Home › Forums › Stay Dirty Lounge › Tool Talk › Harbor freight tools?
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July 13, 2012 at 11:00 am #461679
Harbor Freight tools are hit or miss for me.
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April 30, 2013 at 12:10 pm #516224
i love me some harbor freight and its easy on the wallet
April 30, 2013 at 12:10 pm #518432i love me some harbor freight and its easy on the wallet
May 17, 2013 at 2:58 am #520051Harbor Freight, they have a place in the world of things.
I have to admit I too have been to Harbor Freight, they have a store 2 miles from me and ocassionally I will go there and wonder around looking but rarely buy anything. The store ads catch my eye, prices are very low, but when I get in the store I start seeing things that don’t look right.
I see cheap packaging, tools with rust, and some things that look like they would not hold up to being picked up let alone used.
After looking the entire store over I may find something like latex gloves, or a buffing pad for a drill that I will spend less than $5.00 on. For $5.00 if ti works great, if not the loss is little.
As for the tools, I tend to stay far away from Harbor Freight, I had rather buy Craftsman or another brand that I know will still be in new condition after one use and will not rust right away.
I have always found you get exactly what you pay for, if you know the brand, and I know the Harbor Frieght brand.
Harbor Freight tools remind me of the tools offered during the 50’s and 60’s, some were great tools but others were junk. I’ve had enought busted knuckles in my life time to rely on poor quality tools ever again.
May 17, 2013 at 2:58 am #522739Harbor Freight, they have a place in the world of things.
I have to admit I too have been to Harbor Freight, they have a store 2 miles from me and ocassionally I will go there and wonder around looking but rarely buy anything. The store ads catch my eye, prices are very low, but when I get in the store I start seeing things that don’t look right.
I see cheap packaging, tools with rust, and some things that look like they would not hold up to being picked up let alone used.
After looking the entire store over I may find something like latex gloves, or a buffing pad for a drill that I will spend less than $5.00 on. For $5.00 if ti works great, if not the loss is little.
As for the tools, I tend to stay far away from Harbor Freight, I had rather buy Craftsman or another brand that I know will still be in new condition after one use and will not rust right away.
I have always found you get exactly what you pay for, if you know the brand, and I know the Harbor Frieght brand.
Harbor Freight tools remind me of the tools offered during the 50’s and 60’s, some were great tools but others were junk. I’ve had enought busted knuckles in my life time to rely on poor quality tools ever again.
June 14, 2013 at 12:05 am #526709Well its like anything, you want to do research before buying them—-Even if your only paying $18 for an impact wrench, it doesn’t make it a good deal—At least for me: Its only when you KNOW the tool will do the Job your commissioning it for, that you can look at price…To determine a good deal.
June 14, 2013 at 12:05 am #529878Well its like anything, you want to do research before buying them—-Even if your only paying $18 for an impact wrench, it doesn’t make it a good deal—At least for me: Its only when you KNOW the tool will do the Job your commissioning it for, that you can look at price…To determine a good deal.
July 3, 2013 at 4:33 am #530832The key to buying tools at Harbor Freight is to look at the reviews. Their stuff is hit and miss but they have some really good tools if you can weed out the crap. I have their Earthquake impacts, a 29gallon air compressor, and some of their hand tools/sockets and most of the stuff I use quite often and it all works great but I never buy anything from them without looking at the reviews first as some of their cheaper stuff falls apart in minutes. As for their ratchets- I prefer my Pittsburg extendable ratchet over my craftsman anyway. As I am a DIY guy and do not own a shop Snap on/MAC tools are out of the question, as for the amount of repairs I do it would be cheaper to take my cars/boats into a mechanic than buy tools off a tool truck.
July 3, 2013 at 4:33 am #534238The key to buying tools at Harbor Freight is to look at the reviews. Their stuff is hit and miss but they have some really good tools if you can weed out the crap. I have their Earthquake impacts, a 29gallon air compressor, and some of their hand tools/sockets and most of the stuff I use quite often and it all works great but I never buy anything from them without looking at the reviews first as some of their cheaper stuff falls apart in minutes. As for their ratchets- I prefer my Pittsburg extendable ratchet over my craftsman anyway. As I am a DIY guy and do not own a shop Snap on/MAC tools are out of the question, as for the amount of repairs I do it would be cheaper to take my cars/boats into a mechanic than buy tools off a tool truck.
July 5, 2013 at 7:50 pm #531398HF is definitely a hit or miss. I bought some squeeze clamps there (on sale $1.99; I should have known better :sick: ). They broke the first time I used them. Last time there I noticed they had some “better” quality squeeze clamps.
July 5, 2013 at 7:50 pm #534819HF is definitely a hit or miss. I bought some squeeze clamps there (on sale $1.99; I should have known better :sick: ). They broke the first time I used them. Last time there I noticed they had some “better” quality squeeze clamps.
August 21, 2013 at 11:07 am #540087I admit that I’m no long time Tech, but I have worked on my own stuff for years. After retiring from 20 years of bull shit; I went back to college at 47. I’m working on a AAS Degree in Auto Technology. I didn’t want to take my good tools to school, so I went to the Harbor and bought the 300 + piece tool set and other wrenches and hammers. I have to say they are holding up very well. If you buy from NAPA, the Evercraft brand wrenches, you will see they are the same, but the Pittsburgh Tools are cheaper in price. I’ve tried to bust sockets and they held up! I’ve seen Snap on bust and my cheap’o Pittsburgh didn’t. Hey if it has a life time warranty, buy it. If it breaks, take it back. The Harbor Freight stores in Arkansas ask no questions and exchange them for you. banana:
August 21, 2013 at 11:07 am #544381I admit that I’m no long time Tech, but I have worked on my own stuff for years. After retiring from 20 years of bull shit; I went back to college at 47. I’m working on a AAS Degree in Auto Technology. I didn’t want to take my good tools to school, so I went to the Harbor and bought the 300 + piece tool set and other wrenches and hammers. I have to say they are holding up very well. If you buy from NAPA, the Evercraft brand wrenches, you will see they are the same, but the Pittsburgh Tools are cheaper in price. I’ve tried to bust sockets and they held up! I’ve seen Snap on bust and my cheap’o Pittsburgh didn’t. Hey if it has a life time warranty, buy it. If it breaks, take it back. The Harbor Freight stores in Arkansas ask no questions and exchange them for you. banana:
September 3, 2013 at 3:06 am #542256I really like their 11 Piece Metric Fully Polished Long Handle Combination Wrench Set. They are perfect for hard to reach fasteners. Also their ratcheting box end wrenches are on par with with Craftsman/Kobalt, you can never find them in stock at the store.
I wonder when Sears will let me use my 20% off Harbor freight coupon? :unsure:
September 3, 2013 at 3:06 am #546682I really like their 11 Piece Metric Fully Polished Long Handle Combination Wrench Set. They are perfect for hard to reach fasteners. Also their ratcheting box end wrenches are on par with with Craftsman/Kobalt, you can never find them in stock at the store.
I wonder when Sears will let me use my 20% off Harbor freight coupon? :unsure:
September 7, 2013 at 7:28 am #542836LOL. 😆
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