Shiny Things We Do Not Need?

[John K Jordan]

I have the best lug wrench available its called ROAD SIDE SERVICE I never worry about how tight my lug nuts are LOL

Hmm, I wonder if they will come out when my bobcat is stuck in 8" of mud with a flat tire? I'll try calling next time!

[Doug Dawson]

Give me a digital click type wrench any day. I have the older Craftsman version in both 3/8" and 1/2" sizes.

I've used several generations of Craftsman clickers (but not the most recent,) and they were terrible at maintaining calibration. I wouldn't trust them nearly as far as I would throw them. Maybe if you calibrated them before each use, but then you'd need a calibrator (expensive itself.) Not worth it.

[Rob Lee]

Hi -

I change 48 tires per year (6 cars, snows on/off fall/spring). Used to use an impact driver, but it was hot, heavy, and gave me blisters. Now I use a breaker bar, and set with a torque wrench. Once you get used to a breaker bar, you can skip the torque wrench when you get used to what the correct torque feels like (assuming your car(s) require the same torque.

For the RV, I also have a 4' 3/4" drive torque wrench, as lugs have to be torqued to 450 ft/lb, and the re-torqued after the first 100km or so. Every season I check the torque of the tow plates etc on the car I tow too.

Important to do!

Cheers -

Rob