Which torque wrench?
 

I?ve got this far with a 1/4 inch wrench that goes up to 80 in-lbs. I see the wheel nuts are 100 in-lbs. What do I need to finish the build?

Thanks

A good option for the price.
 

I recently picked up a Tekton from amazon and have been very impressed with the quality for the price.
10-150in*lb, a nice fine 72 tooth ratcheting head, a very crisp break/click (even at the lowest settings), and a very nice fit/finish throughout. Check the link below for the one I ordered. (Made in Taiwan, IMHO, home to some of the better import tools).

When I worked as an auto tech, I had several of the Snap On digital torque wrenches (higher torque than used on aircraft components). Fancy beepers and buzzers were great while working on boxer engines squeezed between chassis rails, (where there's little room for wrench clearance and you hear/feel about 10 "clicks" and clanks just getting the thing on the bolt.) That being said, the nice compact click types are my preferred choice on the RVs. You can spend a lot more, you could even spend less. I like this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Check the required torque on the prop bolts...you may need one that goes to 250 in-lbs, as well.

torqe Wrench
 

I got an electronic unit from HFreight that is like an extension, I/4, 3/8,1/2 inch adaptors included for about $30. It makes your ratchet a torque wrench. Lasted three years so far.

I would be interested in knowing how accurate that thing is. have you compared it or calibrated it to a known good torque wrench?

I have a large beam style torque wrench. They don't go out of calibration, unless you drop them, which is no different than any other toque wrench.

The one I have is a Vintage Craftsman from about 1983.

Similar
 

I bought something similar from ATS. 1/2" drive, and I just use adapters if I need to go to the smaller sizes. I did check it against my 1/4" torque wrench just for curiosity sake, and found both read within about 5% of each other. The other thing is the electronic unit is good at measuring the "drag torque" from nyloc on locknuts (I measure about 6in-lbs on a 1032 nyloc nut), which you just can't do with a click type wrench.

Check out the quinn digital torque wrenches from harbor freight. I picked one up and love it. Watch and read reviews and most people are ditching their snap ons for these. Cheaper and just as accurate.

I?d suggest two...
 

I?d suggest two with a decent overlap range. It?s an easy task to check calibration against the two in the overlap range.

And if they're different? Which one is wrong? :)

I take all of mine to a local shop every few years that can certify them back to the NIST standards. Maybe it's overkill for our planes, but IMO, there's a right way to do things...

CDI
 

I have two CDI torque wrenches.
One 1/4 and one 3/8. Covers everything.
I understand CDI makes Snap On torque wrenches.
Either way they are very nice.

+1 for CDI
 

I bought one of these CDI wrenches from Avery Tools years ago when I started my project. Cleaveland sells them now -

https://www.cleavelandtool.com/produ...18378249044030

It's not the cheapest torque wrench you'll find, but it's an excellent US-made tool.

HTH, YMMV...

Dave

It doesn?t matter....
 

You take them both to work and cal them both! Seriously, you do the mass- distance cal or send them out. Yes, it’s happened. It’s still better to know something might be whacked, right? Admittedly, I only do this after long periods of not using them

There are a number of videos on YouTube that show how to test and calibrate torque wrenches, here is just one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZUDH13yln0

I have a bunch of torque wrenches. HF and SnapOn. One is no more accurate than the other. Calibration has been checked.

They even survive a drop. Just read the scale before use and make any adjustments needed to "O". The pointer does not move during use. And the main beam can only be changed with a great amount of heat.

The main advantage is the head is a lot smaller than a click wrench that it can fit where the click won't. And they never need calibration.

No, I read an article that says if the main beam is "work hardened" by dropping it, the beam flexes at a different rate, throwing off the reading, regardless of zeroing the pointer bar. Sorry, I couldn't find that article.

I had no idea that was even possible. Just shows you learn something new every day.

(I wish I could buy a split beam torque wrench with a ratchet head! I've never seen such a thing.)

This ..... https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-...ter-63917.html is very accurate and consistent that I use it to check all of my torque wrenches.

That's the one to own! Electronic wrenches are accurate and repeatable. Your beam type wrenches accuracy is 10-20%, HF is 1-2%. So which one would you use?

Worked fine at first, but now my HF eats batteries like there's no tomorrow.

I guess for occasional use one could hook up an external battery.

Finn

When those batteries get the least bit cold, they really drop off. I keep a hair dryer in the shop and have to warm up my digital calipers when temps get around 42* or below.