kim693•1d ago

Wasted $60 on a cheap torque wrench from Harbor Freight

I figured I'd save some cash and grabbed one of those Pittsburgh torque wrenches for like $60 last month. Used it on a job torquing landing gear bolts on a Cessna 172 and something felt off. Double-checked with my coworker's Snap-on and it was off by almost 15 ft-lbs. Has anyone else had issues with those budget wrenches on critical hardware?

2 comments

2 Comments

kevin_harris781d ago

Honestly, when you said "something felt off" that's exactly the red flag. Ngl, I've seen guys trust those budget tools on stuff like brake calipers and it's scary, but on landing gear bolts that's a whole different level of risk. So what was the exact torque value you set it to, and how much did your coworker's Snap-on show it was actually delivering? Because I'm wondering if it's a calibration drift issue or if the wrench just never was accurate out of the box. That 15 ft-lbs difference is huge, especially on critical aircraft hardware where even 5 ft-lbs matters. It makes me think those cheap wrenches are only good for stuff like lawnmower bolts or non-safety stuff, not anything that keeps a plane in the air.

terry_carter151d ago

Man I've been there. I had a cheap click-type wrench that was supposedly calibrated but it ended up being 12 ft-lbs off on a 80 ft-lbs job. I switched to a beam style torque wrench for anything critical after that. They're simple, don't have those internal springs that can drift, and you can literally see the scale as you're turning. Saved my butt more than once.