TEKTON 24340 1/2-Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (25-250 ft.-lb.)

[chief38]

I am in the market for a good quality, reliable and accurate "click type" 1/2" drive Torque Wrench that I can use primarily on wheel lug nuts. I have 3 other Torque Wrenches in my tool box but they are not well suited for Lug Nuts or are calibrated in inch pounds or the Beam Type.

I use to have a Snap-on in this configuration but is now in my Brothers tool box and he lives 50 miles from me. Needless to say, its not worth the 100 mile round trip and now I realize I should have never traded it away to him. Anyway....... I am not going to use it very often so I am not into spending $400 on another S-O and came across the TEKTON #24340 1/2-Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (25-250 ft.-lb.) which sells for $50 bucks on Amazon. They say it is accurate to +/- 4% and has a good reputation BUT before I purchase it I'd like to know.......

My question is does anyone here have this model and use it regularly? Any problems? Accuracy? Since I am not a Mechanic (just an ocassional user) it will not get beat up or over used.

Thanks!

Chief38

 

[Cardboard_killer]

You might get better results on this question if you ask it in the Gunsmithing folder (I do not have one so can't answer directly).

 

[chief38]

You might get better results on this question if you ask it in the Gunsmithing folder (I do not have one so can't answer directly).

This particular tool, because of the 1/2" drive, 25" length, and max of 250 ft/lbs would not be something a Gunsmith would use and it usually a common tool of Auto & Truck Mechanics. I know there are a few of them on this site who frequent the Lounge and so I am hoping they can help me out here.

Thank you for your response.

 

[BigBill]

I have one and a Armstrong torque wrench close to the same model. No problems.

 

[BigBill]

I have the dial torque wrench too. When I can’t see the dial the click wrench comes in handy.

 

[chief38]

I've got two Dial type TW's but they are in inch pounds - too light for what I want this for. One is actually a Snap-on that works great and can't remember the other brand off hand. My heavy duty TW that goes up to 160 ft / lbs is a Beam style which again is not really conducive for wheels.

Since posting this I have done some more research and am about to order the Tekton mentioned above. Pretty much every review has given it rave reviews, bested only by the Snap-on version at 6-8 times the price. At $50 bucks, a lifetime warranty, +/- 4% accuracy and ease of use it's hard t go wrong and more than accurate enough for what I plan on using it for. Currently when I rotate tires/wheels I do not use a TW so this will be way way better than currently.

 

[Grayfox]

I needed to replace my old torque wrench earlier this year. I just went to Sears and bought a Craftsman. It works just fine and was about $40 IIRC.

 

[Jeff423]

I don't know if you use Fakespot or not but it is a service that looks at Amazon reviews and tries to evaluate how valid they are. I use it a lot and it is interesting how many "low quality" reviews there are on Amazon. I think these are paid or shill reviews. You can go to their website to look at the criteria used.
At any rate they like the reviews of your torque wrench and give them an A rating. In Fakespot's opinion you can trust the reviews.

 

[RichardWA]

I don't have a tekton torque wrench but I do have several of their breaker bars. They seem to be good quality and will take a good amount of abuse. I have at times used a 3 foot cheater bar on the 1/2" drive one and it has held up so far

 

[chief38]

Just ordered it I will have it on Wednesday and will see how it does in short order. There were a bunch of used Snap-On TW's available on ebay at about half their normal price, but something like a TW I am hesitant to buy from someone I did not know. If I could see it in person that might have been different, but I have in the past seen Torque Wrenches being abused! They are really not meant to be used as a regular Ratchet and I have seen that in the past. Normally I love S-O tools but just could not justify in my head for basically Lug Nut Torquing.

 

[sar4937]

Compare it against the Snap On settings when you see your brother. Any wrench can be accurate in a certain range. If you are only torquing lug nuts, and it's fairly close at 100 to 140, I wouldn't worry.