Why nobody talks about how good those cheap Pittsburgh torque wrenches are

I was always a skeptic about the Harbor Freight torque wrenches. Figured you had to spend at least $100 on a name brand for anything accurate. Last month I had to do a head gasket on a 2002 Civic and my Snap-On was in for calibration. Grabbed a $20 Pittsburgh as a backup and checked it against my buddy's Matco. Three test pulls later it was within 2 ft-lbs every time. Has anyone else tested these and found them surprisingly consistent?

3 comments

3 Comments

anthony_campbell881d ago

I get what you're saying but I've had a different experience with those Pittsburgh torque wrenches. I bought one a few years back for a basic suspension job and it clicked way earlier than it should have on the first few bolts. I checked it against a digital adapter and it was off by almost 10 ft-lbs on a 50 ft-lb setting. Might be hit or miss with quality control on the cheap ones.

ivanross1d ago

Wait, is it really that bad though? I've got two of those Pittsburgh wrenches and both have been spot on every time I've checked them cheap beam style and even a Harbor Freight click type. I've used mine on about a dozen different jobs from brake calipers to engine mounts and never had a problem with accuracy. Maybe you got a lemon or you didn't store it right because they can get knocked out of calibration if you drop them or leave them set to a high torque. I'd say check it again after clicking it down to zero and resetting it, might fix your issue.

seanjackson1d ago

Hold on, did you check it right after you bought it or had you been using it for a while before testing against the digital adapter? I'm just wondering if maybe that one was already out of whack from the factory, because I've heard of guys getting duds right out of the box on the real cheap ones.