Exactly. If it's important you should have the tool calibrated. Whether it's a $30 piece of scrap metal or a $300 tool.
Otherwise just use a regular ratchet.
Harbor Freight Test Lab Tour
- Thread starter Stick Figure
- Start date
Otherwise just use a regular ratchet.
six-T-seven
Banned
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2011
- Messages
- 731
Absolutely Not.... I have NO proof that HF isnt as good as a Precision Instrument Torque wrench. I Choose only to buy from someone who specializes in the Craft versus the Big box Store. Maybe Im Wasting my Money.. Dunno but its MINE to Waste.
Lug nuts on my wheels I have no issue with using my $15 HF torque wrench, same for using the $10 1/4 drive version on water pump bolts and a host of other small but somewhat critical fasteners, but when it comes time to assemble my motor I think I will be borrowing my friends Techangle.
The heads are torque to some value then 270 degrees and the Techangle is going to show me if anything funny happens like the stud starts to yield. Being something like a full weekend of labor to get back in if I made a mistake makes me extra cautious, and I have a lot more confidence in his torque wrench. Mostly because he uses it all the time, and it has a clear track record of working well as well as being checked on a regular basis. If he was using a HF wrench the same way I would have no issues using it instead.
I don't care what brand it is, without that track record from a person I trust, I'm not going to fully trust the torque wrench, and that would apply to a brand new Techangle fresh off the truck.
The heads are torque to some value then 270 degrees and the Techangle is going to show me if anything funny happens like the stud starts to yield. Being something like a full weekend of labor to get back in if I made a mistake makes me extra cautious, and I have a lot more confidence in his torque wrench. Mostly because he uses it all the time, and it has a clear track record of working well as well as being checked on a regular basis. If he was using a HF wrench the same way I would have no issues using it instead.
I don't care what brand it is, without that track record from a person I trust, I'm not going to fully trust the torque wrench, and that would apply to a brand new Techangle fresh off the truck.
tool whore
Banned
I have seen the lab articles a couple of times in a few different mags. They are definitely a joke and everyone here knows that. Most people who shop there (in my area) dont have all their teeth. Not to be degrading, but they arent wrenching for a living and if they are its not aplace that comes highly recommended for service reliability or ASE type work. You can count on that. Will that change? Who knows.
About the torque wrenches. One thing is they are better for a weekend warrior and I wouldnt probably put a race engine together with one, but my differential cover is cool. I cant reliably torque 15 bolts to 30# with a 3/8" ratchet of any brand. If I had to pay $300 to get a SO, I'd use the ratchet and check for leaks every few days until I new it was good and then I'd quit checking. Not a race engine.
The torque wrenches from HF are fairly tricky to understand if you dont have all the info. Its like they (HF) would like you to break some bolts and raise 4 types of hell so that they can calibrate and show you how wrong you are. You would generally be wrong in this case. First, they are spring loaded and should NEVER be kept wound. You should unwind them everytime you use them. Second, you have to wind them in and out (cycle) one time before setting them. If you dont, here's your sign for being a DuMass. Read all the fine print and you will uncover this. This will prevent bolt stretching, bolt breaking, borrowing your buddys' tools and overspending on like items. Most people dont read well, jump to conclusions about what they 'thought' and break **** and blame it on the tool. The tool was perfectly fine in the box and didnt break anyhting until some mechanic decided to use it incorrectly. Guys with $300 TqW's are NOT sending them in regularly for calibration, despite what you hear here. If they are or want to argue over the web, just post a receipt and I'll issue an apology. I have had the over clicking issue and that's how I come to realize my inability to follow directions. I fixed that. There's a very detailed post that explains this in detail here, somewhere.
About the torque wrenches. One thing is they are better for a weekend warrior and I wouldnt probably put a race engine together with one, but my differential cover is cool. I cant reliably torque 15 bolts to 30# with a 3/8" ratchet of any brand. If I had to pay $300 to get a SO, I'd use the ratchet and check for leaks every few days until I new it was good and then I'd quit checking. Not a race engine.
The torque wrenches from HF are fairly tricky to understand if you dont have all the info. Its like they (HF) would like you to break some bolts and raise 4 types of hell so that they can calibrate and show you how wrong you are. You would generally be wrong in this case. First, they are spring loaded and should NEVER be kept wound. You should unwind them everytime you use them. Second, you have to wind them in and out (cycle) one time before setting them. If you dont, here's your sign for being a DuMass. Read all the fine print and you will uncover this. This will prevent bolt stretching, bolt breaking, borrowing your buddys' tools and overspending on like items. Most people dont read well, jump to conclusions about what they 'thought' and break **** and blame it on the tool. The tool was perfectly fine in the box and didnt break anyhting until some mechanic decided to use it incorrectly. Guys with $300 TqW's are NOT sending them in regularly for calibration, despite what you hear here. If they are or want to argue over the web, just post a receipt and I'll issue an apology. I have had the over clicking issue and that's how I come to realize my inability to follow directions. I fixed that. There's a very detailed post that explains this in detail here, somewhere.
GoBlue
Well-known member
Yep, it would be nice to get rid of all the Snap-on kooks!
Keep buying cheap imported ****...keeps us pros in buisiness
WRX/Z28
Well-known member
http://blogs.popularhotrodding.com/6736540/tech/tool-cart/index.html
Seems pretty spot on to me. FWIW, I have mostly snap on tools at home, but I put together a cheap HF cart with Evolv/HF/Craftsman and a few Snap on tools in it for keeping at work (i'm not a tech there).
Seems pretty spot on to me. FWIW, I have mostly snap on tools at home, but I put together a cheap HF cart with Evolv/HF/Craftsman and a few Snap on tools in it for keeping at work (i'm not a tech there).
Indy_500
Well-known member
I use Harbor Freight Torque wrenches on snowmobile motors all the time... No problems yet......... BOOM
Test Tech
Well-known member
What's hilarious is that there was no test equipment. Where was the Tinius-Olson / Instron machine? Where were the data acquisition systems?
Any self-respecting "test-lab" would be vastly different.
Oh and
You really hit the nail on the head!! In the last 17 years I've worked in 6 different test labs, some of which I've considered to be real dumps. I have to say that is the most poorly equiped test lab I've ever seen. I would not want to work there at all. In fact I cringe at the thought.
W650Mike
Well-known member
I finally went to a HF several weeks ago.
The only positive thing I learned was that they are not price gouging for the products – like some import re-badge tools. I couldn’t bring myself to buy any tools but I did buy a box of cotter pins.
At their prices, I can see why they stay busy…it's just not my style.
The only positive thing I learned was that they are not price gouging for the products – like some import re-badge tools. I couldn’t bring myself to buy any tools but I did buy a box of cotter pins.
At their prices, I can see why they stay busy…it's just not my style.
Test Tech
Well-known member
Yes Home Depot is startng to carry some of the same stuff, but that does'nt speak to the quality of the tools. It speaks to John Q. Public's desire for low prices in spite of poor quality. Many folks out there are not smart enough to realize that when you buy tools it is an investment in saving your own ***.
Now thats funny.
SpiderGearsMan
Banned
just job killing
BrokewrenchLS1
Well-known member
As someone who works in a test lab, the fact that they call that place a "test lab" sort of pisses me off. I guess if that place is a test lab, my Sunfire daily driver is a Top Fuel car if I put 93 octane in, since it's the top fuel sold at the normal gas pump.
One thing I'd note on torque wrenches...I use them quite a bit at work, and a lot of the clients we get bring their own in. I haven't seen a single brand that's consistent with calibration - be it Snap-On, Craftsman, a flea market cheapie, or whatever. I've seen Craftsman torque wrenches in much better tolerance out of the box than Snap-On, and I've seen others so far out they're basically an expensive ratchet. As with any precision measuring instrument, the cal needs to be done and maintained for the tool to be useful.
One thing I'd note on torque wrenches...I use them quite a bit at work, and a lot of the clients we get bring their own in. I haven't seen a single brand that's consistent with calibration - be it Snap-On, Craftsman, a flea market cheapie, or whatever. I've seen Craftsman torque wrenches in much better tolerance out of the box than Snap-On, and I've seen others so far out they're basically an expensive ratchet. As with any precision measuring instrument, the cal needs to be done and maintained for the tool to be useful.