Torque Wrench

[MoonBeemer]

Hello all,
I need an all around torque wrench to maintain my R1150R. I need one that is accurate, and cheap. I know, I know a contridiction in terms. Any suggestions? Roger

[garr2]

To carry out a routine service (valves, oils, filters etc) and every now and then redo the wheel studs you will need to cover torques from 8Nm (6ft.lbs) to 105Nm (77ft.lbs). No single torque wrench is going to cover that range. Furthermore a torque wrench rated at +/- 4% accuracy will not give that degree of accuracy in the bottom 20% of its stated range.
To do my routine maintenance I currently have two torque wrenches and after a near disaster in which I overtightened a crush washer to the point where it was nearly transparent, I'll be getting a third.

If you Google BMW R 1150 R Service Manual you can download a PDF service manual which it will have a table of tightening torques you can look at.
But as for recommending a single, all round, cheap torque wrench .....

[MoonBeemer]

Thanks for your input. While I note that you live in Australia, thus potentially would be shopping for different brands, do you suggest a particular brand? Thanks Roger

[garr2]

All this was new to me too. When it came time to buy a torque wrench this is what I did.
Without anyone to advise me, I first of all researched the different types of torque wrench available - so I would recognize one when I saw it, and to have some idea of the of the advantages and relative cost of each.

Second, I looked at the tightening torque table in the R 1150 R Service Manual to see which service jobs I would be doing and which torques I would be need to apply.

You can see from this summary that if you intend doing routine maintenance (fluid changes, valves etc) yourself you will need to cover torques ranging from 6 Nm to 105 Nm - though only the rear wheel studs require greater than 40 Nm. The 6 Nm - 105 Nm (4 ft.lbs - 77 ft.lbs) range is a wide one to cover, so you might give priority to the lower end - say 6 Nm - 40Nm (4 ft.lbs - 30 ft.lbs). I doubt though that you will find a single wrench that will cover even that limited range.

Thirdly, I went to car auto shops and hardware stores near where I live to see which types, which brands and which ranges they stocked. Though not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, I had some idea of which tool brands were reputable and which were dodgy (for example, if I'd never heard of the brand it was probably dodgy!). For what it's worth I ended up buying the Kincrome brand.


A piece of advice I didn't appreciate until later when I stuffed up a job I was using a torque wrench on was to get a bit of practice using a torque wrench before using it on a mission critical job. I might not have mangled that crush washer and risked stripping the thread on the sump and sump plug if I had taken that on board earlier.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Sears has a decent one for the high range, iirc about $68??? they go on sale periodically.

Let us know on the low side. Mine is a Harbor Freight and I question it's accuracy because of the quality of the assembly, but I am using it.

John

[MoonBeemer]

Thank you very much for your input. I looked at your home Vincentia, Australia on google earth and you live in a very nice area. I bet the fishing is good. Thanks once again. Roger

[macx]

KD makes some decent quality and inexpensive beam style torque wrenches.
I have a 1/4" drive, and a 1/2" drive. Links below.

I also have an old 3/8" drive beam style I've had for along time, 50 ft lbs
capacity. I use it the most. That size is usually pretty easy to find at
a reasonable price.

Another advantage besides their cost is that they don't need periodic calibration
by a special shop to maintain their accuracy like the click
types do, and without which you have no real way to know if they are
accurate or not.

As long as the pointer on the beam style is centered over Zero before you apply toque,
you will be sufficiently accurate. Generally within + or - 4%.

Another advantage is that as you apply increasingly more torque, you
can watch the indicator and see when you are getting close. That is
sometimes an advantage.

http://www.handsontools.com/KD-Tools-29 ... _2869.html

http://www.amazon.com/2955-Torque-Wrenc ... 146&sr=1-4

This is where I bought the KD wrenches, about as good a price as you'll
find. Another usually good source for good prices on just about anything
is Amazon.com.

[marsdog]

I scoured ebay for a while to find a good used SnapOn. I had a Craftsman Digitork and some cheap chinese made wrench and both stopped working before I knew it. I decided that you can't get away with a cheap brand when it comes to a torque wrench. Mine goes from 5 to about 100 ft lbs I believe and the only thing it won't work for is the lug nuts. Fortunately when my original cheap chinese made wrench broke, I was quickly sent a replacement, only it was the larger size. When I called and told them they made a mistake, I was told just to keep it (which told me how cheap it was) and they'd send the right one. Since I only use that wrench occassionally when changing tires, it hasn't had much chance to break yet! Go with a SnapOn, even used, it's better... besides if you're buying a used SnapOn, you're likely getting it a Pro who knows how to take care of it!

[Keppelj]

Not a mechanic but I worked as a union welder and fabricator for years. Sears tools break. There are many good companies, Snap-On, Wright, KD, Facon come to mind and you will have their tools for years without trouble. I have both the click and beam type torque wrenches. Both are good, the click more precise for me. The other good thing about the click type is that you can use it out of position, like upside down or in a hole where you can't see the beam's scale w/o rigging a mirror.

[rdsmith3]

Sears has a decent one for the high range, iirc about $68??? they go on sale periodically.

Let us know on the low side. Mine is a Harbor Freight and I question it's accuracy because of the quality of the assembly, but I am using it.

John

I have two Craftsmen torque wrenches (1/2" and 3/8" drives) for the big stuff, and one Harbor Freight 1/4" drive for the low torque items. For the amount I use them, it works.

[omg1010]

I have 2 wrenches. One in the range of 2-20 NM and the other one 20-200 NM. I always rely on quality wrenching equipment hence using calibrated stuff from Gedore Rahsol. But I have no clue if that would be available in Australia. It is like with a pair of shoes. The ones for 1000 dollars will probably last a lifetime whilst those for 100 dollars will be done after one year.

And poor quality wrenching equipment can ultimately cost you more than the difference between poor and good quality equipment. We'll discuss this again when you have torn apart your first screw and you need to drill this out.

Best regards
Oliver

[R1150Rclean]

I got a CDI torque wrench (http://www.cditorque.com/), comes with a certificate. Mine is the 20-100 nm version, but it really starts at 10 nm. It was ~$130 with shipping, best tool I have ever owned. There is no plastic to break and CDI is a subsidiary of SnapOn tools.

For the rear wheel lugs put the bike in 6th gear, when the force of the wrench just starts to turn the engine over you have reached 105 nm as measured with a inexpensive bar style torque wrench. And if what CycleRob says about greased bolts going on 30% tighter under the same torque setting, 100 nm should be fine for greased lug bolts (and that is "engine bolt grease", not a lubricating grease).

[rockstercliff]

I recently came by 2 Snapon torque wrenches at our local pawn shop, and while expensive by normal pawn shop standards, cheap by normal retail standards. I paid 120.00 for both, a 0-200 inch lb, and a 40-200 ft. lbs. Took them to my work the next day, we have a calibration lab to keep our measuring euipment current, and we have a lot of it, they checked both of these, and they were within 3%. I have bought the same wrench retail for work related use, and paid 240.00 for the Snapon ft lb. wrench. I was glad to get them at that price.