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Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 08/6/2011

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Just get a 2 foot long breaker bar, that will shift anything. Halfords item for about £20 odd is good quailty. You need correct size impact socket to go with, 17 or 19mm. A standard socket can split on very tight nuts.

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Hi Tentz - I think the above was probably to help me (what I said about my OH in previous post)  He has one - with 17 stone bouncing off the end of it.  It was overtightened (as usual) by a garage though. 

Rather than having to struggle & swear  & hurt hisself  again we're investing in a pneumatic impact wrench.  He can use that for numerous other jobs too.

Thanks anyway though.   

Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 07/6/2011

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Theres little point in buying a torque wrench unless you pay out for a quailty tool. ie not from Aldi's. I've never used one for wheel nuts. I just check them regularly on car & caravan with a wheelbrace.

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My OH reckons that  there are cheaper ones that are reasonably accurate - so if it's going to have limited use and for things that don't need to be actually smack-on  - like the wheel nuts on a caravan -  you really don't need a top quality one.

Just his opinion of course.

Quote: Originally posted by LegsDownKettleOn on 08/6/2011

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There are tools I will buy cheap, but anything with a ratchet in I won't I have had ratchets slip too often and ended up rapping my knuckles on something hard far too many times to recommend a cheap ratchet, torque or otherwise.

I would also recommend against using a torque wrench as a ratchet or breaker bar as this will just speed up the wear on the ratchet. Better to wear out a cheaper item or get a decent quality ratchet that won't wear out as quick.

You can get ratchets with a lifetime guarantee for about a tenner. Well worth that to avoid mopping your blood up from the floor after a cheap ratchet slips.

I have bought a number of cheap ratchet / socket sets over the years. The sockets are suitable for most jobs but do occasionally crack. Cheap ratchets are always going to end up in pain. The first thing I do with a cheap ratchet / socket set is through the ratchet away and substitute it with a decent one.

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Pretty much exactly what my OH thinks. With the exception of  cheaper torque wrenches can be adequate depending on use & application. 

He used to have a cheap one years ago & they were fine for what he was using them for then. He only has good ones hisself now though !

quote:   Imho judgement is fine for car & caravan wheelnuts. Its engine components that need to be torqued.   (unquote)

Exactly - so a cheaper one may well be fine for the OP's needs. Not always neccessary to buy a top quality torque wrench at all. If you get a mid quality reasonably accurate one it's useful for anyone who  prefers not to purely leave that to their own judgement.  

My OH says he has no idea how good the Aldi one is because he hasn't seen it,  - but we've certainly sometimes seen tools in Lidl  that were really pretty decent & very good value for money.  You'd pay a lot more for the same quality in other places. We've bought a fair few tools from Lidl ourselves.

My husband doesn't actually check our caravan wheelnuts (or the cars) with a torquewrench either !   Reason being, as you & I both already stated they don't actually need to be smack on, and he's confident enough in his own ability to judge it near enough to be safe.

 But the thing is Tentz that not everyone is - I certainly wouldn't be & I daresay lots of other people wouldn't either. In that case the obvious thing to do surely,  is to check it - and the way to do that is with a torque wrench.  

A reasonably good quality torque wrench should be be reasonably accurate (just as a very good one should be very accurate ), so will be perfectly adequate for this sort of limited use & for people like me who're not so confident will at least tell you if you're way out.   

All I can say is that if you seriously believe that the average person's judgement is going to be more accurate than a reasonably good quality torque wrench -  then I can see why you're arguing the point. 

However in my opinion that's unlikely, and this just seems to have got silly.

I think the OP has enough info now to decide wheteher he (or she ?) personally needs a torque wrench or not, and how good a quality one they need so I'm leaving them to it !

and this just seems to have got silly.

Hurrah.

Quote: Originally posted by cwdc56768 on 08/6/2011

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Something designed to do a specific job is so criticised on here? Strange.

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