PSA: Bought a discount injector puller and it broke on the first job

I picked up a no-name injector puller off eBay for $40 back in March. Went to use it on a 6.0 Powerstroke last week and the threaded rod snapped clean off after about 50 foot-pounds of torque. Cost me $40 plus a whole afternoon waiting for a loaner tool from the parts house. Has anyone else had luck with the budget pullers or should I just go spend the $120 on a Matco?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant90112d ago

Ask what brand name was on the box. Was it one of those generic ones that just says "heavy duty" on the side? I bought a similar cheap set a couple years back and the threads stripped before I even got the tool tight on the injector. Those knockoffs use soft steel that can't handle real torque. The Matco might seem steep but you're paying for actual heat treated metal that won't fold up on you.

christopher_hunt12d ago

Wait, isn't Matco just rebranding this stuff from the same factories most of the time? I'm not sure they heat treat their puller sets any differently than anyone else. They probably get the same batch from the same overseas plant and just stamp their name on it. The real trick is making sure the threads are clean and you're using the right size, not the brand name on the side. Half the time those stripped threads come from people forcing it on wrong or not holding the tool straight, not from soft metal.