Yahoo Movies MichaelPro’s Click Through Torque Wrench Doubles as an Excellent Tire Iron
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There’s a clear consensus that getting a flat tire is a poor experience. Being stranded on the side of the road is not only inconvenient. It's also dangerous. Plus, if you’re committed enough to change a flat yourself—instead of throwing in the towel and calling AAA—it’s not like you have a complete Snap-On toolkit at your disposal; the equipment in your trunk has been designed to be economical on weight and functionality.
Thankfully, MichaelPro makes a stout tire iron replacement that doubles as a torque wrench. Its double functionality is made possible thanks to a bit driver that slides up and down the shaft of the torque wrench—the driver clicks into place at the top and at the middle. In its T-mode (with the driver at the top) it can be used as a torque wrench, while X-mode (with the driver in the middle) is best used for breaking wheel nuts loose and tightening them back up most of the way.
Below, I’ve laid out how it works along with some of my most and least favorite features.
Breaking Wheel Nuts Loose
When it comes to breaking wheel nuts loose, the standard “wrench” that comes in the back of my Volkswagen GTI just doesn’t cut it. I’d wager my pencil-thin arms could play a role, but let’s not dwell on that. More often than not, I need to use my body weight and my feet to work any of the wheel nuts loose. However, MichaelPro’s torque wrench doubles as an excellent tire iron, easing both the removal and installation processes.
You’ll see that with the driver in its X-position, the tool gives me plenty of leverage to break all of the wheel nuts loose with ease. Plus, once I’ve done the hard work, the driver spins freely, allowing me to spin the nuts the rest of the way off. No more getting your fingers filthy to get those lugs off.
Getting The Right Fit For Your Vehicle
While MichaelPro says that the provided sockets fit up to 90 percent of vehicles, they aren’t exactly what you’d call a “factory fit.” Sure, the 11⁄16–inch socket worked on my GTI, but it didn’t feel like an absolute match. A quick measure with a set of calipers reveals that they’re actually 17.4 millimeters—problematic for my GTI that necessitates a 17mm socket. However, it's really no big deal if you have an existing 1⁄2–inch socket set knocking around, as those will be millimeter–perfect.
The included sockets are all constructed using chrome vanadium, an industry standard for tools that see high–impact usage. Just as its name states, it’s a type of steel created using chromium and vanadium. During the refining process, workers will heat–treat the material to reinforce it. This inherent rigidity makes it perfect for use in hand tools, but not ideal for more stringent applications like impact wrenches.
Torque To Spec
The meat and potatoes of the MichaelPro Click Through torque wrench is that it is, ahem, a torque wrench. And a good one at that. While X-mode is great for breaking wheel nuts loose—and tightening them back up most of the way—T-mode will give you the most leverage for using the torque wrench properly. Once the nuts are snug, you’ll want to finish them off with the torque wrench to prevent over-tightening them, which is bad news.
If you’ve used a torque wrench before, the Click Through is business as usual in T-mode. However, we’ll indulge those of you who may be new. The bottom of the tool has a locking knob that allows you to adjust the torque figure from 50 pound-feet all the way to 130 lb-ft. After checking my owner's manual to find the correct torque figure, I could easily engage the knob at the bottom of the torque wrench and select the proper number for my vehicle—88 lb-ft if you’re a Mk 7 Volkswagen GTI owner who is keeping track.
While it’s easy to say “what’s the big deal, it’s just a torque wrench,” it’s actually so much more than that. As someone who is generally a nervous wreck when working on my car, I’m always second-guessing if I’ve done things right. However, torque wrenches give you peace of mind in knowing that your wheel nuts (and really any other fasteners) are installed properly—and the chance of them coming off is slim to none.
Small But Mighty Package
When it comes to keeping things in the trunk of my car, I prefer them to be relatively small and discrete; thankfully, the hard-plastic case the Click Through comes in is just that. My only minor gripe is that it slid around quite a bit when not in use. However, that was fixed with a small piece of velcro on the bottom of the box to help it stay put.
Normally the clever combo tool would set you back $80. However, at the time of writing this article, you can get your hands on the Click Through for just $58.49—a 27% discount.
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