SMKS
Well-known member
NOTE - This comparison is using the only HF torque wrench and Proto ratchet I have available. I don't know if HF has altered their torque wrench designs since I bought this model. Nor do I know if all Proto ratchets use an identical mechanism.
In another thread a member mentioned he had used a Proto rebuild kit in a Harbor Freight torque wrench. I knew the HF wrench used a copy of the Proto design, but I had never tried to swap them.
I decided to do some comparisons. This is a 1/2" drive HF torque wrench I purchased about 4 years ago and an older Proto 5449 1/2" drive ratchet.
What I found is that (using my examples) the kits are similar, but not identical. The main differences are in the pawls.
In my case, you can put a Proto kit in the HF torque wrench and it will work, but you cannot put a HF torque wrench mechanism in a Proto ratchet, because the HF pawls won’t fit in the Proto ratchet body.
Here you can see the designs are very similar. The HF clearly uses a copy of the old Proto design, which has been in use for decades.
In another thread a member mentioned he had used a Proto rebuild kit in a Harbor Freight torque wrench. I knew the HF wrench used a copy of the Proto design, but I had never tried to swap them.
I decided to do some comparisons. This is a 1/2" drive HF torque wrench I purchased about 4 years ago and an older Proto 5449 1/2" drive ratchet.
What I found is that (using my examples) the kits are similar, but not identical. The main differences are in the pawls.
In my case, you can put a Proto kit in the HF torque wrench and it will work, but you cannot put a HF torque wrench mechanism in a Proto ratchet, because the HF pawls won’t fit in the Proto ratchet body.
Here you can see the designs are very similar. The HF clearly uses a copy of the old Proto design, which has been in use for decades.
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