Picked a cheap torque wrench over a Snap-On and it actually held up fine

Had to choose between a $40 Pittsburgh from Harbor Freight and a $300 Snap-On for doing head bolts on my buddy's Civic last month. Grabbed the cheap one figuring I'd replace it if it broke, but three jobs later it still clicks right on spec. Anyone else run the budget tools for critical stuff or am I just gambling?

2 comments

2 Comments

amy69224d ago

You mentioned it "held up fine" for head bolts, but just a heads up - torque wrenches can drift out of spec with use, especially the cheaper click-style ones. I'd check it against a known torque value every now and then if you're doing critical engine work. A beam style torque wrench is actually more reliable long term because they don't lose calibration.

the_rose24d ago

Oh man, I had the same worry with my old click-style wrench! I ended up just testing it against a beam-style one a buddy let me borrow, and yeah, mine was off by about 5 ft-lbs. Definitely worth checking if you're doing anything critical like head bolts.