Harbor Freight Tools

[Errtt]

Has HF upgraded some of their tools or what? Saw polished socket sets, some laser etched, polished wrenches, a variety of ratchet's etc - not anything like I remember in the past.

I zipped over to HF (after dinner) because I needed to find another way to tighten a loose oil line clamp (1/4" hex) on the Harley that was in an awkward position. I couldn't get a straight shot... this extension to long... that to short... no ratcheting room... one thing after another - actually I was trying to find a way without removing more stuff out of the way & draining the Amsoil, I know being a cheap shot.

It's been a good while (years) since I visited HF. I went there before to get a set of those black impact sockets because I didn't have the one I needed while I was doing a friends transfer case on his jeep, and I have to say I still have those sockets all intact. And a float charger for the boat which did keep the battery up all winter (boat gone now).

Anyway I bought a few things, and got that clamp tightened. But I also walked out with extra stuff I didn't plan on getting. Besides the clamp fix, I also bought and used the 1/2 dr. x 25" breaker bar to bust loose a rear axle nut on another bike - for cheap, it looks good and took a beating. Yeah I didn't want to remove the saddle bags (cheap shot again) so the impact wrench wouldn't fit, but the breaker would. Although I have breakers, I couldn't pass & try the HF breaker.

I don't know if I should be impressed on the cheap or the looks of polished this & that is a hidden big disappointment.
Although I spent nearly 200 more than planned, I have some hope but also, it just doesn't feel right so maybe I should just go ahead and bend over now - looks a bit spiffy on some of the stuff so if it's still bad junk at least it's half decent looking junk... I think

 

[Torino]

My neighbor recently bought one of their 50# anvils. One small whack on the top and it broke in half. Oh yeah!! John--Las Vegas.

 

[SIXSPEED]

Some HF tools are okay and some are still junk. I've had good luck with their breaker bars, but not so much with their torque wrenches, or pulley pullers.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: SIXSPEED
Some HF tools are okay and some are still junk. I've had good luck with their breaker bars, but not so much with their torque wrenches, or pulley pullers.

Funny, I had a breaker bar shear right off at the socket.

 

[sciphi]

HF stuff can be spotty. Some of it lasts for years. Other items fail on the 5th use. I had a 3/8" breaker bar from them shear off in the socket. The warranty replacement is working just fine so far.

 

[demarpaint]

They opened a HF store about 5 miles from me. Now I can go and actually hold the tools. I bought a 24" 1/2" drive breaker bar recently and a few other items which seem to be OK. Their tools are hit or miss.

 

[Rand]

I had a 250lb guy shear off my 3/8" drive breaker bar.. overtorquing his wheel adapters on after they loosened for the 4th time. The 1/2" drive socket wouldnt fit because I didnt have thinwall ones.

Other than that I havent had any problems with their sockets/breaker bars etc..

I would however run far away before I bought most of their air tools or electic stuff(heat gun)

 

[Jimmy9190]

Agreed, some HF stuff is good, others are not good at all. I bought a pair of their rubber strap wrenches on sale, the first time I used one was on a stuck oil filter and it snapped right in half. I wanted to be able to refill our tires here at home so I bought a portable air tank at HF that turned out to be really bad quality. They gave me a refund with no questions asked. The smaller sizes of HF drill bits are just plain junk, I have never used their larger drill bits.

OTOH, I have a set of the fully polished Pittsburgh brand of long-handled wrenches in both metric and standard size that I bought 5 years ago and they are excellent quality and are doing great. The Pittsburgh brand of wrenches, hand sockets, impact sockets and hand ratchets seems to be very good quality for the price. Their hammers all seem to be very good quality, next time I get to HF I need to pick up a new dead blow hammer. My old one literally rotted away into pieces after 20 years in the Florida heat and humidity. I have a pair of HF jack stands that work just fine. I bought a bag of 100 red shop rags at HF for about 8 bucks. The sale price was $9.99 but they rang up at $7.99 and the cashier gave them to me for the lower price anyway.

I have a HF Central Hydraulics floor jack that works great, had it for about 3 years now. I have a few HF electric drills and a HF 4 1/2" angle grinder, they are all still working well too. I have one of their electric 1/2" impact wrenches and it is still in good shape, I bought that the same day I bought my floor jack and jack stands. I have 2 of their $18.00 Drill Master 3/8" cordless drills and they have so far held up very well. The 25-foot plumbing snake I got at HF for less than 10 bucks has been a real lifesaver and a money-saver too.

I guess you have to pick and choose what you buy at HF. Their prices are cheap and I find that sooner or later they will have a great coupon on whatever item it is you might need, so it's best if you can wait until then to buy things from your wish list. HF sends me a monthly sales flyer, it is usually about 25 or 30 pages and I enjoy looking through it. It always has some good sales and at least a few good coupons.

It is very hard to go into a HF store and not buy more than what you originally went there to buy. I like just browsing the store to kill time and make mental notes of oddball specialty tools I may need sometime.

 

[tig1]

I haven't had problems with HF tools. I have a recep saw, 4 1/2 in angle grinder, 7 in angle grinder, both electric. Various sockets, air tools, torque wrenches. So far no problems.

 

[SIXSPEED]

Originally Posted By: Rand
I had a 250lb guy shear off my 3/8" drive breaker bar.. overtorquing his wheel adapters on after they loosened for the 4th time. The 1/2" drive socket wouldnt fit because I didnt have thinwall ones.

I have read of others shearing off HF breaker bars, but IMO the problem is with using the smaller 3/8" drive bars where a 1/2" breaker bar should have been used (e.g. on lug nuts). I don't use the 3/8" breaker bar on any fastener that's torqued to say over 50 lb-ft. HF sells a shorter (18-19") 1/2" drive breaker bar for tight spaces, as well as a ratcheting one, which I haven't used yet.

 

[SIXSPEED]

I do have several HF jack stands and floor jacks ... they seem to be good quality and work well for the occasional use, however the rubber pad on one of the jacks fell off.

I would stay clear of their threaded-rod spring compressor.

 

[Errtt]

^^^^^ I used the HF 1/2"dr. x 25-1/2" breaker yesterday and had to work at busting a axle nut loose that hasn't been loosen for a long time - I'm satisfied with it so far.

This evening I did some more wrenching on the Harley and used the HF 1/4" socket set. I tossed the round head ratchet that came in the kit because the other night when I bought it, I had also bought a nicer looking stand-alone 1/4" dr. ratchet that I wanted in that kit.
I'm actually impressed - the sockets (standard and deep-wells) are polished as well as the extensions and universal. And the ratchet - seems well built. The ratcheting is smooth and consistent and the swivel/pivot head allowed me to get to where I needed it. It feels okay, looks good, worked good, priced good, so if it holds up for my needs I'll be a happy camper.
I almost bought a couple of their composite ratchets but they didn't look right to me - weird and not used to seeing something like that. back on the rack they went.

I also bought other tools the other night @ HF, but haven't yet used them. Spent almost 200 when the plan was maybe 20-25 to get what I needed to do a particular job - man I hate walking into places like that because I always come out with more on what I didn't plan on buying. Sears or whatever - don't matter.

Anyway, if the sockets, wrenches, and a few other misc. tools seem to do me okay, I'll re-tool the tool bags on each bike - so if they get ripped off, I won't loose my higher dollar tools.

I did see some HF tools I couldn't pull the trigger for - and how can they sell a digital multimeter on sale for under 5 bucks??? I didn't get it because I have a fluke and another decent meter (can't recall name at the moment)but I had second thoughts to get one to throw in the saddle bag for when I take the bikes - but for under 5 bucks!!! You have to be kid'n or it's a dollar worth of junk / disposal 1x use... c'mon

 

[UncleS2]

This afternoon I installed a frame-mount rcvr hitch on my pickup. Sure wished I had one of those HF 2 foot long 1/2" drive breaker bars! A 3/8" drive bar, longer than my old Craftsman(12"?), would have been nice too. Maybe a set of 1/2" drive deep sockets too. And...

 

[demarpaint]

I checked my HF breaker bar yesterday it is 25" x 1/2" drive. I paid $11.99 for it and it is not bad at all for the price. Craftsman doesn't offer anything that long in a 1/2" drive breaker bar, and I wanted something long.

 

[The_Jeff]

Their multimeters are the real thing. The tech hasn't changed much so I'm sure there's a "single chip solution".

I got a few at $2.99. They run great on half-dead 9v batteries; I bet they only use 5v internally anyway. So every year when my smoke alarm gets changed out the old batteries go to the HF meters. I spliced the leads from one onto a 120v plug so I can monitor line voltage, handy with a surgy generator.

 

[Errtt]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I checked my HF breaker bar yesterday it is 25" x 1/2" drive. I paid $11.99 for it and it is not bad at all for the price. Craftsman doesn't offer anything that long in a 1/2" drive breaker bar, and I wanted something long.

That's what I'm talking about - for what it is and at that price, if it does what I need it to - how can I complain. I think what I got a few nights ago is the same thing for the same price. It sure has the looks of a more expensive one, just hope it continues to holdup to the tasks.

 

[Errtt]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Their multimeters are the real thing. The tech hasn't changed much so I'm sure there's a "single chip solution".

I got a few at $2.99. They run great on half-dead 9v batteries; I bet they only use 5v internally anyway. So every year when my smoke alarm gets changed out the old batteries go to the HF meters. I spliced the leads from one onto a 120v plug so I can monitor line voltage, handy with a surgy generator.


I just can't see how they can do it for that price - I guess next time I'll pick up a couple and toss one in each motorcycle saddle bag. I guess that's better than no meter at all when on a bike riding out of town around the Sierra mountains in case I get an electrical gremlin - or to help out anyone else on the side of the road. Never know, and if it actually works and I'm able to get voltage checks troubleshooting, then I guess that would be worth it. No matter, I always carry a cell and have my emergency road service on insurance - but have been up in the hills where cell service was weak or nonexistent.

 

[Jimmy9190]

I have one of the HF $2.99 volt meters in the tool kit I carry in my truck. When the old battery in my truck failed here at work a couple months ago I used the HF meter to check it and the little HF meter worked just fine. For 3 bucks, it should be good enough if I need it when I am out somewhere like that. I was very impressed with the HF cheapie meter. I keep my good Fluke meter locked in my toolbox at home. My Fluke is 24 years old now and still works just as well as it did the day I bought it.

 

[kart17]

One guy I know picked up a floor jack, the $50 one and the first time he used it when it got to the highest lift point it failed and came crashing down. He was smart enough to not go under the car before he put a stand under the car but had no chance because it failed on the first use.
He took it back and they told him to take any floor jack he wanted. The manager of the store close to us seems to be a very nice guy.
I have the four foot long floor jack and have had cars up on it for weeks at a time and it has not dropped a inch.

Saftey Saftey Saftey

 

[My442]

Junque