Acceptable and Unacceptable Harbor Freight Tools

[mcr_driver]

Welp gone through my third HF aluminum jack...Thankfully I always use jack stands and I was going through my tool box looking for a socket when it failed...

[chadthestampede]

Welp gone through my third HF aluminum jack...Thankfully I always use jack stands and I was going through my tool box looking for a socket when it failed...

I've had my hf aluminum jack for ~3 years and never had an issue.

[Swanny]

Whats rated jacks do you have? Got a feeling that smaller 1.5 ton guy has sub par hydraulics from personal experience.

My steel low pro/long reach jack is a beast. Couldn't be happier after a solid year of use.

[jaywood]

This guy:

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eig...ill-67474.html

....anyone have one? How is it? Really just need it to work once. Also, anyone who gas one, can you measure how deep the head is (giggity)?

I'm trying to get the broken off belt tensioner bolt out of the front of a 2000 Corolla's engine. I have very limited space unless I take the engine out. Looks like this may make it so I can just disconnect the engine mounts and pull up the front of the engine and drill that sucker, then hit it with an EZ out.

I've got one. I'll measure it at work for you.

[Bglad]

I've abused the crap out of my aluminum jack with no issues. Are you using it to support the car with out stands? If so... Thats your problem. A jack should never be used to support the weight of a car.

[chadthestampede]

Whats rated jacks do you have? Got a feeling that smaller 1.5 ton guy has sub par hydraulics from personal experience.

My steel low pro/long reach jack is a beast. Couldn't be happier after a solid year of use.

I have the cheapy aluminum jack. I beat the crap out of it and use it (probably) beyond it's weight capacity all the time.

[ieatpeople]

i have had Harbour freight tools for as l can remember.

engine crane/hoist: paid $150 about 8 years ago, pulled 30-40 engines with it (some v8's with auto trans attached), no issues at all.

i have had 2 of their engine stands for almost 6 years, no issues.

i just recently broke the breaker bar i got from them (the 1/2" drive 24" version), it snapped the square drive off flush. lasted 7-8 years before that happened

i have the "racing" aluminum floor jack from them:

after 6 years the seal started leaking, and i bought a replacement jack for $60 on sale. the newer version has dual pistons and is much easier to pump, i like it alot




i have a full set of their impact sockets (standard and metric), never broken one in almost 6 years.

i bought a 1/4" drive metric socket set recently, comes with a blow molded case to hold everything.
Item#67998
works great so far, i just wish it had a 12mm socket.


i have never broken any of their wrenches, even when i had a 4ft pipe for extra leverage. in that particular case, the bolt broke and i ended up needing stitches after ramming my hand into something.

[ajhostetter]

I just did a ton of work using the Go-thru socket set this weekend. AMAZING for the $$$

[Wschnitz]

I need one of those low profile jacks now, Craftsman car jack doesnt fit under the E30 anymore. Not that id be using it anyway anymore, for a craftsman tool its complete shit, you jack it up and it visibly lowers on its own. (this is after bleeding it multiple times, its just a piece of shit)

[mrsleeve]

and you think the H/F one made on the same line in the same factory with different stickers is going to be any better?????

[lambo]

I have to admit... there is something I love about cheap hand tools.

[Liquidity]

Also the HF Strut Spring Compressor should have a Disclaimer in Bold Lettering Stateing. "If you use this impliment of bodily maiming you should never have children. There are enough dumbass's walking the Earth at present."

So far I've seen 4 of you say to stay away from these but not one of you has said that you've seen one fail. I bought a set about 6 years ago and over that time it's been used on 4 of my cars, 2 of my friends cars, and was in my friends tool box for a couple of those years used on his customers cars I don't know how many times. We even ground down the jaws on one to fit lower on the coil. The only thing we do to it is put some bearing grease on the threads and washers but any dimwit should realize bare metal to metal is a bad idea.

So besides all the people speculating, is there anyone here who can verify these things are somehow unable to do the very dangerous job they were designed for? Like maybe some of the guys that think the step drill bits are also junk but never thought to use the drill on a slower speed and use some oil on them?

[M-technik-3]

After 7 years of use my low profile racing type has failed. That being said I have another far more expensive one from Tire Rack that has already gone back due to seals blew out in less than 6 months.

[AndrewBird]

So far I've seen 4 of you say to stay away from these but not one of you has said that you've seen one fail. I bought a set about 6 years ago and over that time it's been used on 4 of my cars, 2 of my friends cars, and was in my friends tool box for a couple of those years used on his customers cars I don't know how many times. We even ground down the jaws on one to fit lower on the coil. The only thing we do to it is put some bearing grease on the threads and washers but any dimwit should realize bare metal to metal is a bad idea.

So besides all the people speculating, is there anyone here who can verify these things are somehow unable to do the very dangerous job they were designed for? Like maybe some of the guys that think the step drill bits are also junk but never thought to use the drill on a slower speed and use some oil on them?

I've had these spring compresses for a while as well and never had a problem. I think a lot of people use an impact on them and kill the threads.

As far as the step drills go, I won't buy them again. They might work ok for light duty and occasional use or in wood and plastic, but compared to Irwin brand drills, they are terrible. I've used both a lot and the Irwin bits last 10x longer and are only 3x the price. They also make a nicer hole.

[Roysneon]

I bought a Princess Auto torque wrench about a month ago, used it for the first time on some flywheel bolts yesterday. No fear.

BTW Princess Auto = Canadian Harbour Freight

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/