Nice.
I have sold all of my snap on and got the Gearwrench 120XP instead. Never looked back.
Is Icon by harbor freight really a good tool brand?
- Thread starter R18Civic
- Start date
Nice.
I have sold all of my snap on and got the Gearwrench 120XP instead. Never looked back.
It really depends on the job you're doing. I started out with craftsman 25 yrs ago. I replaced their wrenches quickly. Still have most of the sockets though.
I've used quite a bit of harbor freight too.
The HF toolboxes are great for the money, sockets are fine, and I do really like the icon ratchets. Good 90 tooth. The other offshore stuff is mostly 72 or 60 tooth and it makes a big difference in tight spots. If you have room it's not necessary.
Semi trucks and trailers arent fussy, but cars..........lots of extremely tight situations and of course time is of the essence in a shop.
I have known many mechanics to use solely HF stuff and do just fine, they just simply dont demand much from their tools.
I have not been impressed at all with tekton.
I do like SK, Wright, William's, proto. Although SK tends to be very thick and tough to get into tight spots sometimes. Socket and wrench thickness matters sometimes. Again it just depends what you're working on.
If I was solely an auto mechanic and flat rate and time was king and tool failure not an option, I would have to go snap on. Or matco. Mac has cheapened out.
When I was working on F16s in 03-07, the USAF used Armstrong and proto, some Blue Point (lower grade Snap On). I think they've switched out to all Blue Point in 07. Near my end all the Armstrong and Proto tools were rounded up and shortly left unsupervised....
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I've used quite a bit of harbor freight too.
The HF toolboxes are great for the money, sockets are fine, and I do really like the icon ratchets. Good 90 tooth. The other offshore stuff is mostly 72 or 60 tooth and it makes a big difference in tight spots. If you have room it's not necessary.
Semi trucks and trailers arent fussy, but cars..........lots of extremely tight situations and of course time is of the essence in a shop.
I have known many mechanics to use solely HF stuff and do just fine, they just simply dont demand much from their tools.
I have not been impressed at all with tekton.
I do like SK, Wright, William's, proto. Although SK tends to be very thick and tough to get into tight spots sometimes. Socket and wrench thickness matters sometimes. Again it just depends what you're working on.
If I was solely an auto mechanic and flat rate and time was king and tool failure not an option, I would have to go snap on. Or matco. Mac has cheapened out.
When I was working on F16s in 03-07, the USAF used Armstrong and proto, some Blue Point (lower grade Snap On). I think they've switched out to all Blue Point in 07. Near my end all the Armstrong and Proto tools were rounded up and shortly left unsupervised....
.
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Big vote here for the Williams made in the USA line of tools. You have to be careful when ordering because they do have a line produced in Taiwan. I haven't been able to find another domestic manufacturer with the pricing and quality that Williams offers.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2025
I agree. The Taiwan stuff is really good too though.
Some of the Taiwan stuff is not bad at all, I just bought a bunch of Carlyle ratchets from Napa cheaper than HF stuff, I got a 3/8 locking flex about a month ago and so far it has been excellent so I got the rest of them.
At first I thought that must've been a typo but I just checked the online price for Carlyle and it is waaay cheaper than when I first bought one of their 1/2" ratchets about 6 years ago. Glad to see NAPA coming down on price.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2025
I went there today they were on sale but not cheaper than HF they were about $30 more than HF I planned on getting one but didn’t bring enough money to get them.
It was a special sale, I bought them all (not the non locking flex). I don't need them but for that price I couldn't pass it up.
You need an account to get that price which I have but if the guys know you they can put it on someones account as a cash sale. I ends tomorrow so not much time to jump on it.
https://www.napaecatalog.com/?market=999&BookCode=hmh20m12
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I would have been all over them, no cigar w/o a commercial account here.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2025
Yeah I went there they were having a red tag sale too. Which I stocked up on oil, filters and fluids. I guess I could make my road service a account there. I have an account with my phone number I showed manager the coupons he acted like he had no idea what was going on.
ICON now has a gold plated ratchet, for $60.
https://www.harborfreight.com/merch...e-professional-ratchet-gold-plated-56907.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/merch...e-professional-ratchet-gold-plated-56907.html
Did they announce that Thursday, perhaps? On April 1st?
Absolutely zero reason to buy Icon.
There are better tools to be had for less money.
Actually the number of reasons to even step foot in Harbor Freight drop by the day; the tools get more expensive and the coupons are drying up.
There are better tools to be had for less money.
Actually the number of reasons to even step foot in Harbor Freight drop by the day; the tools get more expensive and the coupons are drying up.
I hear ya. Once the coupons dried up me doing business with them dried up as well. I was in there quite often buying things like their nitrile gloves and throw away chip brushes for spot priming with Bin. CV19 drove the prices of their gloves to what I considered a ridiculous level, and the coupons became far and few. So did me shopping there, I went from shopping there sometimes 12-15 times a year or more to about 2-3 now.
There are three things I buy from HF, I may occasionally pick something else up like a gallon of WD40 or some one use disposable tool.
This little hammer is for injector filters. The gloves are good for the money and the studs fit all stud welders that use 3mm.
This little hammer is for injector filters. The gloves are good for the money and the studs fit all stud welders that use 3mm.
I don't use their hand tools, I certainly won't look down on anyone who does. But personally, I'd buy used snapon or old craftsman before HF.
I have an older 12 ton press( should have got the 20). And an older HF drill press made in Taiwan.
I also have the predator 4375 genset, which is great.
I am about to buy the HF sand blast cabinet, after my new air compresssor is ordered.
I have an older 12 ton press( should have got the 20). And an older HF drill press made in Taiwan.
I also have the predator 4375 genset, which is great.
I am about to buy the HF sand blast cabinet, after my new air compresssor is ordered.
Horror Freight collectable tools, now I have seen everything.
Make sure you do the mods (can be found online and you tube) to it as you are assembling it and order this, best $50 you ever spent.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dustopper-HD12-High-Efficiency-Dust-Separator-HD12A/315749552
Get this, do not mount it as per the instructions, it sucks bad and loads the filter in no time. If you get it PM and I will send you pics of how to set it up with the catcher, you get no media leakage, you can see inside all the time as no dust in the cabinet and the $50 filter last almost infinitum.
https://www.harborfreight.com/blast-cabinet-reclaimer-kit-60739.html
It is identical to this one from Eastwood, it is not a knockoff its the same unit only a different color (I researched it 10 ways to sunday before buying it years ago). You use the filters from Eastwood on the HF unit same part#.
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-dust-collection-system-for-blast-cabinets.html