Halfords Professional Torque Wrench 8-60Nm

[PH lurker]

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

3/8" square drive
Range from 8 to 60Nm (6 to 45 lbf.ft)
Halfords torque wrench accuracy is +/- 3% of reading
Lifetime Guarantee*

£74.99

In times of need and straight talking advice I like to think of Pistonheads as unbeatable; so:
Accuracy of +/- 3% of reading seems impressive for the price, how true will this be?
Will it last reasonably well if kept safe?
Is there a better equivilant in this price bracket?

Some general home Pistonheady use will be its purpose.

[one eyed mick]

Should last a life time IF you look after it ,dont use it as a power bar and set zero after use and and awipe with an oily rag

[944fan]

I have that wrench. Can't vouch for its accuracy as I have never tested it but it still works well. I always reset to zero as mick has said.

It is very easy to set the torque and lock it in place. Much better than my larger Clarke number.

[smartphone hater]

I'm not saying anything against the Halford's one but there are many others available, like this one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-34570-88-5-708-Inch...

[Super Slo Mo]

smartphone hater said:

I'm not saying anything against the Halford's one but there are many others available, like this one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-34570-88-5-708-Inch...

It's a third of the price though, possibly with good reason. For measuring tools, cheap isn't necessarily good, and the Draper one isn't calibrated anyway.

Whether the Halfords one is or not, is not clear, although they are claiming it's accurate within +/- 3%.

I bought a Teng one (probably equivalent to the Halfords, or perhaps not quite as good), for a not dissimilar price a couple of years ago, but paid a bit of a premium because it came with a calibration certificate (and the hand written test results).

One thing to bear in mind is that unless they're looked after, and zeroed after each use as others have said, they can become inaccurate. I'd be interested to see if the Halfords one has instructions to that effect.

[PH lurker]

smartphone hater said:

I'm not saying anything against the Halford's one but there are many others available, like this one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-34570-88-5-708-Inch...

True, but that one doesn't seem to have its accuracy advertised, the Draper Expert does with a test certificate but it's about £95.

[smartphone hater]

I agree with both of you above, I was simply throwing options in. In my opinion the Halford's one will no doubt be perfectly good but the the torque setting seems a bit gimmicky & I wonder if that's what the extra money will be for, obviously the calibration certificate does come into it but again in my experience they will all be accurate to a certain degree & usable for general car maintenance.

[dmitsi]

Quite a few guys use these at work, we have to have them calibrated yearly and they're very accurate. I've only known of one come back with a fail, and Halfords replaced it.
Quite nice to use too. Set back to zero after each use, store properly and it should last a very long time.

[PH lurker]

Thanks for all the responses.

[longshot]

A bit late...sorry.

I have this wrench and it's big brother and have used them for getting on for 10 years with no problems whatsoever.

They were bench tested a few years back by a magazine and they out performed everything including some expensive wrenches.

[PH lurker]

longshot said:

A bit late...sorry.

I have this wrench and it's big brother and have used them for getting on for 10 years with no problems whatsoever.

They were bench tested a few years back by a magazine and they out performed everything including some expensive wrenches.

No need to be sorry for replying (very helpfully) to a post on an internet forum a day after it was put up
Cheers, I'll probably go with this one then.

[Petrolhead_Rich]

PH lurker said:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

3/8" square drive
Range from 8 to 60Nm (6 to 45 lbf.ft)
Halfords torque wrench accuracy is +/- 3% of reading
Lifetime Guarantee*

£74.99

In times of need and straight talking advice I like to think of Pistonheads as unbeatable; so:
Accuracy of +/- 3% of reading seems impressive for the price, how true will this be?
Will it last reasonably well if kept safe?
Is there a better equivilant in this price bracket?

Some general home Pistonheady use will be its purpose.

It's actually a NorBar Torque Wrench, painted black and a different plastic handle fitted to the bottom.

I have the 1/2" version and use it daily at work, no problems so far (12 months old)

[nick_968]

It's also just a fraction over £30 with a halfords trade card if you can get your hands on one......

[PH lurker]

nick_968 said:

It's also just a fraction over £30 with a halfords trade card if you can get your hands on one......

So much cheaper...
Hmmm.

[rsv gone!]

one eyed mick said:

Should last a life time IF you look after it ,dont use it as a power bar and set zero after use and and awipe with an oily rag

That's mine buggered then. I didn't know about the need to zero them! Mine hasn't been zeroed in years.

[one eyed mick]

Compression spring under load in time it will weaken ,pedantic perhaps but thats why my 3 torque wrenches are accurate after 20 +years with at one time heavy daily [6 days aweek] use, all tools last longer if looked after, when you make your living with them they are v important to your health wealth and safety

[944fan]

one eyed mick said:

Compression spring under load in time it will weaken ,pedantic perhaps but thats why my 3 torque wrenches are accurate after 20 +years with at one time heavy daily [6 days aweek] use, all tools last longer if looked after, when you make your living with them they are v important to your health wealth and safety

Look after your tools and they will look after you.

[944fan]

one eyed mick said:

Compression spring under load in time it will weaken ,pedantic perhaps but thats why my 3 torque wrenches are accurate after 20 +years with at one time heavy daily [6 days aweek] use, all tools last longer if looked after, when you make your living with them they are v important to your health wealth and safety

Look after your tools and they will look after you.