Torque wrench recommendation?

[E-Ticket Ride]

Buying myself some Christmas Gifts for my wife to give me.:)
Looking for a 3/8' drive click type torque wrench for my build, and seeking advice on a reasonable choice.
Do the Craftsman ones work reasonably well, or is there a better choice?
Likely a once in a lifetime buy since I'm not likely to build my own engine and I tend to take care of tools reasonably well

TIA for any recommendations or comments!

CL

[AJ Roadster NJ]

Depends on what you're going to do with it. There are a lot of suspension mounting points that require fairly heavy torque, and also if you're going to be doing anything on your own motor (for example, head bolts or main cap bolts), you really need a 1/2" drive rather than 3/8" drive. The 3/8" sockets are just not going to do it when assembling your suspension, plus you might encounter a torque spec that goes beyond the capability of the 3/8" drive wrench.

Personally, I went with a Craftsman 1/2" drive needle deflection type wrench, the old-fashioned one. Some years ago, there was a lengthy discussion on the old forum about how the click-types need to be recalibrated periodically, and even right out of the box they can be accurate within one range (say, low torque) while being inaccurate at a different range (say, high torque). Most often though, they will go out of calibration across the range, which is in some ways just as bad. Just to top it off, for the price of a good click type, you can get yourself two of 'em -- one a 3/8" drive with a lower range, and one a 1/2" drive for the heavier jobs. If you don't have a 1/2" drive set with sockets, ask 'Santa' to help out there too, as you are going to need them.