$10 Torque Wrench

[Mgdoug3]

I scored a $10 torque wrench today but not a Harbor Freight one. It's a Craftsman 1/2" drive 944443. It has a date code of 2-77. I almost put this in the vintage section but it's more classic than vintage.

After I got home I tried it out. I loosened up a lug nut on my truck and torque it down to 145 lbs. I then grabbed my usual torque wrench for lug nuts and tested it. The nut didn't move. I repeated the test but used my usually one first but same result.

I bought the torque wrench because it looked cool. It turned out even better when I realized it still works. I won't use the Craftsman for critical torques but for the occasional lug nuts, I think it'll work just fine.

 

[Partsguy57]

I scored a $10 torque wrench today but not a Harbor Freight one. It's a Craftsman 1/2" drive 944443. It has a date code of 2-77. I almost put this in the vintage section but it's more classic than vintage.

After I got home I tried it out. I loosened up a lug nut on my truck and torque it down to 145 lbs. I then grabbed my usual torque wrench for lug nuts and tested it. The nut didn't move. I repeated the test but used my usually one first but same result.

I bought the torque wrench because it looked cool. It turned out even better when I realized it still works. I won't use the Craftsman for critical torques but for the occasional lug nuts, I think it'll work just fine.

Nice!!! Had someone not pay on their storage unit no bid at auction so I had to clean out... found a old snap on ratchet...

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[Mgdoug3]

I'm pretty happy about the deal. Is the anvil flipped the wrong direction or was that how it was made?

 

[Partsguy57]

I'm pretty happy about the deal. Is the anvil flipped the wrong direction or was that how it was made?

It was a deal... made that way.

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[Mgdoug3]

I also came home with a Thorsen beam style torque wrench that goes up to 100 lbs. I decided to use some sockets and hook the two together. Both torque wrenches mirrored each other. I grabbed my Performance Tool one I use for my wheels and checked it. Turns out my 41 year old Craftsman is more accurate. When I set my PT one to 75 lbs it would click around 72.

I almost wanted to calibrate it myself but decided against it. It's accurate enough for wheel studs. I have a Snap on tech angle when I need to do something critical but it's nice knowing my new to me Craftsman is accurate and can perform any task.

Edit: Tried both of my Snap ons and both read the same as the beam style. All 5 seem to be fairly accurate up to 100 lbs.

 

[May Pop]

Ive owned the same one since around 1975. I recalibrated it a couple of years ago. put together quite a few engines with it.

 

[5ktq]

I have the same one and have used it for years, but the mechanism finally wore out

after ratcheting once or twice it will skip (and not until its under a lot of load so you throw out your back)

 

[atikovi]

After I got home I tried it out. I loosened up a lug nut on my truck and torque it down to 145 lbs.

FWIW you're not supposed to use a torque wrench to loosen stuff.

 

[Mgdoug3]

FWIW, I used my impact to loosen up the nut but I didn't think it was an important detail to include.