The Harbor Freight PASS/FAIL Thread...

[IONH]

i just got a horzontal band saw well see how it does. do you guys usually get the two year warranty? the guy was telling me you can swap it out in two years even if its not broken for a new one if you get the warranty. but i wanted to keep it at 200 so i passed.

Are you talking about the band saw that can be vertical or horizontal (#93762)?

If so, many of us have received them in various states of broken when the boxes looked fine. There's another thread on it somewhere.

Anyway, I would say that if it lasts two years, I wouldn't swap it out because nothing says the next one will. I do not recall there being many reliability problems once the shipping damage was dealt with.

 

[subarub4]

the 1.5 ton jack does it need jack oil?

 

[rmsg0040]

anybody try these. More info needed like max tire width.

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-solid-steel-auto-ramp-set-68365.html

 

[dlc]

anybody try these. More info needed like max tire width.

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-solid-steel-auto-ramp-set-68365.html

My general rule of thumb is I don't buy anything from Harbor Freight that could cost me my life. Don't get me wrong, I have bought a lot of stuff from there but I would be scared of these.

 

[bimmerZ5]

anybody try these. More info needed like max tire width.

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-solid-steel-auto-ramp-set-68365.html

for that money, I'd just get the rhino ramps that won't slide on you when you drive up on them.

 

[bimmerZ5]

26 inch red roller cab with top chest -
http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-t...er-cabinet-with-8-drawer-top-chest-67831.html

"Look, you have the option here of making $350 from me right now or making $0 from me right now. In either case you make $0 from any future customers since you don't have it in stock till it gets restocked from your warehouse"

I know you probably still reading through this thread, but there's a coupon for that tool chest for $299. in the past, there have been coupons for as low as $279. I would at least get the $299 coupon and have them refund you $50+ tax.

 

[soob]

D-handle drill: FAIL

It's got a LOT of power, enough to hurt your wrists when it gets stuck.

Unfortunately the side handle is made of plastic and it snapped off about an hour of using it.

The lock button for the trigger is also in a really crummy place on the handle and is very easy to inadvertently lock it on. Put those two together: really powerful drill that can rip itself out of your hands + trigger that gets stuck on inadvertently.

It's a shame because the drill itself is quite good. I don't know if I want to take it back or try to make a better side handle for it and remove the trigger lock.

 

[rmsg0040]

for that money, I'd just get the rhino ramps that won't slide on you when you drive up on them.

I tried the rhino ramps. But when I tried to drive up them my trailblazer just pushes them so I returned them the same day.


I need something like these so that I can drive the front onto and then I could jack the rear up under the axle. I plan to do a tranmission pan swap. Factory pan *****. I got the new one that has a drain bolt. Makes it easier.

 

[MNRZR]

I need something like these so that I can drive the front onto and then I could jack the rear up under the axle.

Just beware that I've seen someone else do this and as they were jacking up the rear, it started pulling the vehicle back and eventually down the ramps, down the driveway, and into the neighbors yard. After seeing that, I'd never attempt that setup!!!

 

[rmsg0040]

Just beware that I've seen someone else do this and as they were jacking up the rear, it started pulling the vehicle back and eventually down the ramps, down the driveway, and into the neighbors yard. After seeing that, I'd never attempt that setup!!!

ok, i will ditch that idea.

 

[subarub4]

Just beware that I've seen someone else do this and as they were jacking up the rear, it started pulling the vehicle back and eventually down the ramps, down the driveway, and into the neighbors yard. After seeing that, I'd never attempt that setup!!!

You know I was always thinking in my mind that could be possible and you confirmed that. That's the reason I got two pair of jackstands.

 

[Dustball]

I tried the rhino ramps. But when I tried to drive up them my trailblazer just pushes them so I returned them the same day.


I need something like these so that I can drive the front onto and then I could jack the rear up under the axle. I plan to do a tranmission pan swap. Factory pan *****. I got the new one that has a drain bolt. Makes it easier.

Throw a couple floor mats or rubber mats under the ramps and they won't slide.

 

[mscribellito]

I tried the rhino ramps. But when I tried to drive up them my trailblazer just pushes them so I returned them the same day.


I need something like these so that I can drive the front onto and then I could jack the rear up under the axle. I plan to do a tranmission pan swap. Factory pan *****. I got the new one that has a drain bolt. Makes it easier.

I have a set of custom ramps I made for this purpose. It lifts the car about 6 inches in the front, then I jack it up from the rear. I have a stop that prevents the car from rolling backwards.

Throw a couple floor mats or rubber mats under the ramps and they won't slide.

I had that problem once with the rhino ramps. I did what Dustball said. Seemed to work fine.

 

[WVBrady]

Just beware that I've seen someone else do this and as they were jacking up the rear, it started pulling the vehicle back and eventually down the ramps, down the driveway, and into the neighbors yard. After seeing that, I'd never attempt that setup!!!

Good point! I have done this, but my ramps have a pretty good lip at each end of the top to prevent this. Also, on my concrete floor the trolley jacks are on wheels and roll instead of pulling the car back. Wouldn't be a bad idea to put an extra wedge on the ramps, though.

 

[Zaylor]

Pen Torch With Soldering Kit And Knife
- Item#66050

In these reviews there are 2 lighting techniques described.

In one, the user lights it by pulling down on the spring-loaded portion of the tip and getting a flame in the holes at the base. I have got this to work a couple times, but not consistently.

So I stick to the other method. I preheat the pad and then slide the tip over the flame and screw on.

I bought this to use for soldering. It has performed poorly. It doesn't get hot enough at the tip- it's just a little too cool for semi-intricate soldering. It gets plenty hot if you move to a little thicker part of the tip. I have found the tip hard to keep tinned. Overall I am disappointed with it for soldering.

I did grind the tip down a bit in the hopes that it would dissipate less heat if it was shorter. This did improve it. Overall HF needs to rework it just a hair so that the tip is closer to the heat to make it get hot enough.

In conclusion, you can solder with it, but it is not the greatest.

 

[Danglerb]

D-handle drill: FAIL

It's got a LOT of power, enough to hurt your wrists when it gets stuck.

Unfortunately the side handle is made of plastic and it snapped off about an hour of using it.

The lock button for the trigger is also in a really crummy place on the handle and is very easy to inadvertently lock it on. Put those two together: really powerful drill that can rip itself out of your hands + trigger that gets stuck on inadvertently.

It's a shame because the drill itself is quite good. I don't know if I want to take it back or try to make a better side handle for it and remove the trigger lock.

I'd take it back, and start with a fresh one and see if you can reinforce the handle before it breaks.

 

[stonesfan68]

Item #96524- Engine Support Bar- Pass

I used this engine support bar this weekend to change the motor mounts on my XC90. I sprayed graphite on the threads of the jacking screws and the tool worked flawlessly. At $60 - 20% coupon = $48 it is a real bargin compared with similar tools on the market.

 

[ram360]

Harbor Freight Service Cart 16x30 item # 5107

Pass and Fail

Pass: It does exactly what I needed, which was a cart to throw all tools while I'm working on something that I could roll around. I didn't really want to spend the money for the cart with drawers that everybody raves about since it was more just to keep things off the floor. Can't beat it for $30 (I was able to use 20% coupon).

Fail: Very flimsy metal, I mean flimsy! lol See action shot below. It's not on a hill or torqued or anything. It's naturally not square.

I've had the exact same cart for a few years. Mine is perfectly square and solid. I have that thing loaded to capicity and no issues. I even dropped it loaded out of the rear of a uhaul full of tools into a street and can't even tell. Even the finish on it is durable. No a single complaint from me.

PASS

 

[wrh3]

The "new" carts are not on par with the "old" carts. I went to buy the 5-drawer cart everyone raves about this past week and was disappointed, it was FLIMSY and cheap.

 

[subarub4]

finally got to use it big time yesterday well.. 4 days really the 6 ton jack stands great stuff! I was on a incline and the jacks shifted but they held very well.. I took them near it's max lift height (changed transmission.)

 

[ram360]

The "new" carts are not on par with the "old" carts. I went to buy the 5-drawer cart everyone raves about this past week and was disappointed, it was FLIMSY and cheap.

Actually mine has a middle shelf which that one does not. That really stiffens it up. The 3 tray cart is good stuff. I can see that one being flimsy w/o the middle.

 

[Kaervak]

Drill Master 4.5 Angle Grinder. FAIL

Bought two of these and they've both failed. The first one, the gear housing at the spindle lock cracked. It's probably fine to still use, but I'm not taking the chance.

The second one, pretty much burned itself out while using a wire wheel. Little to no torque left in the motor.


4-1/2" Grinding Wheel, Cutoff Wheel, and Flap Disc Assortment for Metal - Pack of 10 PASS

Yeah, they're cheap and probably don't last as long as dewalt or other brands but they get the job done. The cutting discs are all fine, no cracked or unbalanced ones. Same for the Grinding wheels. The flap discs are fine as well, but I did tear up the 120 grit one rather quickly.


4-1/2" Crimped Wire Bevel Brush PASS

A little bit unbalanced, but works quite well.


4-1/2" Polycarbide Abrasive Wheel UNDECIDED

I only say undecided since I haven't put it into much usage. It's incredibly abrasive, so you have to be careful with it. It does do it's job quite well, but I'm not entirely sure how well it will work for what I'm doing.

 

[22lover]

Not sure if this one has been covered yet, but I give the 80 amp inverter stick welder a big PASS. You won't be building a skyscraper with it, but for its intended use it is extremely handy. Strikes an arc easily and penetration is impressive for something that's smaller than a shoebox. Just use good 3/16" rods (not ones from HF).

http://www.harborfreight.com/80-amp-inverter-arc-welder-91110.html

It's no Honda, but the 800 watt 2-cycle generator is fantastic. Have had it for a few years as well, and zero problems. Supposedly you can replace the spark plug with a better one and it runs more smoothly. Mine is smooth enough so I've never bothered. Starts on first or second pull every time.

http://www.harborfreight.com/800-rated-watts-900-max-watts-portable-generator-66619.html

 

[subarub4]

speaking of that generator I've got 31 hours on mine and it still runs great! I put an hour meter on mine

 

[SQ is the SQUAD]

The "new" carts are not on par with the "old" carts. I went to buy the 5-drawer cart everyone raves about this past week and was disappointed, it was FLIMSY and cheap.

i have this same cart. i got it for $24 with a coupon. it is very flimsy. but, its a great cart for the money and definatly a pass. the key is to assembly it loose, then tigther it up level, mine still looke a little crooked when i first tightened it up but then it settled into place and works perfectly for all my air/auto body tools.

 

[machine_punk]

The two-ton engine hoist: pass
The 6-foot 6,400-pound lift straps: pass

This is only lifting 1200 pounds, with a custom-fabricated spreader bar, but both items worked beautifully. I am the third owner of the hoist. I would highly recommend the air-over-hydraulic replacement cylinder (around $80), if you do much lifting with a hoist...it takes a lot of effort to pump that long cylinder all the way up.

View media item 19702

 

[kald]

A pass on the 1/2" digital torque adapter. Its surprisingly well made, comes with a decent case, adapters and dead on with my three torque wrenches. And was $22 and change with ther %20 off coupon.

http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-torue-adapter-68283.html

 

[pattenp]

A big fail on the Mortising Machine #35570. Bought it and returned it the same day. The head has so much slop in the slide it's impossible to mortis a straight hole/slot. At best it may work with soft pine. I tried it on red oak and had horrible results. The chisels and bits are beyond poor quality - I know it's Harborfreight stuff, what should you expect. Looks good in the picture....

http://www.harborfreight.com/mortising-machine-35570.html

 

[Alchymist]

Searched and didn't get any hits - anyone tried this cutoff tool? On sale for 19.99.
http://www.harborfreight.com/120-volt-3-high-speed-cut-off-tool-68523.html

 

[rlitman]

I don't think it was mentioned before, because that electric cutoff tool was just introduced. I remember getting an email about it just last week.

 

[fsdogwood]

I don't know if the HF pin nailer is good or not, but I wouldn't buy it for one simple reason. It has no safety mechanism. At least the PC version has that cheezy plastic secondary trigger.

At least on the old HF pinner, there's a "safety" block under the trigger
that you turn 90-degree to clear for pulling it. Not sure about the new
one, though.

 

[rande]

Searched and didn't get any hits - anyone tried this cutoff tool? On sale for 19.99.
http://www.harborfreight.com/120-volt-3-high-speed-cut-off-tool-68523.html

I bought one of these last month to cut some exterior body panels and interior door panels on the race car. It worked great. The smaller 3-inch wheels allowed me to get into confined areas and I was able to make a tighter arc than my larger grinder. Only issue I had was the safety catch on the power switch would get caught and not engage smoothly.

 

[Mister Moose]

The "new" carts are not on par with the "old" carts. I went to buy the 5-drawer cart everyone raves about this past week and was disappointed, it was FLIMSY and cheap.

Not my experience. I bought the red 5 drawer cart 2 weeks ago, and it is beefy, very high quality casters, and strong drawers. The posts, cross braces and lid are made from 14 gauge steel.

Casters are supported by an added 'U' shaped channel. The caster itself is a polyurethane tire over a strong delrin appearing wheel. Pressed into the wheel are two sealed ball bearings. There is a steel sleeve that is longer than the width of the bearings that the caster mount bolts to so the mount does not squeeze and restrict the bearings. Through the sleeve is the 3/8 bolt that is the axle. Way better built than most tool boxes on any retail floor. There were two swiveling and two fixed casters, not the 4 swiveling that earlier ones had.

Slides are 1 3/8 high, industry standard. They are riveted to the walls, not merely snapped in as many are. There are 14 pairs of ball bearings in each cage, exceeded only by boxes with 16 that cost thousands.

The drawers are very sturdy. Notice the top edge is rolled over into a girder forming curve. This is the best drawer detailing I've seen. There are two hooks on the rear edge of the drawer that engages the dual locking bars.

Assembly takes some patience and the directions could be a little more detailed, but the cart itself is top shelf. Highly recommended.

 

[anthony73]

Searched and didn't get any hits - anyone tried this cutoff tool? On sale for 19.99.
http://www.harborfreight.com/120-volt-3-high-speed-cut-off-tool-68523.html

Ive got one,I used the the other day to cut some 18 gauge sheet maetal and it worked fine.

 

[Gregster]

Pass: ball joint separator! used it almost every day on Control arms etc.. Just lube the threads and good to go.. for 20$ it's awesome!

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-point-joint-separator-99849.html

 

[Big Johnson]

5 piece snap ring pliers Taiwan, exact same specs(as far as sizes go) as the Snap On model they copied to make these. $9.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

5 piece snap ring pliers Taiwan, exact same specs(as far as sizes go) as the Snap On model they copied to make these. $9.

so they are OK? They Pass?
Your not Mike that used to live in Elm Grove WV, are you?

 

[rslaback]

so they are OK? They Pass?
Your not Mike that used to live in Elm Grove WV, are you?

I had that set and snapped the ends of two of the pliers. I wouldn't say they are even close to a pass.

 

[subarub4]

I'm looking for a heat gun which is the best one to get?

 

[jam022316]

I'm looking for a heat gun which is the best one to get?

I've had great luck with the orange one that's usually 10 or 20 bucks. Highly suggest it