Harbor Freight Icon torque wrench review and accuracy test
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- Here’s a review and accuracy test of the new Harbor Freight Icon torque wrench, which retails for $89.99. This torque wrench is another example of Harbor Freight trying to compete with name brands by offering more expensive tools.
To clarify: at 8:34 I was referring to video screen capture software. I know how to take photo screen caps, and there are several used in this video. I appreciate all the people trying to be helpful and suggesting how to take photo screen caps, but I already know how to do that.
Use OBS, its a free video capture software for your computer and very easy to get into
^
Camstudio may be what you're looking for.
*Good **MyBest.Tools** value compaired to other brands*
I got this mower specifically to be able to drive it through a 36 inch door th-cam.com/users/postUgkx1VWTrayKBdCKAjzAcZ_Eg4dhHTae3LkN also recommend or gate It is a little tight with the grass deflector installed but has more clearance with the deflector replaced by the recycler/mulcher. This model appears to be popular and a little harder to find for that reason. I can't judge the dependability as I have only mowed the yard twice but everything else on the mower is very nice and working fine so far. I added options for the run hour timer, arm backrests, recycler/mulcher, towing bracket, deck lift assist and cover.
Just a note on keeping your receipt: I normally tape mine to the bottom of the case in a clear plastic envelope along with a photocopy of the receipt. The thermal paper receipts have a tendency to fade to nothing over a short period of time so as long as you can see some of it, the photocopy will match so they can't give you a hard time. I use Home Depot up here a lot and use their email receipt. Emailed copies don't fade.
My Harbor Freight e-mails me my receipts; my phone number (which they ask for every time) is mapped to my e-mail and mailing addresses.
I know it's just a way of corporate tracing but still, damn handy isn't it?
Muskoka Mike but how extra emails have you received from Home Depot? Is it being distributed to other?
I opted out of their promo emails so I haven't received one in....a year?
@@muskokamike127 just take a picture and email it to yourself with a subject of what it is. File it away in your email in a folder called receipts. Done.
Well if you look up the video from the guy called real tool reviews he bought a Snap-On torque wrench for $400 and icon for a hundred at The icon beat the snap on also he done the test called durability test a repeat test 10 times and the snap-on got beat again by the icon
You're right regarding your number of subscribers. You should have many more. You are straight to the point without the nonsense & cursing of most other tool review YT channels. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the kind words.
I broke down and purchased this in 3/8in. for the 90 bucks. I was returning their cheaper model because it was way off, so much so that I tore four bolts on a motorcycle valve cover. Ouch! Repair was expensive. Then I decided to exchange.
I haven't used it yet and I am so glad to have seen your review. I am more at ease with this one but really wish in hindsight that I would have spent my money more intelligently.
Thank you for your fine review.
I've learned to master my own calculations on torque specs. The trick is to use a breaker bar instead of a torque wrench, use all your might and clench to the point you rip one. Works like a charm. lol
Clearly you don't listen for the bolt squeak and that point just prior to shearing
Have this torque wrench in 3/8ths. Great torque wrench. I was probably the first to buy it in my area, but it has served me much better than other torque wrenches I have used (Kobalt, Husky, and Pittsburgh)
I have 3 torque wrenches. A 45 yr old Craftsman beam 1/2, a 3/8 HF and a 3/8 Tecton. Works fine for Mower’s and wheel nuts. I’m not building a space shuttle. Don’t use them vey often, but they are good enough for my purposes. Good video.
Haha, "space shuttle", Taryl
At this price point, I’m sticking with the inexpensive ratchet. For how often I use it, the Pittsburgh works just fine. Great honest video review 👍🏼
Only problem is it accurate? Because i work for an airline and we cant use the cheap ones because of how inaccurate they are
@@jacobfranklin820 that’s completely understandable. In your position, the criticality of a precise tool is probably mandatory.
The case may look nice, but I'd consider the case to be pretty bad because it is far bigger than it needs to be. That tool will often be in the bottom of your toolbox; do you really want to pull everything else out of the toolbox so you can remove the case? Even if it is at the top of the toolbox, that case takes up a lot of space, and it doesn't even have slots to store sockets.
The ideal case is probably actually the cheapest one: a bag with a drawstring. It may not look prestigious, but a thick fabric will protect it from scratches and dings almost as well as a plastic case. And if you drop anything heavy into the case that could actually damage the torque wrench, it'll probably damage everything else in there as well. But it's hard to imagine what could do that; maybe an anvil, or a bowling ball dropped from 30 feet.
And a bag is much easier to hang on a pegboard if you prefer to organize your tools that way.
CHRIS you do know the vid was about the torque wrench ??
Yes indeed, and he covered the wrench part very well. I don't have that particular one so I can't give much feedback on its functionality compared to others. But i do have a toolbox and many tool cases, so I consider myself sufficiently qualified to give some review of the case's size and shape in general, and I disagree with the video that a bigger case is better. But for the wrench itself, I'll defer to the video.
Stinky Cheese
I never said I keep it in a portable toolbox; I don't. I prefer to keep my tools organized in devices that are interchangably called "toolboxes", "tool chests" "workbenches", or occasionally "those big heavy boxes with drawers for my tools". These are all box-shaped containers for tools (hence "toolbox"), and most are not portable.
If you prefer to store your tools in a big rusty pile on the floor, then more power too you. I prefer to keep some sense of organization and purpose. But as you proclaim "If you insist on doing so, you are qualified at non-sense" towards something I DIDN'T say, then I don't need to say anything to put you down - you jumped head-first into insults, and that reveals enough about you.
Stinky Cheese You are clearly not a mechanic or a serious home shop guy. Frankly I'm not sure where to start explaining how people who are serious about thier tools go about organization. Those big rolling tool chests may look like they have plenty of room to you but if someone is serious about mechanical work then every cubic inch of space in those drawers is precious. And some of the drawers in the professional style boxes have quite deep drawers where it works best to store bulky cases, but a tourqe wrench is something that will be used on most projects involving vehicles, and needs to be easy to get to. I have the 72 inch HF box and won't even give up the space that the small case of the Pittsburgh torque wrench takes up.
Stinky Cheese Well since you didn't bother properly reading what I wrote, I'm not going to bother to explain why your points are wrong or deliberately misleading. And I suspect it would not matter much to a closed minded old fool such as yourself. I just hope I don't ever end up working on anything you have previously.
1:50 - Inspector "Jack" and QM "Peter". More like Inspector Jiang and QM Ping.
😂😂😂😂😂
great advice about storage , brilliant input , never accrued to me , gotta go dial down some torque wrenches
It all depends on the intended use I guess. I only use a torque wrench for lug nuts which is about twice a year for tire rotations so I’ve been using the $10 1/2” Pittsburgh from HF and it works great. A number of videos including yours show it’s pretty accurate and it’s all a DIYer really needs.
Same here, during a sale from HF, I couldn't resist it and bought all THREE torque wrenches for $10 each, although I don't really need them all.
I think is priced correctly to compete with other company's. The question is cause it comes from Harbor Freight is already labeled as "JUNK or Overpriced " But people go to Lowe's and buy the Kobalt Brand Torque wrench made in China or Taiwan and many accept it and not complaints or question the durability or accuracy. The calibration sheet is where I have an issue with. I would like to open two or three other icons torque wrenches and see if the sheet is the same or same persons who verify it.
For a high price and no accuracy difference, I'm very happy with my 10 dollar cheap one. I always store it with no spring tension and I trust it. The only reason you need perfect accuracy is when there's stupid torque values like 12 inch lbs on a hub nut, and with that you don't use a click style. I'm also curious how accurate your HF digital converter is, but +- 4% is ok in any application.
The first one being defective makes me wonder if the certification can really be trusted.
The 90 teeth is the big selling point here. Definitely will make life easier for under the hood stuff. Great review
I've been using the cheap HF torque wrenches for years and they hold calibration surprisingly well. I have one for wheel lugs and one strictly for under hood work. Before I torque down a head, I check the calibration the same way you did in the vid, with the digital torque tool, and recalibrate if necessary. I'm not doing heavy duty or diesel, just cars, but, I've never had an issue. About the only thing I could imagine the Icon being particularly more useful for is reaching down to torque water pump bolts or timing belt tensioners, but, those I usually reach for a 1/4 in. wrench.
LOL... The $10.00 HF Torque wrench worked just as well as this one in your video...
Z71Ranger for me, the question is not whether it is accurate straight out of the box, but if it will come back from calibration at factory spec. I work on charter aircraft and the FAA requires our torque-measuring tools to be on a calibration program/schedule.
Z71Ranger for me, the question is not whether it is accurate straight out of the box, but if it will come back from calibration at factory spec. I work on charter aircraft and the FAA requires our torque-measuring tools to be on a calibration program/schedule.
DCostified watch the project farm video on it, it’s crazy that it tested better than snap on but I expected it lmdao snapon is like Gucci shoes, people pay for 90% name and 10% quality for stuff like that, it’s like buying a damn Mac vs pc, for the same you spend on a PC you can get an ULTRA good PC, but pay for Mac and your paying $1500 for the same ram, cpu power, and storage as a PC will give you for $400-$500 plus they don’t come with a GPU that will run any game at all, plus you can throw a all in one liquid cooled CPU radiator in there for $50 and then overclock the CPU and get extra power for cheap as shit, and upgrade anything you want easily, which you can barely upgrade anything on a MAC plus 99% of the stuff you have to buy expensive MAC hardware to upgrade so as time goes by and things get cheaper on a PC you can upgrade as you like
I'm glad HF is starting to see the value in producing better quality tools. Their tools up to several years ago were so bad and so hit or miss it wasn't even funny. There are way to many people in and out of that store to try to pass off the junk they use to produce. These days they are making really nice quality tools for a decent price. If I were a mechanic I might stick with "Strap-on" because lets face it if you take your expensive BMW to the shop and the mechanic pulls out a set of Pittsburg ratchets I might think twice about leaving my ride there, but for the home mechanic this would be a nice addition. I have their Quinn torque wrench and it's very nice and just as accurate as the big expensive brands. Personally I like the click style better than the digital ones but I'm old school. I'm going to grab one of these to go with my digital Quinn TQ wrench.
We don’t have harbor freight here in Europe, but I just want to say the high quality torque wrenches from brands like Teng can be found for like €50, and the ones from top notch German brands like Wera can be found for around €100. My point being for $100 (which is what you actually paid with tax); this Taiwanese brand is putting themselves in almost direct competition with the top end brands, so expectations for this torque wrench needs to be set there after and no “easy-pass” for being the cheaper one (because it isn’t).
Personally I have had a €45 torque wrench from Draper (British brand, but made in China) and a €10 one from a brand called “RAZE” (Chinese brand) for years, both have functioned with no issues for the occasional repairs I do on my car, so for me it would be crazy to spend €100 on a torque wrench, and Im sure it the same story for most non-professional mechanics, whom I’m assuming that Harbor freight has as their primary target group. I can’t imagine professional mechanics buying cheap tools at a place like harbor freight, but what do I know
At $60 I'd be totally interested but $90 is too high for harbor freight. Good to see it's of quality though.
Would u spend $300 for a snap on ?
The $10 HF Pittsburgh one is almost as good.
But the icon goes up to 250 ft lbs while the Pittsburgh goes to 150 ft lbs. If u need to replace ur cv axle it matters cuz those nuts are torqued to 200 ft lbs or thereabouts
@@ernestkills476 When I need 250 ft lbs torque, I just use a breaker bar, a jack stand and myself.
I got the 1/2 inch icon torque wrench for truck work been working excellent!
Depends what you are needing to be torqued, wheels probably fine with a cheaper wrench but a $10K motor, I'll definitely spend the $100 to ensure the best torque possible.
Seems like the Case will take up more tool box space than is necessary to insure the torque wrench is protected on the Icon. I applaud you for a nicely done and honest review.
....For sure, correct storage, calibration and how to use, the most important things.
The lock mechanism not working correctly on the first one makes me question the validity of the provided calibration sheets. They would obviously have to be taken through the range of settings so the faulty one should have been in a rejects bin.
it was transported a dozen times over 12000 miles.
Yes I bought one about a month ago and use it more than the the regular ratchet when tightening hardware.
You did not mention this torque wrench starts at 20ft. pounds, which is a little on the high side. I think all together I would stick with Craftsman on, sale or with points added on, or both.
For readings lower than that, you really need to go down on the ratchet size, as even a high-grade unit won't be precise enough.
you can use snipping tool on your computer to take a screenshot. It's already built into windows.
$50 is the sweet spot for taiwaneese torque wrenches and once you get near $100 just buy a CDI.
CDI makes the Icon wrench according to German Tool Reviews
The CDI is $150 that's substantially more.
a little pricey , I'll stick to the Pittsburgh for $10
which also has a lifetime warranty.
and calibrated like dog shit
FrequencyOfThought ±5% isn't unreasonable
I've seen these types of china specials be anywhere from a few percent to straight up bust your bolt percent .
+FrequencyOfThought works for me although it's only for lug nuts , does its duty
im not sure that i like the high priced HF stuff. they now offer a Hercules 12'' compound sliding miter saw for like $400.
I bought a Dewalt 12'' sliding compound miter saw for $400 and that was including taxes. the HF may be fine and dandy, but for $400 i have more faith in the Dewalt.
i do own a lot of HF hand tools and i own their cheap torque wrenches. they are accurate and work great. $10 v $90 is a great difference. if the cheap one is accurate i can not justify the extra cost.
Agreed. Especially the higher priced power tools that only have a 90 day warranty. Makes me very nervous!
The HF 12 inch saw can be purchased for much less than $400. And, you did NOT buy a dewalt, 12 inch, double bevel miter saw for $400, unless it was off the back of a truck.
Name of the person who calibrated this torque wrench is Jack! Suuuure!
If you can open any other case,I wouldn't be surprised to see same name.
My oldest Proto torque wrench is probably 30 years old and other two are 21 years old.Never had any problem with original blow molded cases.
Subscribed! Very cool channel!
Thanks!
Not at $90. It's too expensive for a beater, and I wouldn't trust it enough on the more important jobs. I would add a bit more and get something with a known track record.
What would you recommend?
e CDI (snapon industrial) or Precision. craftsman torque wrenches are about the same as harbor freight ones tbh
From Starlight To Sunrise thank u
Independent testing has shown the icon is both more accurate and more accurate over time then the equivalent snap on icon beat it at every torque level but one and and it still was within 1ftlb accuracy during the repeatability testing.
9.6% sales tax!?!?!? That's probably the highest I've seen in the states.
German Tool Reviews That’s nothing. Where I live it’s 10.25%.
20% in the UK
I know it's not the highest in the U.S., but it is pretty high.
It's an even 10% here...and I live in rural conservative USA. It's ridiculous.
I am not going to complain about my 7% here.
2022 checking in; Harbor Freight's ICON line is the store's highest-priced tool brand, their 1/2" torque wrench currently costs $155. I've come to the conclusion that it's stuff that looks pretty, with premium packaging, but that's mainly what you're paying for.
regarding the lifetime warranty:
It's a hand tool, and it says lifetime warranty. As a harbor freight employee, I can assure you the print in the manual doesn't mean shit to us. You come in with one of these and it's broken, even if you melted in in a fucking furnace we would still honor the warranty. Even some of the pittsburg stuff that doesn't say lifetime warranty, or says "limited warranty", if it's a hand tool, we replace it, no questions asked, and we probably won't even ring it in as a transaction, we'll just tell you to grab another.
I've worked at 2 different stores too, so it's not store specific. Any store that's worth their weight in salt will honor that warranty.
These means that, effectively this torque wrench has an unconditional lifetime warranty.
You should ignore any manufacturer warranty text within the manuals for items, because they are completely irrelevant, and have nothing to do with in store replacements.
pretty much every item in the store has a 2 year limited warranty by the manufacturer, but this cannot be redeemed in store, and is different than the 1 or 2 year extended service plans.
With our extended service plans too, we also heavily emphasize that we don't give a shit what condition it's in, if you buy a warranty for say a generator, you effectively bought a 2nd generator for the price of a warranty. Even if it's not broken, even if you dropped it from the roof of your apartment into a bonfire, as long as you have some identifying piece of it, and a warranty in our system your walking out with a new generator.
Let me get this straight, Harbor Freight claims that the Torque Wrench was test calibrated in Taiwan by people with American names, and yet they didn't catch that the lock was broken? I seriously doubt it was legitimately tested.
I recently changed my struts and sway bar end links and having a 1/2in drive torque wrench with a higher tooth count would of helped a ton.
Hello, my friend. Nice video, but here is a question: how do you know if your digital torque adapter is accurate? Even if it uses piezo electric cristals as sensor to measure the torque, it surely has 2 or 3% error, doesnt it?
Was wondering the same thing too. And if it is the gold standard, could it just replace the torque wrenches?
You have to give props for HF trying to put a decent reliable tool out there. Nothing is perfect but it looks like a better build quality than their Pittsburg model.
The $10 wrenches are actually really good. Many people have tested used ones and found the calibration to acceptable for your average Joe building a small block. I wouldn't build a 9000 rpm stock car engine, but for most people they are fine.
HF really missed the mark on pricing with some of the newer upper tier stuff...
the icon torque wrenches are $30-50 from CDI and PI models and while that is a decent chunk of change if you are serious enough about your torque wrench that you aren't buying the $12 with coupon pittsburgh an extra $30-50 to move up to established US made professional brands is not a huge stretch
the earthquake XT air gun is even with coupon priced within a few dollars of an aircat
the earthquake xt cordless impacts are not that much of a stretch from dewalt or milwaukee (which have more tools you can use the battery with... the earthquake XT battery system is limited to 2 tools while M18 or dewalt 20v has a plethora of options)
the zurich code readers are priced too high... you can find autel models for less that do more
not to say they didn't get some things right... the bremen locking pliers for one are priced lower than irwin's bullshit vise-grips while being better than the garbage that pisses all over it's own name
I came here to say the same thing. I think I paid about $120 for a 3/8 " Precision Instruments torque wrench, I couldn't imagine choosing the HF one for just $30 less.
I have an earthquake XT 1/2 air impact and it's hands down the strongest 1/2 inch impact I've ever seen. Its worth the money.
i bought a CDI 1/2” split beam 50-250 ft lb and holy crap that was definitely worth the $280 you dont have to dial it down for storage and the click can’t be mistaken. only takes 5 seconds to go from 50 to 250but it doesn’t work on stupid dodges that have left hand threads
Looks good but seems pricey for a HF product. If I could get a coupon for it I'd consider it.
If you're using a regular pc, you don't need screen cap software, just press the print screen button on your keyboard, then open up paint and do either of the following. Press Ctrl+V or select the paste option. Then just save as whatever you want
I would pay 50-55 for that. But i did just buy the cheap 10$ one. As often as ill use it, not looking for something nicer than i need
This saved the work when working on the F40 and Porsches, less throw on the swing & grip are nice features over SnapOn & Mac.
Tiny channels unite! Good video. Looks like a solid tool. I def can't afford one right now though! I'll stick with my Pittsburgh and Tekton.
Go back to a boosted boiz video or somthing
the proto torque wrench i bought in 1980 has the same red blow molded case. still all one piece after all these years.
Any torque wrench review or comparison should talk about the break angle. The amount of the degrees the wrench rotates when it reaches the torque setting. Quality torque wrenches have a greater angle, and usually publish this specification. I’m not a fan of the overly large case. It just wastes space in my tool box.
Real talk though for a few bucks more you can get a CDI wrench that's made (mostly) in America by the same company that makes the snapon models. Essentially the same wrench internally. Just a different head.
OBS is free video screen capture. It's relatively easy to use. You can capture your recorded voice and the mouse cursor straight from OBS.
You'd have to be pretty loyal to HF to buy this. I got a used calibrated Snap-on torque wrench for $120. Of course it's not a fine tooth.
Thanks for doing this, I thought the same exact thing when I saw this last month. Along with HF's drive to up their image, we get some great tools and values, and even more fluff. AvE has done plenty of teardowns on their pneumatic/electric stuff, with mixed results on their new 'upscale' lines (check him out if you haven't already). I absolutely love honest, objective examination on the stuff that I buy regularly (MOAR TOOLS), and you're doing an amazing job! I subbed, and please keep up the great work!
You didn't mention whether this could be recalibrated or not. If so, then yeah, I'd buy one of these vs a 'Name Brand' because name brand doesn't mean squat a lot of the time other than that you're paying more for that name. it would be nice if they also offered a quater inch version. I suspect a lot of people are in the same situation as you are regarding the half inch size. I'm sure there are people who deal with larger bolts in tight confines that need specific torquing, but if not, a less expensive model would be fine.
It could be recalibrated. That black plug on the bottom pops off and the adjustment is under there.
Kmart thought it was a great idea to start selling more high end merchandise too........
Hf doing fine lol
@@pvnchos1478 Large corporations don't just fail overnight.......Many of the largest companies in US history have failed.....We had to drop Kmart as a client because they wouldn't take our recommendations..............I was right, they were wrong.
1/2" Black Jack Torrin torque wrench sold at Walmart for less than $30 is a better value in my opinion. Have used it for last 5 years as DIY mechanic with no issues.
Imagine you have a choice of flying on one of two planes.
One is serviced with harbor freight tools and the other is serviced with top of the line tools. Which plane will you be getting on?
Kind of expensive, I have 2 Tektons and a Craftsman beam. All good enough for small engines and car wheels. Great review.
The 10 dollar one is good enough for car engines, ask my rev happy V6. Vid comments are full of wankers.
Harbor Freight is definitely stepping up their game but I'm not sure why they offer a high-end (for them) click type torque wrench. Seems like they would have been better off to build a digital for slightly more and leave the Pittsburgh line for people who want a click one.
There are 20% off 1 icon tool available on their website, kind of difficult to find but you have to shop by brand for it to come up
Pro Tech Tip: alt + Print Screen takes a screenshot of the current focused window in Windows. You can then paste that into your image editor of choice, like Adobe Photoshop.
I have one of these. It works just fine... I've only had it for a year, but its a trouble free year. I use it almost daily. Not quite every day, but pretty often. No worries!
I would go for the Icon 3/8" flex head because it offers a more of a practical range for car repairs.. 5 to 75 ft/lb. I have an old beam style for lugs.
There is one thing I like about the Harbor Freight torque wrenches. Unlike the sears branded ones, they have a lifetime warranty. Sears only offers a 1 year warranty(with receipt) on their click style wrenches.
It's now only 90 days. Really pitiful like many other brands, too.
An identical copy of the legendary Snap on torque wrench which I've seen used by aircraft maintenance technicians for many years yet passing calibration check every 90 days with no problems
the regular torque wrenches aren't too bad; I just checked mine so far it clicked and compared it with several there for "the feel" idk.
I did a valve teardown job on my motorcycle and used the harbor freight 1/4 inch torque wrench to tighten the cam journals. they've been fine for a year now and those things are holding cams spinning over 15K rpm.
90 dollar is not expensive for a torque wrench.
Who knows, the local truck stop sells a large coffee for $2.89, they also sell a half pound of their house coffee for $3.50 so why is one cup $2.89. Its the cup. Maybe your buying a 10$ torque wrench and an $80 case
I like the part in the warranty where they mention that, essentially, if you fail to have it professionally recalibrated every 6 months, the warranty is void.
Is this really in the warrenty fine print? That's unrealistic if thats the circumstance.
I would totally buy this torque wrench, I gotta say this some of the things sold at harbor freight are great not all of the things but stuff like the Pittsburgh 3 ton floor jacks are really sturdy and I haven't found anything that really compares for the price, also the Pittsburgh wrenches are great for some beater wrenches that you aren't going to care about too much
This is going to be a hard sell, especially when you can get a Precision Instruments split beam for just a few bucks more. Good on Harbor Freight for trying at least.
Like many here, I have 2 tiers of torque wrench in my garage. I have the knock around/loan to neighbor/crappy cheap wrenches and then there's the CDI wrenches. The CDI's come out when there's something really important to torque, like head bolts, yoke nuts, or flywheel bolts. Everything else gets the cheapos. I have no issue using cheap HF Pittsburgh torque wrenches on a lathe mount, or mill jig, or wheel lug. These things are dirt cheap, accurate enough, and I don't get too attached to them, so when they break, I'm not sad. I store all my torque wrenches at their lowest setting anyhow, it's just second nature to back them down when you put them away. If I was under a car and dropped a CDI wrench, I would be mad. But a Pittsburgh, eh, I can get another one for the price of some ( decent ) french fries.
How's it holding up? I think you paid $40 of the $90 just for the nice case. I just bought a Kobalt 3/8" should be here today, hope I don't regret it
I just found your channel. I think it is very informative. To answer your question yes I would buy the 3/8 drive Icon torque wrench
That mechanism is just like my CDI I just got. And the cost is about the same like you said, think I paid $20 or $30 more for the USA made CDI one. The problem becomes when it needs to be recalibrated - a recal shop might refuse to take the Icon or HF, while they will take the CDI's and NAPA's all day long. Had it happen twice with my HF ones unfortunanetly. Never found out why....
How many teeth are there in the ratchet mechanism of your CDI? Just curious because I emailed them asking and they didn’t send me an answer.
33 teeth. Good thing you asked - turns out there was zero lube in them too. Surprising for CDI...
Thanks for checking. I assumed it didn't have a fine-tooth mechanism, but I didn't know for sure because I haven't owned one.
@Tool Teardowns - I wanted to add I saw your HF vs Tekton video too - the inside of the CDI's is almost a mirror image of the inside of the Tekton, FYI.
B/c they can't admit it's all the same shit and are butt hurt.
Yes i would pat the price for the Icon Torq Wrench. Its the best torq wrench you can get next to a Snap On.
HB app 90% of the time has a 20% off entire purchase coupon... use it all the time....
Thanks for the quality review
What is the "HB" app?
The big problem with Icon and Quinn (the Harbor Freight middle of the road tools) is they never commit to producing them in quantity, all you ever find is their crap Pittsburgh line of tools.
I wish I had saved the link. I saw a tool blog that did a long term test on the Icon 1/2" drive torque wrench. It actually held calibration slightly better than a Snap-On. I would be curious to see a long term test on one of their $10 torque wrenches.
Honestly I prefer the case of the cheaper torque wrench. Takes up less space in the tool box while still providing adequate protection from being beat around.
Great vid. I just bought a Craftsman 1/2” torque wrench in Lowe’s for $74. Comes in a great case, it’s very long, but the price point is sweet.
Yeah and you only got a 90-day warranty which is pitiful. Craftsman is not your father's Oldsmobile. I bought Craftsman for over 45 years. Now it is almost impossible to get them to warrant anything. Also, the Craftsman torque wrench has a plastic handle which may break if you are using a cheater pipe.
I'm cheap and as often as I actually use a torque wrench I just go with the cheaper version especially seeing how their easy enough to calibrate and check calibration. I will say my autozone ½" torque wrench which was cheap $25 doesn't hold calibration very well and I have to check it before every use. After seeing your harbor freight video I believe I very much over paid for mine especially since I didn't even get a crummy case with mine. I do always release pressure after every use and hang it on the wall for the most part although a few times I've had to travel with it and just wrapped it in a towel and tossed it in the tool box. I guess tossed is s harsh word more like placed but I'm sure it's gotten beaten up a bit.
I love my 3/8 icon. A few years ago I had a Pittsburgh and it was really junky in the area of the handle/collar….I mean it really didn’t even feel like you were absolutly set in the number you were trying to set it on. Pondering the half inch icon now. Although….I may consider another Pittsburgh. I mean considering lots of guys don’t even use them and do everything by feel and don’t seem to have issues. And there’s no way, I don’t care how seasoned of a mechanic one is, no way you’re getting as accurate as even a lesser quality torque wrench.
Do a video testing Craftsman beam style torque wrench from sears curious to see how they stack up against clicker
For beginners or DYI, I would recommend the 3/8 Pittsburgh for under the hood or car, and the 1/2 Pittsburgh for tires. Its decent priced and works well. The Icon is not so well, and the style and shape is quite small, especially for a 3/8, plus for $99.99 a 3/8 the design is quite horrible, and for the 1/2 icon torque wrench $109.99 both to pricey for a poor design. So like I said for the beginners on a budget stick to the Pittsburgh torque wrench is not pricey plus it very pretty darn accurate. But if you want quality and good on precise, I would recommend Gear wrench, Tekton, craftsman , or Neiko. But hay that's just my opinion. But cool review.
I'd buy one if I didn't already have my Mac/USAG 3/8" torque wrench. Is it expensive? Yes. But it would hold up for someone like myself who uses one almost daily way better than the $10 ones.
Plus, $100 is still a 1/3 of what you'd pay on a truck for something similar. That's hard to beat.
Great and informative review. I'm not sure on a purchase of this either. I've picked up the Pittsburgh Pro version a couple of times, but set it down and walked away. I've looked at numerous torque wrenches to use in place of my old beam-type. I can't decide on a definite purchase yet. As of now the Tekon seems the best value for the money, but it has to ordered no local purchase available where I live and if I need to warranty the Tekton that means dealing with the inconvenience of waiting for another one to ship in instead of going to the store to replace it that day. Daniel from Real Tool Reviews did a comparison review of the Husky and Kobalt versions with the Kobalt producing better numbers. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the kind words.
I'd probably roll with the $10 model. The spreadsheet you showed showed it to be plenty accurate.
As an employee of Harbor Freight as well i can tell you that at least at my store well warrenty any tool no questions asked with any tool that says lifetime warrenty with these torque wrenches included nor reciept needed.
A Snap On equivalent to that is about $370, and the 1/2" version is $425
If you hit your PrtScn key on your keyboard, Windows will automatically take a screenshot into the memory where you can paste it in Paint or Word. I like a free utility called Greenshot and it offers a lot more features. Give it a shot!
FYI... all computers come with screen cap software built in. Mac = cmd-shift-4, Win10 = atl-PrtScn, Ubuntu = Screenshot app
For screen capture software, OBS (Open Broadcaster) is free and able to do what you're looking for.
Great video.
I paid $80 for husky Home Depot brand . I'm unsure of the brand's quality but I certainly would rather spend $80 for a good brand than $30 for a cheap