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Acceptable and Unacceptable Harbor Freight Tools
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The socket adapters and extentions are iffy. Ive broken quite a few but I have 2 sets of the adapters.
Good
Sockets
Welding cart ($50, stable, had to cut a kittle to get all the lines in the welder)
Floor jack
Gloves
Angle grinder (wears out)
Breaker bars
Bad
Ratchets
Pen size propane torch
Torque wrench
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Originally posted by E30 331is View Posthttp://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-qua...tor-99849.html
Makes changing control arms a snap, or more like a pop!
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good:
calipers
welding stuff
simple tools
side grinder
clamps
jackstands
simple metal stuff
bad:
sockets. a rounded or cracked socket will ruin your day, and your knuckles.
any type of drill bits, taps, extractors. the "save your ass" tools which need to be made of strong steel, and totally backfire if they break.. craftsman or better minimum!!
taps and drill bits are perhaps the #1 case example of getting what you pay for, don't cheap out on them.
any cutting tool, such as tin snips mentioned earlier.
strong hand tools which I tend to abuse such as pliers, HF ones get all distorted, just don't cut it.
Even pipe wrenches and channel-locks I'd be skeptical of.
most other power tools, with the expectation that they'll be trash after 2-3 jobs usually they are cheap enough to get your money's worth so they are in a gray area. i moved side grinder up the list because i have not managed to break that thing yet.. but most of the saws and drills I've burned up. If it's "light duty" and you treat them with kid gloves then ok, but if you intend to power through a job then you will quickly find that you have more balls than the kids in China that these were made for.sigpic
Originally posted by u3b3rg33kIf you ever sell that car, tell me first. I want to be the first to not be able to afford it.
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Great idea for a thread!
Good:
Long handle wrenches. I have done my best to try and break them using the "attach the box end of one to the open end of the other to get leverage" trick but they held up great.
Glass blast media. I used this to completely strip a set of wheels down to bare metal that, ironically enough, I bought from the OP!
Amazing deals on this 50Lb 80 Grit Glass Bead Abrasive Media at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
Last edited by agent; 02-21-2013, 12:09 PM.
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I recently bought a pair of their spring compressors. I think they were like $10 and they worked fine but they look like very cheap cast metal and I'm skeptical of using them again. For a one time use job a lot of HF tools are great.
91 318is M50 swapped
05 Honda Pilot
24V swap thread
http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=302524
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Originally posted by Wiglaf View Postbad:
sockets. a rounded or cracked socket will ruin your day, and your knuckles.
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Originally posted by iamcreepingdeath View PostHuh, I have wondered whether that thing works well or not, have you had any problems with it ever?
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Originally posted by iamcreepingdeath View PostHuh, I have wondered whether that thing works well or not, have you had any problems with it ever?
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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)
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What about a regular breaker bar? Been wanting to pick one up. Afraid I'd snap the handle.91 318is M50 swapped
05 Honda Pilot
24V swap thread
http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=302524
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Originally posted by iamcreepingdeath View PostI 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.
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.sigpic
Originally posted by u3b3rg33kIf you ever sell that car, tell me first. I want to be the first to not be able to afford it.
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