That $40 harbor freight torque wrench that snapped on a head bolt last tuesday

I trusted that cheap stick torque wrench on a Cummins ISX head gasket job and it broke at 90 ft-lbs, so now I'm out the $40 plus an extra afternoon drilling out the broken chunk, has anyone else had a tool failure that cost way more in time than the tool itself?

3 comments

3 Comments

murphy.tessa1mo ago

snapped on a head bolt" - man that is BRUTAL. I can't believe it gave out at 90 ft-lbs, that's not even that high for a diesel engine. I had a cheap clicker from autozone that was off by like 15 pounds on a Honda crank bolt and I ended up having to helicoil the block after it stripped. The time wasted is what really kills you, not the tool cost.

the_jamie1mo ago

Cheap tools always cost you more in the long run.

logan5251mo ago

I bought a mid-tier CDI torque wrench after learning that lesson the hard way and it's paid for itself ten times over just by not breaking stuff. The time you save from not dealing with broken bolts makes the up front cost totally worth it.