soon. Probably the biggest thing is the wheels. Is there a master listing of torque specs? I'm guessing the 3 book manual for the Z06 would have it?

Scott
Click to expand...
The torque on the wheels is 100lbs. I have two from Sears. The 3/8 and 1/2 inch. They are expensive, but I am pretty anal about torquing everything to the right specs.:yesnod:

Mike
 
Just for anyone's info, Sears has their torque wrenches on sale right now.
 
Well I decided to run out to Sears to day to return a torque wrench I bought last week. Would you believe it? It was defective. I read the directions and according to the diagram, when I set the turn dial to the line at say 40 inch/lbs, the dial should be on zero when it matches up with that line. Nope, not on this one. I had to turn it to five (5) to have it line up. When I went back to Sears I checked another one (they didn't have any more of my model but had a similar style) and that one worked the way it was supposed to do. So much for a "precision instrument". I think Craftsman quality has taken a definite turn for the worst lately. Guess I'll have to look elsewhere....

:banghead:
 
Rich Z said:
Well I decided to run out to Sears to day to return a torque wrench I bought last week. Would you believe it? It was defective. I read the directions and according to the diagram, when I set the turn dial to the line at say 40 inch/lbs, the dial should be on zero when it matches up with that line. Nope, not on this one. I had to turn it to five (5) to have it line up. When I went back to Sears I checked another one (they didn't have any more of my model but had a similar style) and that one worked the way it was supposed to do. So much for a "precision instrument". I think Craftsman quality has taken a definite turn for the worst lately. Guess I'll have to look elsewhere....

:banghead:
Click to expand...

Sears is owned by KMart, nuff said.
 
I got a pretty good one at NAPA, Rich. You might give that a try. Payed about $50. ...................Tom:)
 
Yeah, I heard that about Sears. I learned a while back to not bother buying their hand held power tools. Motors sucked in them. I guess anything more complicated then an open end wrench needs to be considered the same way. Darn shame, though. Craftsman used to be a name you could depend on. I didn't mind paying extra for the name if I got the quality to go along with it.

Does Napa have their own brand name of tools? Or is it all Chinese made stuff like just about everything else? Man, it's REALLY tough to buy anything made in America these days. And then when you do, and find out the the quality is about the same is the Taiwan junk, it's pretty depressing.
 
Yeah, I already looked at Snap-On, but heck $325 or so for a torque wrench is way more then I am willing to spend on this. If I were a professional mechanic, well sure, but that is not the case. I'm a shadetree tinkerer and nothing more. I doubt I will ever do anything as relatively easy (I think) as replacing the intake manifold. I did that on my old GTO years ago, but that was a different animal. Heck I have never even taken off those red plastic shields overtop the valve covers on my Z. I think they pop off, but never had reason to do that. As for replacing heads or the cam, nah, I don't have any desire whatsoever to do that kind of work ever again. That kind of stuff was fun for me when I was younger, but I had my fill of it.

So if I can find a decent torque wrench for $50 to $100, yeah, I would spring for that just to have one. Even though I might actually never even use it.
 
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