The Harbor Freight PASS/FAIL Thread...

[emeraldcoupe]

went and picked up

3 3/4" 32 led flashlight- PASS i put some duracell batteries in it. this thing is BRIGHT. made of aluminum. paid $5.00
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-3-4-quarter-inch-32-led-flashlight-98504.html


27 led portable work light- PASS picked up two more of these. replaced the batteries with duracell and good to go. very bright. i bought one about a month ago and it's still working great. paid $3.00 each
http://www.harborfreight.com/27-led-portable-worklight-flashlight-67227.html


4 drawer service cart- PASS. went together very easy, finish is real nice, and the hardware was good. picked it up for $99 w/ coupon.
http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-t...-lb-capacity-four-drawer-tool-cart-95659.html

 

[Samson]

Anybody have any experience with this Jack? http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-low-profile-heavy-duty-floor-jack-rapid-pump-68050.html

 

[soob]

http://www.harborfreight.com/55-hp-chipper-shredder-95964.html

Item 95964 5.5 HP CHIPPER SHREDDER: PASS

I got one of these for a song -- it was a return. Came with gas in it and everything, started on the first pull.

It's a very compact shredder. All the parts are steel and nicely painted. Weighs a bit but it's manageable for one person to handle.

The hopper is kind of small and the limb capacity is only 1.25" -- but the motor is quite powerful and it does a great job of pulverizing yard debris. I really prefer it to the typical plastic chippers, mostly because it's solid and very compact.

I can't speak for its durability but it seems solidly built and definitely gets a pass so far.

 

[michiganhotrod1]

Three ton jackstands - FAIL! The pair were under my Chrysler. I was under the car and noticed this funny piece of metal inside the jackstand on the ground - was the bottom of the jack!!
They are about 8 years old, and just used in a hobbyist garage.
Conversely, I bought a air coil roofing nailer; used it to install a 12 square roof and it worked well. just need to clean out the oil plus dirt that accumulates in the firing chamber.
Mark Reynolds

 

[TheGrooveking]

Three ton jackstands - FAIL! The pair were under my Chrysler. I was under the car and noticed this funny piece of metal inside the jackstand on the ground - was the bottom of the jack!!
They are about 8 years old, and just used in a hobbyist garage.
Conversely, I bought a air coil roofing nailer; used it to install a 12 square roof and it worked well. just need to clean out the oil plus dirt that accumulates in the firing chamber.
Mark Reynolds

WHOA! Holy **** Batman! You are one lucky man!

TheGrooveking

 

[fsdogwood]

Three ton jackstands - FAIL! The pair were under my Chrysler. I was under the car and noticed this funny piece of metal inside the jackstand on the ground - was the bottom of the jack!!
They are about 8 years old, and just used in a hobbyist garage.
Conversely, I bought a air coil roofing nailer; used it to install a 12 square roof and it worked well. just need to clean out the oil plus dirt that accumulates in the firing chamber.
Mark Reynolds

You are lucky!
I have the same stand, for about 2 years now.
It scares me, now what brand/type should I be looking for?

 

[volksnick]

My 3 ton jack stands failed when the shear pin holding the paw that grabs the teeth broke off. It dropped my car before I could get the other side up on jack stands. Kinda scary. Mine weren't 8 years old, but they were out of warranty and didn't seem to phase the manager...

 

[bimmerZ5]

You are lucky!
I have the same stand, for about 2 years now.
It scares me, now what brand/type should I be looking for?

My 3 ton jack stands failed when the shear pin holding the paw that grabs the teeth broke off. It dropped my car before I could get the other side up on jack stands. Kinda scary. Mine weren't 8 years old, but they were out of warranty and didn't seem to phase the manager...

Three ton jackstands - FAIL! The pair were under my Chrysler. I was under the car and noticed this funny piece of metal inside the jackstand on the ground - was the bottom of the jack!!
They are about 8 years old, and just used in a hobbyist garage.
Conversely, I bought a air coil roofing nailer; used it to install a 12 square roof and it worked well. just need to clean out the oil plus dirt that accumulates in the firing chamber.
Mark Reynolds

all this talk about failing jack stands is very scary indeed... i don't have any jack stands from HFT, but i figure any manufacturer could have defective jack stands... i have a pair of old Craftsman 3 ton jack stands (made in china) and 6 aluminum 3-ton jack stands from Torin... anyone know of these failing?

 

[5mall5nail5]

I have some seemingly decent made craftsman jobbies.

 

[RangerDaleXp]

I have a set of 8 of those that are much older and have never had a problem with them. They were bought in the early 90s but I will definitely be giving them a very good inspection like anyone should be doing with equipment used like that....

 

[David W]

Does anybody have these steel loading ramps?http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-steel-loading-ramps-44649.html

$45 with a coupon, that might be too good a deal to pass up.

 

[RangerDaleXp]

Does anybody have these steel loading ramps?http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-steel-loading-ramps-44649.html

$45 with a coupon, that might be too good a deal to pass up.

Dad bought them for our Ranger XP and they only worked 2 to 3 times. He thought they were rated at a 1000 a piece but they were for the set. Would be good for Quad ATVs at 600 lbs. I ended up adding 3/16 steel to ours and they have been fine since....

 

[Dustball]

Does anybody have these steel loading ramps?http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-steel-loading-ramps-44649.html

$45 with a coupon, that might be too good a deal to pass up.

I bolted C-channels to the sides of them and use them to load vehicles on my trailer. They've shown no signs of bending whatsoever.

 

[b-body-bob]

3/8" Double Sided Rotary Spot Weld Cutter-------PASS
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eighth-inch-double-sided-rotary-spot-weld-cutter-95343.html

Picked some of those cutters up when my last Blair cutter went dull. I swear it seems the HF cutter works better than the Blairs ever did. Definitely a pass and But, it might have to do with changing from an electric drill to an air drill ... speaking of which ...

1/2" reversible air drill item # 98896
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-reversible-air-drill-98896.html

The chuck and key don't interface well. The key slips half the time and none of the other keys I have here fit. It got stuck once, yes stuck, not bypassing. I pulled the trigger, nothing happened. I was able to free it up by hand. Yes I oiled it. Thought I was going to be returning it, but once free it kept chugging along. On pass/fail, I'm undecided so far. If it last through the 4,286 spot welds I have left to drill I'll be happy.

 

[b-body-bob]

Air angle die grinder #32046 - PASS
http://www.harborfreight.com/air-angle-die-grinder-32046.html
Been using the **** out of the thing for a couple months now, grinding and dressing metal using 2" rolocs, never a problem.

Rear Exhaust Air Die Grinder #52847 - FAIL
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-4-quarter-inch-rear-exhaust-air-die-grinder-52847.html
Just got this thing, decided to use it to spin a paint stripper disc. It worked once, the next time I picked it up it was stuck. Had to disassemble it to get it working, but it's not spinning full speed now.

The 1/2" reversible air drill item # 98896 continued to get stuck today. Turning the chuck by hand frees it up. I'm going to keep abusing it until the free replacement warranty is up and return it. Ditto for the die grinder.

 

[Farleyfan]

Just bought the serpentine belt tool,
http://www.harborfreight.com/serpentine-belt-tool-kit-66344.html
Paid about $15 after 25% coupon and free multitester.
Anybody tried this one ? Ill be tryin it out in a day or two and
let ya know...

 

[Davefr]

I bought this Link Belt (#43771) for my Jet drill press and it really does minimize vibration. I thought these things were a gimmick but they really do work well.

I does seem well made but the jury is still out on how long they last.

The amazing thing is that it's made in Italy.

 

[soob]

Italy is infamous for letting exporters stamp "made in Italy" on anything that passes through the country. Wouldn't make much of it if I was you.

 

[soloz2]

Three ton jackstands - FAIL! The pair were under my Chrysler. I was under the car and noticed this funny piece of metal inside the jackstand on the ground - was the bottom of the jack!!
They are about 8 years old, and just used in a hobbyist garage.
Conversely, I bought a air coil roofing nailer; used it to install a 12 square roof and it worked well. just need to clean out the oil plus dirt that accumulates in the firing chamber.
Mark Reynolds

That's scary!! I have a pair just like those that I've used for a couple years and I just bought a second pair. I haven't opened the second pair so I think I'll return them. Any suggestions on what to get?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

[tpolley]

24 piece go thru socket set item number 67974.

I'm going to say fail, at least for me.

I needed a socket set to use occasionally at work. I found they where to big to use in small areas. Trying to remove a battery from a 2005 f-250 was a pain in the *** because the ratchet head was so big and the extension was so short.
Also the sizes are painted on. After a few Weeks it was getting hard to read the size.
also, the newer sets made within the last year or so come with an open faced blow molded case. It would be impossible to carry this set around a job site without losing some parts.
Also the ratchet handle has a rubber/plastic insert glued in, it promptly fell out the first time I used it leaving a big void in the handle.
I ended up taking them back and getting the 64 piece set

 

[bimmerZ5]

Just bought the serpentine belt tool,
http://www.harborfreight.com/serpentine-belt-tool-kit-66344.html
Paid about $15 after 25% coupon and free multitester.
Anybody tried this one ? Ill be tryin it out in a day or two and
let ya know...

maybe i haven't worked on a car where that would be that useful. but couldn't one just use a longer breaker bar with the appropriate socket?

 

[wolfsburged]

maybe i haven't worked on a car where that would be that useful. but couldn't one just use a longer breaker bar with the appropriate socket?

The nice feature is the clearance gained by just having a thin metal handle and the socket or crowsfoot. With the breaker bar you are going to have a thicker handle and usually the swivel head mechanism. Also the sockets are shorter. A big plus if the belt is right up against a frame rail or some other obstruction, or you have to clear accessories above/below.

 

[bimmerZ5]

The nice feature is the clearance gained by just having a thin metal handle and the socket or crowsfoot. With the breaker bar you are going to have a thicker handle and usually the swivel head mechanism. Also the sockets are shorter. A big plus if the belt is right up against a frame rail or some other obstruction, or you have to clear accessories above/below.

thanks for the explanation. but if there is such little clearance, when you loosen the belt tension with this tool, wouldn't it be really difficult to get the belt off anyway?

 

[Farleyfan]

maybe i haven't worked on a car where that would be that useful. but couldn't one just use a longer breaker bar with the appropriate socket?

I always used a breaker bar n socket until I shreadded a belt a while back.
I rolled into a local auto parts store and bought a belt and the parts guy
offered me the loaner belt tool....it was much easier with it than any setup
id used before. This HF one seems to work just as well as the parts store
one. A case woulda been nice thou!

 

[wolfsburged]

thanks for the explanation. but if there is such little clearance, when you loosen the belt tension with this tool, wouldn't it be really difficult to get the belt off anyway?

Sure.. but belts can twist. And this helps if there are obstructions nearby, above or below, maybe not directly next to the belt. You still need a clear shot all the way out of the engine bay to use the tool.

 

[rslaback]

thanks for the explanation. but if there is such little clearance, when you loosen the belt tension with this tool, wouldn't it be really difficult to get the belt off anyway?

Once the belt is off you can let the tensioner back off all the way and remove the tool to get the old belt off and the new one mostly in place. Then you use the tool again to compress the tensioner and put the new belt over the last pulley.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

The nice feature is the clearance gained by just having a thin metal handle and the socket or crowsfoot. With the breaker bar you are going to have a thicker handle and usually the swivel head mechanism. Also the sockets are shorter. A big plus if the belt is right up against a frame rail or some other obstruction, or you have to clear accessories above/below.

yeah, 90% of the time a breaker bar or ratchet is fine, but the other 10% it's nice to have the tool.

 

[richm]

Extra long end wrench sets both metric and sae- pass
1/2" impact -pass
3/4" impact - fail No power even with big hose
1" impact - pass
us general roller stool - pass
us general 3 tray rolling cart- pass

 

[subarub4]

Extra long end wrench sets both metric and sae- pass
1/2" impact -pass
3/4" impact - fail No power even with big hose
1" impact - pass
us general roller stool - pass
us general 3 tray rolling cart- pass

item numbers?

 

[Rusk]

1000 lb. engine stand.....FAIL

I had a 327 long block on it for a few years. It sagged a little, but didn't seem like a big deal. When I tried my 371 Olds, I didn't even let all the weight off the cherry picker and one of the bolt heads sheared. Another was on it's way, but I stopped in time.

I realize HOT ROD did a test on these, but that was on brand new stands. So either they don't hold up, or I got a bad one

 

[Danglerb]

1000 lb. engine stand.....FAIL

I had a 327 long block on it for a few years. It sagged a little, but didn't seem like a big deal. When I tried my 371 Olds, I didn't even let all the weight off the cherry picker and one of the bolt heads sheared. Another was on it's way, but I stopped in time.

I realize HOT ROD did a test on these, but that was on brand new stands. So either they don't hold up, or I got a bad one

That looks like a torque related, not load related failure. Swap in some good bolts and good to go again.

 

[Dustball]

Yeah, the stand didn't fail- the hardware did. I use grade 8 hardware on mine.

 

[RangerDaleXp]

Extra long end wrench sets both metric and sae- pass
1/2" impact -pass
3/4" impact - fail No power even with big hose
1" impact - pass
us general roller stool - pass
us general 3 tray rolling cart- pass

They sell three 3/4 impacts. The earthquake. The gray one and some cheap piece of junk. I have the gray one and the older earthquake and they work real good on heavy stuff. No problems at all.....

 

[RangerDaleXp]

1000 lb. engine stand.....FAIL

I had a 327 long block on it for a few years. It sagged a little, but didn't seem like a big deal. When I tried my 371 Olds, I didn't even let all the weight off the cherry picker and one of the bolt heads sheared. Another was on it's way, but I stopped in time.

I realize HOT ROD did a test on these, but that was on brand new stands. So either they don't hold up, or I got a bad one

That is what happens when grade 2 home depot hardware is used. Always buy and use grade 8 on an engine stand.....

 

[Rusk]

That looks like a torque related, not load related failure. Swap in some good bolts and good to go again.

Yeah, the stand didn't fail- the hardware did. I use grade 8 hardware on mine.

You guys are right, but now I'm paranoid. Is it more likely that the bolts are poor quality or that I didn't torque 'em enough?

I'd be willing to replace with grade 8 in a heartbeat if the general consensus is the rest of the stand is ok.

 

[Rusk]

That is what happens when grade 2 home depot hardware is used. Always buy and use grade 8 on an engine stand.....

This is the hardware that came with the stand. If it has to be replaced right off the bat, then this product should get a conditional pass. Kind of like their bead roller that can work, but doesn't really without significant bracing.

 

[cheechi]

Floor standing belt/disc sander 6852
PASS

I never assembled the stand for it so that might **** but I got mine damaged, repaired the switch, good to go. Thing is heavy and parts of the cast iron are rough looking/might need grinding but the thing works well. Even the sandpaper that comes with it is good (not the best but good).

Go-through socket set 67974
PASS

I read the earlier post about clearance, mine gets into the spots I need it, the ratcheting is really good on it and the sockets are good quality, no rounding yet.

Composite ratchets 66313/66314
PASS

Same as the Viper tool boxes promotional ratchets. They have smooth tight ratcheting also and they feel well built.

Oscillator tools 67537/68861/67538
PASS

They work well for me, I have one of each and aside from using a lot of air (most sanders do anyway) they work the same as any other on the market. Only issue might be blade compatibility but the same HF blades work on all 3. No vac ports on the sander pad.

 

[monster1]

3pc plastic socket rail set. Pass

 

[Danglerb]

This is the hardware that came with the stand. If it has to be replaced right off the bat, then this product should get a conditional pass. Kind of like their bead roller that can work, but doesn't really without significant bracing.

Thats HF, lots of things are going to be conditional, junk as shipped, great with a few fixes.

To know more about how the bolt failed would require a few close up in focus shots, and details of what was going on when it failed. Off hand, its just a bad bolt, unless you put a lot of torque on it, or somehow a lot of stress, like that one tight, others a little loose so the load was mostly on it.

 

[tenchu]

Anybody have any experience with this Jack? http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-low-profile-heavy-duty-floor-jack-rapid-pump-68050.html

Also would like to know, i've been eyeballing that for a while now, its a pain getting a normal jack under my car, have to pull up onto 2x4's, pull off the "cup" on the jack and then I can barely fit it under.

Just bought the serpentine belt tool,
http://www.harborfreight.com/serpentine-belt-tool-kit-66344.html
Paid about $15 after 25% coupon and free multitester.
Anybody tried this one ? Ill be tryin it out in a day or two and
let ya know...

I've had mine for a few months now, granted i've only used it a hand full of times, but it's held up just fine. Definitely worth $15


Anyone use the 115pc drill bit set?

http://www.harborfreight.com/115-pi...d-m2-high-speed-steel-drill-bit-set-1611.html