Yeah, and what did that cost?

 

I never worked with cheap torque wrenches. Missile wings and parts have to be torqued to specs. We also check the applied torque before we use it.
Maybe a "little" overkill to the normal use- but talking with the biggest head gasket producers in Germany( Reinz and Elring) they went on pointing out the importance need of an accurate torque wrench. Most of the head related failures depend on wrong applied torque.

I have two torque wrenches(2% tolerance)and I keep an eye on them because they were pretty expensive.(of course I set them back to the lowest setting after each use)
Knowing the fact of having "no feel" for torque I have to use them.

Maybe you can get away with a cheap one, as long as all bolts have the same torque applied. I wouldn't take the risk of wrong torque at headbolts and differential carrier bolts.

They sell those cheap 15$ torque wrenches everywhere. They will be good enough for main use like tires nuts.
But for special use like I mentioned above I would avoid them like the devil the church. Gaskets and bolts and "leisure time" are too expensive to do it twice.

 

Right now the best quality TWs for your money are these. Great deal on Precision Instruments C3FR250F at ToolTopia.com and
Bottom-line pricing on Precision Instruments C2FR100F at ToolTopia.com
But if you want Digital I would'nt get anything other than a Snap-On or Matco

 

Precision Instruments also builds Snap-on torque wrenches.

 

I don't like the digital and alot of my customers didn't like them just because there was no click.... I know it sounds odd but I like the re assurance of the click-Click. Thats just personal preference though.

 

Has anyone used the Lowes brand Kobalt? A 1/2" 250 ftlb is $95 with a life-time "hassle-free" warranty.

 

Any more good words on these or suggestions on where to buy from, I gotta get these bought here in the next few days.

 

I think Mr. Myagi has answered your question here.

 

I bit the bullet and dropped $450 on a digital Snap-On. It beeps and vibrates when you're on the money. It makes julian fries. It keeps track of where you are when you're indexing. I'll never go back.

 

So these are the two I'm lookin at here, tell me if I'm on the right track. I don't know nothin about these things and in my world this is butt load a money right now so it's a one time shot.

Bottom-line pricing on Precision Instruments C2FR100F at ToolTopia.com

and

Great deal on Precision Instruments C3FR250F at ToolTopia.com