The Harbor Freight PASS/FAIL Thread...

[Brad54]

I work with several people with the cheapo HF die grinders, both of which have outlived my $100 IR die grinder.

I know a guy who says he only buys the cheap die grinders, and always has two. If it lasts a few years and the dies, he grabs the second one and replaces the dead one. Say they last 3-5 years: How many HF die grinders can you buy for $100, at 3-5 years life span. And how long will the $100 (or even more expensive SO die grinder) last? I can't find a flaw in his argument!

-Brad

 

[Garys Garage]

I just threw out my 20 year old plus American made Mac grinder that I bought for 49 dollars new. I had that POS HF one last one use before it spun the head and striped the gears. And I have used the Mac almost every day for 20 years. You get what you pay for . If you are going to use it once a month then Hf power tools may be fine. My body parts are worth much more. I will stick with my American tools. Just bought an American made Viking cutoff tool and hope to get 20 years out of it.

 

[dreddybear]

4.5" BLUE grinder - PASS..outlasted my dewalt and makita

Metal cutting bandsaw, the red one - PASS... once you change the blade it rules.

Chopsaw - PASS

Air angle grinder- FAIL... Blew up in a day

WOMENS Safety Goggles - PASS...For some reason they dont fog up as much

6" VISE - Fail .... THEY DONT LIKE HEAT!!!

Pittsburg Vise Grips - Fail

C-Clamps - Most Pass , Some fail

Orange handled screwdrivers - Eventually fail.

 

[T00lJunk1e]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44874

anyone ever seen these? look kinda like knipex, but i couldnt imagine that these are a rebadge. even the knipex rebadged craftsman arent that cheap.

 

[fordcragar]

My experience with HF stuff has been, you have to use it when you buy it. Most of the items that I've bought, that have failed, were items that I didn't use when I first bought them; then the warranty was up. Now when I buy something I'll put it through some test when I bring it home.

I'm very careful what I buy from there now. About five years ago I could a pneumatic stapler and thought it was great, I think that I paid $15 for it. After a few years one of the seals inside would pop out, then I would take it apart and put it back in. So last year I had enough and bought a good (name brand) stapler.

Sometimes you just don't want to fork out several hundred dollars for a tool, then after you bought it you wondered how you ever got along without it. So if some of HF stuff works for a while and does that one job, it is probably worth it.

I was going to lay some carpet in our house and bought a carpet stretcher, it broke the first time I used it. Took it back and got another one and finished the job and it looks like it will last.

The quality of this Harbor Freight stuff is horrible, sometimes it will work, sometimes not.

 

[fordcragar]

All of the 6" c clamp (Vise Grip) clamps that I've seen without the swivel pads have been junk. They just won't hold. The one's with the swivel pads work great. Both are Pittsburgh tools.

 

[srosa707]

DREDDYBEAR- This one? Does anyone else have this bandsaw? Any good?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93762

 

[eschoendorff]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44874

anyone ever seen these? look kinda like knipex, but i couldnt imagine that these are a rebadge. even the knipex rebadged craftsman arent that cheap.

Those are Channellock GripLock clones:

http://www.channellock.com/acb/stores/1/GRIPLOCK_Pliers_C7.cfm

 

[Lobucrod]

I've had these for a couple years now and they've held up very nicely. They're the 10" model.

I'd have to give these a passing grade also, but I only use them to trim my toe nails

 

[PurdueSD]

Harbor Freight- Pneumatic flange/ punch tool. Paid 29 bucks- worth every penny! It helped me patch my floorpans last week in the FSJ.

 

[autoace]

I have had the angle die grinder below for 10 years. I use it 6 times a week. Still works just fine. PASS, I only use it for gasket removal, but still. I also use a light weight oil and teflon treatment in my air tools. I will buy a better one, but for the money, you can't beat it. P.S. All air tools are pretty much imports these days, with few exceptions anyway. I also run my air compressor at 150 psi with no regulator,ha ha, never had one blow up on me yet.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=93157

 

[autoace]

Unless you can shell out 400 bucks plus for the truck brands, these axle nut, impact sockets are a PASS with flying colors.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=96342

 

[Chris Adams]

I have had the angle die grinder below for 10 years. I use it 6 times a week. Still works just fine. PASS, I only use it for gasket removal, but still. I also use a light weight oil and teflon treatment in my air tools. I will buy a better one, but for the money, you can't beat it. P.S. All air tools are pretty much imports these days, with few exceptions anyway. I also run my air compressor at 150 psi with no regulator,ha ha, never had one blow up on me yet.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=93157

Ditto, pass on that angle grinder. Looks like the one I was using for three hours yesterday. Had mine about ten years, use it for gasket removal also, but was using it with a large steel brush wheel all yesterday morning and it still works fine.

 

[stricht8]

What do you all think about this 120 degree air angle die grinder I bought yesterday at HF:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=99841

 

[rw7810]

Angle Grinder

Great; I just bought this today for $14.

I got one for $14 too and have used it extebnsively on a car project... has been a real work horse for me. For $14 I considered it expendable

 

[buening]

Not overly relevant to this thread, but I found some Chicago Pneumatic air tools at my local Farm & Fleet store. Most boxes said "Made in China" and a few said "Made in Taiwan". I know the quality is there, but they are still overseas air tools

 

[RATSTER]

7" Benchtop Tile Saw -------PASS 2 kitchen and 2 bathrooms later still works great.

 

[RATSTER]

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

 

[RATSTER]

125 PSI FRL AIR REGULATOR -----FAIL they leak

 

[RATSTER]

1/4" 4.5 CFM Air Die Grinder --------FAIL

 

[Frank Elson]

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

it came apart ?
Shee-it, I can believe you about the mess.
Y'see we don't have HF over here but if I had something like a dead-blow fail on me I'd be very wary about ever buying from the place again.

 

[RATSTER]

6 Ton Jack Stand Set -----pass

 

[The Muffin Man]

Harbor Freight Creeeper.....Pass

3 Ton Floor Jack....... Pass

12 Ton Jack Stands.....Pass

Rapid Pump Racing jack (3000lbs).....Pass

1 Ton Engine Stand.....Pass

12 Ton Shop Press.....Pass

Several Sized Pittsburgh Bar Clamps.....Pass

22pc Metric/SAE wrench set.....Pass.

They are made in India, and don't have the greatest finish, but I haven't had any problems with them. Once I decide to get a set of new wrenches form either Craftsman or Toptul, these will be thrown into the back of my car or loaned to neighbors.

Peppermint Wrench Mints....Fail. These Stale rock hard mints are worse than a nut coated with ATF.

 

[Stephenw]

Peppermint Wrench Mints....Fail. These Stale rock hard mints are worse than a nut coated with ATF.

Wow, this is the first I've ever heard of someone actually eating something that came from Harbor Freight.

 

[Bolster]

6 Ton Jack Stand Set -----pass

I assume that if these failed, you'd no longer be here to report on them.

 

[autoace]

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

I have found their deadblow hammers, to be just as good as any. What were you hitting with it, when it broke?

 

[srosa707]

125 PSI FRL AIR REGULATOR -----FAIL they leak

I second that one! I bought the blaster unit and this came with it. I threw it out cause it failed out of the box. Used a craftsman setup.

 

[srosa707]

This fails out of the box. BUT, i changed the air trap and a few ball valves and it works great. Just make sure you have the right sand. I reccomend this if you change the parts i did. Dont expect anything but headache out of the box though.

 

[J.A.F.E.]

Grinder stand: PASS Bigtime. Got four.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos/03100-03199/03184.gif

Engine support bar: PASS
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos/96500-96599/96524.gif

Transmission jack: Qualified PASS. Has limits such as 1 or 2 inches tall and level screws need to be lubed well but good value for the $$. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos/03100-03199/03185.gif

~Steve

 

[nissan_crawler]

This fails out of the box. BUT, i changed the air trap and a few ball valves and it works great. Just make sure you have the right sand. I reccomend this if you change the parts i did. Dont expect anything but headache out of the box though.

Same experience I had, along with some pipe fittings that had a real small hole through them. However, like I said in my post, the ones that cost $60 more anywhere else still had the exact same **** on them.

 

[srosa707]

Yep, i noticed the same thing. Eastwood sold the same blaster for more.

 

[64merc]

Has anyone tried their drilling hammers? I am tempted because of the much lower price.

 

[lauver]

Pass: Ratcheting T-Handle 1/4" Hex Driver, item 96560 (Red/Black Handle)

Rubber handle is comfortable

Ratchet action is fine and smooth

Reverse mechanism is precise and easy to use

Telescoping shaft (3-6") is useful

Magnet in shaft holds bits firmly

Price ($10) is reasonable

Note--6 included bits are worthless


Pass: Hex bit Flex shaft, item 92631 (Black industrial finish)

Works nicely with above Ratcheting T-Handle or any other 1/4" hex driver handle
Price ($4) is reasonable

Shaft length (7") is useful and gets your bits into hard to reach fasteners

 

[ddrewyor]

22ga micro pin nailer - Pass.
Porter cable one was $98 and I had a HF coupon so this cost me $19. Thought if it worked for only one project I was ahead of the game. 5 projects later ( ~ 150 pins fired) still working great. No safety and I used good Porter Cable pins so only had one jam.

Welding Triangle Magnets - Semi Pass
Started out strong 3 years ago and seem to be getting weaker. Still work ok but not as strong as before.

Dave
________
Vaporizer Reviews

 

[Bolster]

Wow: well over 10,000 views in just 2 weeks.

Clearly this was a thread that needed to happen.

 

[Moparmick]

Car dollies absolutely ****(_fail _fail _fail )put a car on them and you still have to have 2-3 people to move it around

 

[JebNY]

Partial failure. The 3-1/2" LED Flashlights, 2 Pack. One works fine is bright for a cheap small LED flashlight. The other one was intermitten out of the package and failed shortly after. I initial thought it was just a battery connection but I believe now it is a failure on the LED board. To cheap to bother making a trip back to return.

Jeb

 

[OldSchoolSS]

Car dollies absolutely ****(_fail _fail _fail )put a car on them and you still have to have 2-3 people to move it around

I have three sets, I've had 4,400 lb cars on them and have been able to move them by myself. Then again I might be as strong as your 2-3 people.

 

[gkring]

Super pass on the hydraulic ones. I have also used the cheap four wheel caster one, which worked, but these can move a car light nobodys business. I actually have to hold the fenders to slow the car down as I push it.

 

[Danglerb]

Car dollies absolutely ****(_fail _fail _fail )put a car on them and you still have to have 2-3 people to move it around

They seem to work fine for friends that have them, but surface of the floor maybe makes a big difference.

Maybe the rollers on some are too soft?