Torque Wrench

[Triple900]

I have 3
Craftsman to 150 ft lbs
Park tools to 600 inch lbs
park tool to 60 inch lbs
+ the charts to convert to metric

With the drive to lighter cheaper faster I see the manufacturers going to smaller lighter bolts. Gone are the days of doing bolts by "feel". I was in a group buy for Yoyodyne slipper clutches for my 675 and several people broke the pressure plate bolts by overtightening. you don't get these bolts at Home Depot. The kickstand pivot bolt on a 996 is $45 , How do I know???. Twice I have been on a track where a guys oil drain plug fell out from not being tightened to specks. Big issue there. So I torque to specks now no matter what.

[SP3]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Yep, the clickers only have a one year warranty...So when the plastic locking ring breaks in a few years you're sol.

Funny you mention that. The lock ring on mine lasted ten years or so.

[SP3]

Originally Posted by edwyun

I'd recommend the torque wrenches made by CDI - dual scale analog or digital (although the latter are more pricey). They make/supply Snap-On with most of their torque wrenches and are much more precise +/- in their specs.

The accuracy claim is not completely true. Most any torque wrench from Snap On is +/- 4% and so are most any Craftsman. The only ones with a narrower variance are the super high dollar models. But then, the higher buck Craftsman ones also have closer variance.

I have had Craftsman, MAC, and Snappy torque wrenches. My Snappy has served me well but has needed adjusted each time I had it calibrated (I always wait and watch).

The MAC lasted a few years but would lose its calibration enough that I could feel a difference and this was in a short time frame. I gave up on it after the third "early" calibration - no confidence.

The Craftsman I mentioned in a previous post was the oldest (18 + when it went away for good) and lasted the longest so far. It also never needed adjusting during calibration. Never. I even won a bet once when a bunch of my team mates and I went to have a large number calibrations done. I said my Craftsman would be within spec and theirs would not. The Snappy and MAC "only" guys laughed. I drank for free after work for a week.

[748girl]

We have three, a Snap-on Digital Torque Wrench 3/8" drive up to 100 ft/lb which does practically everything on the bike, except the rear wheel nut and the alternator nut, so we have a bigger one for that. Then we have the nasty nasty one that caused a lot of grief to us - made by Teng Tools. It turned out to be reading 25% low - which is a shedload and considering it hadn't really been used it shouldn't have gone out of calibration that quickly - so by saving the money on the torque wrench we ended up having to part with AUD2,750.00 in parts to rebuild my bike when everything went pear shaped! We have kept it but only because it has a degree head which we use for the steering head bearing. The Snap-on one is brilliant and I love it a lot.

[fraz]

Crank it down until you snap the head off and back it off a quarter turn

Seriously, I have been a wrench for a long time and have a good feel for torque. I personally think that way too many of the people in the Ducati realm get too excited about too many torque specifications. Major stuff like cylinder heads, clutch, sprag, engine internals, etc... sure, I look it up and grab my torque wrenches. But all of these other threads I see about nit-picky torques for everything under the sun makes me kind of kooky. I've built many bikes and race cars and never had a problem.

[Chuckracer]

+1

I have a claibrated elbow.

[edwyun]

Originally Posted by SP3

The accuracy claim is not completely true. Most any torque wrench from Snap On is +/- 4% and so are most any Craftsman.

The spec/calibration sheet that came with my CDI/Snap-On's are a bit better than that.

[st2lemans]

Originally Posted by fraz

Crank it down until you snap the head off and back it off a quarter turn

Seriously, I have been a wrench for a long time and have a good feel for torque. I personally think that way too many of the people in the Ducati realm get too excited about too many torque specifications. Major stuff like cylinder heads, clutch, sprag, engine internals, etc... sure, I look it up and grab my torque wrenches. But all of these other threads I see about nit-picky torques for everything under the sun makes me kind of kooky. I've built many bikes and race cars and never had a problem.

Other than engine head and internals, the only thing I generally use a torque wrench for is all the 6mm aluminum bolts I have all over the place. To tight, they break, too loose and they fall out, torqued correctly and they stay put.

Tom

P.S. I use an electric screwdriver on the softest setting for the clutch spring bolts.

[Desmo_Demon]

Originally Posted by fraz

Major stuff like cylinder heads, clutch, sprag, engine internals, etc... sure, I look it up and grab my torque wrenches.

This is about the only time I use a torque wrench, also. I don't use them on valve covers and rocker shaft covers, but all engine-related items, especially internal, are torqued with a torque wrench. Caliper bolts, wheel axles, misc stuff is all done by "feel"......On the other hand, though, I am going to use the torque wrench on all the front-end bolts on this Paso front end that I tore apart. I didn't use a torque wrench on my Harley's front end, but something it telling me to use it with the Paso. I'll use it on rear shock bolts and the swingarm pivot bolt, too.

[SP3]

Originally Posted by edwyun

The spec/calibration sheet that came with my CDI/Snap-On's are a bit better than that.

+/- 4% is almost an industry standard. Anyhow, I got that spec right off of Snappy's and Craftsman's web sites. What are your numbers if they "are a bit better than that"? If the range is +/- 2% (the next better "standard"), I already explained that.