My Harbor Freight Investment

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Geez, John, your girlfriend is really attractive. Probably my favorite "toolbox top" model yet.

Thanks Bull... With all the money I save on tools, I can afford to keep a girl like that

 

[TexasCoder]

1. The doors are reversible; the come predrilled on both sides, just simply remove the door and flip it.

2. The lockers only come with 1 shelf insert.

3. The link you provided is not working. But, I think I know what tool you are taking about. I rebuilt a Volvo 2.9L engine, and wished I had one of those tools, but it is not needed, though if you find yourself around vehicles with these clamps I would get one.

Welcome to the GJ, and thank you.

Thanks John for the information, amazon seems to have taken the link down, so here is a picture for other folks browsing this thread. Just in case they are wondering...what the hell is a spring clamp plier...I use to, until my neighbor told me about them after hearing me curse out my wife's volvo...I hate spring clamps ;-)

 

[Bob Heine]

3. The link you provided is not working. But, I think I know what tool you are taking about. I rebuilt a Volvo 2.9L engine, and wished I had one of those tools, but it is not needed, though if you find yourself around vehicles with these clamps I would get one.

That link to Amazon works if you delete the parenthesis and question mark at the end of the link (sentence). You can delete them from the address on the error message page.

OR,

Click here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000T4UI4/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Boost Creep]

That thread will be made, I already agreed to it awhile ago. I wanted to do it for Christmas, but it is too cold, so hopefully in February I will upload the pics.

hf sells heaters

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Thanks John for the information, amazon seems to have taken the link down, so here is a picture for other folks browsing this thread. Just in case they are wondering...what the hell is a spring clamp plier...I use to, until my neighbor told me about them after hearing me curse out my wife's volvo...I hate spring clamps ;-)

Oh hose clamp pliers; yes I have those. In fact, I suggest you get one, I use it on most every car today. Some 90* needle nose pliers also comes in handy.

I thought you were talking about the crimping tool for these clamps.

 

[TexasCoder]

Oh hose clamp pliers; yes I have those. In fact, I suggest you get one, I use it on most every car today. Some 90* needle nose pliers also comes in handy.

I thought you were talking about the crimping tool for these clamps.

WHOA...I have never seen one of those... I have just been lucky enough to not have to tear into a car far enough to find those They look evil, where have you seen these used? The design looks like it is a permanent clamp. Are they destroyed if you had to take one off?

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

WHOA...I have never seen one of those... I have just been lucky enough to not have to tear into a car far enough to find those They look evil, where have you seen these used? The design looks like it is a permanent clamp. Are they destroyed if you had to take one off?

On a Volvo they are everywhere; holds the two sections of the intake manifold together, oil trap, air intake, etc.

You can get them apart without destroying them. But, I would not recommend reusing them, you have to get a new band and pinch it on. I just used regular old hose clamps.

 

[TexasCoder]

On a Volvo they are everywhere; holds the two sections of the intake manifold together, oil trap, air intake, etc.

You can get them apart without destroying them. But, I would not recommend reusing them, you have to get a new band and pinch it on. I just used regular old hose clamps.

Awesome! Thank you man, I have only been as far as oil changes, spark plugs, brakes and what not with the wife's car and friend's VW. Thanks for the tip, when I run across one of these, I won't be like "WTF?!" Although, it goes without saying, most these foreign cars are causing me to utter that phrase more and more...Volvo is horrible. EVERY FREAKING THING ON HER CAR (2004 XC90) IS COMPUTER CONTROLLED, maybe an exception to the cupholder, but I am sure there will be a TSB out on that one too

 

[bczygan]

Geez, John, your girlfriend is really attractive. Probably my favorite "toolbox top" model yet.

Yes,
My wife thought she must be a model.............too pretty for one of us "Garage Journal" guys! She thought you Photo shopped her in until I showed her the photo of you on the drawer.

 

[whaler2001]

Thats a nice collection!

You are a full time mechanic? How do you keep them so clean?

And I must admit....I've got sockets i've used for 20 years full time. I can't believe some of the HF stuff would hold up to that.

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Thats a nice collection!

You are a full time mechanic? How do you keep them so clean?

And I must admit....I've got sockets i've used for 20 years full time. I can't believe some of the HF stuff would hold up to that.

Thank you, yes I work full time as a mechanic; use my tools most everyday.

GooGone works wonders, I'd recommend it to anyone.

 

[whaler2001]

Probably be cheaper than the brake clean I use... and it tends to dry out the rubber over time too.

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Probably be cheaper than the brake clean I use... and it tends to dry out the rubber over time too.

Yeah way better than brake clean, and safe too. Plus it really goes along way, just a dab on a rag will clean a few grimy tools.

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Yes,
My wife thought she must be a model.............too pretty for one of us "Garage Journal" guys! She thought you Photo shopped her in until I showed her the photo of you on the drawer.

She use to model; nothing major, local ads, and commercials.

She's real, and she's mine, LOL.

 

[bczygan]

She use to model; nothing major, local ads, and commercials.

She's real, and she's mine, LOL.

.......that's what you think......WE actually belong to THEM!

 

[bmwohio]

Oh hose clamp pliers; yes I have those. In fact, I suggest you get one, I use it on most every car today. Some 90* needle nose pliers also comes in handy.

I thought you were talking about the crimping tool for these clamps.

For these clamps, you need an Oetiker tool similar to this one. It is specific to close these clamps. I had to use it to close clamps on a steering rack swap I just did on my BMW. The clamps went over the rubber boots that cover the inner tie rods.

 

[Wackerjr]

End cuts work really well if not better than the actual tool as well for those...

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...19x00001a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=SPM684565601

Have used these more than once to do that exact thing.... just don't squeeze hard enough to "cut" lol

 

[bmwohio]

End cuts work really well if not better than the actual tool as well for those...

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...19x00001a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=SPM684565601

Have used these more than once to do that exact thing.... just don't squeeze hard enough to "cut" lol

Yeah, I saw those too, but I was afraid I would do what you said, and cut the clamp

 

[472scout]

She use to model; nothing major, local ads, and commercials.

She's real, and she's mine, LOL.

I was surprised that she wasn't Chinese. haha.

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

My new HF 3/8 flex-head ratchet, 18 inches.

 

[NeilH]

how many teeth?

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

how many teeth?

72.............

 

[williaty]

What's the part number on that?

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

What's the part number on that?

I pieced it together, there is no part #...

It's a combanation of:

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eighth-inch-heavy-duty-flexible-ratchet-96369.html

and,

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eighth-inch-drive-ratcheting-breaker-bar-66388.html

And, some minor grinding.

 

[bchee]

ah, clever

Why didn't you use the stuff that was on clearance?

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

ah, clever

Why didn't you use the stuff that was on clearance?

I paid $8 for the 18inch ratchet and I already had the double flex shaft. The double flex is kind of annoying sometimes, so...

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

I also have this one. It's a flex-head mated to 3/8 breaker bar that came with my 301 piece kit.

 

[Hiball]

Nice... It Unique...Im not sure how 18" coupled to 3/8 Ratchet guts will hold up but i suspect there are some sitsuations where it would come in handy.

 

[lalaland]

There sooo clean, How do you do it??

 

[toolmaker1]

There sooo clean, How do you do it??

I guess this pretty much confirmes that someone from "banned camp" is back to stir the $hit. I'll go get the popcorn.....................................(check his other posts)

 

[toolmaker1]

oops ...spoke too soon -I see the mods caught up to him

 

[bmxr4life87]

that is a very clever idea i do think i will be copying that setup as i would rather have an 18" 3/8 flex ratchet than 18" 3/8 breaker bar (already have)

 

[TexasCoder]

Nice!

 

[Aklass]

Hey John! Have you gotten your old sockets replaced with the new ones? I'm thinking of bringing in all my good old sockets to see if they will let me trade them in (Warranty Them) for the new ones

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Hey John! Have you gotten your old sockets replaced with the new ones? I'm thinking of bringing in all my good old sockets to see if they will let me trade them in (Warranty Them) for the new ones

I just warranty exchanged the impact sockets. Except for the 1/2 shallow; they appear to be no different. I was also unable to exchange the 3/4 metric sockets "read below." The new ones look a lot better, but I have yet to use them.






HF is really starting to piss me off; corporate and my local store. Corporate because of the 20% coupon limitations, and now they want you buy coupons??? Seriously?

My local store just fired the head manager "I don't why, but I guess they have their reasons." Anyway, the new manager is a real ******' *******.

I go to exchange the sockets and he tells me I need my receipt. I said "Why? They are hand tools; they have a lifetime warranty." He says they need the old item numbers... Then I say "Well, how is that my problem; do what you have to do, and make it happen." He says no...

So I leave and come back with my bag of 1000 receipts, LOL, and drop them on the counter. He then tells me I need a better system of filing my receipts. I say, "Like how?" He says I should organize them in categories of tools to make it easy to find? I say "Yeah OK, and how would you plan I do that; each receipt has all different types of tools on them?" I then say, they are filed as TOOLS.

Anyway, we find all the old item numbers, but the 3/4 metric; the last 2 digits are worn off the receipt. So, Deputy ********, says he can't do it. I flipped, stated "Look at the money I spent here in under 2 years, and this is how you're treating me, etc, etc?" I then call corporate in the store; on speaker phone, and they tell him to warranty the sockets. He said no.... At this point I was there for over an hour and a half. So now corporate is having the local GM call me tomorrow, and they said I will get my sockets, and the manager will be handled. So we will see...

Oh and I helped a customer with an airbrush kit, because the manager could not answer his questions; the guy ended up buying the kit because of me, and the guy also thanked me. This was during the whole fiasco; so it wasn't that which set him off.

They other employees apologized to me when he walked away, and said they don't understand what his problem is.

Edit: Oh yeah, one other thing, before I left to get my receipts, I spent over $100, before I left. I purchased 3/8 impact sockets; deep and shallow, in metric and sae, some gloves, 4 sets of socket organizer trays, a breaker bar, and some other things I can't recall at this time.

 

[cf2004]

that manager *****

 

[Bull]

John, with the amount of money and the dedication you have to that store, I would venture to say that your opinion damn well matters. Keep the pressure on whoever the new guy's bosses are. Maybe point out to them how much preferable the old manager was, and how they would be hard-pressed to find a customer who buys as much as you do.

 

[cf2004]

^^^werd

 

[Hiball]

Hey John! Have you gotten your old sockets replaced with the new ones? I'm thinking of bringing in all my good old sockets to see if they will let me trade them in (Warranty Them) for the new ones

I just warranty exchanged the impact sockets. Except for the 1/2 shallow; they appear to be no different. I was also unable to exchange the 3/4 metric sockets "read below." The new ones look a lot better, but I have yet to use them.

HF is really starting to piss me off; corporate and my local store. Corporate because of the 20% coupon limitations, and now they want you buy coupons??? Seriously?

My local store just fired the head manager "I don't why, but I guess they have their reasons." Anyway, the new manager is a real ******' *******.

I go to exchange the sockets and he tells me I need my receipt. I said "Why? They are hand tools; they have a lifetime warranty." He says they need the old item numbers... Then I say "Well, how is that my problem; do what you have to do, and make it happen." He says no...

Was there anything wrong with the sockets you where warranting or was you just trying to obtain the newer models? I know in the Past you have warranted tools because they where dirty, But for the life of me i cant understand your rationalization on "Why" HF owes you that type of customer service. I can understand the New Manager being leary of warranting Good tools, Hell the Old manager probably got fired for allowing such practices to go on. I can fully understand that you have invested quite a bit of money with HF but I honestly dont see where that warrants your expectations of what you should be receiving. Anyone who says differently, Has never ran a successful business..

As far as the Receipt ordeal, Has HF changed there policy on Warranty Claims and Requiring the Receipt?

 

[CD1]

Was there anything wrong with the sockets you where warranting or was you just trying to obtain the newer models? I know in the Past you have warranted tools because they where dirty, But for the life of me i cant understand your rationalization on "Why" HF owes you that type of customer service. I can understand the New Manager being leary of warranting Good tools, Hell the Old manager probably got fired for allowing such practices to go on. I can fully understand that you have invested quite a bit of money with HF but I honestly dont see where that warrants your expectations of what you should be receiving. Anyone who says differently, Has never ran a successful business..

As far as the Receipt ordeal, Has HF changed there policy on Warranty Claims and Requiring the Receipt?

This change in corparate policy about their lifetime hand tool warranty is bs. In the past the stated it was lifetime on the tool. A tool with a Pittsburgh logo stamping should be worthy of tool replacement.

Harbor Freight has taken a decidly darker change since the son of the founder unfortunately took over that company.

Google Harbor Freight for more info