As an affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases made on our website.
Getting yourself a torque wrench is probably going to be one of the more important things if you’re going to be working on your own dirt bike. Your dirt bike manual is going to give you specific numbers for how tight you should tighten each of the bolts on your bike. If you do happen to over or under tighten any of the bolts it could result in some major issues down the line.
Depending on what part of the bike you’re working on, some of the material actually isn’t that strong and when you’re screwing a solid metal bolt into it, if you tighten it even a little bit too much it can easily break. On the other hand, if you don’t tighten it enough the vibrations from the bike can actually loosen it and can end up falling out. Just imagine if this would have happened to your oil drain bolt.
This is why it’s highly recommended that you get yourself a torque wrench. So, what is the best torque wrench to get for your dirt bike? The best torque wrench and the one I’ve been using is the Summit Tools ¼” digital torque wrench from Amazon. It’s a little bit more expensive than your standard wrench but it’s going to give you a digital reading of exactly how much pressure you’re putting on the bolts so you know for sure that you have the right torque.
What Is A Torque Wrench?
A torque wrench is a simple tool that will tell you how much pressure you’re putting on a bolt. Some wrenches have a digital reading, some of them will click when you get to a certain amount of pressure, and then the more basic ones don’t do anything and pretty much just go off of feel.
I probably wouldn’t recommend going with the basic option just because some of the bolts on your bike are going to be super specific and even the slightest amount of pressure can actually snap them off. Some bolts might require a certain amount of pounds of pressure while others might require two pounds more or two pounds less and even that small difference can result in some pretty big problems if you were to get it wrong.
This is why they’re so useful and this is why you should definitely use one if you’re going to be working on your own bike.
Things To Look For In A Torque Wrench
The first thing you want to look for in a torque wrench is that it can be adjusted between about 2 and 20 pounds. Most of the bolts on your dirt bike will be in that range and it’s important you check beforehand just because a lot of torque wrenches out there start at around 20 lbs.
The second thing to look for is that the wrench is actually well built and does have positive reviews. I’ve heard a few stories over the years about some makes and models of torque wrenches that weren’t very close to being accurate at all. Some of them are kind of cheaply made and those ones tend to bend and break and will become uncalibrated if it were to get dropped. So, before you go out and buy one just hop on over to Amazon and check the reviews.
The third thing to look for in a wrench is that there should be either a digital reader or one that clicks once you’ve reached the correct torque. I do prefer the digital option for doing work on a bike just because it is a little bit more precise but I do use one that clicks when I’m doing work on the car and it will work as long as it can handle the lower torque jobs.
The last thing you want to make sure is that you have the right size. There are a bunch of different sizes of torque wrenches you can get and probably the most common one would be a quarter inch. This size will handle pretty much all of the more common bolts and it’s always worked well for me.
Best Cheap Torque Wrench
If you don’t want to spend the money to get a brand new wrench there is another option. You can actually get an adapter that attaches to your normal wrench and it’ll tell you how much torque you’re putting on the bolt. It’s essentially the same thing as the digital wrench but it’s a bit cheaper. I don’t have one myself so I can’t really say if it’s as accurate, but the reviews seem to be fairly good. You can check that out here on Amazon.
Final Thoughts
If you’re going to be doing any sort of work on your bike I’d highly recommend you get some sort of torque wrench. My favorite is the digital version but even one that clicks will work well. There is so much that can go wrong if you don’t tighten the bolts correctly and it can result in a big bike bill.
Do yourself a favor and spend a little bit of money. It’ll last you a long time and you’ll probably use it for more than just your dirt bike. Maintain it well by storing it in the proper box, try your best not to drop it, and only use it for tightening (not loosening) the bolts on your dirt bike or vehicle.
Let me know your thoughts and any questions you have. Like this article? Feel free to give it a share!
Looking to get some new dirt bike gear? Click here to check out our recommended gear page to see the stuff we’re actually using and the cheapest place to get them.