Craftsman 3/8" Drive Digi-Click Torque Wrench $55 + Free In-Store Pick Up

Quote from Licher : From here: [craftsman.com] FOR NINETY (90) DAYS from the date of purchase, this product is warranted against any defects in material or workmanship. A defective product will receive free repair or replacement if repair is unavailable. If this product needs re-calibration within ninety (90) days from the date of purchase, it will be re-calibrated free of charge. After 90 days you must pay for re-calibration. This warranty is void if this product is ever used while providing commercial services or if rented to another person. WARRANTY SERVICE To obtain warranty coverage, return the product to the retailer from which it was purchased for repair, replacement or recalibration.

HUH ?!? I thought craftsman tools are guaranteed for life.. also stupid question BUT how does one know if the readings are wrong? it's not like you go back after torqueing a nut with some other measuring tool to check unless I am totally missing something

Quote from kwaigonegin : it's not like you go back after torqueing a nut with some other measuring tool to check unless I am totally missing something

If the wheel falls off when driving...that might be an indication.

Quote from kwaigonegin : HUH ?!? I thought craftsman tools are guaranteed for life.. also stupid question BUT how does one know if the readings are wrong? it's not like you go back after torqueing a nut with some other measuring tool to check unless I am totally missing something

Not all Craftsman tools are guaranteed for life. Only the basic hand tools are (i.e., the ones that are least likely to fail).

In 4 1. Sometimes I wonder if Slickdeals reads my mind. I was just looking at torque wrenches last week...Very good price for this.

Any tips on how to calibrate these?

Quote from Nate650 : Not all Craftsman tools are guaranteed for life. Only the basic hand tools are (i.e., the ones that are least likely to fail).

To be fair, that's pretty much every tool maker. Whether you're talking about house brands like Husky, Kobalt, or Craftsman, or more premium brands like Milwaukee, Bosch, or Dewalt, the only thing that's covered by a decent warranty are basic hand tools. I think Rigid is the only exception, but I'm not sure about all of the conditions of their lifetime warranty.

Quote from apozm : In 4 1. Sometimes I wonder if Slickdeals reads my mind. I was just looking at torque wrenches last week...Very good price for this. Any tips on how to calibrate these?

Pay a company to do it.

Quote from sdman33 : If the wheel falls off when driving...that might be an indication.

Heh, count me among the few lucky ones that this has happened to. Wasn't because of a torque wrench, it was because of a cheap impact wrench. But I suppose a torque wrench could be guilty as well. Incidents like this have made me much more vigilant about the tools that I buy, and I don't go near craftsman, especially this useless torque wrench. Why is it useless? Well it's not a professionally calibrated instrument, but it's made to look like one. So what advantages does it provide the amateur over a $10 clicker wrench? None, it does nothing but add complexity to something that should be simple. And why on earth is it 3/8 drive? I have 1/4" and 1/2" torque wrenches, I've never once thought "gee I really need a 3/8 for this project". Just my take.

If longevity is your concern, buy a beam-type torque wrench. They'll probably last until your last breath and will stay accurate until then as well (so long as you don't abuse the hell out of them or mis-use them).

Quote from LonelyHiker : Heh, count me among the few lucky ones that this has happened to. Wasn't because of a torque wrench, it was because of a cheap impact wrench. But I suppose a torque wrench could be guilty as well. Incidents like this have made me much more vigilant about the tools that I buy, and I don't go near craftsman, especially this useless torque wrench. Why is it useless? Well it's not a professionally calibrated instrument, but it's made to look like one. So what advantages does it provide the amateur over a $10 clicker wrench? None, it does nothing but add complexity to something that should be simple. And why on earth is it 3/8 drive? I have 1/4" and 1/2" torque wrenches, I've never once thought "gee I really need a 3/8 for this project". Just my take.

3/8" sockets are fairly common, though.

In any case, if you really want to do it right you shouldn't tighten lugs (or anything else really) with an impact. You can use an air tool to save time on threading the lugs/bolts back on, but final torquing should always be done with the proper tool. Most lugs/studs are only meant to be torqued to ~75-90 ft/lbs. I do most of my torquing with a 75ft/lb and a 150ft/lb beam; I haven't yet had occasion to need a heavy duty 200ft/lb+ one for axle nuts or whatnot.

I've read and talked to many an auto mechanic that the electronic torque wrenches are not as trust worthy as the click-style, which are only nominally less trust worthy than the mechanical beam style, based on comparing the three.

ie
Beam>Click>>>electronic

a few that I talked to said they use the Click style for bolts/etc first, then where the absolute torque can be off by a few lb/ft they leave good enough alone, for absolute they will then verify with the beam style.

are thye HF ones beam or click?

Quote from kwaigonegin : are thye HF ones beam or click?

Click...

Quote from sdman33 : If the wheel falls off when driving...that might be an indication.

I had the opposite problem with a cheap Chinese clicker torque wrench. I got whatever was the cheapest 1/2" drive torque wrench from O'Reillys and it started over-tightening before clicking. Since I don't have a very good feel for what something like 50ft-lbs is supposed to feel like, especially behind a big 1/2" drive torque wrench, I snapped off 2 bolt heads from CV axle-to-differential bolts before realizing there was something up with my torque wrench.

Now I test my clicker torque wrench at various torque ratings by comparing it to a beam type as a reference which I don't use often because I don't want to wear it out!

I have the previous version of this wrench and it is currently broken. I used it to rebuild a motor and it was fine for that, but once I did not use it as frequently, it started eating batteries and the buttons stopped working properly (can't adjust torque setting). Here's a link [siber-sonic.com]describing the issues and possible fixes for the problems with the previous model.

Bottom line, get a mechanical one.