Harbor Freight stuff

[msmith]

Harbor Freight stuff...is it junk or is it great? What do you say?

I'll admit, I'm a Harbor Freight junkie. I like to just go in and peruse the place. I have gotten quite a bit of stuff from there. Some of it is good, some bad, and some kinda meh.

So what have you got and how has it worked out for ya?

Here's one I'll pass along. Pittsburgh stubby ratchet. I first got the 3/8 drive and loved it. Has a finer ratchet than my old American made Craftsman, and has less slop. I like the compactness and swivel head. I use the thing a lot. I liked it so much, I got the 1/4 inch equivalent and have been using it quite a bit too. Will the hold up in the long run? Don't care. I don't make my living with them and for the price, I can buy a spare and keep it on hand...or not.

Here is the 3/8



Here is the 1/4



Here they are compared to their full size Craftsman equivalent.

[FinsnFur]

I've bought a lot of tools from them. Bought a set of ratchets years ago when I was into rebuilding motors. None of them held up to any amount of pressure. The insides snapped and then they would free wheel. Replaced all those with Craftsman and still got em.
I've bought a couple sets of the tiny micro screw drivers like you'd use to repair glasses. Never had any trouble with them.
I bought a set of snap ring pliers from them that didnt stand up to more then one snap ring each. lol
I bought a miter saw from them for doing trim work etc, when I was a general contractor. Loved it!
Tons of drill bits. Some good some junk.

[centerfire_223]

I bought an ultra sonic cleaner to clean brass with from them. Still going strong today!

[KySongDog]

I buy their cheap nitrile gloves when on sale to change oil, grease the car, or if fooling with paint.  Also comes in handy when field dressing game.

[msmith]

+1 on the nitrile gloves. Keep a couple boxes around for the same kind of chores.

I'm with ya Jim on the snap ring pliers. Bought the set so I could remove the snap ring on the spindle of my F250. Was showing my son how snap ring pliers work. Closed the handles, the jaws never moved. The next day I stopped the Snap On guy and got a good set.

[JohnP]

Currently on sale.

[riverboss]

I use there angel grinders the 3" one and i have a sonic cleaner that works great. The driveway alarm is nice also untill the deer start eatin my acorns in the driveway.lol then i have to turn it off.

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[Dave]

Currently on sale.

Love the moron lamp - evidently no explanation needed.

[Okanagan]

[Frogman]

I have the ultrasonic cleaner too.  Haven't  had it long.  only used it 5 or 6 times.  Works good so far.

Jim

[Okanagan]

We don't have one near so when I get to a Harbor Freight I walk through like a kid in a candy store, but I haven't bought much come to think of it.  Don't know how good their stuff is.  Last spring when we were east on vacation I couldn't resist taking a pic of the Amish buggy parked in front of Harbor Freight.

[coyote101]

I bought a truck bed extender at Harbor Freight several years ago so I could haul my canoe in the bed of my Ford Ranger. It was only about forty bucks and has been worth every penny.

Pat

[msmith]

A couple of years ago, the drain in my mom's well house got plugged. I took my 2 pound hammer and a star bit to put in another drain. With limited space to swing and a torn rotater cuff, I finally gave up and rented a Bosch SDS max tool (same as Hilti) It was $35 plus $10 for the bit. 2 minutes and I was through 4 inches of solid concrete with no effort on my part. A couple of months later I was perusing the local HF store and came across this thing.   SDS Max Drill   

Since then, I put a water line in the basement of my rental house, a water line in the basement of my house, a drain line in my rental and my brother in law barrowed it to put the water line in his mom's basement. Would I use it professionally? Probably not, but it has paid for itself in rental fees not to mention the fuel back and forth. It cost way less than the Bosch or Hilti and it's still in great shape for the casual user such as myself. I would recommend it. It was actully $115 when I bought mine.

[msmith]

OK, here's another one.

Ball joint kit

This might be OK for Dodge or half tons or something with a Dana 44, however; didn't work so good on my F250 with a Dana 60.

First I had to cut the old ball joints in half with a cut off tool to get enough clearance to press the old ball joints out, no problem.
Putting new Moogs in started out kinda OK but I bent the C clamp. Still worked for 3 joints. Yes, I lubed the threads, went slow, and kept pecking on the steering knuckle with a ball peen hammer. The last ball joint I had to put pressure on it, tap on the steering knuckle, loosen the clamp, rotate it 180 degrees, tighten, tap the steering knuckle, and so forth. Eventually got the last one in but the tool is now rendered useless. It was worth it because of the money I saved over paying someone or buying a good tool but, it very well have given up the ghost sooner and I would have been back to square one.

I would probably buy another one for a half ton or jeep, but not for a heavy duty truck for sure.

[riverboss]

The ball joint kits from snap on arent much better they never have the adapters you need and they really dont seem to have the right angle to do the job. No matter what you use those press in ball joints are a pain.

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[CCP]

We just had a grand opening for one down the road. I went Monday (labor day)  and picked up a few lights. I have used some of there stuff and found the quality on stuff to be 50/50. I just look at the products closely and decide. I find when they are real good deals they are the cheap made stuff and the little cheaper stuff to be OK products.  Kinda the you get what you pay for.

There chain host are a good deal on the ones I use at work and they get worked hard.

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[msmith]

Yeah, a lot of it has to do with what you need it for. A one shot deal to keep from having to buy an expensive brand name tool, you're usually good to go. Some stuff isn't worth taking home, other stuff is pretty decent for the money.

I bought a sand blast cabinet for sand blasting guns. It was cheap enough and as parts go belly up, I can replace them with better stuff if needed. We'll see how it goes as I start a 6.8 AR project.