Harbor Freight Tools? How Good Are they?

[kombreeze]

You know I went into harbor freight today and found quite a bit of tools that were very inexpensive. Pry bars, hammers, body work kits, drill bits, and so much more but I was wondering on the quality of it. For the most part I would think some of it would be a one time use or am I wrong for thinking that? What are your experieces wit them. I mostly by craftsman but I've got an ocasianal autozone (metrix style so it wont round nuts and bolts). What surprised me is that I found A lot of power tools for half or a third of what I would pay at Sears. How good and effective are their tools.

[kenm78]

If you just turn wrenches occasionally then I wouldn't pour $$$ in Snap-on, Cornwell, Mac ect. I have bought a lot of stuff from harbor frieght I like the price I buy things that I wouldn't use much or you know it will last such as carts, hoses, there air tools havn't failed me yet but with any low price tools you are taking a risk of poor quality but thats my $0.02.

[JameslovesJammie]

On a tool that you'll hardly ever use, such as a harmonic balancer puller, I would say go for it! If it's a tool that you know you're going to abuse, I would say get something with a lifetime warranty (ie pry bars). As far as their body hammers/dollies...I can't give you any info about them. Hopefully someone with body experience can chime in here.

[Olden Days]

It's a crap shoot. I have bought from them and had good and bad experiances. A few bad ones that didnt even work one to 2 times. flare wrenches, Nut splitters, exhaust pipe expander, tube benders. I have bought a bunch of cheap grinders so I could have a different attachment on every one in both my shop and service truck. Some are still working and some have crapped out with short life. The brushes wear out very fast on them also. they used to send extra brushes with the grinders but I dont know if they still do as now when one quits I replace it with a name brand.
I have had good luck with hydraulic stuff from them like bottle jacks, pipe bender and port a power. and I like there real cheap silver and deming drill bits that go 9/16 to 1 inch. there has probably been a couple of other things that worked but I cant remember at the moment.

[pharcyde05]

i agree with what every one elses has seid you just have to remember when it comes to tool quality you get what you pay for
and hey if the first one breaks its still cheaper to buy 2 or 3 from harbor freight than buy one at snap on

[JustLiveIt]

I bought a trans jack at Harbor Freight because I knew I would only use it a few times. It worked fine and I think it is similar to other brand name ones I have seen. I bought the harbor freight equivalent of a Dremel tool and it is a cheap copy. The dremel is much higher quality but I'm not going to use it very much. I have also had good luck with the tools branded by Lowe's.

Bottom line: Like everyone else said, occasional use tool then HF is ok but for an everyday use tool I would at least buy craftsman or Lowe's brand.

[AesC10s]

When buying a body tool set dont buy cheap ones, becuase they are junk!

[cdowns]

well if you buy a cheapo pry bar and you really need to lean on it and it snaps // no big deal it's only going to be your flesh and bones payin the price for the quality issue

[AesC10s]

Originally Posted by cdowns

well if you buy a cheapo pry bar and you really need to lean on it and it snaps // no big deal it's only going to be your flesh and bones payin the price for the quality issue

So true!

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by cdowns

well if you buy a cheapo pry bar and you really need to lean on it and it snaps // no big deal it's only going to be your flesh and bones payin the price for the quality issue

Same with wrenches too.
s/t

[Boise69]

I'm glad Harbor Freight is around. It is an outlet for South East Asia manufacturing, here in the US. For tools like hammers, chisels, power tools and air tools i say no, these are tools you need to rely on and it sux when they fail in the middle of a job or you end up replacing them more than once.. BUT, special tools that you only use once in awhile, then I buy them there, they have a wide variety of tools and they are cheap, just dont go cheap when its a tool you need often. I like Craftsman for all the rest.

[Huck]

Harbor Freight is about one notch below "Craftsman"--which is going down hill fast--just try their pos ratchets.
I use harbour freight for stuff I don't use often. I buy MAC or SNAP On used off e-bay, at swap meets, or flea markets. You can get replacement parts for these tools from the mfg online.

[Boise69]

Originally Posted by Huck

Harbor Freight is about one notch below "Craftsman"--which is going down hill fast--just try their pos ratchets.
I use harbour freight for stuff I don't use often. I buy MAC or SNAP On used off e-bay, at swap meets, or flea markets. You can get replacement parts for these tools from the mfg online.

I bought a large buy of Craftsman tools on ebay, i have to say i like using them, the rachets are smooth and easy to direct. They're about 5 years old so maybe thats why but for the money i like the craftsman i got.

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by Huck

Harbor Freight is about one notch below "Craftsman"--which is going down hill fast--just try their pos ratchets.
I use harbour freight for stuff I don't use often. I buy MAC or SNAP On used off e-bay, at swap meets, or flea markets. You can get replacement parts for these tools from the mfg online.

I’m gland I’m not the only one that noticed that Craftsman is slipping.
Here’s a funny story, I’ll try to make it short.
I had a ratchet that had a metal directional tab and it wouldn’t hold any more. The Sears the guy said go get one off the shelf for free replacement (he didn’t have any re-man units that they normally give out).
It had a black plastic direction tab. So I tell him I want something else instead, he said no, like items for like items only. I said mine had a steal tab & your new one doesn’t, so its not like mine. Still no.
He motions for the manager nearby to come over and they all have a chuckle about me calling the black tab plastic. Oh no, it black Oxide. I said oh yea? As I pulled out my pocket knife & carved out a huge chunk of plastic out right in front of them. (With there jaws dropped) I said either this is really weak steal, or this is a really strong knife! I just grabbed my old ratchet and left.
s/t

[hchad18]

I buy good when I can afford it. When I cant I'll buy Harbor freight but I know what I'm getting when I do. I try to stay away from anything that spins over a 1000 rpm. Also I always wondered how the cutting disks were, and got my chance to find out. Here it goes. It took 3 disks to cut about 12" in 18 gauge steel. I had a pile of cutting disks on the floor when I was done. You get what you pay for.

[chipflyer]

Quality is long remembered, while price is soon forgotten.

Jeff

[FarmTruk]

Originally Posted by chipflyer

Quality is long remembered, while price is soon forgotten.

Jeff

Well said !!!

[texanidiot25]

Ive gotten a few cheap things that have come in handy, like the magnets on the long handle. Helps to get a few droped nuts and bolts. But not for any tools I use all the time. But you can get some good deals on those few specialty items you rarely use, its usualy some 20% lower or so.

[chevybill]

I agree with the above posts, I have started looking at SK for hand tools such as ratchets etc. As far as crafstman, I only look at their professional series stuff now.

I had a parts house guy tell me almost all screwdrivers are now made by stanley.

[69TowRig]

I have spent enough $$ at Harbor Freight and then had to spend even more $$ at the "real" tool store for "real" tools to finish the job that I am DONE with Harbor Frieght. Even crap like cutoff wheels are just that; CRAP. My HF angle grinder lasted exaclty half of a job when I used it for cleaning it one axle housing. I had to buy a Dewalt for 5x the price to finish the job. But, the Dewalt keeps going and going and going...

Same goes for a puller set I bought. Broke it, my buddy bought another because I broke it on his project. Broke that too. I spend more of my time (which is valueable) going and replacing their junk crap. Cutoff wheels, you'd figure they are a dime a dozen right? Well, when I go throught about one wheel per rivet when I am cutting out crossmembers you learn pretty quickly that cheap crap is just that. Cheap and nothing more. I am done with HF junk.

[Olden Days]

Not a whole lot of traffic at this site but some of the guys are tool fanatics and really know their stuff about tools if anyone is interested. Its called Mark Kw's inside tools or something like that. http://members5.boardhost.com/insidetools/

[Shane]

I buy Harbor Freight stuff for things that really don't matter or I can modify and make better for less money, such as:

Parts Washer - throw away the soap and fill with mineral spirits - less than $100
Sand Blaster Cabinet - throw away their pickup tube and gun (pure junk) and buy a quality tube/gun from TP Tools/, silicone the joints - less than $150-175
Jack Stands - 6 ton rated, I don't have anything heavier than 2 tons so I'm good to go. I have 4 of these- $20 for a pair on sale
4" or 4 1/2" grinders - buy 4 of them - 1-cutoff, 1-grinding stone, 1-flap disc 60 grit, 1-flap disc 120 grit. You can buy 4 of them for less than the price of ONE DeWalt. They're less than $15 a piece. I have one that I have been using for over 3 years, if it lays down tommorow, big deal, throw it away and buy another.
Flap Discs - in a pack of 5 (60 & 120 grit) - less than $10
Welding Magnets - buy them by the gross - you can never have enough of them. - $1.99/piece on sale.
I could go on and on about things that really don't get used on a daily basis, such as the guys that would earn their living with such items, but for me as the weekend warrior these sort of items do fine by me.

Now, with that being said, you couldn't give me any of their hand tools. My knuckles are worth more than the amount I save.

Go to www.garagejournal.com and browse around a while ... lots of threads over there concerning tools, mods to tools, Harbor Freight "decent" stuff and Harbor Freight "junk." Beware of the "tool snobs." They are the sort that owe their sole to the SnapOn or Mac tool truck guy. Don't get me wrong, those guys make nice stuff, but I'm not earning my living with my hand tools so there is no way in hell I'm gonna pay $200 for a 4 piece set of box end wrenches. My Craftsman wrenches do just fine.

[Boise69]

Originally Posted by Shane

I have 4 of these- $20 for a pair on sale
4" or 4 1/2" grinders - buy 4 of them - 1-cutoff, 1-grinding stone, 1-flap disc 60 grit, 1-flap disc 120 grit. You can buy 4 of them for less than the price of ONE DeWalt. They're less than $15 a piece. I have one that I have been using for over 3 years, if it lays down tommorow, big deal, throw it away and buy another.

Now, with that being said, you couldn't give me any of their hand tools. My knuckles are worth more than the amount I save.

SnapOn or Mac tool truck guy. Don't get me wrong, those guys make nice stuff, but I'm not earning my living with my hand tools so there is no way in hell I'm gonna pay $200 for a 4 piece set of box end wrenches. My Craftsman wrenches do just fine.

Well said!

[BarryB]

with the majority of the comments made about Harbor Freight. When They first opened a retail store close to my house I was like a kid in a candy store. I bought ALL kinds of stuff. but like mentioned before I have had good and bad experiences. But their power tools. I don't spend the money there, go ahead and buy the name brands. I did buy a compound miter saw, and table saw from there. So far they have been decent tools, but I don't use them everyday. They aren't as powerful as some name brands.
Now there air tools are another story. I haven't had any bad experiences there.
MY .02

[RoadRacer]

One thing I can say about HF tools...

Within a year everything they sell either:

a) Becomes a hammer or a reasonable stand-in for one, or

b) Becomes something useful only when hitting it with a hammer