Thanks TNC, that eases my fears and makes a lot of sense.

 

Car Craft and the calibration shop that checked out the HF torque wrench and stress gauge took my fears away. I think Car Craft was thinking an expose of cheap tools, but was shocked to learn the HF tools were extremely accurate. Kind of killed off the shoot out, but they elaborated a bit on the testing and accuracy. Here is the article. No publication like Car Craft would risk their reputation with false claims.

 

I have a half inch clicker of some off the wall origin[?] and a Snap-On .5" digital and
a 1/4" drive inch clicker. Have never used the snap-on[s] yet.

 

I've found that the key to having an reliable torque wrench is ALWAYS returning it to its base setting. Leaving it in storage with it cranked down is death for most.

 

Yeah, that was "tested" in the Car Craft article. They did an experiment keeping the HF torque wrench set at 70 ft-lb testing it again after 30 days and again at 60 days. It radically altered the accuracy - read the article for more.