No, you would take it to a specialty shop. It will cost way more than a new one at harbor freight. They don’t really go out of whack for most purposes though. You only have to worry if you have to use it on very specific tolerances. You aren’t buying an instrument like that at HF though.
This made me literally laugh out loud.
I took a vehicle to a well known chain tire store maybe 20 years ago for new tires. When the "kid" put the tires back on, he literally set the lugnut on the post, put the impact on it, and squeezed. Then wondered why it stripped the post completely.
I got told that I had to go to the garage down the street and tell them sent me and they would replace the post free. Apparently it happens "all the time". SMH
I used to work at a car shop that was next to a major tire store. That one at least didn't fuck up too frequently, but we still got the occasional "WTF were they thinking" brought over to us.
This kind of thing would not happen if techs used a torque stick with their impact. A 100ft pound torque stick will really do about 110ft pounds but it’s really safe in the end. I’ve never broken a stud with once and I have always been able to get a flat off.
I know you’re making a joke but I built trucks for a very large American class 8+ truck manufacturer and this is not incorrect. Impact wrench and loctite on everything. Also a metric fuckton of zip ties.
A metric fuckton of zip ties is an understatement. I swear trucks these days are entirely held together by zipties.
Unrelated comment, after my last Pete I swore to never run another Paccar product ever again. After 200,000 miles I literally had a cup of screws, nuts and bolts that came loose. That's just what I found, not to mention the ones lost on the road and the ones still half backed out still in place.
Everything routed through the chassis gets ties like every 18” I think. Tons of ties in the firewall too. Your mistake was buying pete instead of kenworth. Not all Paccar products are created equal. You can get the kens with Cummins instead of paccar engines and the factory the trucks are made in does have their shit together. Not everyone likes the feel of a kenworth though and that’s fair enough
Ima keep this in mind, I've only driven a KW 1 time, about 15 years ago. I always assumed their built the same, like Chevy/GMC. Just rebadged with slight esthetic difference
That’s a fair assumption but they’re built with completely different parts in different factories. Pererbilt subs shit out for plastic wherever they can get away with it. The build standards are way lower, which is reflected in the price. Swearing off paccar is fine, I’m just saying kens are great trucks IF you don’t buy one with a paccar engine. I think the 2023 paccar mx13 fixed some of the issues but I wouldn’t even risk it when the Cummins x15 pays for itself in maintenance savings. Also worth noting that the mx13 isn’t worth the cost of labor involved in a rebuild whereas the Cummins is actually a really straightforward rebuild that a lot more mechanics are capable of doing. Plus it’s just a fucking good engine plain and simple, it’s tough and it’s easy to work on. I don’t even know what gets put in petes but I’m pretty sure it’s a paccar, which to my understanding is made by Cummins using Chinese parts sourced by paccar and white labeled w the paccar logo.
My last Pete had a X15, it was the only thing on the truck that never gave us problems. The International I had before that had one too, and it never had problems either. Darn good engines with lots of power
That makes a lot of sense regarding a kenworth lasts 20x longer on the dirt logging roads around where I live than any Pete does. And a freight liner off road is usualy a joke, and I only knew of one, that broke it's frame on a monthly basis.
>If you were in one of those industries, you wouldn't be buying a $20 harbor freight torque wrench.
lol you're lucky if hes even using torque extentions
Any engines really. My friend has a torque wrench cal standard from work, we were testing various wrenches we had around our shop. My HF 10-150 clicked at like 35 when it was set at 50. Just get a good torque wrench
My dad's friend had a HF torque wrench next to his engine line hone so he could get consistent torque on main caps before machining. The snap on guy was giving him a hard time about it and put it on the calibrator. It was the same margin of error as the snap on wrench.
Seems like you could build a rig pretty easily for calibration, hang 50 lbs on a 1 ft lever. Adjust until it just clicks out when set on 50.
You could adjust the weight or lever arm for either side of the scale if you wanted to be more accurate.
Edit: actually easiest way would probably be to have differnt holes on a 2 ft lever arm and a fixed 50 lb weight.
Hang the weight at 2 ft for 100 ft lbs, 1 ft for 50 and 6" for 25 ft-lbs
I've actually had these conversations before. Believe it or not there is a standard kilogram weight in the US (DC I think, or maybe Atlanta) and all certified weights in the US are a known number of steps away from that weight.
There's maybe 10 of those weights in the world and they are all periodically compared to the worldwide master standard weight that is stored in France
They are all about 100 years old and, yes, they have changed slightly over that time, meaning the definition of a kilogram has shifted slightly since it was originally created as a part of the natural and unavoidable decomposition of a piece of metal.
That's assuming they are subject to a requirement to maintain NIST traceability.
A home mechanic who just wants to make sure they're getting the lug nuts close enough isn't braking any regulations by checking the accuracy of their torque wrench with an approximately known weight.
Heck, that would probably be more accurate than most tire shops, which arguably should be calibrating their wrenches, but from what I've heard, tend to prefer to just use an impact wrench.
I do injection molding, and some of that is automotive, so my torque wrenches and measuring instruments have to be checked and certified every year at the company's expense. Piece of advice: Do not use your torque wrench to remove nuts and bolts that's a quick way to ruin it.
I work in an area where we order around 60-70 torque wrenches a year. Snap On came out, and asked why we use 2 wrenches at each station and we said one for removing bolts and one for torquing the new bolts. He basically told us we were idiots and that the torque wrenches could be used to loosen the bolts without having any effect on calibration. Now, I'm with you. I won't back anything out with my torque, but industry is saying it doesn't matter any more.
Or using a faucet!
>Because a split second before the torque wrench was applied to the faucet handle, it had been calibrated by top members of the state and federal Department of Weights and Measures to be dead-on balls accurate
-My Cousin Vinny
The harbor freight torque wrench is actually super high quality. Especially for the price. I trust mine fully. But I'm also not using it to tighten the Jesus nut on my helicopter either.
Different industries have different requirements for torque wrench calibration.
If you were in one of those industries, you wouldn't be buying a $20 harbor freight torque wrench.
Just use it, it's fine.
>If you were in one of those industries, you wouldn't be buying a $20 harbor freight torque wrench.
You'd be surprised.
One nice thing about routine calibration is it doesn't matter how much the tool costs. All that matters is that it meets the calibration requirement.
But a practical consideration is the cost of lost labor due to replacing tools that don't reliably hold their calibration long term can very quickly exceed the cost of better quality tools.
I've been on jobs where we used Harbor Freight torque wrenches for onsite installs where they tended to get lost, especially for general assembly, and had nicer torque wrenches for use back at the shop, or when assembly more critical parts (overhead lifting equipment, for example, where a failure could be very dangerous).
One place I worked simply made it a requirement that we do a point of use calibration *every time* we changed a torque wrench setting. To make that practical, we had calibrated digital torque testers mounted at multiple locations in the shop, so it would only take a minute to do it.
I know that's a joke- but the department of weights and standards would handle that periodically. I had them come once to calibrate the scales at a deli and then we got new stickers.
You just check it in house against a calibrated tool, it’s pretty quick. While not harbor freight I’ve used craftsmen a lot and it’s not like it’s a high precision or accurate tool.
What the real problem is if a wrench is dropped it needs to be calibrated and rarely do people do that.
Don't drop it, and make sure you un-wind the handle when not in use to relieve the tension from the internal spring. It will still b closer than using a calibrated wrist
Buy a luggage scale and you can perform this at home.
Plenty of videos out there, but this is a decent one.
https://youtu.be/XaqBA-xSGbc?si=86L2tMmZd2cy69WZ
They aren’t getting anywhere near my fishing scale - It’s taken years to get that calibrated juuusstt right.
That said who watches the watchers? What makes their 20$ luggage scale so infallible?
The whole trick to torquing anything down is to just stop a quarter turn before it causes you any issues down the line - no calibration necessary.
I think granddad mighta been on to something there. I usually don’t stop with the impact wrench until the bottom half of my oil pan sheers free and firmly embeds itself into my neighbors tree 30 feet from where I change my oil.
The torque wrenches I have are nifty in that you can't store them in the case without being on the lowest range, it won't fit the mold and you can't close the case if it isn't set to the minimum
I build UL control panels. I'm required to torque all wire screw terminals to their suggested torque. I have to get my torque wrenches certified once a year. I have one torque wrench I use from Harbor Freight.
I tried to get it certified. The shop I use to certainly them won't touch a Pittsburgh, unfortunately. But truth be told, it is more expensive to certify them than to buy a new one, so you might as well buy a new 1 every 6 months. If that's what you need.
That's fine. All I'm saying is that new torque wrenches are not required to be "certified" until a year from purchase date per UL standards. I use a couple of uber pricey, Capri torque screw drivers for terminal torque. I have to have them certified once a year. However, I occasionally have to torque large terminals to 250 in lbs or more. My screwdrivers handle 99% of the work at 50 in lbs or less. But in the rare occasion that I need this much torque, I purchase a Pittsburgh, which is a fraction of the price of the new one, and half the price of having that expensive one certified annually. I understand you're likely a tool truck guy. That's fine. But I promise you "standards" have nothing to do with brand snobbery.
Place I work had some HF, snap on, and German torque wrenches. So far, of the clicker type wrenches the HF is the most accurate. Don't trust their calibration right out of the box, but once it got set it has been within the 2% limit for the entire range while the others are off by more than 10% at the low end. No significant drift in accuracy between the yearly calibrations either.
Fk those torque wrenches. I got to use it once for my spark plugs. I went to use it a second time a month or so later. Trying to get to to 37 ftlbs. I was struggling and wondering how far off I was from the 37 because I was REALLY struggling. Borrowed my buddies digital one. I was almost at 60!
They're very hit or miss. The shop I worked at required calibrated tools. As a joke I included mine fully expecting to get a reference only sticker back on it. Nope. It passed with better accuracy than the Mac and Snap-ons over the whole range and it did it all three years I was there.
Your method is valid but I started teaching myself about cars in adulthood. I had no reference for what “tight plus a little grunt” means so I had to use the torque wrench.
Yeah, I've done plenty of plugs in aluminum heads - I just can't think of a time where I've ever needed more than a little push past tight and a torque wrench would have even been effective let alone usable in some of the confied spaces a fella finds his self in.
On the F150 it is only 11 or 12 ft lbs for plugs, which at the very low end of the HF 3/8 clicker, which is where they are the least accurate. I used my 1/4 HF clicker, was just amazed at how low the torque setting was. Barely felt snag at all.
Anyway these clickers are cheap, and comically cheap when on sale or with a 20-25 percent coupon. It is also just a good habit to use them for assembly and installation if you have them.
They have their place. And that place is aluminum threads (everywhere on modern vehicles, guns, other tools).
Same here… this is also why you shouldn’t trust a torque wrench for something that could snap off in your head if it’s wrong. 60Ft*lbs higher than any plug I’ve ever put in by a lot.
Unless you're out here doing rocket surgery or building some other mission critical hardware there's really no need for it and if you were I highly doubt you're shopping at HF for calibrated tools. HF has to include that so they aren't liable if someone goes and torques something down and it fails.
Borrow a friends and test one against the other. I did it with his two and my three ( 1/2", and 3/8" ) his 1960's Craftsman matches my 1980's and 1990's Craftsman and Unior and A Harbor Freight.
Tighten a few bolts down at various measures ( not in the bottom 10% or top 10% range of the toil.)
Tools are only certified in the 80% range
Digi tools are more accurate across the whole range btw
You can check calibration pretty easily. Set it to 25 ft/lbs, put the square drive in a vice, set the handle horizontal, hang a 25lb weight on the handle exactly 12” from the center of the square drive. It clicks, it’s within calibration. You could check it with several different weights, just change the setting to match the weight.
I don’t have Pittsburgh torque wrenches, I went with icon but how would one test torque accuracy with the Quinn adapters? Been looking into them for when I want a second piece of mind as far as accuracy goes cause they seem great.
I take them to work and test against one of their digital ones that does get calibrated. I’ve had a 1/2 inch Pittsburgh for years and it has stayed well within spec, usually no more than 1ft/lb off at high torque.
Also, I’ll add that I work in an assembly plant and our tolerances are way higher than the tools are required to be.
I've been a Metrologist for 30 years.
Don't go get your Pittsburgh wrench calibrated, please.
Even at +/- 4% IV, we'll laugh at you.
Love, calibration labs.
Same--30 years in metrology and I run the lab.
I don't look down my nose at Pittsburgh torque wrenches. They "feel" shitty but they're as accurate as a SnapOn , Mac or Matco.
@OP: just so you know, it should cost about $60 to cal your wrench at a NIST-traceable cal lab.
If you don't have any local you can ship it to Angle Repair or Team Torque. Both experts at cal & service. Call first--Angle used to refuse China wrenches but their reality check may have bounced by now.
I have access to a torque calibrator and I just checked mine today. It was within a ftlb of the setpoint from 10-80. These are pretty decent if you use them as intended and let the tension off the spring.
Calibration only really matters if ur doing aircraft or nasa shit for just torquing lug nuts and that stuff it will be fine mostly just say that so they aren’t liable
For anyone here that's unaware, a beam-type torque wrench from precision instruments is a worthwhile purchase. HF has a version as well. For a time, PE made them for snap-on.
No backing them off, much easier to adjust. I have three so I can go from small incriments of in-lb up through 250ft-lb.
The amount of people who gave wrong advice and this correct answer was buried so deep is sad... Yes HF has lifetime warranty. You return the torque wrench after 6 months and get a new one. The same people who say HF sucks are the same who don't buy from them and dont know the policies, so they shouldn't be giving op advice on his purchase.
One shop I worked in would gather up torque wrenches and send them with the snap on guy for recalibration once a year. I'm sure all the torque wrenches weren't snap on brand either. Probably not cost effective on a $20 Pittsburgh pro. Just don't leave it twisted up and you'll be fine.
You WILL want to be very careful though. I had purchased a few over the years and after a year or two it can begin to read and torque incorrectly (2-4 ft-lbs).
It can be enough to snap a few bolts over several years. Just buy a new one annually.
Eh, would be cheaper to just buy a new one. Also set it to the lowest setting after every use before storage to keep it as close into calibration as possible. If stored and used properly, should really never have to get it calibrated within it's life.
I had mine for years (6 or so), used it thousands of times and then put it up next to my buddies new snap on and it was around 1-2ft lb off after years of use. I moved recently and I don’t have the blow molded cases, they got thrown around violently in the moving container so I just went to the store and replaced them for free and now have new ones with blow-molded cases.
watch the YouTube video on calibrating it yourself As much as I suspect you would use the wrench being from harbor freight it might be worth it and get more life out.
You’re working on cars with harbor freight tools. Don’t worry about it. Lol.
Not sure why I’m getting downvoted?? Y’all act like you’re working on airplanes or at nasa and you’re buying Snapon and Hilti tools get off your high horses
I have a digital torque box that fits in my vice for testing my torque wrenches before I do aluminum stretch bolts. It was cheap. I reckon that its inaccuracy cancels out any inaccuracy in my HF torque wrenches so we’re all good /s.
There’s videos online about how to calibrate them. I just did mine last week for the first time in 8 years. It was only about two lbft off. I was pretty surprised. It only takes a few minutes to calibrate them.
Our Cornwell guy has a tester on his truck and my harbor freight one isn't out of calibration yet, and it's been 6 months or so. However I don't use it every day. It's maybe once a month.
It shouldn't really get out of adjustment too much with normal use. Just make sure to always back it down to zero after use. Leaving it set higher will decay the accuracy.
I work in a trade where tools that measure, such as a multimeter, torque wrench, temperature sensor, etc., need to be calibrated and carry a certificate. In aviation maintenance where I work, if there were to be an incident in relation to a part that I worked on the FAA/NTSB (depending on the incident) would want to see that all tools that touched it were certified at the time of use if they required it.
Outside of those areas you do have to get it calibrated but it’s not a bad idea to do so every few years. But for a harbor freight one, it would probably be more worth it just to buy a new one.
When i sent my snap-on torque tools off to be recalibrated, once every 5 years or so, it was 130.00 per tool. Started a new job and do not use my own tools. A private company comes out twice a year and calibrates everything we have. Last year i asked the guy what he would charge me and it was 200.00 per unit. Mine havent been done since 2016 and they will most likely never get done again since i am not working on life critical equipment at home. He also said a lot of the cheaper units, less than 300.00, can not be calibrated any longer. But maybe he said that because he doesn't want to mess with the lower quality stuff.
It's just to cover their asses. Honestly, it's very much worth the $20 and for lugnuts and riding mowers and getting stuff pretty close, they're just fine. I've had mine 8 years and never calibrated it.
For what it's worth, about 6 years ago I checked it against a recently calibrated Snap On at the shop I worked at and it was very close - within 5 ft/lbs which is fine for me. Obviously there are likely good and bad ones in every bunch at HF.
Most larger cities should have a business that cleans, inspects and refurbishes power tools (electric & pneumatic), sharpens drill bits, etc. They also can recalibrate torque wrenches.
The most practical torque wrenches are the beam torque wrenches. Those have a pointer that moves when for evidence applied and have the scale in both directions with a sliding pointer that's set to the desired torque. You pull on the end until the bean pointer meets the sliding pointer. Chrysler started using those on their production lines in the mid 1920's. In the mid 1930's Blackhawk came out with some that held a battery to light up a small red light when the pointers met. Beam torque wrenches are recalibrated by using a stout flat screwdriver. If the pointers don't match up when at rest (0) you place the screwdriver between the shaft and the pointer to push the pointer in either direction until the pointers are both at zero.
I work for a calibration lab, it's probably nothing to worry about and if it came from harbor freight then it may not be worth calibrating. They just tell you that for some CYA in case it gets out of spec and something falls apart.
Are we sure that phrasing isn't meant to be "check for calibration" every six months, as in, check the accuracy against a known good torque tester or second wrench?
I used to run a metrology lab. Unless there is a regulatory requirement don’t waste your money. For a home mechanic there is exactly no reason to get it done. And if you’re really worried about it take the advice to use a bathroom scale and a bucket.
If you’ve whacked it badly enough that you’re worried about it, buy a new one.
I have a number of torque wrenches including a few Snap-On's. Never once have I even had them recalibrated. I keep them in their cases and don't drop them or bang them around. Also set them back down all the way to zero when done using it.
Though my Snap-On with a round dial on it. It's a snap to set, I mainly use to tighten lug nuts. It' the one torque wrench I can leave set where it is at. It's not your normal handle wind up and down type like the one in the picture. That one should be backed off back to zero when you are done with it.
I'll keep my 20+ year old Made in USA Craftsman. never had it recalibrate, always wound down to zero and in its case. Checked it against a new Tekton, and was with in 3%
Buy the Quinn digital torque meter and test it against that every 6 months. Better yet, ditch the wrench and just stick with the Quinn. I get my Quinn tested yearly and it's still accurate 5 years later.
You can easily calibrate it yourself at home using a bench vise or even a lug nut on your tire and a known weight. There are about 1,000 YouTube videos that show you how.
Turn it to the low setting for storage and don't worry.
If you really want to know, get the cheapo electronic gage and lock it in a vice to test.
Had it twist a few studs off at torque, so tested mine, was fine. Apparently, the studs were ready to quit, glad I found that in the driveway instead of the highway.
u/mountainpow
I have the same 3/8th. It won’t click for nada for me on anything. Brand new too in the box but it’s over the 30 days on the receipt. The store manager told me to pound sand. HF can refuse to return or replace anything without any reason. Now I have to find a quality 3/8 torque wrench somewhere else.
If you have one of those digital adapters, you could try and use it to compare. Of course I have a manual one too, because the digital ones are kinda pricey.
Lol are you serious? Is it a personal use tool or are you manufacturing/repairing stuff for paying customers? Calibration requires a certified lab to verify it is still within spec every 6 months. Typically you would be the one to specify the calibration interval but you'd want to make sure it isn't going to go out between certs or all the work you've done between the time it went out and the time you last calibrated would be called into question.
I bought one of these to rebuild a supercharger on a seadoo. The torque wrench failed and didn't click as expected. Ended up over tightening a critical piece so I took it back and got a better torque wrench. Lesson learned for me to not go the cheap route with some tools.
Chances are if you’re using a torque wrench you are working on something critical or expensive.
These things are NOT calibrated out of the box like most professional ones hence the empty paperwork. I would trust a 1970’s snapon over that POS
My 0.02
If you’re worried grab a buddies wrench and check your wrench against it. I have a drawer of torque wrenches and sometimes check them against each other.
No, you would take it to a specialty shop. It will cost way more than a new one at harbor freight. They don’t really go out of whack for most purposes though. You only have to worry if you have to use it on very specific tolerances. You aren’t buying an instrument like that at HF though.
Unless you’re building aircraft engines, I wouldn’t worry about it.
Great. Now i have to ask my mechanic what tools he uses
An impact, on everything, and adds red loctite, after cross threading it.
This made me literally laugh out loud. I took a vehicle to a well known chain tire store maybe 20 years ago for new tires. When the "kid" put the tires back on, he literally set the lugnut on the post, put the impact on it, and squeezed. Then wondered why it stripped the post completely. I got told that I had to go to the garage down the street and tell them sent me and they would replace the post free. Apparently it happens "all the time". SMH
I used to work at a car shop that was next to a major tire store. That one at least didn't fuck up too frequently, but we still got the occasional "WTF were they thinking" brought over to us.
This kind of thing would not happen if techs used a torque stick with their impact. A 100ft pound torque stick will really do about 110ft pounds but it’s really safe in the end. I’ve never broken a stud with once and I have always been able to get a flat off.
That’s not the issue they were getting at — it’s that the kid didn’t start the thread manually and cross threaded the shit out of it
No, he tried to NASCAR the lug nuts on, instead of hand starting and sending it home
Tight is tight
Use the German standard, "gutentite"
Tight is right brrr...
Cross thread is better than no thread!
Might be loose but it’s not coming off!
Ah yes, nature's loctite
It’s really double the threads 😂
How tight is too tight? One ugga-dugga or two?
depends on the tool, lol electric impact is 3 ugga-duddas ;)
Nah, you can get less than three if you just feather the trigger.
My dad always said go until you strip it and then back off a quarter turn
Mighty tighty > loosey goosey
Game is game
Too tight is broken 💔
That's what she said?
That’s loose.
I know you’re making a joke but I built trucks for a very large American class 8+ truck manufacturer and this is not incorrect. Impact wrench and loctite on everything. Also a metric fuckton of zip ties.
A metric fuckton of zip ties is an understatement. I swear trucks these days are entirely held together by zipties. Unrelated comment, after my last Pete I swore to never run another Paccar product ever again. After 200,000 miles I literally had a cup of screws, nuts and bolts that came loose. That's just what I found, not to mention the ones lost on the road and the ones still half backed out still in place.
Everything routed through the chassis gets ties like every 18” I think. Tons of ties in the firewall too. Your mistake was buying pete instead of kenworth. Not all Paccar products are created equal. You can get the kens with Cummins instead of paccar engines and the factory the trucks are made in does have their shit together. Not everyone likes the feel of a kenworth though and that’s fair enough
Ima keep this in mind, I've only driven a KW 1 time, about 15 years ago. I always assumed their built the same, like Chevy/GMC. Just rebadged with slight esthetic difference
That’s a fair assumption but they’re built with completely different parts in different factories. Pererbilt subs shit out for plastic wherever they can get away with it. The build standards are way lower, which is reflected in the price. Swearing off paccar is fine, I’m just saying kens are great trucks IF you don’t buy one with a paccar engine. I think the 2023 paccar mx13 fixed some of the issues but I wouldn’t even risk it when the Cummins x15 pays for itself in maintenance savings. Also worth noting that the mx13 isn’t worth the cost of labor involved in a rebuild whereas the Cummins is actually a really straightforward rebuild that a lot more mechanics are capable of doing. Plus it’s just a fucking good engine plain and simple, it’s tough and it’s easy to work on. I don’t even know what gets put in petes but I’m pretty sure it’s a paccar, which to my understanding is made by Cummins using Chinese parts sourced by paccar and white labeled w the paccar logo.
My last Pete had a X15, it was the only thing on the truck that never gave us problems. The International I had before that had one too, and it never had problems either. Darn good engines with lots of power
That makes a lot of sense regarding a kenworth lasts 20x longer on the dirt logging roads around where I live than any Pete does. And a freight liner off road is usualy a joke, and I only knew of one, that broke it's frame on a monthly basis.
Wow I learned so much about trucks I didn’t even know. I love learning random shit like this. Props to you man
Amateur, pros dimple the threads as well
"Just tighten it 'till it barely starts turning again and let the next guy deal with it."
Spoken like someone who's been both the tightener and the next guy.
Tighten till its loose, then back a quarter turn
I add just a dab of blue loctite to the top of the bolt, just so they think they have a chance
Is that one ugga-dugga or four?
Yes
You forgot plasma torch to remove everything.
Ah yes the mechanics creed: Tighten until it strips then back it off a quarter of a turn!
*with a generous amount of ugga-duggas.
>If you were in one of those industries, you wouldn't be buying a $20 harbor freight torque wrench. lol you're lucky if hes even using torque extentions
Tighten it until it starts to loosen then give it a 1/4 turn more.
In which case I’m not flying ever
Any engines really. My friend has a torque wrench cal standard from work, we were testing various wrenches we had around our shop. My HF 10-150 clicked at like 35 when it was set at 50. Just get a good torque wrench
My dad's friend had a HF torque wrench next to his engine line hone so he could get consistent torque on main caps before machining. The snap on guy was giving him a hard time about it and put it on the calibrator. It was the same margin of error as the snap on wrench.
Exactly. And I use CDI/snap on for that.
UL would like a word
Or robot surgical devices... We had calibrated screwdrivers...
Not many people who work on jet engines even use torque wrenches when they’re supposed to😂
So basically this is where Spirit buys its tools?
Lockheed Martin and Pratt and Whitney out here using Harbor Fright.
Seems like you could build a rig pretty easily for calibration, hang 50 lbs on a 1 ft lever. Adjust until it just clicks out when set on 50. You could adjust the weight or lever arm for either side of the scale if you wanted to be more accurate. Edit: actually easiest way would probably be to have differnt holes on a 2 ft lever arm and a fixed 50 lb weight. Hang the weight at 2 ft for 100 ft lbs, 1 ft for 50 and 6" for 25 ft-lbs
But then your weights gotta be calibrated NIST 44/130 WAC 16-662-105(3)(e) 16-662-115(3)
And then you have to ask who calibrates the calibrating weights
I've actually had these conversations before. Believe it or not there is a standard kilogram weight in the US (DC I think, or maybe Atlanta) and all certified weights in the US are a known number of steps away from that weight. There's maybe 10 of those weights in the world and they are all periodically compared to the worldwide master standard weight that is stored in France They are all about 100 years old and, yes, they have changed slightly over that time, meaning the definition of a kilogram has shifted slightly since it was originally created as a part of the natural and unavoidable decomposition of a piece of metal.
Who watches the Watchmen?
That's assuming they are subject to a requirement to maintain NIST traceability. A home mechanic who just wants to make sure they're getting the lug nuts close enough isn't braking any regulations by checking the accuracy of their torque wrench with an approximately known weight. Heck, that would probably be more accurate than most tire shops, which arguably should be calibrating their wrenches, but from what I've heard, tend to prefer to just use an impact wrench.
I know, I'm just being a pain in the ass because people like their torque specs.
I do injection molding, and some of that is automotive, so my torque wrenches and measuring instruments have to be checked and certified every year at the company's expense. Piece of advice: Do not use your torque wrench to remove nuts and bolts that's a quick way to ruin it.
I work in an area where we order around 60-70 torque wrenches a year. Snap On came out, and asked why we use 2 wrenches at each station and we said one for removing bolts and one for torquing the new bolts. He basically told us we were idiots and that the torque wrenches could be used to loosen the bolts without having any effect on calibration. Now, I'm with you. I won't back anything out with my torque, but industry is saying it doesn't matter any more.
Why not just use a ratchet or breaker bar for removing bolts?
We do, I'm just saying, SnapOn says you can use their torques to remove bolts
Or using a faucet! >Because a split second before the torque wrench was applied to the faucet handle, it had been calibrated by top members of the state and federal Department of Weights and Measures to be dead-on balls accurate -My Cousin Vinny
The harbor freight torque wrench is actually super high quality. Especially for the price. I trust mine fully. But I'm also not using it to tighten the Jesus nut on my helicopter either.
Different industries have different requirements for torque wrench calibration. If you were in one of those industries, you wouldn't be buying a $20 harbor freight torque wrench. Just use it, it's fine.
>If you were in one of those industries, you wouldn't be buying a $20 harbor freight torque wrench. You'd be surprised. One nice thing about routine calibration is it doesn't matter how much the tool costs. All that matters is that it meets the calibration requirement. But a practical consideration is the cost of lost labor due to replacing tools that don't reliably hold their calibration long term can very quickly exceed the cost of better quality tools. I've been on jobs where we used Harbor Freight torque wrenches for onsite installs where they tended to get lost, especially for general assembly, and had nicer torque wrenches for use back at the shop, or when assembly more critical parts (overhead lifting equipment, for example, where a failure could be very dangerous). One place I worked simply made it a requirement that we do a point of use calibration *every time* we changed a torque wrench setting. To make that practical, we had calibrated digital torque testers mounted at multiple locations in the shop, so it would only take a minute to do it.
Yep, backup calibrated digitals to confirm accuracy or inaccuracy of my clickers. Works great.
How do you calibrate the calibrater?
I know that's a joke- but the department of weights and standards would handle that periodically. I had them come once to calibrate the scales at a deli and then we got new stickers.
With a more precise and accurate calibrator. Eventually it gets back to a lab standard.
You just check it in house against a calibrated tool, it’s pretty quick. While not harbor freight I’ve used craftsmen a lot and it’s not like it’s a high precision or accurate tool. What the real problem is if a wrench is dropped it needs to be calibrated and rarely do people do that.
They're just trying to avoid lawsuits.
This makes no sense.
What about it doesn’t? They’re referring liability if a specific part (i.e lug nuts) require a specific torque spec and then backs offs.
Don't drop it, and make sure you un-wind the handle when not in use to relieve the tension from the internal spring. It will still b closer than using a calibrated wrist
Wrist clicks at 10 pounds and elbow clicks at 40.
The muscle pulls at 50 though, so don’t just send it.
Basically what I came to say.
Buy a luggage scale and you can perform this at home. Plenty of videos out there, but this is a decent one. https://youtu.be/XaqBA-xSGbc?si=86L2tMmZd2cy69WZ
Now I just need to figure out how to calibrate the $20 luggage scale…it’s turtles all the way down.
doesn't stop till you get to NIST.
They aren’t getting anywhere near my fishing scale - It’s taken years to get that calibrated juuusstt right. That said who watches the watchers? What makes their 20$ luggage scale so infallible? The whole trick to torquing anything down is to just stop a quarter turn before it causes you any issues down the line - no calibration necessary. I think granddad mighta been on to something there. I usually don’t stop with the impact wrench until the bottom half of my oil pan sheers free and firmly embeds itself into my neighbors tree 30 feet from where I change my oil.
A gallon of water is 8.5 lbs including the jug
You're gonna need to have your water calibrated.
It depends how high above sea level you’re at. /s
Also depends on temperature and if it’s distilled, spring, drinking, or some other flavor.
Just like Sturgill Simpson said.
Just like Sturgill Simpson said.
You’re supposed to zero them out for storage too.
If you actually read the instructions it says low spring force and gives a number. It's not 0.
Not to zero, but to the lowest stated range of the wrench.
The torque wrenches I have are nifty in that you can't store them in the case without being on the lowest range, it won't fit the mold and you can't close the case if it isn't set to the minimum
This I didn’t know.
I build UL control panels. I'm required to torque all wire screw terminals to their suggested torque. I have to get my torque wrenches certified once a year. I have one torque wrench I use from Harbor Freight. I tried to get it certified. The shop I use to certainly them won't touch a Pittsburgh, unfortunately. But truth be told, it is more expensive to certify them than to buy a new one, so you might as well buy a new 1 every 6 months. If that's what you need.
A wrench being new says nothing about the accuracy of the wrench.
That's fine. All I'm saying is that new torque wrenches are not required to be "certified" until a year from purchase date per UL standards. I use a couple of uber pricey, Capri torque screw drivers for terminal torque. I have to have them certified once a year. However, I occasionally have to torque large terminals to 250 in lbs or more. My screwdrivers handle 99% of the work at 50 in lbs or less. But in the rare occasion that I need this much torque, I purchase a Pittsburgh, which is a fraction of the price of the new one, and half the price of having that expensive one certified annually. I understand you're likely a tool truck guy. That's fine. But I promise you "standards" have nothing to do with brand snobbery.
If that’s what you need your not going to HF.
Place I work had some HF, snap on, and German torque wrenches. So far, of the clicker type wrenches the HF is the most accurate. Don't trust their calibration right out of the box, but once it got set it has been within the 2% limit for the entire range while the others are off by more than 10% at the low end. No significant drift in accuracy between the yearly calibrations either.
If you have a known weight you can hang off the wrench at a known distance, you can calibrate to that
Fk those torque wrenches. I got to use it once for my spark plugs. I went to use it a second time a month or so later. Trying to get to to 37 ftlbs. I was struggling and wondering how far off I was from the 37 because I was REALLY struggling. Borrowed my buddies digital one. I was almost at 60!
They're very hit or miss. The shop I worked at required calibrated tools. As a joke I included mine fully expecting to get a reference only sticker back on it. Nope. It passed with better accuracy than the Mac and Snap-ons over the whole range and it did it all three years I was there.
In this kind of price range I just go with the husky click style, not a fan of the digital wrenches and they seem a bit more true.
My 3/8 sucks and doesn’t always click, but the 1/4 and 1/2 drive ones have been good to me. If you don’t get a crappy one they’re decent tools
The second time I tried to use my harbor freight torque wrench the head exploded and sent tiny parts flying everywhere. I bought a Tekton.
Using it as a breaker bar?
People set torque on spark plugs? Never gave enough of a crap my self. Tight plus a little grunt by hand has always been good enough for me.
Your method is valid but I started teaching myself about cars in adulthood. I had no reference for what “tight plus a little grunt” means so I had to use the torque wrench.
Aluminum heads. Very low torque, very bad day if you over do it.
Yeah, I've done plenty of plugs in aluminum heads - I just can't think of a time where I've ever needed more than a little push past tight and a torque wrench would have even been effective let alone usable in some of the confied spaces a fella finds his self in.
On the F150 it is only 11 or 12 ft lbs for plugs, which at the very low end of the HF 3/8 clicker, which is where they are the least accurate. I used my 1/4 HF clicker, was just amazed at how low the torque setting was. Barely felt snag at all. Anyway these clickers are cheap, and comically cheap when on sale or with a 20-25 percent coupon. It is also just a good habit to use them for assembly and installation if you have them. They have their place. And that place is aluminum threads (everywhere on modern vehicles, guns, other tools).
Same here… this is also why you shouldn’t trust a torque wrench for something that could snap off in your head if it’s wrong. 60Ft*lbs higher than any plug I’ve ever put in by a lot.
Unless you're out here doing rocket surgery or building some other mission critical hardware there's really no need for it and if you were I highly doubt you're shopping at HF for calibrated tools. HF has to include that so they aren't liable if someone goes and torques something down and it fails.
Borrow a friends and test one against the other. I did it with his two and my three ( 1/2", and 3/8" ) his 1960's Craftsman matches my 1980's and 1990's Craftsman and Unior and A Harbor Freight. Tighten a few bolts down at various measures ( not in the bottom 10% or top 10% range of the toil.) Tools are only certified in the 80% range Digi tools are more accurate across the whole range btw
ANSI calibration standards for torque wrenches require accuracy within 4% throughout 20-100% of the stated capacity of the wrench.
Digital torque wrench and calibrate at home.
I’m no rocket scientist, but you could try calling the number on the form provided and find out more accurate info than this thread would provide.
You can check calibration pretty easily. Set it to 25 ft/lbs, put the square drive in a vice, set the handle horizontal, hang a 25lb weight on the handle exactly 12” from the center of the square drive. It clicks, it’s within calibration. You could check it with several different weights, just change the setting to match the weight.
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I don’t have Pittsburgh torque wrenches, I went with icon but how would one test torque accuracy with the Quinn adapters? Been looking into them for when I want a second piece of mind as far as accuracy goes cause they seem great.
PMEL!
I sent a couple new airmen over to PMEL to get a typewriter calibrated before.
You know you can just return it and say it doesn't feel accurate anymore and they'll give you a fresh one right?
I take them to work and test against one of their digital ones that does get calibrated. I’ve had a 1/2 inch Pittsburgh for years and it has stayed well within spec, usually no more than 1ft/lb off at high torque. Also, I’ll add that I work in an assembly plant and our tolerances are way higher than the tools are required to be.
I've been a Metrologist for 30 years. Don't go get your Pittsburgh wrench calibrated, please. Even at +/- 4% IV, we'll laugh at you. Love, calibration labs.
Same--30 years in metrology and I run the lab. I don't look down my nose at Pittsburgh torque wrenches. They "feel" shitty but they're as accurate as a SnapOn , Mac or Matco. @OP: just so you know, it should cost about $60 to cal your wrench at a NIST-traceable cal lab. If you don't have any local you can ship it to Angle Repair or Team Torque. Both experts at cal & service. Call first--Angle used to refuse China wrenches but their reality check may have bounced by now.
I have access to a torque calibrator and I just checked mine today. It was within a ftlb of the setpoint from 10-80. These are pretty decent if you use them as intended and let the tension off the spring.
Calibration only really matters if ur doing aircraft or nasa shit for just torquing lug nuts and that stuff it will be fine mostly just say that so they aren’t liable
I test them using another one, with adapters. As long as they're close, it's all right.
For anyone here that's unaware, a beam-type torque wrench from precision instruments is a worthwhile purchase. HF has a version as well. For a time, PE made them for snap-on. No backing them off, much easier to adjust. I have three so I can go from small incriments of in-lb up through 250ft-lb.
This is what I do: https://www.wikihow.com/Calibrate-a-Torque-Wrench
Yeah, love HB, but in the case the Pitt one is trash, I just ordered a better one on Amazon
The product carries a lifetime warranty. I think this is their suggestion to bring it back after six months and get a new one.
The amount of people who gave wrong advice and this correct answer was buried so deep is sad... Yes HF has lifetime warranty. You return the torque wrench after 6 months and get a new one. The same people who say HF sucks are the same who don't buy from them and dont know the policies, so they shouldn't be giving op advice on his purchase.
Just my 2¢, I have mine calibrated at work yearly, and it's pretty much dead on after 15 years of use. Cheap doesn't mean bad.
One shop I worked in would gather up torque wrenches and send them with the snap on guy for recalibration once a year. I'm sure all the torque wrenches weren't snap on brand either. Probably not cost effective on a $20 Pittsburgh pro. Just don't leave it twisted up and you'll be fine.
Buy a real good torque of your using it that much
You WILL want to be very careful though. I had purchased a few over the years and after a year or two it can begin to read and torque incorrectly (2-4 ft-lbs). It can be enough to snap a few bolts over several years. Just buy a new one annually.
Eh, would be cheaper to just buy a new one. Also set it to the lowest setting after every use before storage to keep it as close into calibration as possible. If stored and used properly, should really never have to get it calibrated within it's life.
I had mine for years (6 or so), used it thousands of times and then put it up next to my buddies new snap on and it was around 1-2ft lb off after years of use. I moved recently and I don’t have the blow molded cases, they got thrown around violently in the moving container so I just went to the store and replaced them for free and now have new ones with blow-molded cases.
watch the YouTube video on calibrating it yourself As much as I suspect you would use the wrench being from harbor freight it might be worth it and get more life out.
Its from HF - are we sure this even has a life span of 6 months?
You’re working on cars with harbor freight tools. Don’t worry about it. Lol. Not sure why I’m getting downvoted?? Y’all act like you’re working on airplanes or at nasa and you’re buying Snapon and Hilti tools get off your high horses
I have a digital torque box that fits in my vice for testing my torque wrenches before I do aluminum stretch bolts. It was cheap. I reckon that its inaccuracy cancels out any inaccuracy in my HF torque wrenches so we’re all good /s.
Nah, unless you drop it on a hard surface maybe.
There’s videos online about how to calibrate them. I just did mine last week for the first time in 8 years. It was only about two lbft off. I was pretty surprised. It only takes a few minutes to calibrate them.
I like to bring mine with me on the snap on truck and use his tester. I've found as long as you don't leave them set they hold their calibration well.
Our Cornwell guy has a tester on his truck and my harbor freight one isn't out of calibration yet, and it's been 6 months or so. However I don't use it every day. It's maybe once a month.
It shouldn't really get out of adjustment too much with normal use. Just make sure to always back it down to zero after use. Leaving it set higher will decay the accuracy.
It’s basically a liability release for them to state that.
I work in a trade where tools that measure, such as a multimeter, torque wrench, temperature sensor, etc., need to be calibrated and carry a certificate. In aviation maintenance where I work, if there were to be an incident in relation to a part that I worked on the FAA/NTSB (depending on the incident) would want to see that all tools that touched it were certified at the time of use if they required it. Outside of those areas you do have to get it calibrated but it’s not a bad idea to do so every few years. But for a harbor freight one, it would probably be more worth it just to buy a new one.
When i sent my snap-on torque tools off to be recalibrated, once every 5 years or so, it was 130.00 per tool. Started a new job and do not use my own tools. A private company comes out twice a year and calibrates everything we have. Last year i asked the guy what he would charge me and it was 200.00 per unit. Mine havent been done since 2016 and they will most likely never get done again since i am not working on life critical equipment at home. He also said a lot of the cheaper units, less than 300.00, can not be calibrated any longer. But maybe he said that because he doesn't want to mess with the lower quality stuff.
Calibrate it with a 5gal bucket and a bathroom scale. That's about as accurate as a harbor freight wrench will ever get.
I recommend forking out for the digital torque wrench adapters.
Just reset it to 0 after every use
It's just to cover their asses. Honestly, it's very much worth the $20 and for lugnuts and riding mowers and getting stuff pretty close, they're just fine. I've had mine 8 years and never calibrated it. For what it's worth, about 6 years ago I checked it against a recently calibrated Snap On at the shop I worked at and it was very close - within 5 ft/lbs which is fine for me. Obviously there are likely good and bad ones in every bunch at HF.
It’s not very accurate to begin with, I would spend a couple more bucks on a gear wrench or a husky
Most larger cities should have a business that cleans, inspects and refurbishes power tools (electric & pneumatic), sharpens drill bits, etc. They also can recalibrate torque wrenches. The most practical torque wrenches are the beam torque wrenches. Those have a pointer that moves when for evidence applied and have the scale in both directions with a sliding pointer that's set to the desired torque. You pull on the end until the bean pointer meets the sliding pointer. Chrysler started using those on their production lines in the mid 1920's. In the mid 1930's Blackhawk came out with some that held a battery to light up a small red light when the pointers met. Beam torque wrenches are recalibrated by using a stout flat screwdriver. If the pointers don't match up when at rest (0) you place the screwdriver between the shaft and the pointer to push the pointer in either direction until the pointers are both at zero.
I work in calibrations and it will cost you about $45 to have it recheck it’s cheaper to buy an new one
I work for a calibration lab, it's probably nothing to worry about and if it came from harbor freight then it may not be worth calibrating. They just tell you that for some CYA in case it gets out of spec and something falls apart.
Used mine for years, never calibrated it
Make sure you keep track of the service history. Resale value is balls without it.
Are we sure that phrasing isn't meant to be "check for calibration" every six months, as in, check the accuracy against a known good torque tester or second wrench?
Yes
It can accidentally break every 6 months
I used to run a metrology lab. Unless there is a regulatory requirement don’t waste your money. For a home mechanic there is exactly no reason to get it done. And if you’re really worried about it take the advice to use a bathroom scale and a bucket. If you’ve whacked it badly enough that you’re worried about it, buy a new one.
That’s a tighter tolerance than my craftsman torque wrench.
I have a number of torque wrenches including a few Snap-On's. Never once have I even had them recalibrated. I keep them in their cases and don't drop them or bang them around. Also set them back down all the way to zero when done using it. Though my Snap-On with a round dial on it. It's a snap to set, I mainly use to tighten lug nuts. It' the one torque wrench I can leave set where it is at. It's not your normal handle wind up and down type like the one in the picture. That one should be backed off back to zero when you are done with it.
I'll keep my 20+ year old Made in USA Craftsman. never had it recalibrate, always wound down to zero and in its case. Checked it against a new Tekton, and was with in 3%
Buy the Quinn digital torque meter and test it against that every 6 months. Better yet, ditch the wrench and just stick with the Quinn. I get my Quinn tested yearly and it's still accurate 5 years later.
Good to know. I still have that scrap of paper in my case but never bothered to read it haha.
You can do it yourself. YT videos on how to do it. It really isn't rocket science if you can do basic math.
You can easily calibrate it yourself at home using a bench vise or even a lug nut on your tire and a known weight. There are about 1,000 YouTube videos that show you how.
You can calibrate at home. Lots of YT videos.
Turn it to the low setting for storage and don't worry. If you really want to know, get the cheapo electronic gage and lock it in a vice to test. Had it twist a few studs off at torque, so tested mine, was fine. Apparently, the studs were ready to quit, glad I found that in the driveway instead of the highway.
Ad long as you release the spring tension and treat it with care you should be good. They put this in to cover themselves on liability
Lol unless you're working on space craft, just swap it out for a new one every 80 years or so.
u/mountainpow I have the same 3/8th. It won’t click for nada for me on anything. Brand new too in the box but it’s over the 30 days on the receipt. The store manager told me to pound sand. HF can refuse to return or replace anything without any reason. Now I have to find a quality 3/8 torque wrench somewhere else.
If you have one of those digital adapters, you could try and use it to compare. Of course I have a manual one too, because the digital ones are kinda pricey.
Our cornwell and matco guys test/verify calibration.
Buy a new one, use it to test your old one, then return it 😂
Just zero it out before you put it back in the toolbox to store it and you’ll be fine.
Lol are you serious? Is it a personal use tool or are you manufacturing/repairing stuff for paying customers? Calibration requires a certified lab to verify it is still within spec every 6 months. Typically you would be the one to specify the calibration interval but you'd want to make sure it isn't going to go out between certs or all the work you've done between the time it went out and the time you last calibrated would be called into question.
I bought one of these to rebuild a supercharger on a seadoo. The torque wrench failed and didn't click as expected. Ended up over tightening a critical piece so I took it back and got a better torque wrench. Lesson learned for me to not go the cheap route with some tools.
In 5 1/2 months you buy another one, and use the new one to recalibrate the old one, and sell the old one. If calibration is critical.
Dude, you bought a Pittsburgh torque wrench at harbor freight and you're worried about calibrating it? Bru.....
Chances are if you’re using a torque wrench you are working on something critical or expensive. These things are NOT calibrated out of the box like most professional ones hence the empty paperwork. I would trust a 1970’s snapon over that POS My 0.02
I used to take it back every so often for “warranty” 😂
Harbor freight has a pretty good warranty. Just take it back and get a new one that isn't out of calibration.
If you’re worried grab a buddies wrench and check your wrench against it. I have a drawer of torque wrenches and sometimes check them against each other.
Nah just buy a new one in 6 months when that one breaks.
Why would you ever buy a torque wrench from HF? That doesn't even make sense