Best Torque Wrench? $450 Snap On vs Craftsman, ICON, Kobalt, DeWalt, SK Tools, Proto, Wera

is it possible that a 45 torque wrench is actually better than one that costs 450 dollars we've got 10 different brands of test today let's find out in the first test we'll measure the performance of the torque wrenches at five different torque settings then we'll measure the accuracy of the torque wrench is measuring in the counterclockwise direction i'll then cycle all the torque wrenches a thousand times each and we'll see how accurate they are after a lot of use at a bargain price of only forty four dollars the least expensive brand we'll be testing is made by lexavon includes a very nice carrying case comes with a certificate of calibration the torque wrench range for the lexavon is 25 to 250 foot-pounds reinforced ratchet gear head constructed of hardened heat treated chrome vanadium steel comes with a reversible ratchet head that drives in both directions and measures torque in a clockwise direction 2.5 foot-pound increments the ratchet gear is 24 tooth and is made of chrome vanadium steel plus or minus four percent accuracy the lexavon is right at 25 inches in length the lexavon is made in taiwan does it really matter if a torque wrench is off by several pounds the load cell will be keeping track of the maximum torque let's torque down a bolt to 40 foot-pounds at 40 foot-pounds of torque the clamp load is at 7 514 pounds i've added 10 more pounds of torque for a total of 50 foot-pounds 9 022 pounds so adding ten foot pounds of torque added fifteen hundred pounds of clamp load to the bolt to test the torque wrenches i bought this proto torque wrench tester it's the same unit that many calibration shops use since it provides accuracy to one tenth of a foot pound the tester has set up the first peak mode so the tester will measure and remember the exact amount of torque when you hear and feel the click so even if i apply even more torque after the click the tester will only display the first torque number i'll set the error range on the tester to plus or minus four percent or two pounds let's kick off our first test with the lexavon and i'll set the torque wrench at 50 foot pounds the light on the left to center indicates that the torque did not make it within four percent the middle light indicates that it's within four percent and the light on the right means it's over torqued i'll test each brand six times and the lexavon is within four percent range on the first two bolts at 50.85 and 51.46 foot pounds unfortunately alexavon really began having trouble and overshot way beyond the four percent to 53.93 55.46 54.46 and 55.19 on the last four attempts at a price of 76. the second least expensive brand we'll be testing is made by performance tool torque wrench is certified and calibrated to plus or minus four percent accuracy in the right hand direction and six percent in the left hand direction the torque range is from 25 to 250 foot-pounds measurements include both foot-pounds as well as newton meters clockwise and counterclockwise operation 41-tooth ratchet head for precision torque control setting the torque hold handle and twist collar to the right to unlock turn handle clockwise or counterclockwise right or left to set the desired torque hold handle and twist collar to the left to lock performance tool is quite a bit shorter than alexavon at 22 inches the performance tool brand is made in taiwan and a performance tool really struggled blasting past fifty foot pounds plus the four percent range six out of six times the third attempt was the worst at nearly fifty nine foot pounds so performance tool averaged fifty five point two foot pounds at a price of ninety five dollars is this craftsman brand comes with a certificate of calibration the torque range is from 50 to 250 foot-pounds scale stamped into housing showing inch and metric torque settings plus or minus four percent accuracy clockwise and counterclockwise plus or minus six percent by material handle for comfort and grip locking feature adjusts quickly and easily for hassle-free use the craftsman is by far the longest yet at 27 and a quarter inches in length the craftsman is made in taiwan and a craftsman is within the four percent range in the first two attempts but the craftsman overshot the next two the final two measurements are within range so the craftsman has done the best so far averaging 52.18 pounds off by 4.2 percent at a price of a hundred dollars or just five dollars more than the craftsman is this cobalt brand while the cobalt storage case can be used is definitely not as durable as most of the other brands the cobalt comes with a certificate of calibration the torque range is from 50 to 250 foot-pounds the cobalt is only designed to be used in the clockwise direction positive locking mechanism to dial in and lock in torque reversing ratcheting head allows you to torque left and right hand fasteners the clockwise torque tolerance is plus or minus four percent also the cobalt doesn't have the metric scale just the sae the cobalt is 25 and 9 16 inches in length the cobalt is made in taiwan and the cobalt provided much more consistent results than lexavon performance tool and craftsman ranging from 51 to 52 pounds for an overall average of 51.25 foot-pounds with a standard deviation of 0.42 foot-pounds it has a much tighter pattern than the previous three brands at a price of 125 dollars is this icon brand which is sold at harbor freight the range is from 50 to 250 foot pounds includes a certificate of calibration 90 tooth ratcheting mechanism professional standard accuracy to plus or minus four percent clockwise and plus or minus six percent counterclockwise chrome plated hardened steel body includes both sae and metric scale roll mark scale for better visibility the icon is 23 and 9 16 inches in length the icon is made in taiwan and the harbor freight icon is performing even better than the cobalt with most measurements within one foot pound of the 50 foot-pound target and the icon moves into the lead with an average accuracy of 50.7 foot-pounds with an average accuracy of 1.7 percent over target at a price of 138 dollars is this dewalt brand includes a certificate of calibration the range is from 50 to 250 foot pounds protective head bumper the guaranteed accuracy is four percent clockwise and six percent counterclockwise includes a locking trigger by material grip one foot pound increments includes both sae and metric scale the dewalt is the longest tool yet at 27.5 inches in length the dewalt brand is made in taiwan and the dewalt started out just above 50 foot-pounds on the first two measurements just below 50 on the next three and then just above 50 again dewalt averaged 50.11 foot pounds with a standard deviation of only 0.38 and moves into the lead over the icon at a price of 200 is this sk tools brand very nice carrying case includes a certificate of calibration locking collar handle avoids changing torque value while in use ratchet design is very strong and durable torque range is from 50 to 250 foot pounds the clockwise torque tolerance is four percent counterclockwise six the center position allows you to lock out the ratchet dual skill allows for easy conversion from sae to metric the sk tools wrench is 24.25 inches made in usa u.s and foreign parts the sk tools is a little bit high on the first measurement a little low on the second and finally begin having a pretty tight pattern at just above 50 on the final four test so the sk tools average 50.49 foot pounds with a standard deviation of 1.09 and an average within one percent accuracy at a price of 236 dollars is this proto brand includes a certificate of calibration includes a very nice carrying case manufactured to meet precision highly accurate applications such as military and aerospace plus or minus four percent clockwise and six percent counterclockwise includes an sae and metric scale proto-tools is 26 and 5 16. the proto brand is made in usa the proto-tools performed well in the first attempt but overshot the second attempts three through six were very close to 50 foot-pounds with an average of 50.59 and a standard deviation of 1.18 so sk tools did slightly better at a price of 290 the second most expensive brand we'll be testing is made by wira includes a certificate of calibration the torque range is from 45 to 220 foot-pounds easily setting and saving of the desired torque value with each audible and tactile click when reaching the scale values includes a 45 tooth reversible ratchet mechanism includes sae as well as metric scale the weir can only be used in a clockwise direction wira is 23 and 5 8 inches in length the wira is made in taiwan the first four measurements were within range but the fifth one was quite a bit under the overall average for the weira is 49.84 foot-pounds with a standard deviation of 2.44 and the most expensive brand we'll be testing at 451. is made by snap-on the carrying case is very nice but it does seem to be larger than necessary the snap-on is only designed to be used in the clockwise direction just like the other brands the snap-on does include a certificate of calibration the torque range on the snap-on is from 50 to 250 foot-pounds includes both an sae and metric scale snap-on is 25 and 9 16 inches in length the snap-on is made in usa and the snap-on is remaining around 51 foot-pounds and has an average of 51.39 which is 2.7 percent above the 50-foot pound mark however the snap-on is the most consistent with a standard deviation of only 0.34 foot-pounds finally we'll be doing some testing on an old craftsman torque wrench that i've had for about 11 years the torque wrench on the old craftsman is from 20 to 150 foot-pounds it's only designed for clockwise use the old craftsman torque wrench is made in usa and the old craftsman got off to a great start and things were going well into the last measurement when the craftsman missed the target by nearly four foot pounds for an overall average of 50.84 foot-pounds the dewalt came the closest to 50 foot pounds on average with all six measurements staying within the four percent torque tolerance sk tools perform well at 50.49 icon 50.7 cobalt 51.25 and snap-on 51.38 pounds while the rear averaged very close to 50 foot-pounds it had one measurement that was outside the 4 percent torque tolerance if you need a torque wrench for repair such as torquing down a cylinder head where consistency of torque and clamp load is incredibly important the snap-on came out on top with a standard deviation of 0.34 foot-pounds however the dewalt performed nearly as well at 0.38 cobalt 0.42 icon 0.84 and a craftsman 1.03 foot-pounds i also took six measurements for each brand at 100 150 200 and 250 foot pounds after a total of 30 measurements for each brand only the icon sk tools and the snap-on completed all 30 measurements within the plus or minus four percent torque tolerance range however the cobalt dewalt and the proto-tools were outside the four percent range just one time if you're looking for a torque wrench that comes the closest to the target torque on average the icon came out on top only missing the target torque by 0.2 percent we're performed very well at 0.7 percent snap-on and sk tools 0.8 and proto-tools 0.9 for precision work such as torquing down a cylinder head having the exact same amount of clamp load or downward pressure is extremely important the snap-on came in on top with a standard deviation of 0.51 foot-pounds proto finished in second at 0.68 sk tools 0.96 icon 1.02 and craftsman 1.12 foot-pounds let's measure the performance of the torque wrenches in the counterclockwise direction next beginning at 250 foot-pounds we'll skip the lexavon since it's not designed to be used in the counterclockwise direction and a performance tool rents overshot the first measurement by 28 foot-pounds and the performance tool was outside the plus or minus range twice out of six measurements for an average of 261.8 foot-pounds and the craftsman performed very well in the counterclockwise direction with an average torque of 247.85 foot-pounds the craftsman had a standard deviation of 0.9 foot-pounds with all six measurements within the six percent torque tolerance range the cobalt doesn't advertise use in the counterclockwise direction but let's see how it performs anyway and the cobalt performed better than the performance tool but not quite as well as a craftsman averaging 245.18 foot-pounds and the icon was slightly more consistent than the cobalt with a standard deviation of 2.33 foot-pounds and the icon averaged 255.4 foot-pounds or 2.1 percent over the target and the dewalt averaged 1.4 percent under the pound target compared to 0.9 percent for the craftsman however the dewalt has a standard deviation of only 0.67 foot-pounds compared to 0.9 for the craftsman in the sk tools overshot the target by 2.2 percent on average which is nearly as good as the icons 2.1 percent however just like the clockwise direction the sk tools provided more consistent results than the icon with a standard deviation of 1.45 compared to 2.33 for the icon and the proto-tools performed even better than the sk tools with an average of two percent over target however the proto-tools perform very well with the standard deviation of only 0.72 skipping the weir since it won't function in the counterclockwise direction and the snap-on doesn't advertise that it's capable of counter-clockwise use but let's do it anyway just to see how it performs and the snap-on did the best yet at just 0.7 percent above target it also had the best standard deviation of only 0.52 foot-pounds very impressive after testing the torque wrenches at 250 150 and then 50 foot pounds for a total of 18 measurements each the snap-on dewalt and proto were the only three brands that didn't have any measurements that fell outside the plus or minus six percent torque tolerance range of those three brands the snap-on came the closest to averaging 150 foot-pounds at 151.17 dewalt performed very well at 147.91 and proto-tools 152.7 craftsman and icon each had one measurement fall outside the six percent torque tolerance range not surprisingly the only three brands that stayed within the six percent torque tolerance range also delivered the best performance for standard deviation the proto-tools came out on top at 0.6 foot-pounds dewalt 0.8 and snap-on 0.85 if you have multiple vehicles and you torque down the lug nuts on your vehicle every few months it won't take long before you have hundreds of cycles on your torque wrench i'm going to go ahead and cycle each of the torque wrenches a thousand times each and we'll test them again for accuracy after a thousand cycles i gave the torque wrenches a break for a couple of hours let's test the lexavon again at 50 foot pounds and the lexavon averaged 53.73 foot-pounds before a thousand cycles and the spring steel has lost some of its strength with the average dropping to 52.01 foot-pounds pounds unfortunately three measurements were outside of the four percent range before 1050 cycles the performance tool averaged 55.21 foot pounds all the use had a huge impact on the performance tool with the average dropping nearly five foot pounds to 50.68 unfortunately it had two measurements fall outside the four percent torque tolerance range while lexavon and performance tool experienced a drop-in torque the craftsman performed nearly the same as before on the first three measurements unfortunately it overshot pretty badly on the fourth and fifth measurements the craftsman averaged 52.73 foot pounds the cobalt performed very well before a thousand cycles but it really struggled with four measurements outside of the plus or minus four percent range after all the use three measurements were too low and one was too high with a standard deviation of over two foot pounds before 1050 cycles the icon averaged 50.7 foot-pounds with zero measurements outside the four percent torque tolerance range the icon did fairly well on the first five measurements but was off by nearly five and a half pounds on the sixth measurement the icon had a standard deviation of 2.45 before 1050 cycles with the dewalt all six measurements at 50 foot pounds landed within the plus or minus four percent range after all the use the dewalt missed the target two out of six times with an overall average of 51.33 foot-pounds the sk tools averaged 50.49 foot-pounds before 1050 cycles and even after all the use it performed nearly the same at 50.17 foot-pounds unfortunately one of the measurements did fall outside the four percent window right new out of the box the proto-tools averaged 50.59 foot-pounds and even after all the use it performed nearly the same at 50.24 just like several of the other brands it fell outside the four percent range on one of the measurements before all the use the weir averaged 49.84 foot-pounds and it had one measurement that fell outside the four percent window after over a thousand cycles all the measurements are now within the four percent window and the wearer averaged 49.28 foot-pounds the snap-on averaged 51.38 foot-pounds before 1050 cycles and it averaged 50.47 after all the use it had a standard deviation of only 0.34 foot-pounds before and now it has a standard deviation of 0.17 very impressive so after 1050 cycles only two brands had all six measurements fall within the four percent range the snap-on averaged 50.47 in the weir 49.28 sk tools proto and the icon fell outside the four percent range only once sk tools averaged 50.17 proto 50.24 and icon 50.45 foot-pounds after 1050 cycles the snap-on continued to have the best standard deviation at only 0.17 foot-pounds sk tools finished in second at 1.11 and we're 1.18 proto 1.43 and dewalt 1.6 foot-pounds the size of the head on a torque wrench is sometimes a factor in tight spaces i measured the width and the thickness of the ratchet heads the craftsman dewalt and proto-tools offer the least front-to-back thickness of all the brands at 0.71 inches the snap-on isn't too much thicker at 0.75 the harbor freight icons ratchet has the narrowest profile at 1.61 inches but the snap-on is nearly the same at 1.62 performance tool 1.63 craftsman into wall 1.64 inches if you're trying to apply a lot of torque a longer handle will offer more leverage making it easier to reach the desired torque and the dewalt is the longest tool at 27.5 inches but the craftsman is nearly as long at 27.3 proto 26.3 snap-on and cobalt 25.6 inches when working in tight spaces the swing arc of a ratchet can make a huge difference to provide realistic swing arc calculations i measured the swing arc with a socket attached to a fastener and the snap-on came out on top at 15.6 degrees the very affordable harbor freight icon performed well at 21 degrees dewalton craftsman 25 and cobalt 26.6 degrees 10 000 cycles with a torque wrench i definitely don't recommend doing that not a good idea now if you want the best torque wrench the snap-on is definitely it it just doesn't make mistakes however 451. is definitely more than i'm willing to spend if your budget's only around 150 dollars i really like both the icon as well as the dewalt if you have a budget of around 200 the sk tools is a great torque wrench and would be my choice all the videos in this channel including this one are viewers suggested so if you have a video idea i hope you take time to leave a comment thanks so much for watching please take care and look forward to next time

Channel: Project Farm

Views: 2,168,592

Keywords: project farm, torque wrench, best torque wrench, torque wrench comparison, snap on torque wrench review, proto tools torque wrench review, Dewalt Torque wrench review, lexivon torque wrench review, performance tool torque wrench review, craftsman torque wrench review, wera torque wrench review, kobalt torque wrench review, icon torque wrench review

Id: HP4uECoH8cc

Length: 17min 36sec (1056 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 19 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/SpoOokyoOoky]

Wish he would have tested the Husky one that's been on sale for $50 for that past couple of weeks.

[u/slm83]

Would have liked to see the old beam type thrown in the mix.

[u/ste6168]

I must be the only person that doesn’t care much for these videos. I did like the screwdriver one he did though.

[u/abakedcarrot]

I have the cheapo one in the test. for me it's exclusively doing lug bolts. it doesn't need to be that accurate.

[u/0ld_Ben_Kenobi]

Wish he had tested more Made in USA brands. Refuse to buy chinesium and would like to see how companies like Wright Tools stack up.