My Biggest Problems with Harbor Freight

[mowersplus84]

Every one has there options about Harbor Freight some good and some bad over the past few years they have steeped up there game . while craftsman quality has seemed to have taken a nose dive as well as there warranty. it seem when you go to sears to exchange a tool that broke for a new one . the employee acts as thou its coming out of there pocket . thus turning a lot of people off from craftsmen . it seems as though more and more mechanics and car enthusiasts are putting harbor freight tools in there tool chest. if one dose break a lot of us aren't too far from a harbor freight to go and have it replace. so here is my biggest problems with harbor freight . one 18 mm wrench you can not find an 18mm combination wrench there at all witch is kind of upsetting because there are a lot of imports that you will need an 18mm wrench

16mm and 18mm sockets unless u buy the 301 piece set or the 64 piece set you cant find these sockets

and last there tool sets most are gonna want sae and metric sets so why don't they put them together . instead of having a 21 pc3/8 sae socket set and the same thing but in metric throw them together add a couple of extension a u- joint and a breaker bar .

also another thing i thought of they should also have more single sockets and wrench no set on the planet is going to have ever socket or wrench you may need or want thus the reason for buying single sockets and wrenches.

 

[volvo92906]

I too wish they would sell more single wrenches/sockets. But the sets are honestly cheap enough you just buy em.

5/8 is the same as 16mm. Most metric sets skip the 16, but the standards have the 5/8. Even brands like Snap On do it in their sets. Is 3/4 the same as 18? or is that 19? They do the same thing there as well... I guess the only explanation is that its cheaper to do. Look at the price of Harbor Freight tools... Quit bitching or they will complete the sets and the prices will go up, or the quality will go down. They arent the best quality now, but they are pretty damn good for home use.

 

[mech-tech]

When you wrench for a living and have to walk from the service truck to the equipment, the thought of having to carry around a 300 piece socket set just isn't appealing, so small individual sets are a major plus. Also, wrenching for a living means you have to fork over the money for better brands that include ALL sizes of tools cause when ya need it ya need it. I see harbor freight as the fill in for when I don't want to spend big bucks on rarely used tools. Also, as for sears, I have tried returning something and they gave me a sears card instead of cash money due to their policy, so for me, now it's either lowes or internet purchases.

 

[devoncoolman]

Easy answer to this is. If you have a problem with the lack of singles or missing sockets. Quit whining the tools are uber cheap anyway. Just buy better quality tools snd ull get your 16 and 18mm.

 

[ChevyEFI]

Core tools that are mandatory to your day's work benefit from having duplicates or the ability to be purchased individually.

 

[thesilverone]

buys cheap tools and complains?

 

[rollscanhardly]

You've heard the saying, if you didn't vote, you have no right to complain.

It's the opposite for HF purchases.

By virtue of the fact of willingly making a purchase from HF, you forfeit any right to make a complaint.

 

[abvw]

You've heard the saying, if you didn't vote, you have no right to complain.

George Carlin wholeheartedly disagree with you.

 

[jd_1138]

To the OP, you can look on ebay and fill in any gaps in your tools with cheap eBay purchases. I bought a 3/4" socket for my new 25" breaker bar for $2 shipped on eBay. It's a Do-It branded 1/2" drive socket but was brand new and works much better than the crappy tire tool that came with my car.

 

[PugetDude]

Buy the missing HF 18mm socket from SnapOn...

 

[ddawg16]

I have no complaints about HF tools....I get exactly what I pay for.

 

[mowersplus84]

I wasn't complaining i was just merely make a statement. why is it if anyone says anything about anything at all there's people that think there complaining . no business on the planet is perfect they all have flaws and just because someone points out a flaw doesn't meant there complaining. i have the 18mm and 16mm wrenches i was just pointing it out because 18mm seems to be a common size when working on imports .

 

[zurud]

I play with japanese car all my life. Never once did I ever use 18mm wrench or socket. Newer wrench set come with 18mm but skip 19mm. I use 19mm all the time.

 

[ChevyEFI]

I wasn't complaining i was just merely make a statement. why is it if anyone says anything about anything at all there's people that think there complaining . no business on the planet is perfect they all have flaws and just because someone points out a flaw doesn't meant there complaining. i have the 18mm and 16mm wrenches i was just pointing it out because 18mm seems to be a common size when working on imports .

And Ko-Ken skips 15mm on a great number of their sockets.

Such is tools.

 

[01ps]

In my socket set and even my wrench sets(not from harbor freight btw but it was missing a few key sizes), I just purchased the missing sizes at napa and elsewhere if they were not available at the store I purchased from.

 

[Gmonkee]

It depends some in the maker and market. Better domestic brands reflect the needs of the immediate area and imported economy sets will reflect the ideals of the COO.

If you live where its all brands of imports plus domestic or only work on Honda cars your tool needs will be very different. Aviation mechanics tend to have much fewer tools than any general mechanic in the auto field would.

 

[57JoeFoMoPar]

It's funny that this subject comes up. Just yesterday I had to buy the jumbo wrench set from HF because I needed a 1 1/2" wrench and the biggest I had in my box was 1 1/4". I would have liked to buy the single wrench, but had to buy the $50 set that had 1 1/4" through 2". On the other hand, now I have a huge wrench set that was only $50. If I had to go to a good USA company for wrenches, it'd probably be almost the same amount of money for just a single wrench.

 

[toolmaven]

Metric sizes are often ISO sizes. The ISO has a crazy way of designating preferred sizes and non-preferred. Many even-number millimeter sockets & wrenches aren't ISO sizes. That doesn't stop manufacturers from using those sizes, especially on parts that aren't standard fasteners. In the inch size realm, the odd 32nds turn up in vintage stuff. 15/32, 19/32, 25/32 & 31/32. These are probably extinct in most modern tool lines.

 

[mudflap]

I play with japanese car all my life. Never once did I ever use 18mm wrench or socket. Newer wrench set come with 18mm but skip 19mm. I use 19mm all the time.

The bolts on a new Dodge Charger disk brake bracket are 18mm..

 

[JBradley500]

I play with japanese car all my life. Never once did I ever use 18mm wrench or socket. Newer wrench set come with 18mm but skip 19mm. I use 19mm all the time.

I use 18mm all of the time on cross-members and things like that. 19mm is so close to 3/4" that they're essentially the same. 5/8" and 16mm, not so much.

 

[Dicholscrn]

It's funny that this subject comes up. Just yesterday I had to buy the jumbo wrench set from HF because I needed a 1 1/2" wrench and the biggest I had in my box was 1 1/4". I would have liked to buy the single wrench, but had to buy the $50 set that had 1 1/4" through 2". On the other hand, now I have a huge wrench set that was only $50. If I had to go to a good USA company for wrenches, it'd probably be almost the same amount of money for just a single wrench.

Honestly I don't believe I've ever been in a HF myself but if I was in your shoes I most likely would have went to Lowes and got a single Kobalt 1 1/2". I don't recall if China or Taiwan but I'm a fan of the Kobalts for odd sizes that I won't use on a daily basis and I really like the fact that they carry so many one off items like sockets, wrenches, socket torx/allens, and impacts. Really good variety.

 

[jd_1138]

It's funny that this subject comes up. Just yesterday I had to buy the jumbo wrench set from HF because I needed a 1 1/2" wrench and the biggest I had in my box was 1 1/4". I would have liked to buy the single wrench, but had to buy the $50 set that had 1 1/4" through 2". On the other hand, now I have a huge wrench set that was only $50. If I had to go to a good USA company for wrenches, it'd probably be almost the same amount of money for just a single wrench.

You didn't have a 20 or 25% off coupon? That would've made the wrenches $40 plus tax.

I was at a friend's house and I helped them run cable TV into one of their bedrooms. I asked if they had a drill, and they brought out an older Chicago Electric (orange) corded drill (a HF brand) that was in a black case with a lot of loose drill bits inside. Worked nicely. I kinda dug the orange color, but most probably prefer the black and red drills they have now.

 

[retDAC]

... In the inch size realm, the odd 32nds turn up in vintage stuff. 15/32, 19/32, 25/32 & 31/32. These are probably extinct in most modern tool lines.

Check Wright.

 

[dave12b]

Check Wright.

Perhaps thats because thier an industrial brand. My father-in-law was a factory mechanic for over 30 years till the glass plant closed. He has /32s up to at least an inch. He told me that most of the equipment was pre-WW2 and fastners were in all sorts of sizes.

To the OP, I also hate skips even in less expensive brands. I'd rather pay an extra buck or two or have the set go from say 10 to 19 mm without skips than 8 to 21 mm with skips. I see this with lots of brands not just HF.

The one thing we can count on is if there is a size that no one uses, It in the not so distant future be the size you cant get the job done without.