Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[newbury]

You ever notice when you have a bunch of hammers, or whatever and leave them scattered around so you don't need to bring one along, eventually, they are all in the same room or area!

For me it was mostly HF free tape measures and flashlights. They are not the best tape measures or flashlights but having a working one handy is important.

 

[California]

I just can’t bring myself to trust the HF battery chargers. The charge and float voltages on the two I measured were not where they should be. (One too high, the other too low.) That was years ago, maybe they’ve improved by now

My experience too. HF claimed you could leave the $4.99 'battery maintainer' attached continually because its current was so low. The one winter when I tried that, it cooked the water out.

The HF license plate size solar panel maintainer was another failed experiment. Useless.

But I've bought a lot of useful things there. Just not those.

 

[5030]

Not all HF stuff is junk, only the ultra cheap stuff. Heck, even the 'Pittsburg Pro' stuff is pretty good. You cannot beat the Icon or Hercules or even the Chief line of air tools for quality and price. The new Hercules 1/2" cordless impact whips the Milwaukee Gen 3, hands down plus the guarantee is much better too. 5 years versus one year. Returns are seamless at any HF store. Take it back and get a new one or your money back. Try that at Home Despot or Blowes.... and, I've yet to split a HF impact socket and I beat on them without mercy. I've split Snap On, SK Wayne, Craftsman and Mac in the past, never an HF impact socket.

 

[jjeff]

Not all HF stuff is junk, only the ultra cheap stuff. Heck, even the 'Pittsburg Pro' stuff is pretty good. You cannot beat the Icon or Hercules or even the Chief line of air tools for quality and price. The new Hercules 1/2" cordless impact whips the Milwaukee Gen 3, hands down plus the guarantee is much better too. 5 years versus one year. Returns are seamless at any HF store. Take it back and get a new one or your money back. Try that at Home Despot or Blowes.... and, I've yet to split a HF impact socket and I beat on them without mercy. I've split Snap On, SK Wayne, Craftsman and Mac in the past, never an HF impact socket.

I'll say it again for the price of pittsburgh hf impact sockets can't go wrong in my experience with them. Seems the more complex the hf tool the greater chance of experiencing problems with them even if you your handy enough to improvise, repair, and adjust it correctly.

 

[John_Mc]

That's my problem too. As far as HF stuff goes - Expect the worst and you will never be disappointed. All junk, but a lot of times junk is good enough.

gg

That's my rule of thumb for much of their stuff, but I have had good luck with their Icon hand tools.

I also have their Daytona 3 Ton Super Duty Low Profile Floor Jack and have been happy with that (it was only half full of hydraulic fluid when I bought it, but next time I was at the local store, they gave me a free bottle of hydraulic jack fluid with no hassle).

I do not trust their electrical/electronic stuff, and have several of their cheaper hand tools which are mediocre, but as you noted, sometimes that's "good enough".

 

[5030]

I'll say it again for the price of pittsburgh hf impact sockets can't go wrong in my experience with them. Seems the more complex the hf tool the greater chance of experiencing problems with them even if you your handy enough to improvise, repair, and adjust it correctly.

I don't agree with your premise 100% actually. I will say my Icon 1/2" drive and 1/4" drive clicker torque wrenches are as good as Snap On (have one of them as well) at basically 1/4 the cost and clicker torque wrenches are rather complex tools.

 

[jjeff]

I don't agree with your premise 100% actually. I will say my Icon 1/2" drive and 1/4" drive clicker torque wrenches are as good as Snap On (have one of them as well) at basically 1/4 the cost and clicker torque wrenches are rather complex tools.

Perhaps, unfortunately I've screwed up a few things due to a lack of feeling and being slightly tone deaf. Now I only use and own the old beam needle type.

 

[5030]

With a clicker you can 'feel' it when the torque setting is reached. At 73, I don't have the best feel either.

 

[crazyal]

The problem of "good enough" is when it isn't. I have plenty of HF tools that don't get pushed to their limit so they are actually good enough. But the last 3/4" breaker bar I had couldn't handle removing a 1 1/2" nut (2 1/4" socket). For the price of the Icon there's several other brands, like Tekton that look beefier. If the HF was less than a 1/2 hour away it wouldn't bother me too much to return things. But being more than 3 times that far in each direction I don't want to find out that it wasn't good enough. I'll most likely keep my eyes open for a snap on or a snap on 1" to 3/4" adapter and get a 1" breaker bar from one of the Taiwanese companies.

 

[California]

Interesting! This free website researched suppliers to many companies. Here's their HF page.

Digging down on one cited source, I see 'Toolimex' is in India and claims to be the largest producer of adjustable wrenches in the world.

Search Results page of ImportYeti, here you can find the results for your query

Search Results page of ImportYeti, here you can find the results for your query

www.importyeti.com

 

[5030]

I see 'Toolimex' is in India and claims to be the largest producer of adjustable wrenches in the world.

refer to them as 'West Virginia Socket Sets'...lol The tool of last resort and almost guaranteed to round off a nut or hex head bolt.

 

[Rich B1]

I got a HF motorcycle tire balance stand off the scratch and dent table for $29.95. The box was mangled, everything inside was fine.

While I haven’t used it to balance a tire yet, it works great to build/true wheels for vintage bikes

 

[5030]

Don't know if I agree 100% on their electronic stuff either. Have not only an Autel scan tool but a Zurich scan tool as well as an Ames multi ranging DVM and both have been flawless.

 

[2manyrocks]

The local community built a large playground about 20 years ago. The organizers bought a bunch of corded HF electric drills and saws back in the day when they were orange colored. The playground took about a week to complete. By the end of the week, my recollection is most of the HF stuff was toast. It wasn't due to electrical power because they had run a very good electric service to the site. Although I think they've upped their quality since then, I hesitate when buying any electric tool from HF without checking the reviews carefully. I've yet to burn out their $60 electric pole saw, their $20 adjustable handle recip saw, and their $20 oscillating saw. But it looks like in the quest to up their tool quality, their tool prices are creeping upwards.

 

[jjeff]

Don't know if I agree 100% on their electronic stuff either. Have not only an Autel scan tool but a Zurich scan tool as well as an Ames multi ranging DVM and both have been flawless.

I have the zr13 obd it works ok for me, especially after I read the printed instructions that came with it, I've used it successfuly to diagnose and repair a few check engine lights so it's definitely paid for itself, supposedly you can download newer versions of software for it. Unfortunately I can barely use a smartphone.

 

[paulsharvey]

I've found my self getting fair number of things from Vevor and other similar brands either direct or from Amazon for better prices then HF. I do like the better Hecules 4.5" grinding wheels; the sockets ect.

I found this Snap On hammer on the road the other day. Imagine spending that kinda $$$ on a dead blow hammer. Something like that is really where HF shines. Some mechanic is cussing dropping his $104.50 hammer...

 

[5030]

The problem of "good enough" is when it isn't. I have plenty of HF tools that don't get pushed to their limit so they are actually good enough. But the last 3/4" breaker bar I had couldn't handle removing a 1 1/2" nut (2 1/4" socket). For the price of the Icon there's several other brands, like Tekton that look beefier. If the HF was less than a 1/2 hour away it wouldn't bother me too much to return things. But being more than 3 times that far in each direction I don't want to find out that it wasn't good enough. I'll most likely keep my eyes open for a snap on or a snap on 1" to 3/4" adapter and get a 1" breaker bar from one of the Taiwanese companies.

Rarely if ever use a breaker bar. If it need 'broke', I get out my Thor 1/2" impact. Either breaks it loose or breaks it off.

 

[KubotainNH]

The HF license plate size solar panel maintainer was another failed experiment. Useless.

Although I don't think it's an HF solar panel, I have one of these on the battery for a generator. It's been on there over a year and the battery is always fully charged. I am a bit surprised it works as well as it does.

 

[KubotainNH]

Anyone try the HF Shrinker/Stretcher set? I never trust their reviews but don't want to pay for the more expensive ones seeing it will get used infrequently. I see other brands on the jungle site with crap reviews so wouldn't be surprised if the HF ones were junk too.

 

[5030]

Anyone try the HF Shrinker/Stretcher set? I never trust their reviews but don't want to pay for the more expensive ones seeing it will get used infrequently. I see other brands on the jungle site with crap reviews so wouldn't be surprised if the HF ones were junk too.

Not me, maybe someone else has...

I see the Harbor Freight Foam Cannon gets good reviews. I have a Chemical Guys foam cannon but the bottle is difficult to fill and it don't hold that much. I may spring for theirs. I wash down all my equipment with it but I use Chem-X detergent wash. Not cheap but works very well.