axelfox

I do a lot of minor work on my bikes, and I since I now have one with carbon, I think it's time for me to buy a torque wrench. I'm wondering if the ones at Harbor Freight are sufficient for my needs:

https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...Itemnumber=239

https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...Itemnumber=807

Any comments on these, or any other torque wrenches?

tedshuck

If you only get one, you should get more use from a 1/4" model like this one:

https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=2696

You may get some use from the 3/8" one for bottom brackets, but I can't imagine you ever using the 1/2" one on a bike.

Ted

bkaapcke

0-80 foot lbs ought to do it. You won't need more that 80. For carbon, you may need an inch pound wrench. bk

mparker326

I've got the Harbor Freight one and it works fine. The only thing I would caution you on using the clicker style ones is practice on low torque first until you are comfortable with what it feels like when it clicks.

Also don't let the torque wrench override common sense. If you are like me and have overtightened things in the past (not necessarily on a bike) to the point where the nut stripped or the bolt broke and it feels like you are about to do this on a bike, then stop and evaluate if your torque wrench is working properly or you really need it up to that torque.

Skewer

I bought a $20 click, torque wrench from Harbor Freight, and couldn't get it to work. I took it back and ending up buying a Park Tools TW-2 Torque Wrench. It is a beam type torque wrench with greater simplicity and reliability than a click wrench imho. It also comes with a couple of lists for suggested torques for bicycle fasteners.

https://www.parktool.com/products/det...13&item=TW%2D2

Mondoman

I second the suggestion of getting a visual-indicator beam torque wrench for bike work. If the Park 3/8" drive one is too expensive, the Craftsman one should do fine in its place: https://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...0P?vName=Tools

I've gotten a lot of stuff from Harbor Freight, but I don't think I'd trust their click torque wrenches to stay in spec (or maybe even to start in spec!). For torquing car lug nuts to +/- 25%, their 1/2" clicker on sale for $10 is so cheap you have to buy a couple, but precision work requires better.

Camilo

First, for carbon parts, you're looking at inch pounds, and low ones at that. Remember 1 foot-pound = 12 inch-pounds. So you actually need the smallest range inch-pound wrench you can find. I bought a similar quality 0-240 inch pound click type and it really wasn't useful for what I need. It is not accurate in the very low range needed for stems, and isn't strong enough for a cassette installation. It worked OK for a seat post. These are the only DIY stuff I do that requires accurate torque.

After ruining an aluminum stem (luckily a cheap one, no big deal), I tested it carefully with a digital scale at a measured distance. It was pretty accurate in the middle of the range, but not at all in the lowest range, which is what they always say - and that is why the stem was ruined. I was waiting for the click and the actual torque was something like 2X the setting at the low end of the scale. If you're going to buy a click type torque wrench, get one that has a low enough range so the torques you're lookign for are somewhere in the middle.

I ended up buying the 1/4 inch (smallest) torque wrench from park tools (actually bought it from Performance) and it works much, much better for low torque things. I will probably buy the same wrench in the larger size as well and just be done with it. I can also use it for torqued aluminum parts on my little outboards.

Fibber

I do a lot of automotive work, so have several torque wrenches - 1/2" click and a beam type, and a 3/8" beam. Buy quality... Craftsman, S-K, etc. I do have some 'throwaway' tools from Harbor Freight, but a torque wrench would not be my tool of choice.

The nice thing about beam type wrenches is that you would have to severely abuse one to push it out of calibration. Click wrenches are easily damaged, as the internal mechanism is based on compression of a coil spring. Springs that are left in compression sag with time, giving reduced readings. It is very important to dial in the value you want, use the wrench, then twist the handle back to zero when you are done. Leave it compressed on a high value for a week, and it may read a few ft-lbs low from now on.

The upside of a click wrench is consistancy of the reading (even if it is a bit off...). Unless you have a dead nuts perpendicular view of the scale and can hold the torque long enough to ensure an accurate reading, beam units can be tricky and yield different values in different hands.

No scale ever reads accurately at the very extreme ends. If most of your work involves low inch-lb values, don't buy a unit graduated in foot-lbs, as you will be lost somewhere between hash marks in the most inaccurate end of the wrenches range.

Hope this helps!

tellyho

I've ordered many tools from Harbor Freight with mixed success. Can't be beat for cordless drivers though - disposable at $20 for a 14.4V driver. You can drop it off a ladder and not worry about having to replace it. Actually, the one I dropped off the ladder is still going, albeit with a duct tape wrap.

As far as torque wrenches, I would be reluctant to use a Harbor Freight one. I've never used a torque wrench though.

Jerseysbest

A torque wrench is probably one of the last things you should buy from Harbor Freight.

I think some of their tools are great, but I wouldn't trust their torque wrenches.

twobikes

I have posted this close to a dozen times, but torque wrench discussions pop up like dandelions.

I made my own torque wrench for inch pounds. The basic components are a ten inch steel bar and a dial indicator fisherman's scale. Check the calibration on the scale with a known weight and adjust the length of the bar accordingly. Make a fitting on one end of the bar to hold hex key wrenches. Total investment in cash was about $5 US.

Get bicycle torque specs. with a downloadable PDF chart at www.parktool.com.

nagsheadlocal

Harbor Freight makes great disposable tools. You know, the tools you might keep in your car's trunk and you won't be too upset if they get lost or stolen. Tools you only use once or twice.

Seriously, don't buy cheap tools. Like bread and whiskey, it doesn't have to be expensive to be good, but avoid the cheap.

DMF 

Then expand your mind, grasshopper!

I use a 1/2" clicker for anything 30+ '#. So long as one is within the accuracy range (15+ on this one), the longer lever arm is great.

masiman

I guess that would mean oil discussions are like clover

DMF 

Their TWs are fine. The 1/4" is the exact same wrench sold by Nashbar for 3x the price.

(Be aware that some of the 3/8" are uni-directional. That's okay for most application, but bikes have some reverse threads.)

Jerseysbest

Haha, I didn't know that, but, if Nashbar's torque wrench is anything like some of their bags, I'll still pass.

kenhill3

Sorry, but IMHO Harbor Freight tools are junk, good only for limited and/or throw-away usage. Accuracy is not synonymous with HF.

Here's an excellent TW by S-K, 3/8" drive, 0-100 in. lbs., made in the USA, for $80: https://www.superiorpaneltechnology.c...p/skt74104.htm

I suggest 3/8" drive because 1/4" drive hex bits are difficult to find.

mparker326

For most people, a torque wrench is for very limited use. Furthermore, the accuracy of torque values on bikes is also thrown off based on whatever lubricant is chosen to put on the threads.

twobikes

Yes, but the torque specs are also given as a range (e.g. 40 - 55 in. lb.) rather than a precise target. Using a torque wrench, even if not completely accurate, still gets one closer to what is needed and avoids twisting off a bolt that may be hard to find at the hardware store when time is short.

Fissile

Although I've purchased quite a few tools from HF, I don't know if I'd trust a click type wrench from Harbor Freight to be accurate.

My advice to you is to buy a quality beam type wrench -- Craftsman, SK, MAC, Snap-On. I always use a beam type wrench if the situation permits, although in some cases a click type is the only practical way to go -- like when I'm on my back underneath a Cadillac.

Rohan

I"ll just agree with everybody that has said, "buy quality"! There are some things that cheap tools would be ok on, but I cant imagine anything with the word carbon in it as one of them. You will get what you pay for when it comes to brand name tools. When in doubt, go ask a good LBS that works on carbon bikes as to what they use. I do stress the word GOOD also.

ScrubJ

+ 1 bazillion!!!! When I'm not doing my normal job I teach an adult ed class in basic mechanics for my industry at the local college. Almost no one ever gets the "click" on the lower settings of the torque wrench even after I both show them and explain to them that is is more of a break or give feel rather than a click. Developing "good mechanics feel" is often an interesting thing to watch someone learn.

DMF 

I checked my 1/4" clicker. It was accurate within 1-2 in-lb. Way more than the spec itself. Likewise the 3/8" is good to about 1 ft-lb. Both checked in lower mid-range.

Frankly, it's quite difficult to screw up a torque wrench. This isn't rocket science. If I was to worry about anything I'd worry about the quality of the plating on the 1/4". But I just don't care so long as it does it's job, which it is doing very well, thank you.


+1 on the availability of 1/4" hex bits; they're hard to come by. But so far that's not a big deal for me. You only need 1/4" bits for the fasteners that are out of range of the the 3/8" wrench: 4mm or smaller. The 4 & 5mm fasteners I've had to torque are mostly high-spec ones like seat post and bar clamps.

twobikes

Someone once suggested buying a set of 1/4" drive sockets in metric sizes. Buy an extra set of Allen or hex wrenches in metric. Saw the hex wrenches off and mount in the 1/4" drive sockets to make your own.

Camilo

buy an adapter so you can use the readily available 3/8" socket hex wrenches on the 1/4" torque wrench. Every tool box should have one anyway.