Among the most useful tools in any mechanic’s toolbox is the torque wrench. With the help of this device, you’ll be able to attain dial in precise levels of torque, and avoid over-tightening those wheel nuts, and having to fix the resultant damage later on. Most amateurs tighten until they meet resistance, and then overtighten a little more. This is not ideal, as it reduces the lifespan of the wheel. Torque wrenches avoid this.
The torque wrench is a very useful tool in mechanics, especially for tightening the screws and bolts. It provides the user with better control, and a possibility to tighten some screw, in a much easier and effective way. The torque wrench is much more useful than a traditional screwdriver, and it requires less power for tightening.
The market is full of various torque wrenches in different sizes and costs. If you are interested in buying one, you should check the RS, where you can find all kinds of wrenches with the prize range between 50 and a few thousand dollars.
How do you use a Torque Wrench?
To begin with, you’re going to loosen the tightened unit until you don’t feel any resistance. Then dial in the desired torque settings. This isn’t always straightforward. Torque can be measured in imperial or in metric (that’s ft-lb or m-kg). You’ll often need to move the handle vertically to obtain a coarse number and then fine-tune by twisting the handle. While some torque wrenches offer slightly different ways of inputting the desired torque, most use a standard method. To learn more about torque wrenches, visit HealthyHandyMan.com.
The manual for your vehicle will come with the appropriate torque settings. These can vary considerably from one model to another, but if you’re just using your wrench on one vehicle, you can simply set it and forget it. Once you’re done using your torque wrench, you should always dial it back to zero ready for the next time.
Be sure that you don’t drop it, as this will interfere with the delicate measuring apparatus built inside. If this does happen, then you don’t need to get a new wrench – but you will need to get it recalibrated. It’s worth recalibrating every so often in any case so that you get reliable results every time. Cheaper wrenches won’t hold their calibration for very long, and thus investing in a more expensive one is often worthwhile if you’re tightening bolts all day, every day.
What different kinds of Torque Wrench are available?
There are four main types of a torque wrench, but all of them are sharing the same system of using. Those four types are clicker, deflection wrench, wrench with a dial indicator, and a digital torque wrench.
The Clicker wrench is very useful because it has an adjustable ring in the base where you are holding it, so it is much easier for you to know how much power you should use when you are tightening something. Also, when you tighten something properly, the clicker has a mechanism that will inform you that you can stop.
The deflecting torque wrench provides you the highest accuracy, and you are applying the torque on a deflecting beam. Also, there is a pointer that is showing us how much of torque we applied. The dial indicator wrenches are similar to deflection wrenches. Our advice for dial indicator wrenches is to choose some with a bigger indicator, especially if you are going to use it in some darker places.
The torque wrenches with the digital indicator are providing the user with the highest accuracy, but they are also much more expensive than common ones. The digital wrench has a small LED screen that is showing the exact torque. However, this kind of wrench can be too expensive, so you should buy it only for some special job since you won`t need it for some housing, or simpler mechanics.
The Best Type of Torque Wrench
As we could see, from these four basic types of wrenches, each one of them has its advantages and downsides, so before you buy some wrench, you will have to know the correct purpose for it and buy the proper one. For example, most of cars and machines have a manual where it is described what types of screws are on them, and what exact type of a screwdriver or a torque wrench you will need for changing a tire or some other part.
Also, since there is a lot of different types on the market, you should buy the one for your needs. So, if you are not a professional you should look for some wrench that is not too expensive, but that still can be of use in whatever you need. However, if you are a professional, you should always have a whole set of different wrenches, especially if you work as a remote repairman or a mechanic.
