Industrial Tool Supply TR72020 Dial Indicator for Accurate Measurement

James berkhimer: Bought it to diagnose a shutter/vibration in a car.

United States on Jul 20, 2023

jsday12: Pretty good for front rotors (gauge stuck well to front struts, measurements repeatable), but rear rotors with shock absorbers had no good flat metal place to mount stick to (I stuck it to the rear caliper, which was iffy, and I needed to rig up a shim (I used an electric lug) to make the base not wobble), and not good at all for measuring runout on hubs, as I could not find anything within reach of the arms. The base is heavy, and it's hard to get a firm attachment to things other than the strut. If I had to do it again, I might try the vice-grips kind of gauge, because there are more places to mount it.

One thing I like is you can set the angles, then un-clamp the base, and put it back on later, but not the other side of the car because the angles are all backwards, and you're back to fiddling with the arm angles to make it work.

Instructions would have been nice, like how to change the tip, I'm subtracting half a star. A URL on the box to instructions would have been sufficient, and wouldn't have cost anything.

United States on Jul 01, 2022

Gerald E Jesion: I purchased this because I needed a dial indicator to measure the end float on the front hubs of my classic car. The addition of multiple length tips is a plus, since it needs to go into the wire wheel hub to reach the end of the stub axle. To make the measurement the magnetic base must be able to hold the indicator when attached to the vertical surface of the brake disk. I read some of the one star reviews that indicated that the magnet was weak, but figured that I would take a chance.

When I received the unit the first thing that I did was to attach the magnetic base to the door of my refrigerator. Initially I was disappointed because it barely held on. I was thinking of returning it but wondered if the rough anti-fingerprint finish on the refrigerator door was at fault. After trying it again on the smooth side of my tool chest I was pleased to find that it was nearly impossible to remove once activated.

The other issue that I was concerned about was repeatability and accuracy. I set it up on a smooth surface, set the dial to read zero and moved the spindle up and down a few times and found that it always returned to zero. Next I measured .0015", .002" and a .030"...

United States on Aug 05, 2016

Thomas Foley: I recieved the indicator very quickly via basic shipping. (Only 2 days) i found the case to be fairly good its the older fashion plastic shell case thats a little thicker, although the closing flaps are likely the weak link. The magnetic base is manufactured to have enough magnetism to hold the gauge at full extention with large tip without any tipping. Which you would think is a given, but if you have alot of indicators you would know its not. The extention rods are a good thick rod (didnt measure but id say 7/16)
Came with a good run of general tip sizes that should be suficient for 99% of users. The indicator it self came where the 0 out position could not be made 12 oclock with the micro adjustment screw i had to use the face adjustment. This is also true for about several ones ive purchased else where (some for more the 3x the price) so i cant really hold it against the manufacturer. I have found this is true for 50% of all the dials ive ever seen and find it agrivating when having mutiples in series. The indicator itself is of resonable quality.
So if your building a time machine this may not be your set. For general machine work and stationary tool setups this will...

United States on Jul 31, 2015

Jeffrey Steinberg: General comments/Pros:
The dial indicator works well, and thus far, I've found the mounting hardware to be solid enough - I haven't had any issues with knobs or screws breaking. The magnet is strong enough to hold the base solidly when sitting vertically on a cast iron surface. It can be moved with a little push, however; I wouldn't trust the magnet to hold the hardware horizontally without additional support. The majority of the additional points arrived in usable form, though a few needed to be rubbed down with some fine sandpaper to remove light grooving on the surface.

Cons:
- It's minor, but the on/off sticker on the magnetic base fell off in the packaging. The adhesive on the back of the sticker is very weak.
- The case is very poorly constructed (to the point that it is unusable and I had to immediately replaced it with a homemade box). The case I received is not quite large enough to hold any of the individual parts in the dedicated spots. At arrival, only one of the two latches was closed and the top of the case was bowed in order to get that latch to click into place. The material quality is also very poor; the main case shed a number of plastic slivers...

United States on Apr 17, 2014