Stercorarius Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 So this one happened to a 1/2" to 3/8" inch impact grade Pittsburgh adapter while torqued down some 6.0 liter powerstroke heads at midnight. I was at about 200 ft/lbs when the torque wrench lost all resistance. To be honest I was super relieved when I found out what broke. My mind immediately went to worse case scenario of a broken $300 proto torque wrench or something on the motor. Not going to lose any sleep over a 50¢ adaptor that I really shouldn't have been using in the first place.Second piece of carnage happened in the summer. Sheared the drive off of a breaker bar. I love the Pittsburgh breaker bars because they work well. I can't fault this one for shearing. It had a 1/2" to 3/4" drive adaptor on the end that was put in a socket that was cut up to fit on a seized shit pump impeller and had a 12' cheater pipe on the end. It held up to a couple hours of abuse like that before finally giving in. I think a skidsteer may have been involved.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Yikes, quality Chinese eh?JimboSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMack37 Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 That's the good thing about those, it's not a big deal if they break. Seems like you were pushing the limits to where most tools would have failed...Not to say that there's not a lot of Pittsburgh stuff that has steel that is softer than cheese. I swear some of their metal is a gouda/iron alloy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadlanthier Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 It always seems to happen when your right in the middle of the project, in the middle of the night. Been there a few times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 That's the trade off with harbor freight tools its nice that they are cheap if you need something quick you want use alot or on a budget but they tend to break right at the worst time to break, at least they have a lifetime warrentySent from my LG-V410 using TapatalkJimbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadlanthier Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 That's why I use craftsman lifetime warranty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stercorarius Posted February 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 That's the trade off with harbor freight tools its nice that they are cheap if you need something quick you want use alot or on a budget but they tend to break right at the worst time to break, at least they have a lifetime warrentySent from my LG-V410 using TapatalkJimboYeah. Breaker bar was definitely my fault and they said they'd replace it no questions asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadlanthier Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 That no questions asked is sweet. Especially when it's your fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK13 Posted February 28, 2016 Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 You guys are banging on Harbor Freight, but both cases were clearly misuse bordering on abuse. 200ft/lbs and a 3/8" drive tool? There's a reason why you will never see a 3/8" drive torque wrench with a working range that high. That's why they make 1/2" drive sockets. A skidsteer? Yikes! I understand that ya gotta use what tools you have available, and the kid makes it clear he knew he caused the failures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kato Posted February 28, 2016 Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 We sell a bunch of different types of breaker bars, and it's one of the things I see the most in the DIF containers. Seems like at least once a day one comes back with the lug busted off, or the sides cracked off. Most of the time it's probably due to someone using a pipe with the breaker bar and putting too much force on. You have to use the right size for the job, don't force a breaker bar that's too small. It's called a breaker bar, but even they have their limits. Adapters are no exception, you can break a step-down adapter easily, because you're using a larger wrench with a smaller lug. I've seen it happen enough to know not to do it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stercorarius Posted February 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 I agree with you guys completely. Both errors were on my side and I'm fine with that because I lost like $10. I know I abuse HF tools and that's why I buy 4 HF breaker bars at a time and don't bother replacing under warranty because they really are a lot higher quality than you give them credit for. I don't regret having a HF bar over say a sunex. I own many Pittsburgh tools and many I'm really impressed with, a few I'm not, but they make hand tools that are acceptable. The entire, and I mean the entire shop that my company has for servicing equipment uses almost exclusively HF items. All pnuematic are central (about 20+ impact guns) and all the hand tools, with a few exceptions (which are still maybe husky brand quality) are Pittsburgh's. And this shop runs 2+ workers 12hrs a day 6 days a week. I'll eventually cover the ones that really blow me away in my tool thread. I've only actually broken the one breaker bar and there was easily 2000+ ft/lbs on the socket which was starting to crack itself. The piece we were trying to take off eventually required cutting in 3 places, two custom spanners with 14' long handles, three pipe wrenches, a sledgehammer, and two skidsteers all used simultaneously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted February 28, 2016 Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 About the only Pittsburg tools I have left are some punches and cold chisel set, a couple pry bars, torque wrench and a breaker bar, maybe some impact adapters too that's about it Jimbo Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted February 28, 2016 Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 The thing I like about Pittsburgh is I can break then and not be that mad about it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMack37 Posted February 29, 2016 Report Share Posted February 29, 2016 4 hours ago, Logan p said: The thing I like about Pittsburgh is I can break then and not be that mad about it or modify them 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.