If you dial the wrenches back to 10-20% of their maximum capacity for storage you will find they stay in calibration longer than if you set them to zero. They need some light tension on the springs.

 

About 5 years ago there was a discussion on a dirt bike forum concerning torque wrenches. If I recall, some lab tested them all and the HFT was as good as the best.

I have one in 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" and use the correct sized one for the job, total cost was about $60 for the three.

 

Well I must admit this information makes a strong case for cheaper priced T.Wrenches. I also read all the informative care data and the one that was stored at zero still held good after extended period.

The H.F. inch lb wrench (I still have) manual said to store it at it's "lowest setting" while the Sears ft lb one I have said to store it at 20% of range setting. I will probably store them however their manual says.

I think I will ask a few calibrators what their opinions of Pittsburgh T. Wrenches are (the H.F. ones).

One thing for certian though, if you buy a T. wrench for less than $100 it doesn't make much sense to calibrate one, when you can just buy a new one for the same money or less. Snap Ons calibration service starts at $70 depending on which type, brand and part number wrench you send them.

As always thanks for all the excellent replies. And I love H.F. for most stuff, especially my bike lift jack which I modified to work on a Dyna.

 

This seems like good advice for all tools.

I can understand a guy w/ very little money, trying to get by w/ the very cheapest stuff all the time, to repair his busted old ride. But your average Harley Davidson buyer would seem to appreciate and want to own and be able to afford to buy some of the better things in life.

And there are those who don't care: "A wrench is a wrench." Parts is parts. Hey, I own some other HF bargain stuff, too.

Even a case can be made to provide the least expensive tool kit to leave on a bike, figuring it could be stolen, anyway.

But there are also some of us who are irked, when using an inferior tool, and won't settle for second-rate. Doesn't have to be Snap-On. I still have some Craftsman tools I bought over 50 years ago. Doesn't even have to be new! A lot of my tools were bought pre-owned. Some were actually great bargains. But most are quality and dependable. My "/# torque wrench is Snap-On, bought used, like-new-in-case, @ 60% of new cost. My Craftsman '/# was bought new, on sale, cased. Most of my shop machines were bought on a budget, used, from private party sales, but they are (virtually) all good quality tools.

For those who can appreciate using a quality tool, by buying used, one can own Craftsman, instead of HF, Snap-On, instead of Craftsman... The differences between these grades of tools is usually much more than cosmetic, and is readily apparent (to many) once you actually use the tool to do a job. The cheapest wrenches often don't smoothly fit, or retain their adjustments, a crescent wrench, for example.

Sometimes bargains aren't. When you buy a quality tool, you only cry once.

 

Good points and well written.

Well I got one report back from a local mechanic shop that I personally know the guys. They told me that " if you don't use a T wrench that much, and treat it carefully, a cheap wrench can work, BUT always check them periodically to a needle bar. Further they said with repeated professional use, a more expensive T wrench will hold longer. but treat then all with care, if you drop it, trash it or have it recalibrated ".

Looks like I just had a bad wrench from the start. My H.F. inch pounder is still working like a charm, used it yesterday. But I must admit my new Sears ft pounder operates like a Cadilac and is so easy to adjust and use. Has a nice dial in **** on end. A very nice wrench for $119.

Will post some replies back from some calibrators when I get them.

 

I've bought two used Snap-ons from the classifieds on Garagejournal forum. Tested them against buddy's and luckily they were right on. Saved a ton of money and have tools that should last forever. But that's not to say buying HF or Sears not good also.

 

There are some things that just don't qualify for "buying cheap".

Really getting tired of guys posting about looking for cheap crap for their not-so-cheap bike,...... as if their bike has been mean to them.

Thank you, to the OP for pointing out his bad experience with the "cheap".

 

The thing is sometimes you buy OVERPRICED craftsmen or Snap on etc... that ends up being junk...So you can crap out with so called Quality brand name stuff too...for the guy that will need it 1 -3 times in it's lifetime why spend hundreds of dollars.

 

I prefer to keep the odds in my favor. Odds are smaller that the quality brand will fail.

Even if I did use it only 3 times per year, I still wouldn't want to overtorque a headbolt.
It will be on my shelf for a lifetime. I might as well share my life with a good one, rather than a piece of crap.

 

Quality tools are great for open end wrenches, box end wrenches, sockets, ratchets, crescents and all hard use tools, no doubt... However, for seldom used torque wrenches I prefer ACCURACY above all else. I'd rather pay $20 for an accurate torque wrench than $120 for an equal that will perform the same or worse. I trust independant labs more than off-the-cuff responses in making my buying decisions.

So far I have not been convinced that the torque wrenches being sold by HF are inferior to any others. In fact, my findings were that they were as good or better than most others costing many times more.

That being said, go ahead and spend as much as you want for a tool, it's your money. On the other hand, by spending $20 on a torque wrench, I can also buy an air butterfly wrench, an angle grinder, a peanut grinder and a few other tools with the money saved.

Go figure.