PWWDADA All Industrial Tool Supply TR72020 Dial Indicator (Magnetic Base and Point Precision Inspection Set), 1 Pack

This thing was way more than I expected it to be! I planned to use it to set the backlash on the gears in my jeep, but I immediately swapped the dial indicator for a starrett I had in my tool box, but I feel like the included indicator would have sufficed just fine. The quality to money paid ratio is very high here. Waaaaaay more included than I expected to be honest. For those trying to use this to regear also, I found that it was difficult to find a decent place to mount the magnetic base to get an accurate reading on the DANA 30 but there would be plenty of room on the DANA 35. There are a ton of indicator tips included for nearly any surface you may need to indicate. I fount the articulation arm a little tough to maneuver precisely but it works perfectly fine. The mounting surface is indexed to fit firmly on round surfaces as well but I’m not sure of the flatness though I’m not sure it matters much once the indicator is indexed properly. The collet has mounting holes for large barrel and small barrel indicators which is nice. I did find some interference between the indicator housing and the collet/ shaft limiting the orientation possibilities with this particular included indicator a little bit but I’m sure you could articulate to accommodate for it.

I had concerns about purchasing this very inexpensive tool, given the large population of bad reviews. However, I am using it to rebuild a classic car engine and right out of the box it is sturdy enough, and the measurements are accurate enough for hobbyist use. If you get one like mine - don't concern yourself - you'll be fine. If I used this tool frequently I would probably upgrade to a more expensive one when this one breaks; however, for 30-something dollars it's great for infrequent use. Frankly, I don't know what unit others got that they describe so badly, as none of the problems mentioned are evidenced in mine. Specifically, the magnet holds fine, even upside down, on an engine block, the clamps work fine and hold tightly, adjustments are simple, and measurements are absolutely repeatable down to fractions of thousands.

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 inside of Amazon's packaging, and the case for the point set had spider webs on the clear front, along with obvious chipping on the edges. Amazon's packaging was in good condition, so I do not believe the damage was shipping related. While I'm impressed with the performance of the dial indicator relative to the cost, I'm a bit disappointed that the product failed to provide something as simple as a quality plastic case.

I purchased this just to keep on hand for checking runout on disc brake rotors, etc. The price for this is very affordable for what you get and it's very accurate. I had a pulsation problem when braking on a car and I used this to check the rotor runout; one was .001" and the other was .004". The factory spec is .002" maximum, so I replaced the rotors and found the new ones to be less than .001" runout. Needless to say, the road test confirmed that the problem was now gone so this dial indicator does the job. The magnetic base is really nice to have as it firmly sticks to the strut tube when I set it up to measure the rotor. I've used other mounts in my line of work where they used vise grips but those are hard to find a decent place to mount sometimes, so the magnetic base is a welcome feature (and this magnet is very strong).

So I must have gotten a good one. Nothing stripped, nothing broke, operates well, well machined tips with clean treads and the magnet is pleanty strong! As others have noted, it's not top tier but for my needs I culdn't be more pleased with the entire kit at this price point. So far used it to set up a new table saw but also plan to use it for guitar setups and repair and the extra tips will come in handy. One note: I put a rubber washer on the threaded dial mount post before putting the dial on and this helps the fine tune the dial positioning when tightening the gnurled tension barrel nut.

This is an inexpensive version of an expensive tool with lots of uses. I use it in woodworking to set the height is jointer knives, saw blades etc. it’s also good for checking the alignment of various tools with the fence and the flatness of the tool beds. It’s l little flimsy but not bad. If you only use this tool occasionally like I do, it’s a nice inexpensive alternative among all the other options.