My Harbor Freight Investment

[nismomans13]

so who really cares if JOhn uses his tools or not? I mean regardless of his view on HF tools 90% of you wouldn't buy them anyway, even if it was proven a HF tool was better than a SO tool you would still choose the SO tool. So why all the fuss over what he does with them?

 

[Wanna Ride]

Well I wouldn't say total success. My Health insurance had a 1,000,000 limit. My medical bills went past 3,500,000. No matter how hard you work you can lose it all quickly. I never got rich at it but I didn't miss any meals either. I live a very humble lifestyle now.

Well... some of us have to be the worker bees. Not all of us can be the Trump.

 

[bayou985]

I won't spend My money at HF that's Me. Its your money you earned it Spend your money the way ya want. I will always try too put My money back in American Economy

 

[tool whore]

MNJ: Nice investment. When the ROI starts piling up the neighbors will want to swim in your pool.

I just got some of those cool 9-led flashlights (2 per pack) for $3 and they come with batteries. I dont think you can buy 6 batteries for $3 let alone 2 flashlights + batteries.

That was last week. Today I found a coupon for a free flashlight (same one) and the 6-pack of black screwdrivers. I had to choose which one I wanted. I figured screwdrivers, even though I already bought the same pack for $8 a year ago. Can't have too many. I figured the lights were cheap enough I could buy more if I forget the coupon next time. I'm cheap, so I was dollar-cost averaging. Anyway, they were out of screwdrivers and offered me a lesser model. I just said I'll come back when the next shipment comes in.

Realized later I left empty handed but could have gotten free screwdrivers or a flashlight. Felt like I should go back and get some free ****, but I will. Driving away I thought about the SO guy that wont return my calls or emails. (I dont work at a dealership.) Then I thought about how he probably dont: a. take coupons, b. give free **** away and c. get any of my business. No offense to the SO people or any other truck brands. I do like their **** too. For the dollars, I like HF alot!

 

[zer0cell]

I just have one "?" for the op...(i hope it has not already been asked)... does your place now have the aroma of harbor freight?

 

[mrholeshot]

I just have one "?" for the op...(i hope it has not already been asked)... does your place now have the aroma of harbor freight?

hahaha!!! Sears use to have a smell but now that they no longer have employees the smell is gone

 

[Jack90210]

Pretty cool thread. Goes against a lot of the conventional wisdom here, in a good way.

Bull, if you need to do some pruning, you should be able to start a new thread and just dump all of the pruned **** there.

 

[Bull]

Bull, if you need to do some pruning, you should be able to start a new thread and just dump all of the pruned **** there.

Mods here don't seem to have the pruning option. I can edit and delete posts, but not cut them and paste them into a new thread. It would be helpful sometimes, too.

 

[thesilverone]

Mods here don't seem to have the pruning option. I can edit and delete posts, but not cut them and paste them into a new thread. It would be helpful sometimes, too.

No kidding the merge option would be useful with all the CMan Pro wrenches threads from yesterday.

 

[ServiceWithIntegrity]

Harbor Freight owes this guy a t-shirt and a steak dinner. "Customer of the Year " award is warranted in this case.

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

I just have one "?" for the op...(i hope it has not already been asked)... does your place now have the aroma of harbor freight?

There is a thread on here about HF's smell, but never noticed it. Maybe I'm desensitized?

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Harbor Freight owes this guy a t-shirt and a steak dinner. "Customer of the Year " award is warranted in this case.

I have the T-shirt, but no steak dinner yet.

I have totally been slacking here with this thread, a have a bunch of new stuff to show off. I think I might start doing Youtube video reviews of the HF tools I have. Hopefully I can get around to it, and updating this thread; just have a lot on my plate right now.

 

[King Bojack]

There is a thread on here about HF's smell, but never noticed it. Maybe I'm desensitized?

HF does indeed have a smell. The tool cart I bought brought the stank home and my whole house smelled like HF. HF smells like dirty rubber.

 

[kc-steve]

I work for myself, I have a large customer base, and a lot of word of mouth. I mainly do engine rebuilds, head gaskets, heavy line work. Those are the jobs I can really make a profit with. I charge a lot less than dealerships and independent shop when it comes to work like that. And, I still get to make a $1000 profit for two days work.

INTERESTING! Do you actually "rebuild" engines or do you buy them already rebuilt? I have a mechanic friend that says the rebuilt ones are less hassle. But then again, maybe that is why pros are more expensive.

Steve

 

[PSYKO_Inc]

Nice setup! I was wondering what your opinion was of the Earthquake 1/2" impact? It's on my short list, along with a set of their polished ratchets which look a lot more comfortable to use than my raised panel Craftsman ratchets.

 

[lipadj46]

Nice setup! I was wondering what your opinion was of the Earthquake 1/2" impact? It's on my short list, along with a set of their polished ratchets which look a lot more comfortable to use than my raised panel Craftsman ratchets.

It is heavy and loud but has a good amount of torque and is made in taiwan not china.

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

INTERESTING! Do you actually "rebuild" engines or do you buy them already rebuilt? I have a mechanic friend that says the rebuilt ones are less hassle. But then again, maybe that is why pros are more expensive.

Steve

I rebuild them, if I bought them rebuilt I would not make as much $$$.

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Nice setup! I was wondering what your opinion was of the Earthquake 1/2" impact? It's on my short list, along with a set of their polished ratchets which look a lot more comfortable to use than my raised panel Craftsman ratchets.

It is heavy and loud but has a good amount of torque and is made in taiwan not china.

I like them, they don't seem that heavy, they are loud, but totally tolerable.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I walked into HF to return some things and got hit with "the smell".. Still trying to figure out what the recipe for it is...

 

[Bull]

There are more posts that should be pruned from here, but after almost two pages, my clicking finger was sore.

It's not open-season on anything here. HF junkies can't go into truck-brand threads and start causing ****. And, truck-brand devotees can't go into HF/import threads and start proselytizing. If you see this happening, PM a mod. Discussions are fine, but not when they are off-topic and stirring the same old pot of **** for dinner every night.

This topic is about John's tools. If you'd like to talk about them (the tools he owns) feel free to contribute.

 

[kc-steve]

I'm sure it is more complex of a problem than this, but it does seem to me that the underlying gripe might actually be the ease of the O.P. to start a viable business using HF tools. In economics, they call that "ease of entry" to compete. Most businesses prefer that the ease of entry be difficult so competition is low, and therefore prices charged remain high. It's similar to labor unions.

The O.P. has shown many here how to enter into a business with less investment than others here. Therefore the anger about H.F. tools.

Steve

 

[DrkMtnDew]

no matter what the brand, coo, price, or anything, this is a very impressive collection of tools.

 

[tpolley]

I said it before and I'll say it again, its a very impressive collection of tools and I am glad the op'er took the time to take pictures and share with us. Its always more fun for me to look at other collections of tools I can accually afford rather than the super expensive truck brands. I can say my harbor freight reciepts have been piling up since I first saw this thread.

 

[xcgates]

I'm proud to say I've managed to pretty much only have oil, gas, and food receipts piling up since I saw this thread. Never thought I'd have this much restraint.

 

[muibubbles]

Here we go again. First off, I said I use my tools most everyday, not every tool everyday. I do use my impact sockets a lot, however most of the time I use a ratchet. My impact is the corded one from HF, pretty bulky and prevents me from using it in some spots.

Anyway, here are some pics of the cars I am currently working on.

RX-7 engine swap


Explorer electrical nightmare


Caravan head gaskets


Now it's obvious I'm using my tools. How often, I guess you have to take my word for it??? Or maybe, I really have a secret stash; a loaded Snap On box full of SO tools, but I purchased all the HF stuff, and wanted to show that off instead? Never using my HF tools, post pics on this site just to start some ****. Maybe that's it?

ganster collection of tools AND you have an RX-7 AND its white what is that, an fb? i have a white fd

 

[zer0cell]

I really like the box especially. When its on sale, it really does seem to be the best quality box at that price point and even better than ones that cost more. I wish I was able to get it in black but the local store only seems to sell it in red and paying over $100 for shipping kinda kills the deal for me. Nevertheless if I end up getting one I'm going to look into painting it

 

[Cheapskate]

I rebuild them, if I bought them rebuilt I would not make as much $$$.

What type of warranty do you offer on the motors you rebuild?

 

[Cheapskate]

Harbor Freight owes this guy a t-shirt and a steak dinner. "Customer of the Year " award is warranted in this case.

While John has a respectable "Starter Set" of Harbor Freight tools it doesn't come close to the amount of Harbor Freight tools I have accumulated.

And I'm not even sure if that's something I should even be proud of or even admit to.

 

[toolmaker1]

While John has a respectable "Starter Set" of Harbor Freight tools it doesn't come close to the amount of Harbor Freight tools I have accumulated.

And I'm not even sure if that's something I should even be proud of or even admit to.

Lets see pictures !

 

[Bull]

How about a thread showing your collection? I'd like to see it.

While John has a respectable "Starter Set" of Harbor Freight tools it doesn't come close to the amount of Harbor Freight tools I have accumulated.

And I'm not even sure if that's something I should even be proud of or even admit to.

 

[xcgates]

Hey Cheapskate, you should know that on this board (heck, most boards!), if there ain't pics, it din't happen.

...

So hurry up and post some pics! You might even want to start your own thread.

 

[Cheapskate]

Lets see pictures !

How about a thread showing your collection? I'd like to see it.

Hey Cheapskate, you should know that on this board (heck, most boards!), if there ain't pics, it din't happen.

...

So hurry up and post some pics! You might even want to start your own thread.

I don't want to hijack John's thread so I will give a example of what I have in the new members forum when I have a chance. I need to put on my flame-proof suit first.

I will say I love reading threads or tests from people that actually use tools first without having any preconceived ideas before passing judgment on them like John and mr holeshot.

 

[Displaced Hokie]

I gotta tell ya, this thread has made me rethink some of my future tool purchases. I've got a good base of Craftsman, so it will never be all HF, but it's kind of reassuring to know that there are value tools available that will help me get my projects done on a budget.

 

[cheap bastard]

John, have you had a chance to use those noids yet? I use a friends set occasionally but not enough to own an expensive set.

 

[e-tek]

Jesus H.....now I know what guys mean by tool **** (even if it IS the "dirty toothless Ho" kind!! LOL!!). That is an impressive set of ta-ta right there!! I even watched all the vids - almost better than HustlerTV! Of course all the while I was thinking: they sure are clean.... but then I guess you're a lot younger and your tools a lot newer than mine! Great thread - but it's gonna cost me tomorrow at Princess Auto (Canuck HF)

 

[sscustom]

soooooo wish we had hf in aus

 

[Jeff]

John, that's an impressive set of tools. Thanks for sharing.

 

[scott37300]

Wow this thread sure grew to 18 pages now, I haven't kept up with it. I will go back and watch the videos when I get some time.

I have my share of HF tools and some of them are decent and some(like the snap ring plier set) are sitting in a pile because they aren't worth a darn. Like pretty much anyone on here I would love a complete box filled with snap on or similar tools but that's not possible for me. I do buy used snap on, mac, matco, cornwell and others if I can get a good deal-it feels good to get a quality tool at HF prices! But it also feels good to walk into HF and get a bunch of stuff for very little money-and feels even better when you use them and they are decent quality. Honestly I don't expect to much out of a HF tool so when it works good I'm happy. The HF pass/fail thread is a great tool for finding out which tools are a value and which are just a waste of money.

I buy my tools based on value which is a pretty complicated formula for me! Things like how often they will be used, are they something that could break often(T50 torx), can I buy used name brand for the same price as new HF, is a used version going to be something that could break right away, warranty, features, and many many more things.

This thread is great and hope cheapskate starts his own thread like this if he thinks John's collection is a starter set!

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

What type of warranty do you offer on the motors you rebuild?

1 year warranty on internals and gaskets, etc.

John, have you had a chance to use those noids yet? I use a friends set occasionally but not enough to own an expensive set.

Yes, I did use them; worked fine. I purchased them because they were on clearance; I think $3.00. You don't really need them; a test light works fine also, they are just more convenient vs a test light.

Jesus H.....now I know what guys mean by tool **** (even if it IS the "dirty toothless Ho" kind!! LOL!!). That is an impressive set of ta-ta right there!! I even watched all the vids - almost better than HustlerTV! Of course all the while I was thinking: they sure are clean.... but then I guess you're a lot younger and your tools a lot newer than mine! Great thread - but it's gonna cost me tomorrow at Princess Auto (Canuck HF)

LOL, yeah she is a dirty crack *****. I could have paid more for a high class ******, but either way, they will both get me off; so I will stick with cheap toothless whores. LOL By the way; I checked out your restorations; read them all. Awesome job, that's my kind of **** "think I need a new keyboard now!!!" LOL

This thread is great and hope cheapskate starts his own thread like this if he thinks John's collection is a starter set!

Agreed, I would love to see a thread.

 

[Canadian Charlie]

Nice videos, thanks for sharing