Acceptable and Unacceptable Harbor Freight Tools

[slammin.e28]

Bad: These are shit...

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Dad bought a shit ton of those. They work well, until you actually try to use them. I snapped the innards of them all when trying to hold stuff down relatively tightly.

[lambo]

Bad: These are shit...

[AndrewBird]

GOOD:

Bought two sets of these on sale for $15 a pair. Heavy duty and work great. Planning on picking up some of the 6-ton version so I can get the car higher off the ground.


Had one for several years now. Other then cutting the handle down a bit (REALLY long), it's been great.


Use this guy at work every day to smack parts down in a vise (machinist). It's getting pretty beat to hell looking, but still works great.


Beat the hell out of this thing and it just keeps on going. Got the 2-year warranty for like $10, so I plan just taking it back and exchanging it for a new one a bit before it is up.


BAD:

After a few uses, the point on these becomes a rounded nub. Still works ok for making a punch mark, but would be better if pointed.

[Nick_S]

Good to know! I'll be making a HF trip this weekend!

[MasterOfPuppets]

What about a regular breaker bar? Been wanting to pick one up. Afraid I'd snap the handle.

I can vouch for these:



I've had mine for years and done all kinds of stuff with it, including snapping off a bunch of 7/16" bolts holding my Jeep together. Also snapped a bunch of HF socket adapters with it, too, so there's that. I'll also vouch for the 1/2" extensions, often used in conjunction with this very breaker bar.

In general: if it has parts that move during operation, I'll skip it. Otherwise, go for it!

[Thizzelle]

I have had good luck with lots of their tools, but I wanted to point out a few of the BAD ones.


BAD:

Vice grips. Terrible. The jaws round off and after only a few uses, they don't want to stay shut anymore

mine have been working fine for a year now

[iamsam]

^^^

HA HA HA that's a good one, haven't seen that before. Very apt, as well.

so yeah, please don't quote 27 large pictures just to make one small comment one one small point in that quote.

[IronJoe]

I have to say that any of the allen or torx sockets are total shit. I've broken several of them just trying to loosen bolts.

What about a regular breaker bar? Been wanting to pick one up. Afraid I'd snap the handle.

I've had good luck with the regular breaker bars.

[Bglad]

*snip* courtesy of Danny

I have to say that any of the allen or torx sockets are total shit. I've broken several of them just trying to loosen bolts.

[Wiglaf]

I have never had a HF socket fail on me yet, but then again, the "ratchet attachment" parts I have from HF are impact sockets, male and female torx sockets/bits, and allen bits. But none of them have failed, even after putting tons of torque through them.

In HF's defense the sockets I've busted I can't confirm if they were from there, but def were NOT impact rated.

also just remembered, that set of 3 prybars with the orange handles, both smaller ones chipped the edges off and all 3 bent like a bananna.

[lambo]

[Nick_S]

What about a regular breaker bar? Been wanting to pick one up. Afraid I'd snap the handle.

[IronJoe]

I have had good luck with lots of their tools, but I wanted to point out a few of the BAD ones.


BAD:

Vice grips. Terrible. The jaws round off and after only a few uses, they don't want to stay shut anymore



BAD:

Ratcheting breaker bar. I have broken two of these so far. It's sad because I love the idea, but they just don't stand up to any significant amount of torque. If you want to use these, don't use them as a breaker bar, just a long ratchet (LOL)

[E30 331is]

Huh, I have wondered whether that thing works well or not, have you had any problems with it ever?

I even take it to the yard with me, its soooooo easy! no problems what so ever, its better than a pry fork and I dont have to use a BFH! worth the $15 I paid.

[brianao34]

Huh, I have wondered whether that thing works well or not, have you had any problems with it ever?

It works amazingly. Get the tool positioned and tighten it down good and give the joint a few whacks with a hammer and it'll pop right out. I think when people have problems with this tool they're just tightening the tool only to try and get the joint to pop on its own. Not a good idea.