Amazon Basics 3/8-Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench

I like this torque wrench for casual works. I wouldn’t say it’s good enough for real pressure sensitive uses, but you get what you pay for. Adjusting bikes/trampoline nuts – it’s ideal.

I had to find a YouTube video to work out what the click was like when it reaches the torque – hopefully the video I uploaded helps. It’s a small click, but if you’re looking out for it you’ll notice it. The best option is to go slow when you’re getting close to the torque you need. You can double check if you’ve missed it by slowly turning again – it’ll click straight away if it’s at the right torque.

Switch on the back to go from clockwise to anticlockwise. Torque only works in the clockwise direction.

Easy enough to adjust the dial, just undo the screw at the bottom to loosen, turn the ribbed handle part, then retighten the screw.

Not everyone is a trained mechanic or pretending to be one. Sometimes simple things are slightly confusing. Luckily there are videos on how to use this type of non digital torque wrench on YouTube for someone who like to tinker with atv’s and tractors etc, which do need specific tightening tensions. I’m not and don’t pretend to be a mechanic but once you watch a tutorial on YouTube it’s surprisingly simple to use and reassuring to know you have followed the manufacturers instructions when doing a bit of vehicle home maintenance (especially on a grizzly where everything has a different tightening torques). Ft/lbs and nm choices are available, although why we are using ft/lbs I don’t know just adds more confusion unless you are pre 1970 or American, funnily enough it’s just as well as most videos on Yamaha grizzly’s maintenance are American and only report ft/lbs! Small enough for fiddly areas but reassuring weight and size to tackle most jobs. Small click on reaching the right torque, job done. Feel like a proper mechanic doing an oil change.

Not had a chance to use it yet, but the setting system is really set up for lb.in settings rather than Nm. If you want 53 lb.in, you dial up 50 lb.in on the main scale, then 3 on the micrometer scale. If you want 13 Nm, you can’t set that directly. The main scale has 12.4 and 14.1 Nm, and the micrometer 15 intervals around. You have to convert 13 Nm to 115 lb.in, and set that as 110 + 5. Not impossible, just not as simple as dialling up 10 +3. (If you really wanted a mental work out, you could set it to 12.4 + 5/15 of (14.1-12.4), which is the same setting. So, not set up for Nm…)

I needed this for 300Nm crankshaft new nut install. I checked this wrench against another that I have, that I know is calibrated, and it is as good as my other one for stated accuracy. One slight criticism is the 1/2 inch square drive is slightly undersize compared to my other 1/2 inch tools. It has a click fit ball bearing so it’s not a big deal; just a bit loose. Highly recommended 🙂 A+