The Harbor Freight PASS/FAIL Thread...

[arkracing]

Just got the HF 2000lb remote control utility winch. Tentative pass. It's model#92860. I bolted it to a piece of 2x4 to span the door jamb at the back of my garage. I'm going to use it to pull my hobby truck back in to the garage when I need to roll it out for using the garage for other repairs (it's not easy to push the truck back into the garage in the snow.) I hooked it up and ran it, actually sounds nice and smooth. Since this is a pretty light duty application, I expect it will work fine. I will report back on my experience after I tow the truck back in tomorrow.

I've had the 5500lb winch on my car trailer for over 1 year. No problems yet - and I love the 80 feet of heavy cable that it has on it. I just took it back before Christmas before the warr. was up. The reason was not b/c of the winch, it was because of the remote control. The switch never worked right, I was just going to cut it and put a momentary toggle on it, but HF said that would void the entire warranty. No Problem. Brought the the whole thing back(missing the broken remote of course) and got an entire new one with a new remote. Wired the old broken one up with the toggle switch, and still have the New remote as well.

I guess that is a PASS on the 5500lb winch.

The cheap die grinders are a PASS as well.

I also like the Gravity Feed spray guns for spraying primers etc. You can get them occasionally on sale or with a coupon for $9.99 - cheap enough to throw out when they get totally gummed up.

 

[stioc]

I avoid buying handtools there but I still buy small stuff that looks useful:

Magnetizer/Demagnetizer: FAIL
Mover's blanket: PASS
Western Safety mechanics gloves: PASS ($4.99 on sale)
Red shop towels: PASS
Ratchet straps: PASS (i use mine all the time)

 

[diogenes]

I bought these today, took them apart and lubed them and they feel pretty good.

I second that PASS. I haven't taken them apart, though... You folks are going to corrupt me.

 

[diogenes]

I've finally read this whole thread and I think I can shed a little light on the quality issue that we observe at HF.

Understand that the suppliers that HF buys from are not top tier manufacturers, but would like to be. The quality of their goods often suffers from too much variation to snag a major brand contract, but they are trying to get there. As they improve their QC, they up their price and HF moves on to the next "up and comer" to maintain the price point. We (the US) are also not the only market they sell to. I've seen a few third world "repair facilities" and believe me they are not using SO tools, they are using a lot of what you see at HF. Remember, when you are a day's journey away from a city that might have a new wrench for you to replace the one you just broke, and the cost (even of an HF quality tool) represents a significant expenditure, you view things a little differently.

My point being, if you look closely at what you are buying and you keep your expectations in check, there is quality to be found at HF. You may be buying the tool that gets the manufacturer into the "big time"...

 

[alberto]

Finger Ratchets- items 96216-ADA (3/8) and 96091-DDD (1/4)

Pass... They go on sale often for 2 bucks or so. Good feeling ratchet action. If you stamped Snap-On on them they could easily charge 10X the price.

Went to HF yesterday, they had labeled them as "clearance", although they were not discounted. I bought a 1/4 and a 3/8 in case they decide not to carry them anymore.

 

[mossyboy6]

Went to HF yesterday, they had labeled them as "clearance", although they were not discounted. I bought a 1/4 and a 3/8 in case they decide not to carry them anymore.

These things are SMMOOOOOTTTHHHH when lubed with a little wheelbearing grease.

 

[Shadowdog500]

This set goes on sale for under $5.00 from time to time and believe it or not it is the set that I always reach for first. These look cheap but fit the allen head perfectly an hold up better than the Junk Craftsman set I have.

Chris

 

[M900]

This set goes on sale for under $5.00 from time to time and believe it or not it is the set that I always reach for first. These look cheap but fit the allen head perfectly an hold up better than the Junk Craftsman set I have.

Chris

How often do you use the smallest 4?

 

[Dave Heacock]

Fail - The Harbor Freight anvils are not real anvils but are only ASOs (Anvil Shaped Objects). After the first use setting some mild steel rivets with it, the whole top of the anvil was covered with dents . It has not broken completely yet but I have no confidence that it won't.

Pass - Their replacement gloves for the bead blast cabinet work great and are reasonable prices.

 

[M900]

1-1/2 LB. NEON ORANGE DEAD BLOW HAMMER ------FAIL big time, what a mess it made when it came apart

How exactly did it come apart?
Did the head and handle split apart?
Did it split down the vertical seam?
Were you driving a punch maybe, and you drove the punch through the rubber coating and the metal inside?

Give us something.

 

[Shadowdog500]

How often do you use the smallest 4?

I've used them all and haven't broke one yet. And the small ones do fit the allen head perfectly on both sets of mine. The Cman set I bought a few years ago didn't fit the small heads at all and weren't even straight.

Chris

 

[M900]

I've used them all and haven't broke one yet. And the small ones do fit the allen head perfectly on both sets of mine. The Cman set I bought a few years ago didn't fit the small heads at all and weren't even straight.

Chris

awesome! good to know.
Now I just need to find out where the heck I would use a 1-4MM hex.

 

[Shadowdog500]

awesome! good to know.
Now I just need to find out where the heck I would use a 1-4MM hex.

I have used the small SAE ones. I keep the metric ones next to my Chinese Lathe and usually only use the yellow handle and the blue handle when changing gears.

Chris

 

[gunner3773]

Pittsburgh 1/2" and 3/8" Curved Composite Ratchets--PASS

2lb. Brass Hammer with hickory handle--PASS

 

[M900]

Pittsburgh 1/2" and 3/8" Curved Composite Ratchets--PASS

Does the composite handle make a difference in temperature?

Thanks for your post.

 

[sprint7]

Does the composite handle make a difference in temperature?

Thanks for your post.

I have both of them and they are a major pass!

 

[metal1313]

i bought a little steamer from hf recently, i can say i am pleasantly surprised at how well it works. ill eventually edit with a link to it but its the only steamer they carry

 

[M900]

This steamer?

 

[the spyder]

Here is my HF Pass/Fail post:

Air 3" cut off saw- Pass
Angle Air grinder- Pass - Must be oiled before each use
4 1/2 Angle Grinder- Pass - Removed front and re-lubed- works great
1/2" Torque wrench- Pass -
Pry Bar set- Pass
Mini Pick set- Pass
Storehouse Orings + Copper orings- Pass barely
Marine Heatshrink- Pass
Normal 1/4-1" Heatshrink- Pass
Auto Wire stripper Orange- Pass barely
HF Impact Gun 1/2"- Pass
Impact Sockets- 1/2" Metric- PASS
Short Impact 1/2" Chrome Vandium sockets- Pass
Short Metric 1/2" swivel impact sockets- Pass
Plastic Pry bar set- Yellow- Pass
Drillbit stop set- Pass
115piece HSS drill bit set- Pass (good for lettings friends borrow... haha)
Drill Master 3piece unibit- PASS
9x20 lathe- Lots of work tweaking it- but barely PASS
Tblock holddown set- Pass
6" and 12" Digital Calipers- Pass
MityVac- (Not HF but bought from there) Pass
Tireslime- Pass
Goodyear Air Hose- Pass
14" Cutoff saw- PASS
Deadblow hammers- Orange- Pass
Tile/Laminet scraper- Pass
HVLP guns- Pass
T handle allen keys- Pass
3ton Aluminum Jack-Pass
Blue race jack- Pass
Jack Stands- Pass
Oil catch tray- Pass
Funnel Set- Pass
Brush kit for gun cleaning- Pass (Using for other then guns...)
Drill presses- Pass-


Fail-
Battery Charger, 2 of em. Both smoked (Purchased by father...)
3jaw puller set... Massive fail- Nearly put my eye out...
Air Gun- Fail
Air couplers- Fail
Any abrasive product- Fail (After 2-3 uses, they wear out)
Plastic air hose- PVC- Fail
Air regulators- Fail



Wow I never knew I had so much junk from HF... Working on slowly replacing it with better made stuff.

 

[metal1313]

This steamer?

yea that one. im not using it to clean motors or anything. but so far i have used it to clean some wood work in my house, remove wall paper, which it did exteremly well, there was little to no residue left on the walls, and to clean my range hood in the kitchen. the range hood was the real reason for buying it, i need to clean that sucker every few weeks and its annoying. but this thing makes it far easier.

 

[Coach James]

This set goes on sale for under $5.00 from time to time and believe it or not it is the set that I always reach for first. These look cheap but fit the allen head perfectly an hold up better than the Junk Craftsman set I have.

Chris

I bought a set of those about 4 years ago and they were awful. The metal was soft and two of the smaller ones rounded off and a third started spinning in the handle. I cut the plastic grip off and found that the end in the handle was only flattened a little and that's why it spun so easy. I took the others and cut them up to make long hex bit sockets for our climbing wall.

I have a C-man set and they have been fine for me. I've been using them for over a year now.

Coach

 

[mkdive]

I bought a set of those about 4 years ago and they were awful. The metal was soft and two of the smaller ones rounded off and a third started spinning in the handle. I cut the plastic grip off and found that the end in the handle was only flattened a little and that's why it spun so easy. I took the others and cut them up to make long hex bit sockets for our climbing wall.

I have a C-man set and they have been fine for me. I've been using them for over a year now.

Coach

Same experience here.....HF set FAIL, Cman set pass.....going on 2 years with the Cman set. Never rounded a hex fastener yet and I use them all the time.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Same experience here.....HF set FAIL, Cman set pass.....going on 2 years with the Cman set. Never rounded a hex fastener yet and I use them all the time.

I must have the anomaly on both ends. My HF are way better than the Cman ones. I haven broken a single one yet, maybe I haven't leaned on them as hard as some of you? The heads on the smaller Craftsman ones aren't even hex shaped some of the flats are way bigger than others and they almost never grip the heads and round them out instead. in addition the smaller ones aren't even straight and are curved all over like a french fry from McDonalds.


Chris

 

[mjozefow]

Can we just go ahead and sticky this? I think at 800+ posts it deserves it. Though it does say Harbor Freight in the title.

 

[Romanova]

Anyone try the 12ton press? Found a coupon for $80 for one... and I need one for bushings and bearings...

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Can we just go ahead and sticky this? I think at 800+ posts it deserves it. Though it does say Harbor Freight in the title.

GREAT IDEA.... I have bought some real **** at HF, and bought some other items that are great.

 

[Joelfke]

Anyone try the 12ton press? Found a coupon for $80 for one... and I need one for bushings and bearings...

X2 that seems like a damn good price...

 

[floridatom]

Anyone try the 12ton press? Found a coupon for $80 for one... and I need one for bushings and bearings...

Do you have a link for this coupon?

 

[Romanova]

Do you have a link for this coupon?

It came in the latest issue of Road and Track... they have a full page of coupons in most car magazines now.

 

[JohnFreeman]

Anyone try the 12ton press? Found a coupon for $80 for one... and I need one for bushings and bearings...

I have one that I bought used. Works fine for making receivers for Semi-auto AK47s out of sheet metal.

Fair amount of slop in the ram assy, but perhaps for pressing out bearings it'd be ok.

 

[t100]

PASS: 30396
1/2" Drive 18-3/4" Breaker Bar

I worked on a friend's Tacoma this week, froze leaf spring hanger(12 years old truck).

I tried to bust it with this breaker bar, with a 3-foot cheater on a Stanley 19mm 6pt deep impact socket. had at least 500ftlb of torque on it, couldn't get it budge. I was pretty sure the HF breaker bar joint wouldn't survive, but it did.

 

[slacktide]

PASS: 30396
1/2" Drive 18-3/4" Breaker Bar

Double pass- the crank sprocket bolt on my audi requires 150 ft-lbs PLUS 180º turn. I had a 48" jack handle on that breaker bar, and it took all my weight on the end of it to get to 180º, I'd say around 650 ft-lbs.

Socket was a 24mm Craftsman 12-point, bolt was also 12-pt.

 

[VC455]

Digital Calipers #47257 $9.99 Pass

9 LED Gordon flashlight with batteries, like #65020
either FREE with coupon, or
2 for $2.99, normally 9.99 PASS
cheap and good enough that I have these stashed everywhere 'just in case'

 

[Davefr]

Pass:
- 6" Digital Calipers - decent enough for everday use
- 6 qt heated digital ultrasonic cleaner - very good. I'm sure all the transducers for these small units come from China these days. Well worth the $49-79 sale price.
- Work gloves - worth the price when on sale
- The $1.99 DMM. It's reasonably accurate and will keep your expensive Fluke out of harms way for everyday measurement tasks.
- Small vacuum pumps - not bad and only a fraction of the price of Yellow Jacket/JB/Robinaire.


Fail:
- Socket rails - they're so thin and flimsy that the socket clips distort them such that the sockets won't even stay on.
- Nitrile gloves - price looks good but they're so thin they rip when you try and put them on.
- Air fittings - they leak and don't quite fit right except in their own Chinese couplers. (they don't seem to even follow industry std. specs)
- Small needle nose pliers - no way. I'll take my Tronex at 20X the price. The HF jaws distort like they're made out of solder.
- The HF head band magnivisor - no much optical distortion to be useful. Their jewelers clip on magnifier is a total joke.

 

[VC455]

Re: The Harbor Freight PASS/FAIL 3/8 SWIVEL HEAD RATCHET # 96782

3/8 SWIVEL HEAD RATCHET # 96782
QUESTION: anyone know to take one apart, to clean and lube ?
I have some attached pix, sorry for (lack-of) quality, since I am traveling now, am using my phone-camera.

I just picked one up, will report as soon as I have experienced.
Piece feels substantial, Chrome Molybdenum and seems like good design.

 

[camaross]

Re: The Harbor Freight PASS/FAIL 3/8 SWIVEL HEAD RATCHET # 96782

I tried to take one apart and ended up destroying it. Please share with us if you could open it.

3/8 SWIVEL HEAD RATCHET # 96782
QUESTION: anyone know to take one apart, to clean and lube ?
I have some attached pix, sorry for (lack-of) quality, since I am traveling now, am using my phone-camera.

I just picked one up, will report as soon as I have experienced.
Piece feels substantial, Chrome Molybdenum and seems like good design.

 

[tslabaugh]

Went to HF yesterday, they had labeled them as "clearance", although they were not discounted. I bought a 1/4 and a 3/8 in case they decide not to carry them anymore.

The quality style finger ratchets are no longer in stock at my local HF. *****, went to finally get some today and they had a cheaper brand (imagine that). I may hit up the other semi-local store to see if they have any.

 

[alberto]

The quality style finger ratchets are no longer in stock at my local HF. *****, went to finally get some today and they had a cheaper brand (imagine that). I may hit up the other semi-local store to see if they have any.

The one near me still has them as of saturday, so they are still around.

 

[Stick Figure]

Re: The Harbor Freight PASS/FAIL 3/8 SWIVEL HEAD RATCHET # 96782

3/8 SWIVEL HEAD RATCHET # 96782
QUESTION: anyone know to take one apart, to clean and lube ?
I have some attached pix, sorry for (lack-of) quality, since I am traveling now, am using my phone-camera.

I just picked one up, will report as soon as I have experienced.
Piece feels substantial, Chrome Molybdenum and seems like good design.

They look identical to my freebie gearwrench versions that i got. Those have a spiral lock right around the drive part of the head. Look closely and you should see the end of it and be able to uncoil it with a small pic or scribe.


I will add to the failure list with the cheap jig saw item 46055 the roller for the blade broke off on my second cut. I didn't expect it to last long, but thought i would get more than two cuts out of it. Oh well i wanted a Makita anyway, just have to find a store that stocks one now.

oh yeah and the only good part about the T handle allen wrenches is the holder they come with. I have twisted one into a spiral, stripped others, and just bent some of the others. My craftsman set is holding up okay so far and they were almost as cheap. Now the L style allen wrenches i grabbed at harbor are holding up okay but i don't use them too often.

 

[nissan_crawler]

Anyone try the 12ton press? Found a coupon for $80 for one... and I need one for bushings and bearings...

good enough for that. certainly nothing fancy, and a little sloppy. If you have the room/money for the 20 ton, i would get it. Still not fancy, but a big step up from the 12 ton, IMHO.

Ironically, the time I used a 12 ton was in pressing barrels into ak-47 trunnions. It seems the 12 ton is popular for ak work.

I bought a metric and standard set of their crowfeet. I got the sears ones, they spread, I took them back. The old craftsman ones I have are fine.

The HF set spread much less and got the bolt out without much hassle. I will say the fit and finish **** compared to craftsman, but who is surprised? The chrome isn't loose or anything, just not "pretty", nor was the base metal when they chromed it. The other annoyance is that there is no detent in the crowfoot for the ball of an extension.

Considering the sears sets were $49 each, and the HF ones were $7.99 each...you can't really complain.