something that's decent quality and won't break the bank... I'm gonna be taking big financial hit getting the insurance reinstated and my "new" car registered & new plates, so I won't have much left over for parts as well as food and beer next week. haha. Looking for around $40-50 if possible. I always used to borrow my dad's torque wrench for everything, but alas he has moved down to Florida.

Car is a '88 240, if it makes a difference. I might be interested in getting a whole new basic socket set as well, what do you think is the bare minimum I can spend? Thanks so much.

- r

 

DON"T buy a cheap t/w. I have 25 years of using t/qs in the Air Force and building airplanes for Boeing ( hydraulics for both) Almost everything I touched for 25 years was torqued.
In MOST t/w the lower 20 % and upper 20% measurements are close but not good settings.
And you should get 2 t/w....inches and foot. In both the A/F and Boeing the wrenches were recalibrated every 90 days. If you drop, screw too tight or loosen too much the wrench might lose it's settings.
I have 4 t/ws, 1 inch and 3 foot pounds. The 3 different foot pounds are because of length. short, med. and long. One has digital readings is nice but hard to set and the setting moves when torquing.
I do 90 % of my own work on 3 cars, 1 truck, 2 boats and 2 motorcycles. With a lot of stuff being made from soft metals and stripping bolts are common, get the best you can.
Think about what type of touque settings you will be using the most...inch or foot and put your money there.
About tool sets.... when a set has a lot of pices it my look like a get value but will you be using/needing ALL THE TOOLS IN THAT SET...?
I am not about to start a "tool post war" about who makes the best tools... Snap-on, Sears, etc...etc. I have used them all. Go window shopping...Sears, Home Depot, Lowe's.. where you want BUT.... cheap tools will only hurt YOU ! Busted knuckles and stripped nuts and bolts.
I have been buying Lowe's and H/D screwdrives and pliers when I see a sale. Sears for sockets and wrenches. I also have a lot of Harbor freight tools.
Back to Torque wrenches....shop, shop shop ! You will start to see what looks cheap and what is quality.......

cb

 

Thanks for the reply. Didn't get a chance to go tools shopping this weekend, but I'll definitely heed your advice. I don't imagine I'd need anything more than a 16 or 21 set of sockets unless anyone here says otherwise.

Mainly just for routine maintenance, the most involved I'll probably do by myself is something like a timing belt change on the B230F.

 

Cannot claim to be an expert but have been surprisingly happy with a very standard walmart torque wrench - not a digital as I have also had problems with them! They reset themselves! $25 got me a decent torque at Walmart. One other piece of advice I was given and will share...always reset your tw to 0 when not in use - don't leave the tension on it! Good luck!!