WARNING- Some Harbor Freight torque wrenches are now China made

[jeremy v]

Deleted.

 

[tbaggz]

Imagine that.

 

[jd_1138]

Sounds like a real flaming piece of excrement. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[GTA Matt]

Well, I for one, am shocked and appalled at this recent turn of events

 

[Skin]

Taiwan or China you get what you pay for at $10 or whatever ridiculous price they sell for.

 

[FreeTenthsDiag]

 

[panknuckshovel]

Sooooooo **** got crappier?

 

[thesilverone]

 

[BDT/NWMN]

My 3/8 torque wrenches!! that describes 2 of the 3 that I pissed money away on

 

[SteveCh]

HF sells junk? Seriously?

 

[toddoky]

I'm sure their design engineers performed a thorough FEA to ensure they would maintain the same "good as Snap-on" quality as the rest of their tools and I'm certain the move was made for reasons other than a cost-down initiative.

 

[getbent4x4]

only thing i trust mine for is torquing lug nuts, even then I have to take my time and hold it perfectly parallel to the wheel so it clicks when its suppose to. Head is full of slack. Can only imagine the extra effort to make sure the new style works correctly.

 

[PureLeaf]

Someone tell snap on. Looks like they may finally be edging out harbor freight!

 

[nicksnothereman]

I thought they were always china. I probably didn't even bother to look at the coo on the 10 dollar torque wrench I bought. Taiwan don't make no 10 dollar torque wrench! Hahahahaha.

 

[Charlief]

That's a shocker. Not.

 

[GirchyGirchy]

only thing i trust mine for is torquing lug nuts, even then I have to take my time and hold it perfectly parallel to the wheel so it clicks when its suppose to. Head is full of slack. Can only imagine the extra effort to make sure the new style works correctly.

Why bother? Get a beam type if the HF clickers are that crappy.

 

[wild cowboy]

I didn't realize that any of the HF torque wrenches were made in Taiwan, will be buying a dozen of each size that I can find that are still made in Taiwan as gifts! - thanks, OP!

 

[JUNK-MAN]

Good to know, I'm glad I got mine before they went China! I'm thinking about trading mine in anyway, but still good to know.

 

[venturesomerite]

I just assume, generally speaking, that everything in that store is made of chinese children. (no typo)

It never crossed my mind that they would be made anywhere else, I mean ****, your getting a torque wrench that is designed, materials collected and made, and shipped from across the world for like $10 witha coupon, and they are still making money.

What the hell do you really expect for that price? I'd be impressed if the thing held a socket on it for that price. Who really cares, you know what you are buying when you go into HF.

 

[dwysywd]

I just assume, generally speaking, that everything in that store is made of chinese children. (no typo)

It never crossed my mind that they would be made anywhere else, I mean ****, your getting a torque wrench that is designed, materials collected and made, and shipped from across the world for like $10 witha coupon, and they are still making money.

What the hell do you really expect for that price? I'd be impressed if the thing held a socket on it for that price. Who really cares, you know what you are buying when you go into HF.

Lmfao! Exactly! Well said. Can't say i amsurprised. Thanks for the reminder, don't trust precision with these tools. Buy whatever you want, but you always, 100% of the time, get what you paid for...ALWAYS!


Sent from my bag phone...

 

[mmack66]

I just assume, generally speaking, that everything in that store is made of chinese children. (no typo)

It never crossed my mind that they would be made anywhere else, I mean ****, your getting a torque wrench that is designed, materials collected and made, and shipped from across the world for like $10 witha coupon, and they are still making money.

What the hell do you really expect for that price? I'd be impressed if the thing held a socket on it for that price. Who really cares, you know what you are buying when you go into HF.

Bravo! It takes a real man to admit that he is clueless.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I assume everything in HF is made in China, but am pleasantly surprised when they are not.

The $79 Crafstman ones are made in China too.

Wonder how the new CHINA made HF torque wrenches work?
For $10 to $15 I wouldn't expect much no matter where they are made.

Chris

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Lmfao! Exactly! Well said............


Sent from my bag phone...

Would that mean you are claiming your Wife's cell phone??

 

[junktastic]

If I were torqueing anything remotely critical, I would not be using anything from Bottom Of The Harbor Freight.

 

[panknuckshovel]

I didn't realize that any of the HF torque wrenches were made in Taiwan, will be buying a dozen of each size that I can find that are still made in Taiwan as gifts! - thanks, OP!

A gift? Right up there with raisins at Halloween.

 

[mmack66]

Harbor Freight torque wrenches, despite their low price, or country of origin, have usually tested to be accurate, according to most of the reports I have read in the various threads here.

 

[Loscaldazar]

Harbor Freight torque wrenches, despite their low price, or country of origin, have usually tested to be accurate, according to most of the reports I have read in the various threads here.

Every torque wrench from there that I've tested has been within accuracy specs. Popular Mechanics also did a test that proved as much.

As much as people like to hate on the HF torque wrenches, they are actually really accurate and precise. As in accurate and precise enough to be used for engine, transmission, suspensions or whatever rebuilds.

But hey, many on this forum won't see truth if it were to walk up and hits them.

 

[blown94conv]

Brand new and out of the box, when tested they are accurate. How about 6 months later of daily use?

I mean, even the Yugo was good right off the lot. 50 miles later though....

 

[angrystroker]

HF = china tools ............ say it ani't so. What they switch over from taiwan cause of the quality control ?

Im so funny I could kill myself somtimes ....

 

[mmack66]

Brand new and out of the box, when tested they are accurate. How about 6 months later of daily use?

I mean, even the Yugo was good right off the lot. 50 miles later though....

How accurate is any clicker type torque wrench after 6 months of daily use?

 

[blown94conv]

How accurate is any clicker type torque wrench after 6 months of daily use?

I don't know, I would be curious how accurate any of them are. I get mine checked every 2-3 years, but I don't use them every day. I always zero them out, and store them in cases, but I wonder how far out they are. I just get a sticker saying they are calibrated, no before and after results.

 

[chipper]

You carry a torx screwdriver in your pocket?

 

[Art From De Leon]

Does this apply to the ones that HF supplies to Snap-on?

 

[dowmace]

Does this apply to the ones that HF supplies to Snap-on?

no those are made in Mexico with Chinese parts by Taiwanese immigrants.

 

[SMKS]

I know people in this thread are just reacting with knee-jerk generalizations and HF insults, but this change actually is a bummer. This same torque wrench ( the Taiwan version) is sold by many other brands for a lot more than the $10 price it's sold for at HF.

The HF torque wrench isn't the best torque wrench on earth. my CDI and Armstrong torque wrenches are better. But the HF wrench is a perfectly adequate torque wrench and it's good for many uses.

Car Craft tested them:
http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/additional-how-to/ccrp-1304-torque-wrench-testing/

Last year, I tested mine and it was still performing quite well. I originally bought it in about 2008, and it's been used to torque many wheels and other things.

Well, I'm off of work today so I decided to toss in some info for this thread.

Note - I'm not saying this is a scientific test, just that this is some casual data gathering by a DIY'er.

Also, how you pull can really affect the consistency of this torque wrench. A slow, steady solid pull that completes the clicking cycle seems to give me the best accuracy.

Anyway, here's what I did:

This torque wrench is about 5 years old and has been used a lot by me over the years to torque wheels and suspension parts. I also own CDI and Armstrong clicker torque wrenches and a couple beam torque wrenches.

I'm trying to give an honest perception of how the torque wrench works, good and bad, so I'll tell you exactly what I did.

I used my car as a testing device:

First, I decided to do a bunch of pulls to see how the consistency changed after several cycles. (All cycles performed with wrench set at 70 ft-lbs)

I didn't set the parking brake securely enough right off the bat and the car moved a lot on the first two pulls, which netted these low results. I actually would discount these, as I think it's my fault for not securing the car well, which gave inaccurate pulls that didn't follow through the click. But, to be fair, I included them:
65.7
65.4

The car was then better stabilized and I went through a number of cycles. Here's what I got:
67.9
66.9
66.3
67.2
69.7
70.2
68.3
68.2
68.9
68.3
69.1
67.8
69.9
69.5
69.3
69.9
69.5

Then, I ran the torque wrench all the way up and down and cycled it several more times. (NOTE - It's starting to get difficult to twist the grip on the this torque wrench sometimes. It may be reaching the end of it's usable life at 5 years and lots of use).

I then got these results (NOTE - these were all good, solid pulls that follow through the click):
69.9
70.6
69.2
69.8
71.0
71.0
68.4
70.6

Conclusions - If you can even take any conclusions from this unscientific example:

-Cycling the wrench does seem to help its accuracy and consistency.

-Consistent pulls that follow though the clicking cycle (for lack of a better term) give more accurate readings, in my case.

-This torque wrench is more than accurate enough for my needs.

-The HF torque adapter is a very interesting little tool that I've used quite a bit. I would encourage any serious DIY'ers to pick up a torque adapter. They're available from brands like Eastwood, Alltrade and I'm sure others.

-A torque adapter may be worth it's purchase price just to show a person how much their pulling method can affect the final applied torque.

 

[Skin]

Every torque wrench from there that I've tested has been within accuracy specs. Popular Mechanics also did a test that proved as much.

As much as people like to hate on the HF torque wrenches, they are actually really accurate and precise. As in accurate and precise enough to be used for engine, transmission, suspensions or whatever rebuilds.

But hey, many on this forum won't see truth if it were to walk up and hits them.

Forgive me but a few single picks is meaningless out of the vast quantity they've made over the years. How does their accuracy maintain during mass production and over the years is more indicative of quality. If you buy a CDI you know your getting a tested torque wrench within a calibrated % that is going to serve you well and reliably for a very very long time. HF is a lottery. I've also read an alarming number of complaints of them not clicking at all or the ratcheting mechanisms shearing off during the first few uses. When they click out of the desired torque range most people wont know. You get what you pay for. I'd rather use an impact wrench on my wheels than trust one of their $10 torque wrenches.

 

[geojag]

How do you tell the COO? I have a couple I picked up last year and don't see any indication. I assumed they were chinese, I don't plan to use them for anything too critical. I guess the COO may have been on the carboard around the plastic case.....

 

[Herod]

I read on this here forum that these are identical (if not better) than Snap on.

 

[ChevyEFI]

I feel warm and fuzzy about having a Taiwan Trio.
or maybe that 's dinner settling.

 

[railfancwb]

Lmfao! Exactly! Well said. Can't say i amsurprised. Thanks for the reminder, don't trust precision with these tools. Buy whatever you want, but you always, 100% of the time, get what you paid for...ALWAYS!


Sent from my bag phone...

No... Often enough you don't even get what you paid for...