Torque wrench problem

[Chris B.]

I have a Craftsmen Torque wrench that is very old but looks new. I tested it buy torquing it on a bolt set at 100 ft lbs by a known good torque wrench and it poped right about 100 ft lbs.
So my problem is if often slips while I'm putting force to it. I make sure it is locked in the proper direction and start to apply force and then it slips. This really ****** me off because it causes me to slam my head into the side of the car and pull every strained muscle in my body as it slips!!!

What might cause it to slip? Broken gear?

 

[Rooy]

Check out the gears/ratchet. There should be some sort of clip or screws that holds the drive in. Some of the types of clips can be a bit tricky to undo. If it's gotten a lot of use, it very well could be worn out.

 

[michael harris]

its a craftsman.... return it. lifetime warranty, no questions asked, if in fact you wanna go that route. nostalgia is great but has no place in regards to torque wrenches in use. wall hanging , great, head bolts, not great. it is likely the engagement dog or the center gear. it could likely be re-tuned a bit. but there's your options .
44H

 

[Chris B.]

I did not think that Craftsmen warranted torque wrenches for life. Are you sure they do?

 

[Timothy Ferguson]

Every Craftsman tool that is sold from Sears/Kmart is warranted for life and will be replaced for free. Has always been that way.

 

[Amkeer]

Not true about the lifetime warranty on craftsman tools.

 

[Timothy Ferguson]

Every tool that I have every bought from a Car Jack to a screw driver including the screw driver set that was left to me from my great grandfather when he passed (manufacturing date 1942) have a lifetime warrenty and when one of his screwdrivers broke and he also left me a drill (date 1972) that broke. The screwdriver was replaced free of charge and the drill fixed free of charge. I have never had or seen a craftsman tool not have a warrenty or have problems getting warrenty work done.

 

[michael harris]

this is straight off the craftsmen site verbatim :

* If any Craftsman hand tool ever fails to give complete satisfaction,
return it for free repair or replacement.

doesn't seem too cloudy to me....
44H

 

[kanling]

The key word is HAND tool. Power tools are exempt from the warranty.

Now I had two particular hand tools from Craftsman that did after a time break. So I took them into Sears so that I could get replacements.

And they no longer carried either of those products or anything comparable, the employees didn't care, and I returned them without a receipt for the lowest price that they were ever sold for according to the computer... which of course was a lot less than I paid originally.

After that, the "Craftsman" name was taken down a few notches in my mind.

 

[9c1]

A couple of years ago I tried to return a Craftsman torque wrench with similar problems to Sears. Their click type torque wrenches have a 90 day warrantee. They showed me right on the box the new wrench came in, and nothing would convince them otherwise.
The problem in my case was with the ratcheting mechanism. If you have a Craftsman ratchet of the same size as the torque wrench -- it likely has the same internals as the torque wrench. Swap the worn internal ratcheting parts and return the ratchet wrench. That does have a lifetime guarantee.
You might try going to different Sears stores. You might get lucky and find one that will exchange it, but the swap of parts was easier for me.
Terry

 

[tom slick]

maybe the sears website has replacement parts. the ratchet mechanism is very easy to replace.

 

[Chris B.]

I asked how much it would cost to recalibrate it and they said more then it would cost to buy a new one.

 

[Amkeer]

As I said, they do not offer lifetime gaurantee on EVERY Craftsman tool! I own numerous hand tools and power tools with the Craftsman name over the past 22 years. Most have been either thrown away or given away since they are of lower quality for the most part. My most recent purchase is the torque wrench and I can tell you it says right on the box a 30 or 90 day warrantee. You can still get them to honor the warrantees on ratchets and wrenches, etc..

 

[1sttruck]

As I recall the beam type wrenches have a lifetime warranty while the click type only have a year or so. You should have both if you insist on having a click type as you'll need to check calibration, and will need to use the beam type type when the click type isn't working right. I have a couple of beam types, and although a click type would be handy once in awhile I still haven't picked one up.

 

[seotaji]

recalibration is $30 plus (s&h).

craftsman has a very short warranty for torque wrenches. i agree with amkeer.

 

[Scooby]

From experience, the click torque wrenches are not covered under the lifetime warranty. You may luck up and have an associate swap one, but not likely. There is a written provision for them, and I asked to see it and they showed me.