Torque wrench recommendation?

ex-Chinese Dave · Saturday at 11:13 AM

I'm thinking about buying a torque wrench that will cover most 172 DIY jobs, so obviously not for head bolts etc. What is out there that does the job but is well priced as it won't be used to often?

-Jamie- · Saturday at 11:14 AM

Teng do reasonably good value torque wrenches had mine for years and is fine for what I use it for

Yarp · Saturday at 11:30 AM

Head bolts are only 20NM and then angled so you’d probably manage.

I’ve had one for years but it does 30NM to silly sausage NM but was utterly useless when I started the engine build.

As above, I got a little Teng one that does 5 to 25NM and it’s perfect for all the little engine bits. Not the most expensive of things and doesn’t need to be for how often it gets used either. Most the stuff on the engine is somewhere between 7 and 12NM so it’s just the job.

Mr Squashie · Saturday at 11:31 AM

+1 for Teng

Flob · Saturday at 11:32 AM

Budget?

You will likely need 2 torque wrenches to cover all jobs. Big boy for things like hub nuts, suspension bolts and some engine bits, and a smaller one to cover everything else.

Probably better to buy one with a job in mind as you will know what torque range you need. Norbar make good torque wrenches, Halfords are often good too. Then theres a whole range of Chinese digital ones, some of which are apparently very good.

Mr Trailer Man · Saturday at 11:39 AM

I got by with a Clarke special from Machine Mart for years.

28Nm-210Nm I believe it was.

I still use their 5-25Nm wrench actually.

Yarp · Saturday at 11:39 AM

Flob said:
Budget?

You will likely need 2 torque wrenches to cover all jobs. Big boy for things like hub nuts, suspension bolts and some engine bits, and a smaller one to cover everything else.

Probably better to buy one with a job in mind as you will know what torque range you need. Norbar make good torque wrenches, Halfords are often good too. Then theres a whole range of Chinese digital ones, some of which are apparently very good.

My big one is a Halfords one and it's been decent. It's the older style with the rotating numbers so dead easy to work out what it's set to compared to the newer ones that have the spring thing in the handle. The prices on the newer ones are crazy compered to what they used to be too. I'm sure my old one was about 50 quid and now the cheapest ones are still around £100 even on shady trady.

You're right with needing 2 though. A one big enough for the high torque stuff won't do any of the engine bits and the ones that go low enough for smaller bolts will fall short on the high torque bits.

ex-Chinese Dave · Saturday at 11:50 AM

Thanks for the replies.

I can do jobs like bodywork, seats, brakes and some suspension parts (hate springs!) so i'll have a look for some info on what the range of torque settings are for those kind of jobs and buy one that covers them as much as possible with one wrench.

ex-Chinese Dave · Saturday at 11:55 AM

Would you buy second-hand or not?

Mr Trailer Man · Saturday at 12:16 PM

ex-Chinese Dave said:
Would you buy second-hand or not?

Probably not considering the Clarke ones I mentioned are like £30-45 new and will be perfectly adequate for what you need.

Yarp · Saturday at 12:17 PM

ex-Chinese Dave said:
Would you buy second-hand or not?

For the price of a new one from Teng or similar I probably wouldn't bother unless the cost saving is huge and it's a really decent one.

They are easy enough to calibrate/check though. Stick it on an uber tight bolt and dangle a 5kg weight at 41cm from the pivot to check 20NM. 40NM with a 10kg weight at same spot and so on.

You've got more scope for error on bigger bolts. 2NM out on a 120NM bolt isn't a piss in the wind. 2NM out on a 7NM bolt is a canny bit.

ex-Chinese Dave · Saturday at 12:18 PM

Mr Trailer Man said:
Probably not considering the Clarke ones I mentioned are like £30-45 new and will be perfectly adequate for what you need.

Agree...just comparing prices and why not get new?

Mr Trailer Man · Saturday at 12:20 PM

ex-Chinese Dave said:
Agree...just comparing prices and why not get new?

Exactly.

If we were talking a Snap-on digital 1/2" then yeah I'd definitely look at second hand 😅

ex-Chinese Dave · Saturday at 12:22 PM

These two would probably cover everything...

Clarke CHT204 - 3/8" Drive Reversible Torque Wrench - Machine Mart

www.machinemart.co.uk

Clarke CHT952 1/2" Drive Torque Wrench, Extension Bar & Sockets ( 60-210Nm ) - Machine Mart

www.machinemart.co.uk

Mr Trailer Man · Saturday at 12:29 PM

ex-Chinese Dave said:
These two would probably cover everything...

Clarke CHT204 - 3/8" Drive Reversible Torque Wrench - Machine Mart

www.machinemart.co.uk

Clarke CHT952 1/2" Drive Torque Wrench, Extension Bar & Sockets ( 60-210Nm ) - Machine Mart

www.machinemart.co.uk

Pretty much yeah.

MAXRUNDOWN · Saturday at 1:13 PM

Another vote for norbar, I use them at work and have a set at home, these will cover everything you need to do and last a lifetime

Mr Trailer Man · Saturday at 1:15 PM

MAXRUNDOWN said:
Another vote for norbar, I use them at work and have a set at home, these will cover everything you need to do and last a lifetime

View attachment 1776538 View attachment 1776539 View attachment 1776540

Got some money yow!

Clio_fool · Saturday at 1:22 PM

I've got a 20-100 norbar one thats 27 years old now! Used it today and it's still bang on. I've also got a silver line one off amazon for the bigger numbers which is pleasingly solid considering the price.

Flob · Saturday at 1:42 PM

Clio_fool said:
I've got a 20-100 norbar one thats 27 years old now! Used it today and it's still bang on. I've also got a silver line one off amazon for the bigger numbers which is pleasingly solid considering the price.

How do you know its bang on?

Clio_fool · Saturday at 2:21 PM

Flob said:
How do you know its bang on?

View attachment 1776544

Next door neighbor took it to work and calibrated it for me. 😝

alistairolsen · Saturday at 4:26 PM

Halfords, on Trade Club. Doubt youll find better cheaper.

mumpy · Saturday at 6:13 PM

I've got Halfords ones personally, two torque wrenches, got them on discount some years ago, not had an issue!

Mertin · Sunday at 12:25 PM

The halford's ones are identical to Norbar ones, and as said above try get one on trade card or join the motoring club and try get a money off voucher.

I have the below halfords ones and covers most things from engine components to wheel bolts. They do a range of 4, I went for 2nd lowest & 2nd highest.

https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/spanners-and-wrenches/halfords-advanced-torque-wrench-model-100-488703.html?stockInventory=undefined

https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/spanners-and-wrenches/halfords-advanced-torque-wrench-model-200-488711.html?stockInventory=undefined

OEM Cooler Box Nonce · Sunday at 1:38 PM

Mertin said:
The halford's ones are identical to Norbar ones, and as said above try get one on trade card or join the motoring club and try get a money off voucher.

I have the below halfords ones and covers most things from engine components to wheel bolts. They do a range of 4, I went for 2nd lowest & 2nd highest.

https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/spanners-and-wrenches/halfords-advanced-torque-wrench-model-100-488703.html?stockInventory=undefined

https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/spanners-and-wrenches/halfords-advanced-torque-wrench-model-200-488711.html?stockInventory=undefined

£100 and £104 with a trade card them so a bit cheaper than the norbar ones.

Martin_172 · Sunday at 4:42 PM

Halfords for me, ive got a cheap sealey one for small stuff think it only does upto 30nm

photo_ed · Sunday at 4:53 PM

I've got a Halfords one, bought a couple of years ago for the classic Mini engine rebuild. I'd say it's been excellent.

Tends to just get used for wheel bolts recently though, handy to have @Tighten My Nuts

Mertin · 2026-02-09T22:24:01+0000

OEM Cooler Box Nonce said:
£100 and £104 with a trade card them so a bit cheaper than the norbar ones.

Pretty sure they are manufactured by Norbar so its a no brainer really

Brigsy · 2026-02-09T22:54:06+0000

Halfords torque wrenches are norbar iirc, decent, fair priced. Sealey premier not bad too.

Snap on clicker type come up cheap often 2nd hand. Reliable, get it calibrated and last a lifetime if looked after.

Avoid the real cheap torque wrenches, as years ago i had one fail to click whilst doing a head job. Luckily it was a vauxhall 8v engine so i just sent the headbolts down ft.

Personally i have a big 1/2" Halfords one, small 3/8" halfords, 1/4" sealey premier. I also have a snap on techangle which is great for angle tightening stuff, for the price its pretty fragile. I repaired it once myself, but had to admit defeat and send it back to snapon for repair as display kept going off.

thecrim22 · 2026-02-10T08:54:25+0000

Use a ratchet and make click noise when tight way cheaper 👍👍

I Changed My Name · 2026-02-10T09:05:47+0000

Norbar or Sykes Pickavant

None of mine have let me down

T3gav · 2026-02-10T09:24:33+0000

Whatever you choose make sure it's reversible, the Halfords/Norbar ones are great for this as you can push the drive through and torque LH threaded bolts.

Chrisgti6 · 2026-02-10T10:07:40+0000

T3gav said:
Whatever you choose make sure it's reversible, the Halfords/Norbar ones are great for this as you can push the drive through and torque LH threaded bolts.

Also handy for undoing things like glow plugs

I have a couple of the Halfords ones, they are well made and accurate. They also have a decent storage case.

dann2707 · 2026-02-10T10:15:51+0000

Another vote for Halfords advanced.

Used an electric one and absolutely couldn't get on with it at all.

I need that satisfying click.

And if you're a youtuber, make sure you click it twice 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪

Torque wrench recommendation?

CSF Harvester

Not all gingers stink of piss. But I do.

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