Harbor Freight Torque Wrench - Opinions?

[PolarIce]

Bought a HF torque wrench to tighten up the head on Urban project. After following the directions I'm still skeptical that I'm going to over-tighten it... Manual says 6-9 ft lbs and I'm dialing the wrench to 5 just as a baseline and it doesn't click.

Does anybody else have one?

[Wheelman-111]

Greeetings:

At very low tq settings, the wrench may click but so faintly as to be nearly inaudible.

My Craftsman 3/8 does exactly that. It's just possible that you apply pressure through the click and end up putting 15 or more pounds of torque on the bolt.

Snug 'em up with a nut driver to finger-tight, then set the wrench to 9-11 pounds and proceed slowly, listening/feeling very attentively for more of a faint Thunk than an audible click.

[campusman]

My brother in law sells hydraulic torque wrenches, they work better
I can get anyone I know a discount

Bolting Solutions

Tools for Studs with Big Nuts

[mustangwagz]

Bought a HF torque wrench to tighten up the head on Urban project. After following the directions I'm still skeptical that I'm going to over-tighten it... Manual says 6-9 ft lbs and I'm dialing the wrench to 5 just as a baseline and it doesn't click.

Does anybody else have one?

Hey Polar, as for cheap TQ wrenches, i done recommend buying them. LOL save your pennies and buy a GOOD ONE! like a name brand, and if you intend on doing small torques, buy a small TQ wrench. Trust me! it may cost you some good money to buy a good one, but it'll save you in the long run if your gonna be torquing stuff a lot! i understand ya cant go and ddrop 3-500 on a TQ wrench, but If you did, you'd see why they cost what they do.

As for higher TQ settings, the cheap one may be alright! but most of the cheap ones never work that great for low settings. When i did my head bolts i used my snap-on digital one, which measures down to 1ft-lb.=12in-lb's. You could find a really small one cheap, and just convert it into inch lbs to be sure it'll work? just take Ft-lbs and Multiply by 12 to get In-Lbs. In your case, you'd be looking for something thats capable of Torquing 72-108 In-Lbs.

Just a thought, figured i'd put my .02 Cents in.

[mousewheels]

== 'mustangwags' says it well, he got in during my slow typing. I'd second that a lower range (1/4" drive wrench) is a good idea ==

Use what you've got. If you are tool shopping, there are wrenches made for the low end.

My 3/8 wrench performs about as Wheelman describes. I use a 1/4 drive wrench for the 6-9 ft/lbs range.

1/4" drive torque wrenches measure into the in/lbs and in/oz ranges. Conversion is as intuitive as it sounds - in/lbs is 12x ft/lbs. Wrench in the photo is set to 70 in/lbs - hair under 6ft/lbs.

1_4_in_torque_wrench.JPG (28.17 KiB) Viewed 5845 times

-- smaller stuff --
I have a 1/4" 'nut driver' style wrench which measures 12in/lbs (1 ft/lb) full scale. It's way too small for scooters, - only good for approx 6-32 screws and below.

1_4_torque_nutdriver.JPG (35.17 KiB) Viewed 5845 times

[mustangwagz]

== 'mustangwags' says it well, he got in during my slow typing. I'd second that a lower range (1/4" drive wrench) is a good idea ==

Use what you've got. If you are tool shopping, there are wrenches made for the low end.

My 3/8 wrench performs about as Wheelman describes. I use a 1/4 drive wrench for the 6-9 ft/lbs range.

1/4" drive torque wrenches measure into the in/lbs and in/oz ranges. Conversion is as intuitive as it sounds - in/lbs is 12x ft/lbs. Wrench in the photo is set to 70 in/lbs - hair under 6ft/lbs.

1_4_in_torque_wrench.JPG

-- smaller stuff --
I have a 1/4" 'nut driver' style wrench which measures 12in/lbs (1 ft/lb) full scale. It's way too small for scooters, - only good for approx 6-32 screws and below.

1_4_torque_nutdriver.JPG

Yo, not to hi-jack this thread, but ill bet that last tq wrench nut driver pictured is worth some money, ive only ever seen one of those, and juding buy the writing inside on the background, and the slight dis-coloration, i'd say that thing is OLD! lol ..or my monitor is dirty. hahaha

[mustangwagz]

Can ya send me a full pic of that bad boy mr mouse? lol i'd love to see it!!

[mousewheels]

Sorry - a bit of the H/F topic, but shows there's a torque wrench for whatever the need.

1_4_torque_nutdriver2.JPG (28.31 KiB) Viewed 5836 times

1_4_torque_nutdriver3.JPG (26 KiB) Viewed 5836 times

[noiseguy]

Wow, calibrated even.

I've been using Craftsman torque wrenches for years.

Main thing is, in the 6-9 ft-lb range, you should be using a 1/4" measured in inch-lbs. For 9 ft-lbs, that's 72 in-lbs.

You can build a calibrator with a 1' chunk of steel with a square hole in one end for wrench and hole in other for a wire. Tie weight to wire and ensure that the wrench clicks when you pick it up.

[mustangwagz]

Wow, calibrated even.

I've been using Craftsman torque wrenches for years.

Main thing is, in the 6-9 ft-lb range, you should be using a 1/4" measured in inch-lbs. For 9 ft-lbs, that's 72 in-lbs.

You can build a calibrator with a 1' chunk of steel with a square hole in one end for wrench and hole in other for a wire. Tie weight to wire and ensure that the wrench clicks when you pick it up.

Wait a minute..

For 9 ft-lbs, that's 72 in-lbs.

You mean 6ft-lb is = 72 In-Lbs, Correct? 9 would be 108.

Not trying to poke or prod, just wanted to make sure we're both on same page and that he doesnt torque to lightly.

[Bear45-70]

Wow, calibrated even.

I've been using Craftsman torque wrenches for years.

Main thing is, in the 6-9 ft-lb range, you should be using a 1/4" measured in inch-lbs. For 9 ft-lbs, that's 72 in-lbs.

You can build a calibrator with a 1' chunk of steel with a square hole in one end for wrench and hole in other for a wire. Tie weight to wire and ensure that the wrench clicks when you pick it up.

Wait a minute..

For 9 ft-lbs, that's 72 in-lbs.

You mean 6ft-lb is = 72 In-Lbs, Correct? 9 would be 108.

Not trying to poke or prod, just wanted to make sure we're both on same page and that he doesnt torque to lightly.

Just take the foot/lbs number and multiply by 12. 12 inches in a foot. 9 X 12 =108. I have 3 inch/lbs torque wrenches up to 700 inch/lbs. Then I have foot/lbs wrenches up to 150 ft/lbs.