HF 1/4" in/lb torque wrench, yea or nay?

Relatively accurate, or a bolt stripper?

I havent tested it against anything, but i also havent had any problem with it.

There were tests done by GRM a few years ago and they determined the torque wrenches from HF are just as accurate as all the more expensive ones. I use them. No problems.

Swank Force One wrote: I havent tested it against anything, but i also havent had any problem with it.

This...and it was under $10

I would get a Craftsman or different brand because the Harbor Freight one is likely to break sooner than a better quality torque wrench. It's also odd to have to tighten bolts up with in/lbs.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: I would get a Craftsman or different brand because the Harbor Freight one is likely to break sooner than a better quality torque wrench. It's also odd to have to tighten bolts up with in/lbs.

What do you tighten your bolts with that are rated in in/lbs, then?

Why is the HF stick more likely to break than a Craftsman?

You check the preload on the pinion bearing in inch pounds. Just narrowed a 8.8 Ford and installed new gears. On a new install its 18 to 26 inch/pounds of force to turn the pinion. Of course to get that kind of preload on the bearings, you have to torque the pinion nut to something around 80 ft/pounds

And some ft/lb torque wrenches (like my husky 3/8) wont even read anything under 20 ft/lbs. The only way for me to accurately torque something under 20 ft/lbs is to apply the conversion factor for in/lbs to ft/lbs on my in/lb torque wrench. Nothing wrong with HF torque wrenches IMO.

Yeah, I've got a fuel pump assembly on a motorcycle that calls for 2 ft-lbs. I don't trust any ft-lb. wrench down that far in its range.

Thanks for the replies, fellas. I'm off to the store.

I find it best to have a friend with an in-lbs torque wrench rather than owning either the Craftsman or the HF. Not that I'm too cheap to buy one -- I'd gladly purchase one and give it to the right friend.

Whenever I need to do a job that requires anything in inch-pounds, I know that I need someone who understands finesse and "slow down and do it right" to be right next to me when my inner caveman starts reaching for the bigger hammer. That's where the friend with the torque wrench comes in.

There is a 25% off coupon online for Harbor freight for tomorrow and a 20% off coupon that came in the latest GRM mag. If you go tomorrow just show them this on the smart phone. http://www.harborfreight.com/

i bought one solely for rebuilding transmissions as lots of the little bits are in/lbs. works fine.

I've had my Miata engine torn into a few times and it's worked great. Very easy to torque to the correct value without going over.

My HF torque wrenches for some reason have held to spec better than some of the other ones I have that cost 10x as much. Don't know why I am not particularly carful with them.

I've used mine quite a bit. The timing cover and oil pump have a relatively low torque spec (both in in-lbs) on BMC A-Series engines. I'm guessing the precision isn't as important as each one being equal to prevent the gasket from leaking. Either way I've done several engines with the HF 1/4" torque wrench and no oil leaks.

If you already have the 3/8" and 1/2", you might as well get the 1/4" to complete the ensemble.

For in/lb work I'd get a beam type, most jobs you need one for you have plenty of room for a beam type. The HF clickers work very well out of the box, but they never last long for me, they aren't durable even by cheap precision instrument standards.

EDIT: Should also be noted a beam unit never really wears out or goes out of calibration. Unless you're working on airplanes or something, making sure it still reads 0 is more or less the calibration check.

for 1/4 lbs/in I like a beam type best. I have a low lbs unit made by / sold under PARK TOOLS the bicycle tool company. I use it for setting pinon preload on dwarf rear end gears.

In reply to Swank Force One: A couple of Harbor Freight tools I have bought have broke under short ownership, most notably low profile car jacks.

In reply to Mr_Clutch42: You got bad luck with HF. I got a engine hoist from them once and the ram died after a week. They gave me a replacement ram though and all was well (well, until it got stolen anyway). Their stuff can be hit or miss, if you get one from the "good" batch their stuff is great. If get something from the bad batch, well, it's a fancy hammer. I guess they use whatever supplier will build to spec and price so it can be a crapshoot. Usually their jacks are great though, haven't had a problem yet with mine (knocks on wood)

wae wrote: I find it best to have a friend with an in-lbs torque wrench rather than owning either the Craftsman or the HF. Not that I'm too cheap to buy one -- I'd gladly purchase one and give it to the right friend. Whenever I need to do a job that requires anything in inch-pounds, I know that I need someone who understands finesse and "slow down and do it right" to be right next to me when my inner caveman starts reaching for the bigger hammer. That's where the friend with the torque wrench comes in.

LOL

I use the HF 1/4" one semi-regularly on motor scooters, and it's worked fine so far. They are so cheap, I will admit, I just assume they have a limited life, and will toss and replace when on sale. As I have had two craftsman torque wrenches fail on me, I'd rather just go cheap.

I also have a beam-type 1/4" torque wrench, can't remember the brand, but it's what wae and I used for differential installs in our rallycross cars, since it measures even lower that the HF one.

One thing to note on the HF 1/4" model is that the click isn't very obvious, at least on mine. Other than that, it works as it should.

I have used one of those HF torque wrenches for a long time. I used to like to bring those to the track because if somebody borrowed it permanently it was only $10 or so, and I would usually have more than one with me. No noticeable difference in calibration from the Husky or Craftsman ones I used to have.

And it can also be used as a hammer.