Bought a half inch torque wrench from Harbor Freight for $45 and it actually held up on head bolts for a 5.3 LS swap I did last Saturday in my driveway

I was prepping for a head gasket job on my buddy's 2004 Silverado and needed a torque wrench that could handle 65 ft lbs. My old one from AutoZone crapped out after one use so I figured I'd try the cheap Pittsburgh one everyone talks trash about. I marked the bolt heads with a paint pen and ran the sequence three times like the manual said. Every single bolt came out consistent and the final turn felt solid with no click drift. Has anyone else had good luck with those budget torque wrenches or did I just get a unicorn?

2 comments

2 Comments

morgan_bailey935d ago

Drove my buddy's 5.3 with a Pittsburgh torque wrench last fall and it clicked dead on at 70 ft lbs every single pass. I think the hate comes from people who never actually test them or just assume cheap equals broken. If yours held up through a triple check on head bolts then that's a win in my book.

joel_butler5d ago

Yeah man, my cheap clicker from the parts store has been doing valve covers and intakes for like 4 years now without a problem. The trick is to always store it with the tension backed all the way off, that's what kills the spring on the cheap ones. I also give it a quick test on a bolt I know the torque for before I trust it on anything critical like head bolts. Honestly for 90% of what people do in their driveway a Harbor Freight wrench is totally fine, just know its limits and don't drop it on concrete.