Found out most torque wrenches are way off right out of the box

I was reading a blog from a mechanic in Ohio last week, and he tested 15 different torque wrenches from big box stores. Only 3 of them were accurate within 10 percent of what they said on the dial. That got me thinking about all the times I just trusted the click on my old Craftsman model I got at a garage sale for $20. I went home and borrowed my neighbor's digital tester, and sure enough my wrench was off by 15 foot-pounds on a 50 foot-pound setting. That explains why I kept snapping bolts on my lawn mower deck last summer. Has anyone else actually gotten their torque wrenches calibrated or checked?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbaraw1616d ago

Buy a beam style, they don't lie like the click ones.

oliviahenderson16d ago

honestly every time someone says "beam style doesn't lie" i laugh a little because i caught mine in the act last week. i was using it to set up some shelves and that thing was bouncing all over the place saying level when it clearly was not. maybe i got a dud but still, no tool is totally perfect. click ones can be annoying with the false positives though, i'll give you that.