Snap-on vs Harbor Freight torque wrench on a 747 flap actuator

I was out at O'Hare last month doing flap rigging on a 747. Needed a torque wrench that could go up to 600 inch-pounds. My old Snap-on was acting up so I grabbed a Harbor Freight Icon model for $130 as a backup. First use on a bolt, it clicked way too early. Checked it against my digital tester and it was off by 40 inch-pounds at just 300. Swapped to the Snap-on and it hit dead on every time. The Icon looks nice but I couldn't trust it on a flight control. Anyone else had bad luck with Icon torque wrenches on critical hardware?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona3302d ago

That's a real shame about the Icon. I bought one of their Pittsburgh Pro models a few years ago for home use and it's been fine on basic stuff, but I'd never trust it for something as important as a flight control actuator. Did you have to send the Icon back or did you keep it for less critical jobs?

james_butler1d ago

Kept it for less critical jobs around the shop, mostly stuff like holding brackets in place while I weld them. Read somewhere that Icon actually sources some of their bigger tools from the same Taiwanese factories as Snap-on, but the difference is in the QC and the steel they use. That flight control actuator is a whole other level of liability, so I don't blame you for not trusting it there.