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.
I got this mower specifically to be able to drive it through a 36 inch door ruclips.net/user/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.
@@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.
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!
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
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.
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.
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
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
Anything can work great right out of the box. How well does it work 5 or 10 years down the line with daily use? My Snap-On fixed head torque wrench works just fine, and it always will. If it does not it has a warranty. BTW, it only cost $100
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.
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.
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.
Ive gotten bad tools like your first wrench from high end manufacturers too but how would the test sheet be valid? I had some fantastic torque wrenches from Germany years ago when i was building engines but these days my cheap wrenches from NAPA work just fine. NO on buying a 90 dollar wrench from Harbor Freight. I am a HF shopper these days but not thinking im getting high quality tools, just tools that will get the iob done.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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?
I agree with you on the pricing. It seems a bit high for a foreign import at Harbor, and not a low enough price to be a great deal. Good video. Thanks.
@@AnonyMous-vd8yq I agree to some extent.... this video is 2 years old, and when it was filmed the 20% off coupons were readily available online... However, it's now the spring of 2021 and Harbor Freight has discontinued the standard 20% off coupon. They aren't available anywhere at this time.... Maybe you have a secret source but I can't find them anywhere.
@@SlipFitGarage When I took my Groupon coupon to Harbor Freight, they would not accept it and explained their coupons all display a bar code. I did have a coupon which appears to be invalid.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Isn’t another difference between this wrench and the lower-price HF torque wrenches that this checks torque both clockwise and counterclockwise? The cheaper HF torque wrenches can only check clockwise. (Didn’t have time to read all the comments. Is there a way to search for a specific word in RUclips comments?)
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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....
@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.
I would love to see how long it stays that accurate, right out of the gate is hard to tell. but for someone who uses a tq wrench all the time it would help to see how well it holds up to long time use.
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.
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.
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.
I got this mower specifically to be able to drive it through a 36 inch door ruclips.net/user/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.
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'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
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.
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)
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.
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
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
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?
I got the 1/2 inch icon torque wrench for truck work been working excellent!
great advice about storage , brilliant input , never accrued to me , gotta go dial down some torque wrenches
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.
1:50 - Inspector "Jack" and QM "Peter". More like Inspector Jiang and QM Ping.
😂😂😂😂😂
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.
The 90 teeth is the big selling point here. Definitely will make life easier for under the hood stuff. Great review
Yes I bought one about a month ago and use it more than the the regular ratchet when tightening hardware.
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.
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.
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
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
Which the best 3/8 torque wrench???? I cannot find which really accurate? I do mind spend $100 but made sure have lifetime warranty?
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.
Subscribed! Very cool channel!
Thanks!
....For sure, correct storage, calibration and how to use, the most important things.
how do you recalibrate it over time
The first one being defective makes me wonder if the certification can really be trusted.
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
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
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!
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.
Is it kosher to service the head of your torque wrenches like normal ratchets without throwing off the accuracy?
Cleaning and lubing it is fine. That doesn’t affect the accuracy.
Awesome! Thank you for the response :)
Good info...thanks for the video...🖒 and subcribe....
What brand you think is the best in quality..in 3/8 range?
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!
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.
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.
What do the insides of the torque wrench handle look like? The clicker and that spring inside?
How heavy duty are those parts?
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.
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.
Anything can work great right out of the box. How well does it work 5 or 10 years down the line with daily use? My Snap-On fixed head torque wrench works just fine, and it always will. If it does not it has a warranty. BTW, it only cost $100
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.
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.
you can use snipping tool on your computer to take a screenshot. It's already built into windows.
the proto torque wrench i bought in 1980 has the same red blow molded case. still all one piece after all these years.
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.
Ive gotten bad tools like your first wrench from high end manufacturers too but how would the test sheet be valid?
I had some fantastic torque wrenches from Germany years ago when i was building engines but these days my cheap wrenches from NAPA work just fine.
NO on buying a 90 dollar wrench from Harbor Freight.
I am a HF shopper these days but not thinking im getting high quality tools, just tools that will get the iob done.
The first torque wrench still worked, it didnt adjust as smoothly as it should have, though.
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.
Did they pull the 1/2 drive models from the shelves?
Why didn't you test it on different torque settings?? Like compare what they had in the manufacturer qc test??
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
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.
Many torque wrench i’ve used, still love those by Snap-on.
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
I use carefully and proudly all four icon TRQwr's. As ratchets and Johnson bar.
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?
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.
This saved the work when working on the F40 and Porsches, less throw on the swing & grip are nice features over SnapOn & Mac.
$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.
Looks good but seems pricey for a HF product. If I could get a coupon for it I'd consider it.
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
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.
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?
I agree with you on the pricing. It seems a bit high for a foreign import at Harbor, and not a low enough price to be a great deal. Good video. Thanks.
The price is more competitive if you use their readily-available 20% off coupon available free online.
@@AnonyMous-vd8yq
I agree to some extent.... this video is 2 years old, and when it was filmed the 20% off coupons were readily available online... However, it's now the spring of 2021 and Harbor Freight has discontinued the standard 20% off coupon. They aren't available anywhere at this time.... Maybe you have a secret source but I can't find them anywhere.
@@SlipFitGarage I did a Google search last night and downloaded one.
@@AnonyMous-vd8yq I don't believe it. Post the link to the current coupon so I can download it also.
@@SlipFitGarage When I took my Groupon coupon to Harbor Freight, they would not accept it and explained their coupons all display a bar code. I did have a coupon which appears to be invalid.
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.
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
I bought a Snap-On Digital 1/2” Tech angle for just under $700 works really it was worth the money to me
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
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.
I got the 1/2 and two different 3/8ths with a 20% off Icon coupon on each. Hope it holds up!
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.
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.
For screen capture software, OBS (Open Broadcaster) is free and able to do what you're looking for.
Great video.
Can you do one for capri tools?
Do a video testing Craftsman beam style torque wrench from sears curious to see how they stack up against clicker
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.
Is it really worth the price or should I just stick with the cheap ones
Get a Carlyle tech angle from Napa on sale rt now for @ 120 to 150 U.S. and a nice wrench for the$$s
I'll have to check it out thanks
Isn’t another difference between this wrench and the lower-price HF torque wrenches that this checks torque both clockwise and counterclockwise? The cheaper HF torque wrenches can only check clockwise.
(Didn’t have time to read all the comments. Is there a way to search for a specific word in RUclips comments?)
New subscriber keep up the great work. I have hf tools but have snap on torque wrenches for the job that I do.
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
How well does it perform at the low end of the scale?
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
Bought a digital torque adapter for my breaker bar, made by Icon/Pittsburgh pro. Tested it with torque sticks and torque wrenches. It's close enough.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
So, how do you calibrate the digital, calibration meter?
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.
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.
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.
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.
How does one get the Icon recalibrated?
Looks like snapon?
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.
I would love to see how long it stays that accurate, right out of the gate is hard to tell. but for someone who uses a tq wrench all the time it would help to see how well it holds up to long time use.
Check out the Project Farm video on torque wrenches.
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.
Yes i would pat the price for the Icon Torq Wrench. Its the best torq wrench you can get next to a Snap On.
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.