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The local Harbor Freight recently had a huge sale, and I found myself buying a PB Pro 1/2 Drive Torque Wrench. Now, I normally don’t care much for the PB brand as they’ve seemed quite cheap in my experiences. But I’ve got a possible rebuild coming up soon, and that was the main item on the list. I don’t have the item number on me right now, but I just wanted to see if any of you have had success with this tool. Thanks everyone.
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I recently purchased a Pittsburgh Pro ½ Inch drive torque wrench item 239 for my wife’s trunk tool kit with the primary purpose of lug nut duty. In this use accuracy is important, but I am also looking for a similar torque on each lug nut to prevent any issues with the brake rotors.
I was also curious as to how the Harbor Freight $10 wrench would compare against a different make so I pulled the Craftsman 62001 1/2 inch drive wrench out of my trunk tool kit for a comparison.
On my vehicle I torque the lug nuts down to 100psi; I loosened the lug nuts on the two rear wheels using a t-handle and set the Pittsburgh wrench to 100psi and torqued the lug nuts down on the driver side.
I followed with the Craftsman also set at 100psi and it clicked out before any lug nut movement occurred on the rear driver side lug nuts.
On the passenger side rear wheel I used the Craftsman first and then followed with the Pittsburgh wrench. This time the Pittsburgh did torque down the lug nuts just a bit more before clicking at 100psi.
Conclusion:
Both wrenches are made in China and are affordable with the Pittsburgh available at $10 with a coupon and the Craftsman at $40 on sale. I do not have a high degree of expectations on either wrench to be extremely accurate. They are in my opinion wrenches that will provide a reasonable consistent torque on fasteners in same application close to the desired torque setting. If used in an application with a high degree of accuracy is required I would use a more reliable tool with a certificate of calibration, which neither of these provide to the customer.
Should you decide that torqueing down the heads close to the OEM specification is good enough then either of these might be suitable. Craftsman also does make digital torque wrenches, but we all know the demands in a shop situation these may not be as durable. However, a digital load cell torque wrench may provide the desired level of accuracy in your application.
I am curious to hear of a comparison of the $10 Pittsburgh wrench to a more expensive digital wrench if anyone has one and willing to perform a similar test.Wrenches used:
Craftsman – http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-micro-clicker-torque-wrench-1-2inch-drive/p-00931425000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1
Harbor Freight – http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-drive-click-type-torque-wrench-239.htmlLug Nut socket and extension are also from Harbor Freight – http://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-drive-impact-flip-socket-set-3-pc-62491.html
That PB tool you speak of is the one I have exactly. Mine came with the cert. of calibration. I thought they all did. Hmm. Questionable. Thank you for your feedback.
The electronic digital torque wrenches you don’t want to use for torqueing lugnuts.My Matco dealer sent in one that broke because of this to get fixed.Lot of these newer engines,you do need the electronic torque wrench with a built in angle gauge.There is a certain degree you have to turn the fastner after torqueing it down.One example is the GM 3400 headbolts,44 foot pounds and a 90 degree turn after torqueing the headbolts down.
I completely agree using a digital torque wrench on a daily basis would not make sense, but just for a comparison on one or two wheels would be an interesting test.
Using a digital for the bolt on a head to a torque of 44lb as in your example and then turning 90 degrees might give a more desired end result than using another type of wrench.
The torque on a lug nut although important to me does not seem as critical as a head bolt. On a wheel a uniform torque on all to prevent any damage to the braking system and proper handling characteristics. Does it really matter if the torque level is off by 5lbs on a wheel used as a daily driver?
I’ve had a PB 1/2″ clicker torque wrench that I got maybe 17 years ago that still works fine. It’s spent long periods of time being stored without lowering the torque setting. Within the last year I tested it on the wall mount tester on the Snap-On truck, and it was within 4% accurate on a variety of torques.
I bought one from a hardware store that looks identical to the one sold at HF. It has worked fine over the past 10 years. I never tested its accuracy though.
The accuracy of the clicker-style wrenches is greatest at the highest setting and the accuracy decreases as the torque setting is lowered. However, the repeatability is fairly good at all torque settings. Just something to keep in mind if you’re torquing something a 40 ft*lbs with a 150 ft*lb wrench.
One of the other forum members (Raisten) posted a video on how he tested the accuracy of his torque wrenches with a digital torque adapter.
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