The Good, The Bad and Ugly from Harbor Freight

[donut]

I've got a few HF tools, some good, some not.
Wrenches and sockets have held up well. Ratchets, hit or miss.

What I won't recommend to anyone is the 3/8" drive impact. Read the reviews at HF and believe them. I actually used mine for about a month. When it spit the socket twice in 20 minutes (last time socket flew about 35 feet) I was mad enough that I financed a gun off of the tool truck. (truck was sitting there when all this went down).

[MadManAndrew]

I bought a set of socket drive adapters from Harbor Freight and they've all twisted off the very first time I've used them. I also bought a cut-off wheel and it's great though.
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[71K20chevy]

I tried my SAE ratcheting wrenches ($26.99) today, they worked great. Definitely handy for tight areas. I put strain on them and none of them broke.

[chillware]

I bought their CO2/Argon Regulator Gauge on sale + 20% coupon = $25. It works great on my 25/75 co2/ar bottle.

http://www.harborfreight.com/regulator-gauge-94841.html

[donthekawguy]

My GF got me a 20 gallon compressor 3 years ago and it has worked great. No problems at all. In 1996 I picked up a pretty big tool set from Fingerhut of all places. I have yet to break a ratchet, socket or wrench. They are mastercraft brand made in China. I guess China used better steel back then.

[truckster]

I'll jump in.

Good:
20 ton press
Transmission Jack
Soldering gun
Ratchet extensions
Heat shrink tube
Bearing separator plate
Bug zapper
Bungee cords

Useable, but not great:
Sand blaster (I think it's a 50 lb)
Die grinder (uses a lot of air and doesn't grind much. Maybe it's not so useable after all.)

Bad:
Pitman arm separator (cracked on first use)
Exhaust tubing spreader (stripped threads on first use)
4" grinder (first one lasted 2 hours; replacement lasted 10 minutes)
Impact wrenches (what good is an impact if you have to use a breaker bar first?)
Band clamps (worm drive type)

That's all I can think of right now.

[Lattimer]

I've had good and bad with them.

Good:
I actually have a 4" angle grinder I've beat the crap out of for over 10 years that still works great.
Earthquake impact gun has worked well for many years
Offset box end wrenches----don't use them a lot, but have been handy and no issues
Heat gun---got it on sale for like $9 and it works great
Heat shrink tubing---cheap and works great

meh
Manual tire changer----had to re-weld it in a bunch of places, works good now. Mostly use for motorcycle tires
Hardware----some of the sheetmetal screws and stuff are ok, some are not
Pipe threader---just barely ok
Sockets---just ok
Electric cut off tool---works ok but trips out easy. Have to keep resetting it.

Bad
Screwdrivers
Flashlights

Haven't tried much else.

[hjewell2]

Originally Posted by blitz'd

One item to avoid is thier air powered trim nailer, it jammed on me last weekend several times and screwed up some expensive trim when it miss fired a few times. It met my mini sledge to it after about 2 hours of messing with it. I could have returned it but at that point it was worth the $29 to relieve my frustrations on it. LOL.

Hey I did the same thing with a weed whacker made by Brand name TORO from HF.
I had it about 7 yrs it ran great but the spool was a piece of ####.Anyway one day in a hurry and very hot outside it tried to use it, of course spool messed up. The guy next door was laughing so hard my wife was in tears. I smashed the s*** out of it right in the front yard. oh we still laugh to this day about it. The guy next door said he would never ever get me mad after watching that episode, of course he steers clear from the barn out back at times also.

[71K20chevy]

I've found that the quick setting epoxy seems to hold better than JB weld...

[ole dollor]

a few weeks back I bought the $40.00 HVLP paint gun... it works great.

[NONHOG]

Happy (so far) with this.... http://www.harborfreight.com/18-gaug...ear-92148.html

Cuts pretty clean, fairly easy cuts.

[Mr-Jack]

Originally Posted by NONHOG

Happy (so far) with this.... http://www.harborfreight.com/18-gaug...ear-92148.html

Cuts pretty clean, fairly easy cuts.

that work on stainless?

[dirtyjim]

their ratcheting crimpers Central-Forge - item#97420 also work well once you get the tension adjusted right. just make sure you put the terminal in the correct direction, the wire needs to feed in from the side of the crimper with the three colored dots. accel spark plug crimping heads also fit.

[meatwagon83]

Originally Posted by blime81

Here's another

Good
Heavy duty 36" pry bar $9
Worked great to help "assist" removing a crossmember after I got the rivets out.

i had a prybar from there and as soon as i put some ass to it it broke!! the onlly time i have even seen a prybar break!!

[MadManAndrew]

Originally Posted by FrankieD

My cousin had to turn his 36yro Snap On tool box so I told him to look at the 54" one at HF he ended up buying it he said it is 3X better than the Snap On box I have the 44" bottom box makes the Craftsman box look like a tin can
Biught the $20 sand blasting helmet works great

My dad has that 54" box and I'd have to agree. It's a quality unit. If you google the brand they're actually an old American company with a great reputation. I think it's American General or something like that. Definitely nicer than my Craftsman box.

[Fatherof3]

Bought one of their cars, didn't work out so good

[midniteblues]

some items are hit an miss

i bought both sets(standard&metric) of 1/2" dr impact sockets a few years ago they are awesome for the price.
then i got both sets of 3/4" dr sockets and broke one the first time useing it.
I try too stay away from the power tools there.

but i got two items i have my eye on and i'm looking for some feedback on them.

the retractable air/water hose reel with 50' hose. lot #93897/69265 i can imagine the hose is crap but i'm curious about the spring in the retractor does it last?

and there

5lb.vibrator/tumbler lot#67617
of course i'm lookin at this too clean nuts&bolts blastin them is a pain

oh an i've gotten there industreal air compessor filter/regulator and the reg blows the diaphram in a few weeks(i've had two) the filter...its better than nothing.

just curious if anybody has these two items?

[Kim57]

I've had the retractable air hose for years.
Can't complain one bit about it.
Kim

[midniteblues]

Originally Posted by Kim57

I've had the retractable air hose for years.
Can't complain one bit about it.
Kim

great thanks kim57

[Palf70Step]

As you mentioned in your initial post, the hose in mine started cracking/drying/leaking out after about 2 years (I think may have been closer to 3). I replaced it with another hose and it is good to go again. I can't complain though, and the reel works great.

[midniteblues]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

As you mentioned in your initial post, the hose in mine started cracking/drying/leaking out after about 2 years (I think may have been closer to 3). I replaced it with another hose and it is good to go again. I can't complain though, and the reel works great.

2-3 years isnt bad though for a hf tool.
i had gotten a manual hose reel from there years ago its been holding up just fine after rewelding the handle back on. i use that one too reach outside.

picking up an coiling air hose just becomes a pita all the time.