Triumphrat

itcha

I wanted to buy myself a torque wrench for when tinkering with the bike. What is the best size to get to cover most of the settings on the Thruxton. I also see in the Haynes manual that they use Newton Metres.
Would a 3/8 torque wrench be the best size?? Would there be any need for a 1/2 wrench. I've never owned one of these suckers as if you couldn't tell.

Cheers.

Dickie2679

I have two, one 3/8" drive (10-40Nm) & a 1/2" drive (60?-200Nm) this seems to cover most things, I find that I use the 3/8" drive most. But I'm the sort who sets the drain plug on my car with a torque wrench.

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Farnham1

Ditto, I use a 3/8 drive wrench for the lower torques and fit a 1/4 converter for use with larger sockets. I also have a 1/4 wrench for higher torques. Having seen the pain experienced by those who have stripped threads and being a bit new at maintenance I have been sticking to the figures. There is a good printable .pdf file of torque settings in the downloads section.

panthercity

IIRC, the axle nuts are the only "normal" maintenance items that you'll need a 1/2" drive torque wrench for. A 3/8" should handle the rest.

Keep in mind that a torque wrench is most accurate at the center of its range. Consequently, you're better off buying a range of good torque wrenches if you are going to be doing this for a while.

One of my mottos, "A man can never have too many tools or too many bikes. He can have too small a garage, but not too many bikes and tools."

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Dickie2679

I used one of these in my last job
Torque wrench
very good, but expensive (£1000+) dropped them a few times, but that's how it is with tools :razz:

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joeswamp

You really need at least two of them, a small one for most stuff and a bigger one for axle nuts, cylinder head bolts, etc. Torque wrenches should typically only be used from about 20-90% of their range; below 20% they're inaccurate and near their upper limits there's the risk of damaging them.

In the US, the torque wrenches made by Precision Instruments are quite nice, and can be bought from several online tool dealers. This is the company that supplies the wrenches for Snap-on (who then double the price).

Bryan

I have several click wrenches 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2". I have one 1/2" flex wrench with an analog scale that comes in very handy and two 3/8" wrenches with an analog dial. I use all of them for different applications. A 3/8" and a 1/2" should take care of your needs quite well. I use the click wrenches when tightening bolts/nuts in places where I can't read the analog types. I like the analogs because they give a smooth even torque.

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SpeedyPete

I got the smaller 1/2" drive as a b-day present a few years back and have rarely been able to use it. If I had the 3/8" on the other hand....

Bottom line, a well stocked toolbox should have both and the larger is probably more useful. They are expensive little critters though.

P

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rwright

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5bassman

inch pounds instead of foot pounds?

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