Craftsman vs Harbor Freight : Wobbly Extension

visionguru · Jul 9, 2017

I went to Harbor Freight the other day and picked up a set of wobbly extension for $10 (Made in Taiwan). They look pretty nice. I compared with the Craftsman extension (Made in China) and found that Harbor Freight wobbly extensions lack a very important feature: can be used as regular extension when pressed in further.

The HF wobbly extensions CAN'T be pressed in further!, which makes them far less useful than the Craftsman. I guess cheap is cheap, COO doesn't mater that much, if at all. Gonna return the HF.

jumbojak · Jul 9, 2017

I conside that a feature. Few things annoy me as much as a wobble that turns itself into a regular extension when you're hanging upside down working on a piece of equipment. There's a gearwrench wobble rusting in the swamp because it did just that to me...

gdocktor3 · Jul 9, 2017

Wobble extensions

Gmonkee · Jul 9, 2017

Two different tools as stated. Wobble plus is a distinct product.

I prefer W+ to carry fewer tools. The last versions from Great Neck have been solid workers.

1950mercury · Jul 9, 2017

One is a wobble and one is a wobble plus. Wobble plus can **** because the socket can get pushed on more when in use when you don't want then to. My biggest concern is how much they wobble. Some of the cheap ones have like a 10 degree wobble. That craftsman looks like it barely wobbles. So craftsman looses and hf wins

Mohawk Dave · Jul 9, 2017

I hate wobble plus. Sold off my Snap on ones, kept regular wobble, plus normal ones, plus locking ones.

I'll never again own a wobble plus. Always locks on while in a precarious position and screws the pooch.

Loscaldazar · Jul 9, 2017

Mohawk Dave said:
I hate wobble plus. Sold off my Snap on ones, kept regular wobble, plus normal ones, plus locking ones.

I'll never again own a wobble plus. Always locks on while in a precarious position and screws the pooch.

I briefly had wobble plus extensions too quite a few years ago. I found that they always wobbled when I wanted them to be straight, and always were straight when I wanted them to wobble. I know some people swear by them, but I think they're the most useless and frustrating tool I've ever purchased.

franzdom · Jul 9, 2017

I also hate wobble plus, and I hate Craftsman more than I hate Harbor Freight.

bob15 · Jul 9, 2017

Do not like wobble plus. Bought one to try it and cannot stand it. Will never buy another. They always lock together and become straight at the wrong time......

OP: keep the HF extension, you will probably learn to like it over the CM.

Mikeske · Jul 9, 2017

I wanted true wobbly extensions and that what I got from the Harbor Freight ones. I do not have a sears within 50 miles of my home therefore I never looked at their stuff anymore.

toolmutt · Jul 9, 2017

Another vote against wobble+.

Stevenn1 · Jul 9, 2017

Mohawk Dave said:
I hate wobble plus. Sold off my Snap on ones, kept regular wobble, plus normal ones, plus locking ones.

I'll never again own a wobble plus. Always locks on while in a precarious position and screws the pooch.

I sold mine too, for same reason, at a garage sale no less. Yeah I lost money on it, but I was totally done with them. I'm talking going in the trash kind of done.
I now buy just either SO wobble or SO normal. Never broke one. The feature sounded good until you use it for a while and then its just annoying.

unslow1 · Jul 9, 2017

It's funny how different people view the same tools. The Snapon wobble plus extensions are one of the few tools I would buy again at full price off the truck. There are times not to use them but there are times I love them. There are many others in the tool box for the times not to use them. They have come in very handy for bell housing bolts on rear wheel drive V8s. Incidentally that is also the only place I can remember using an open end ratcheting wrench.

visionguru · Jul 9, 2017

Stevenn1 said:
I sold mine too, for same reason, at a garage sale no less. Yeah I lost money on it, but I was totally done with them. I'm talking going in the trash kind of done.
I now buy just either SO wobble or SO normal. Never broke one. The feature sounded good until you use it for a while and then its just annoying.

As a DIYer, I never faced a situation that I needed wobble extensions, though in rare cases I did need universal joints. It seems that my "needs" are purely imaginary.

I can imagine one situation that wobble+ is more useful than just wobble: two wobble extensions connected to achieve desired length. Normal wobble extensions probably are useless in this situation.

d.mcfarland · Jul 9, 2017

The Craftsman has the worst detents ever created, just keep that in mind.

I have those Harbor Freight extensions and they work fine, even the 1/2" in high torque applications have held up fine.

d.mcfarland · Jul 9, 2017

visionguru said:
As a DIYer, I never faced a situation that I needed wobble extensions, though in rare cases I did need universal joints. It seems that my "needs" are purely imaginary.

You don't do a lot of work on your own cars then. Today's tighter engine bays require far more creative uses of tools then in the past.

ChrisLS8 · Jul 9, 2017

I hate wobble plus, good idea but application *****

M_George · Jul 9, 2017

It would be interesting to see a torque comparison of both brands. I recently purchased a set of Tektons because I didn't trust either HF or Craftsman.

General Geoff · Jul 9, 2017

Wobble-fix extensions are so useful that I mandate them in my road kit and home tool collection. So many places that are far more easily accessed. The Kokens I use are also strong enough and lock tight enough in fixed position to completely replace normal fixed extensions.

I do have some Craftsman wobble extensions that work OK, and the SK wobble extensions that came in socket kits are OK too. Neither of them are wobble-fix IIRC. I gave the HF wobble extension kit to my cousin for his birthday a few years ago, he uses the **** out of them and they're holding up just fine. So for strength, I'd say they're pretty good.

Mikeske · Jul 9, 2017

I found the use of the wobble extensions and having them made them their weight in gold for me when I was doing a spark plug replacement on my 1998 V10 Dodge Ram 2500. Number 7, 8, 9 and 10 cylinders could not be reach any other way, just way to tight to get anything else in there. The Harbor Freight ones worked great.

Craftsman vs Harbor Freight : Wobbly Extension

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