Torque Wrench School
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 292
Likes: 12
From: Lancaster, PA
There's a heavy German presence around here. My first job that paid me to work on vehicles, rather than fixing my own junk, was on Amish buggies. A small local community had an arrangement to swap out deep cycle batteries for the lights and 8 track players on the buggies that the young Amish drove during their Rumspringa (SP?)
I remember when I had to get a torque angle gauge for torque to yield head bolts. That seriously messed with my head.
I remember when I had to get a torque angle gauge for torque to yield head bolts. That seriously messed with my head.
IME the harbor freight torque wrenches are okay at best, decent for the price. I got a couple Tekton brand torque wrenches and I must say I like them a lot better than the Pittsburgh/HF stuff (and I'm usually a big HF supporter). They just feel smoother to adjust and I'm more confident in them holding calibration. They're not dirt cheap like HF, but they're not crazy expensive either.
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Record Breaker
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 2,232
Likes: 473
From: North Carolina
I had to check your profile to see if we're neighbors, I'm in Lancaster and we also have heavy Amish/PA Dutch influence here.
IME the harbor freight torque wrenches are okay at best, decent for the price. I got a couple Tekton brand torque wrenches and I must say I like them a lot better than the Pittsburgh/HF stuff (and I'm usually a big HF supporter). They just feel smoother to adjust and I'm more confident in them holding calibration. They're not dirt cheap like HF, but they're not crazy expensive either.
IME the harbor freight torque wrenches are okay at best, decent for the price. I got a couple Tekton brand torque wrenches and I must say I like them a lot better than the Pittsburgh/HF stuff (and I'm usually a big HF supporter). They just feel smoother to adjust and I'm more confident in them holding calibration. They're not dirt cheap like HF, but they're not crazy expensive either.
Grand Champion
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 5,146
Likes: 721
From: S.W. Indiana
I had the Amish build my new garage about 15 years ago. When they pile out of that truck, they are working. 1/2 a crew of Amish and 1/2 English. We also have Strassenfests here and one major bank is German American. I'm bummed because the Germainia Mannchor cancled their summer beer garden because of Covid.
Professional
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 196
Likes: 2
thats terrible if its really a accuraracy deviation of 12% but for $10 its all you could expect. i use torq wrenches a fair bit and just picked up a couple stahlwille. frankly theyre the ferrari of torq wrenches if you ask me and well worth the money if your using them often. before i bought anything from harbor freight i would of checked ebay for their used stuff
Grand Champion
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 5,146
Likes: 721
From: S.W. Indiana
thats terrible if its really a accuraracy deviation of 12% but for $10 its all you could expect. i use torq wrenches a fair bit and just picked up a couple stahlwille. frankly theyre the ferrari of torq wrenches if you ask me and well worth the money if your using them often. before i bought anything from harbor freight i would of checked ebay for their used stuff
Yard sales (Pre-Covid) are good places to look too. I got a pristine Snap On inch pound torque wrench a few years back. Like new and works great. While I sometimes go with "Gudentite" on foot pounds torqing, I use the inch pound religiously. I really don't want to crush things too tight. Usually, inch pound is also expensive.
Professional
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 196
Likes: 2
yard sale, pawn shop, local classified, ebay. all those places have used top qaulity tools for reduced prices. ebay is my favorite place. bought a ton of tools there and once in a while i get lucky and find new old stock tools that are heavily discounted. honestly theres almost no reason to bother with harbor freight. sk makes some damn good hand tools and they just had a 30% off everything sale so i picked up a few things