Harbor Freight Torque Wrench

[foxx_good]

I dont know how many of you are car guys but in this months motor trend HF ran an ad offering the 1/2 inch drive torque wrench for 10 bucks. This along with the 60 dollar race jack have me pondering a trip up there. I saw the epic fail thread so my question is is the HF wrench built ok and is it reasonably accurate because that price is unbeatable I am not expecting snap on digi precision here but is it in the ballpark? The ad does say +-6% should i trust them?

 

[Diesel-Mech]

I wouldn't even bother with the torque wrench.

 

[nissan_crawler]

Many mechanics at work have HF torque wrenches, they make cal more often than snap-ons do. Ask me how I know that.

My cummins tool truck 1/2" torque wrench passes cal, I paid $9 for it 10-15 years ago. It's been borrowed out, left set at a torque for over a month (DOH!), and still cals fine.

 

[Bo Heck]

I have the the torque wrenches and they do work just fine, but I am not a professional mechanic so they don't get used everyday. I do plan on upgrading some day in the future, but you can't beat them for the money if you don't have a lot of cash to spend on tools.

 

[jwith68]

I have the 3/8" and the 1/2" HF torque wrenches. The 3/8" hardly gets used, but I use the 1/2" frequently - no problems whatsoever. Think I caught each one on sale in the $10 - $12 range. My dad has had 2 different Craftsman 1/2" Microtork(?) torque wrenches over the years, and had problems with both of them. He was using them professionally, though.

 

[r6_cannibal]

I have always stayed away from the HF torque wrenches because they looked cheap. I haven't so much as picked one up though. At the price it's tough to beat. I was going to make a run up to HF today for the socket organizers someone posted about yesterday, can't remember exactly who it was to give them credit but here's the link http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/common/displayCoupon.do?week=2709&campaign=RetailA&page=coupon23.html&single=true&r=5001_113735&cust=00133106373&keycode=0000
So when I head up today i'll likely pickup a torque wrench as well at that price.