Do we have a torque wrench that’s adjustable like a crescent wrench? I need to do some A/C hose fittings and can’t use sockets.
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I don’t think we have a tool like you’re describing.
Perhaps you could use a crows foot to get a torque wrench on it?
ETA: The crows foot would change the geometry of the setup, you may need to do some math to make sure you’re achieving the desired torque.
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I was just going to comment that I’d need to break out a calculator!
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This would be the usual MO for most autotechs. Of coure, one should do some maths on it, to convert stated torque from applied torque given offset of torque wrench action, etc, but rarely, if ever, is a autotech bothered by such mundanity.
This seems handy!
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Like this. Costs 1/3 of what such a torque wrench would cost me. Honestly the difference between a foot pound and a 13-inch-pound works out close enough at the torque values I’ll be working with though I might do some math anyway just to see.
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That…um…that is not an adjustable jaw torque wrench. It is an adjustable jaw crow’s foot wrench. Maths requirement still applies.
Sweet! Thanks!
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as far as I know, we haven’t one of these
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5XLDMS
and honestly, I’m surprised to find such a thing is made. But I guess when we enter a world where following protocol matters more than accomplishing a task, and protocol tells us we MUST measure torque, regardless of how uncontrolled the conditions, we measure torque, regardless of accuracy.
I wonder what would David K. have to say about this?
What size? I have crows feet in various sizes, metric and standard. I also have the line wrench version.
Because you can never have too many tools. 
They make torque wrenches with changeable heads that are spanners.
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Why would this be any less accurate than a torque wrench that uses sockets?
These things are typically used with HVAC where you’re torquing a captive nut on a refrigerant line.
I’m not sure of the sizes yet. They’re way back on the firewall and I haven’t climbed back there yet. I’m pretty sure I have a flare nut Crows foot that will fit the high pressure line. The return is significantly bigger - like maybe 24-26mm.
Adjustable jaws have slip & slop that non-adjustable do not. Some torque will be therein misimparted.
Hm. I’m not sure I can wrap my head around the physics here. If the wrench clicks, that much torque was applied to the fastener. There isn’t anything else it could have been applied to.
Why you would need a torque measuring device for this task…oh well.
Invest in something “like” a Snap On Versa-Torque system and the appropriate 3/8 drive line wrench (loke Tim has) and you get the results you desire.
M. Well. If the wrench clicks, that much torque was applied to the wrench (handle). That torque being applied to the fastener depends on what happens in between the handle & the fastener. It’s preferable that the system between the handle and the fastener minimize the opportunity for torque to be applied to other than the fastener. This is why when torque is important we cannot use e.g. extensions between the wrench and the socket.
Of course, if fastener clamping force actually mattered we would use other methods of checking for proper clamping between fastener and fastenee, like stretch gauges or other deformation measurements. This type of torque procedure is largely feel-good (but feeling good about not having overtorqued is important, too, esp. with hollow structures carrying refrigerant - this way, we don’t go all King Kong on it & crack something - easily done with this type of system).
I’m noting buying this, though it would be fun to argue over if alcohol were allowed at the space.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with using an extension if needed. Where does the torque go? Unless you are permanently deforming the extension, it might twist slightly but through its elasticity will exert on the fastener exactly the amount of torque it’s absorbing (plus that which it’s not)…
Oh I know. They do make adjustable torque wrenches but I was just commenting that I found that for much less $.
Where most effort goes that doesn’t make it to the intended end point - heat. Heats up when you deform, heats up again when returning to shape.
Anywho. Believe it or not, it’s generally accepted fact in fields where fastener torque is measured that we want as little “give” in that torqueing system as possible because slip & slop are wasters of effort.
This has always been a fun topic, and I’m still convinced ‘no extensions on torque wrenches’ is a common misconception.
In something like an impact, I absolutely agree, extensions, or really anything that decreases the torsional rigidity of the system will reduce the effectiveness of the impact. But that’s a dynamic system, where the ‘springiness’ of the extension can absorb the blow of the impact.
Torques wrenches, on the other hand, are static (if you’re using it correctly). Sure, the extension may twist, you might ultimately turn the torque wrench a few more degrees than the fastener rotated, but once everything stops rotating and reaches steady state, the torque in will equal the torque out.
Heat would have to be produced by work, which is a torque times rotation. The heat in the extension would build up as the extension twists or untwists, but it doesn’t ‘absorb’ torque from the wrench. Again, once everything stops rotating, there’s no more work being done, even though there’s quite a bit of torque still being exerted.
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Andrew, this reminds me of when my useless now dead older brother was about to mangle the suction line on his 300SDL years ago. Breaking the bond loose was beyond any spanner…so i cut the aluminum tube close to the nut and used my IR impact with a socket and zipped it off.
The car owner/brother was unhappy at first…it was better replacing the hardline that dissappears beyond the first and second firewalls.
Later that day all the rubber hose sections and the cut end were replaced with new hoses and he had operable air conditioning…no torque wrench was used in that repair.
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