I have obtained two torque wrenches. Both used. Both in mint condition. Bought the Husky first, and ran across the Craftsman later.

Which would you choose, or would you keep both?

Husky 39103
• From 20 to 100 Ft. Lbs.
• 3/8 In. Drive
• Fully Polished
• Hard grey plastic storage case
• Guaranteed Forever


Craftsman Digitork® Wrench 44563
• From 5 to 80 Ft. Lbs.
• 3/8 In. Drive
• Fully Polished
• 90 day warranty (so pry no warranty)


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the craftsman, more usefull range, better made tool IMO

I actually think the husky sounds better.
neither of them go high enough though.

I actually think the husky sounds better.
neither of them go high enough though.
Don't think you would want to go much higher with 3/8s drive, I would go with the american made craftsman, JMO

My bad, didnt notice 3/8.

Craftsman, although I would take a SK 3/8" over both of those, they can be found new for just a little more than that Craftsman or Husky.

i dont even think craftsman stuff is made in the usa any more.... even their professional line is mostly foreign stuff

i dont even think craftsman stuff is made in the usa any more.... even their professional line is mostly foreign stuff
Craftsman, pro-line ratchets and microtorque wrenches are still U.S made.
Most of the other stuff craftsman sells is offshore crap with no liftime gaurantee

I've had three different 1/2" Husky torque wrenches. Everytime something broke it was covered under warranty, until they changed the unlimited warranty to a 60 day. Plus everytim I wanted to exchange one they never had a new one in stock. :fire:

I now own a Stanley and am much happier.

Bottom line is: you get what you pay for, most my know this, but when done using a twist handle type TQ, back the handle out complete counter clockwise before putting it away, a good american made tool will last a lifetime.

I bought the same Craftsman torque wrench just for the easy to use dial indicator with the number display. I have the 3/8", and the 1/2" model, but so far, I've only used the 3/8". I had to buy the hard plastic case separately.

Damn, I could have got the inch/pounds Husky one at the same time I got the foot/pounds Husky. I had no idea on what i would use the inch/pounds for though. I thought it would be interesting to have, but spending ~$30 for a tool that I have no idea about what I would use it for, did not compute.

Damn, I could have got the inch/pounds Husky one at the same time I got the foot/pounds Husky. I had no idea on what i would use the inch/pounds for though. I thought it would be interesting to have, but spending ~$30 for a tool that I have no idea about what I would use it for, did not compute.
Should have bought it,The way the tool fairy works is: IN THE NEXT 30 DAYS, YOU WILL NEED THAT EXACT TOOL, never fails :mad:

I bought the Husky for my head gasket repair, and have been using it since with excellent results.

All my other tools are Craftsman, but the Craftsman warranty doesn't apply to the Torque wrench, and its much more money.

Should have bought it,The way the tool fairy works is: IN THE NEXT 30 DAYS, YOU WILL NEED THAT EXACT TOOL, never fails :mad:

I don't work on my vehicles that much, but I'll pry kick myself when a repair asks for inch/pounds http://hyperboreans.com/forums/images/smiles/whack.gif

Get the Craftsman. I have a 1/2". Kicks ass. Had it for a couple years and it still works great. When I'm done I do loosen it to 20 ft/lb as I heard that helps extend the life.

Actually, I have both. Trying to decide if I should get rid of one or the other, or keep both.

When I used to work for John Deere corporate (ag field test) I had both Husky and Craftsman torque wrenchs. It never failed that when I needed the Craftsman the stupid thing was broken. That didn't bother me as much as I was using it almost constantly and was regularly going up to 150ft/lb. This was on a 1/2" drive unit. The problem I ran into is the Craftsman dropped their lifetime warranty on the torque wrenchs and went to 60 days. This wasn't an isolated dealer telling me this. I tried to return it to stores in Arizona, Texas, and Iowa/Illinois stores hoping one would return it. None ever would and I got the same story every time. Now the Husky was a 3/8" and it worked ok, but I never used it that often. It seemed to be very cheaply built. To be honest I wouldn't own either of them. Thats why when I moved over to Case New Holland I bought my own torque wrench and I dropped the money for a nice Snapon unit. It may have cost more, but they only thing I have to worry about is making sure its calibrated :D

One thing to remember is WHAT will you be using the Torque wrench for. In the perfect world accuracy would be guaranteed across the range of the wrench. In reality it is like a "bell curve" in terms of accuracy, with the best readings coming near mid range.

As for inch pound wrenches.... If you work on automatic transmissions for example you would need an inch pound torque wrench with a range of 0-200 inch pounds. If you set up rear axles, maybe one reading 0-50 inch pounds....

As for the others, I'd keep the Craftsman.

All my torque wrenchs are Snap-On, I have one Craftsman.. The Craftman works great and is just as good quality as the Snap-On ones. At work i often use a 3/4 Snap-On, The thing is massive! The head bolts on the Cat engines i work on regularly call for 300-600ft Lbs!

Not to get too much off of the topic, but Harbor Freight sells electronic digital torque wrenches for about $300. Does anybody have one of them? I wonder if they are just as durable, or more fragile with the electronics involved.

the main advantage of digital "strain gauge" torque wrenchs is a much better accuracy across the entire range.... but like you I wonder about their fragility...

At work we have a couple digitals and they are somewhat more fragile than the others. The nice thing is that they will give you an audible beep when the torque is reached, as well as giving you working torque ranges if you're checking bolts. They're nice, but for most stuff around the average garage its not worth it. Check ebay as there are usually good quality torque wrenchs for less than dealers. Though you just need to be careful about some of the "deals".

What is the estimated accuracy of those digital torque wrenches?

I couldn't tell you what its rated at. Just look on Snapon's website or as your local dealer. I never worry about it as it gets calibrated every year so it never has a chance to go out.

What do they charge to recalibrate one of those digital wrenches? I'm sure that it would be more money than recalibrating a regular one. Which company has a recalibration service?

The 2 digital torque wrenches from Harbor Freight are about +/- 2% tolerance compared to the regular ones that are +/- 4% tolerance. Here is the 1/2" model: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=4132, and the 3/8" model: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=4124.

Again, I have no idea how much it costs. Where I work we are ISO 9001 certified thus all torque wrenchs must be calibrated. Since we have a full stress lab on site we send all of them there to be calibrated. They will also do any personal ones we keep in our boxes at work.