Vote for the Worst Harbor Freight Item

[MrSurly]

Let's see em. The worst Harbor Freight item you've made it home with.
I'm NOT posting this to bash.
Yes, I'm a fan of the place and I have many of their decent quality tools, a few mediocre things and a tool box or two.

But there are a few things that stand out as particularly awful, some that seem OK until you put them to use and then fail.... but there are a few that are so bad that it makes you wonder what they are thinking.

I can't find it to take a pic but my vote is for their 61319 headlamp. This thing is so awful that you just have to chuckle. 'Elastic band' and an incandescent bulb that apparently is rated in milliwatts. If you stare straight at it, you CAN tell that it's on.
This is one of their items that gets rotated as a Free coupon thing. It's soooo bad that it's funny.

 

[tonyciambrone]

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-x-36-inch-belt-6-inch-disc-sander-97181.html

Couldn't get the belt to track straight to save my life...And incredibly underpowered. The 6" bench grinder makes a close second. No balls at all

 

[Robert Haas]

Ain't these type of threads getting a tad lame? Hell how many of them are you boys going to create?

 

[rlitman]

I've seen that headlamp in the freebies. Never chose it, because it looks like total ****. But I'm not sure what you expect for free.

For my part, nothing really disappointing from HF comes to mind, when I consider only what I've "made it home with". I know there's lots of **** I leave on their shelves, but the things I've bought have for the most part met my expectations.

I've had some things fail on me, like coil air hoses that saw years of continuously pressurized use (some would call that abuse), but nothing I can think of deserving of the "worst item" moniker off the top of my head.

 

[cabranch47]

Their assortment package of hose clamps are really terrible. Strip almost immediately

 

[dogdog]

Ain't these type of threads getting a tad lame? Hell how many of them are you boys going to create?

You know the old saying
SSDD.... same stuffing different topping

But you can find about 50% of the items there are ****, and 50% are good ... so just get what you needed and don't expect it to be an heirloom

 

[KnurledNut]

but my vote is for their 61319 headlamp.

I used the elastic headband as a replacement for my Streamlight.
It took minimal modification and has worked very well.
(The HF light itself didnt work and went in the trash.)

 

[Alpine4x4]

Their chisels are OK, but the center punches are pretty bad. Flattened them almost instantly.

 

[finn]

Plastic broke on my mig nozzle cleaner on the first use.

Plastic air hose on the floor mounted planishing hammer cracked and shattered into a million pieces at 30 degrees F.

Cast iron spreader attachment on my 4 ton porta power broke the first time I used it.

PVC cutter broke the third time I used it.

Floor tile laughs at the pneumatic floor scraper.

Plastic handle on the orange 4” angle grinder cracked into two pieces while being stored in my toolbox and the garage temp dropped to the teens.

Three strikes and you’re out. HF is almost a no hitter in my world.

People complain about Sears Craftsman, but I have never seen this type of **** quality from them.

 

[James-W]

You know the old saying
SSDD.... same stuffing different topping

But you can find about 50% of the items there are ****, and 50% are good ... so just get what you needed and don't expect it to be an heirloom

Souldn't that be SSDT?

 

[zendriver]

Ain't these type of threads getting a tad lame? Hell how many of them are you boys going to create?

Somebody famous one said "

"the only thing worse than bad publicity, is no publicity!"


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[zendriver]

The older wheel seal puller with the round handle.

I knew it was going to break the first time I used it, but I bought it anyway, because I was in a pinch for one.

It broke the first time I used it.


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[KWtech90]

The free multimeter didn't even make it out of the packaging before the leads had pulled loose from the wires. It was promptly tossed into the trash.

 

[dogdog]

Souldn't that be SSDT?

LOL, It's all the same stuffing.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Snap Ring Pliers.....enough said.

 

[jimbos1ice]

Stay away from the razor blades, look at them cross eyed they shatter


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[rlitman]

...Floor tile laughs at the pneumatic floor scraper...

I bought my HF pneumatic floor scraper for twenty bucks at a flea market. It was well loved, to say the least. I bought it to break up ice sheets on my driveway in the wintertime, and for that it works wonders.

Last month, some ceramic tile in a bathroom laughed at it. But later, I had ok luck with it lifting VCT from a concrete floor. It was able to break the bond to the old and brittle mastic, and chip up the leveling compound under that. Though if the glue bond were in better shape, it probably would have failed to work.

Its definitely a week tool. But I'm happy with mine, and weaker means less likely to do damage to my driveway.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

It is WHFI award time. Tears will flow; Either from people relating to their experience, or the laughter of others.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

The older wheel seal puller with the round handle.

I knew it was going to break the first time I used it, but I bought it anyway, because I was in a pinch for one.

It broke the first time I used it.


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Reminds Me of the alternator and power steering pump pulley puller and installer set.

I used the GM dealership set for years without problems.. The HF clone broke on the first attempted use. I use combination wrenches and apply torque slowly and evenly. It broke with little effort.

 

[Moose97]

It seams to me that HF keeps introducing new lines and the quality is going up...along with the price.

 

[d.mcfarland]

Chrome wobble extensions for $10. They operated, but lasted all of 3 uses before the pot metal was deformed and sockets would no long fit in the male end of the extensions.

 

[gtlaw]

I found this to be a useless, horrible, workpiece damaging turd.

https://m.harborfreight.com/carbide-tip-adjustable-circle-cutter-69063.html

 

[JBradley500]

1. Locking extensions... only one of them actually functioned.
2. The free meter... I got one when I didn’t have my meter with me and needed it to work pretty badly. Of course the leads were junk and only worked about 5% of the time.
3. Titanium drill bit sets... needed to get out some rotor screws and didn’t have my good bits. I knew this would be a sucky job for them but they did worse than expected. I’ve been spoiled with drill bits though through my uncle’s machine shop/store, so I’m sure I expected too much.

 

[bubinga]

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-x-36-inch-belt-6-inch-disc-sander-97181.html

Couldn't get the belt to track straight to save my life...And incredibly underpowered. The 6" bench grinder makes a close second. No balls at all

I'm no expert, but I have heard sometimes it's the belt itself.
A new belt may cure the tracking g issue.

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[bubinga]

Ain't these type of threads getting a tad lame? Hell how many of them are you boys going to create?

I guess "it takes all kinds"
I sort of like the thread.

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[bubinga]

It seams to me that HF keeps introducing new lines and the quality is going up...along with the price.

Yes, the price is indeed going up.

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[Engine]

10 in. Pneumatic Tire with White Hub Item #62409

Bought four of these pieces of junk for a cart I built and not a single one held air for more than a week.

 

[laser3kw]

although I have had good and bad, the bad ones really are WTF
I got the air powered extended cut off tool. I knew that would solve my problem reaching into tight spots and cutting parts free!
Well, let's say it was under-powered. The disc would literally stall shortly after touching the metal. I thought maybe I didn't have enough air compressor, even though the advertised cfm consumption was under the compressor rated output.
So, in GJ fashion, I bought a bigger compressor ( not a HF).
Problem solved? Nope! same results.
But at least I now have a larger compressor.

 

[HaroRider]

The crimping pliers I bought from them sucked. I returned them after one use.

Mostly everything I buy from HF is pretty good.. then again I only buy it if the reviews are good.

 

[b-boy]

Lasted 90 seconds. The handle snapped when I tried to screw it onto the tool. It burned out the first time I used it. I pulled the trigger, smelled smoke, and that was it. Total ****. Good thing I bought the Heavy duty model.

https://www.harborfreight.com/power...able-speed-reversible-hammer-drill-68169.html

 

[mbshop]

Strap wrenches. Broke as soon as I put any force on it.

 

[jfrey123]

The red rubber air hose that they sell separately but also put on the reel. I live in Reno, and less than a year after buying the hose and throwing it up in my garage rafters it had thousands of micro cracks and wouldn’t hold air. I only use it once or twice a month. Replaced the red hose with the hybrid neon green one and it’s worked awesome for years now.

3. Titanium drill bit sets... needed to get out some rotor screws and didn’t have my good bits. I knew this would be a sucky job for them but they did worse than expected. I’ve been spoiled with drill bits though through my uncle’s machine shop/store, so I’m sure I expected too much.

I live in a fairly rust free area, soy experience might be jaded, but after years of messing up rotor screws someone turned me on to using my 18v impact driver with a #2 phillips bit. I have yet to have it not work for me, just in case you’ve never tried it.

 

[JBradley500]

I usually use a hand impact and don’t have issues, especially if you use a good snap on one, but I didn’t have any tools with me that day.

 

[L.Cheapo]

10 in. Pneumatic Tire with White Hub Item #62409

Bought four of these pieces of junk for a cart I built and not a single one held air for more than a week.

Jody and JD recently built a welding cart out of a HF dolly with those tires on it...

 

[RedneckWelder]

Snap Ring Pliers.....enough said.

Yep utter junk. Dad and I were in a tight spot needed a pair to take a snap ring out and put it back in after the repair, my good set was 60 miles away at work and the interchangeable tip ones he had were too bulky. I ran to HF and got a set and not a single pair survived the little approximately 1.5” diameter snap ring. We got the job done but the pliers didn’t.

The right angle air drill also *****...trigger valve failed first use. The left hand bits also ****...dulled as soon as they touched the bolt.

I don’t buy much from HF these days...Dad had better luck with them than I ever did outside of some good known basics like the five drawer cart, Pitts pro impact sockets, and dead blows

 

[MrSurly]

10 in. Pneumatic Tire with White Hub Item #62409



Bought four of these pieces of junk for a cart I built and not a single one held air for more than a week.

I had one of their carts (62576) that has these on it. It stays outside; after a year and a half, one tire was in good shape and aired up. One tire was in OK condition but flat. The other two were literally disintegrated from the elements.i mean they looked like they had been shredded in a wood chipper, in little rectangular patterns.
I just marveled at the differences between the four (presumed to be the same) tires. I replaced with those you posted and they leak a lot... but they haven’t disintegrated yet(!)




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[6PTsocket]

What happened to the HF pass/fail thread? So now we have an HF just fail thread? What's next, an HF only pass thread? The trouble with the pas/fail thread is that it got to thousands of entries and there was no way to find the review you might be interested in. It is really only good for the last few entries. I don't know how we would do it but it needs to be like Amazon or HF reviews where I can find rhe comments on xyz, without having to comb thousands of entries to see if it is there. With HF it is a spectrum from always junk, sometimes junk to usually OK. QC has always been a major HF problem. It is a good product if you can get a good one.

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[BFBOB]

Somebody famous one said "

"the only thing worse than bad publicity, is no publicity!"

Oscar Wilde: "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."

 

[wyattstihl]

The 99 cent socket rails. When there too tight they dont work. Too loose they fall off. There a b*tch.


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[Miss the Pontiacs]

There has been parallels discussed between the Canadian Princess Auto (PA) and HF. At PA if you are not happy with a product it can be returned I believe for a full cash refund. I had an air driven Power Fist (their brand) pad sander which blew up. I junked it. I was told later that I could go have gotten warranty. What I am asking is do you have any recourse on returns/warranty at HF?