Which Adhesive/glue Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 4 adhesive/glue options head to head. JB Weld came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Loctite
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“I've used a B weld a lot and it continues to amaze me it is just an amazing product”
Best in 1 of 4 measurements, including Wood Test.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Brick Test
- 1JB Weld
well over 100 pounds; the glue joint did not fail, the brick itself broke ('destroyed the brick')
- 2Loctite17.5 lb
'gets really hard when it cures, seems to be a very strong product'
- 3Flex Glue
no exact failure weight narrated; result given only as a ranking, 'flex did not beat JB weld and it did not beat Loctite, it did however beat gorilla'; described as curing to a texture 'very similar to Loctite'
- 4Gorilla7.5 lb
(2.5 lb, then 5 lb more added); 'very rubbery texture very much like a spray adhesive'
Wood Test
- 1JB Weld
failed at 57.5 lb; 'very impressive performance... did a very good job of actually sticking to the board on both pieces'
- 2Loctite72.5 lb
the best wood-test result of the four products; 'very impressive performance... does an extremely good job sticking to the wood'
- 3Flex Glue
ambiguous. Transcript reads 'very impressive performance by flextime JB well at fifty seven and a half pounds' immediately after already stating JB Weld's own result was 57.5 lb, followed by 'I'm really impressed with this product as well as Loctite and jb weld, all three did a great job sticking to wood.' Unclear whether the 57.5 lb figure is a restatement of JB Weld's number or is Flex Glue's own wood-test result (a coincidental tie); kept ambiguous, not assigned a confident number for Flex Glue.
- 4Gorilla5 lb
'unfortunately gorilla just did not seem to stick to the wood very well, it is designed to work with wood though so I'm really disappointed that it didn't do a better job'
PVC Test
- 1JB Weld
survived the full 48 in length of the pipe without breaking, with the test weight progressively increased from 10 lb to 20 lb to 30 lb as it kept holding on; described by the narrator as 'unbelievable'
- 2Loctite29 inches
(with a 10 lb weight)
- 3Flex Glue
failed at 16 inches (with a 10 lb weight)
- 4Gorilla
not mentioned in the transcript for this test; flagged as a possible caption/narration gap, since the PVC section only narrates results for Loctite, JB Weld, and Flex
Downward Force Bolt Test
- 1JB Weld28 lb
- 2Loctite
transcript states 'failed at point four' with no unit given; likely 0.4 lb, but kept verbatim since the unit is not stated
- 3Flex Glue
no result narrated in the transcript ('it'll see how flex blue does' cuts directly to the next test); flagged as a caption/narration gap
- 4Gorilla
didn't take any weight for the first bolt to fail (0 lb)
Impact Wrench Test
- 1JB Weld
no clear per-brand result narrated in the transcript for this test; see video-level notes
- 2Loctite
no clear per-brand result narrated in the transcript for this test
- 3Flex Glue
no clear per-brand result narrated in the transcript for this test
- 4Gorilla
no clear per-brand result narrated in the transcript for this test
Twisting Torque Test
- 1JB Weld
bolt 1 broke loose at 207 inch-pounds of torque (after an initial 244 reading was discounted when the wrench needed repositioning); bolt 2 showed 201 inch-pounds of torque
- 2Loctite
broke free at 0 inch-pounds of torque
- 3Flex Glue
broke at 0 inch-pounds of torque
- 4Gorilla
broke free at 0 inch-pounds of torque
All measurements (1 more)+
Engine Run Test
- 1JB Weld
used to glue a cylinder head onto a running engine block with all head bolts removed; 'there's nothing holding this head on except for the JB weld.' After running: 'that's a lot of damage... does that look like JB weld did very well, now that's a lot of damage.' Phrasing is ambiguous, but appears to mean the engine ran successfully and the resulting wear demonstrates how well the JB Weld bond held under running conditions; kept verbatim due to the ambiguity.
- 3Flex Glue
the video's intro states the same head-bolt engine test would be performed with Flex Glue ('I'm also gonna do the exact same thing with j-b well and we'll see which of these products works the best'), and the description also states 'Flex Glue and JB Weld are also used to glue an engine together,' but no Flex Glue engine run test result appears anywhere in the available transcript; only the JB Weld engine test is narrated near the end. Flagged as a likely transcript/narration gap for this specific sub-test.
- 2Loctitenot tested
- 4Gorillanot tested
How it was tested
- brick shear/weight test (weight added until the glue joint or substrate fails)
- wood board breaking test (48 in board, weight added until it breaks at the middle mark)
- PVC pipe test (48 in pipe with a cut at the 4 in mark, weight slid outward on a chain until the pipe breaks)
- downward force bolt release test (weight scale)
- impact test (wrench dropped repeatedly, increasing wrench size until each bulb breaks free)
- twisting torque test (inch-pounds of torque to break each bolt free, two bolts per product)
- engine head-bolt-removal run test (cylinder head held on by glue alone, engine run with all head bolts removed)
“I've used a B weld a lot and it continues to amaze me it is just an amazing product”
