TheSamba.com :: View topic - Official Harbor Freight win or lose thread

Wed May 16, 2012 7:35 am

As those of us who shop at Harbor Freight know, their items can be hit or miss. Some of their tools perform fantastically while others are absolute garbage. The tools that perform well can sometimes be an incredible deal.
I created this thread for people to give an account of their experiences with Harbor Freight and "review" particular items, if you will. I would like to help weed out the garbage and help inform other VW folks which items to avoid.

The rules:
-No opinions on Harbor Freight as whole. (example: "HF Tools sucks, everything they sell is garbage.")
-If possible, include the item number and please try to use the item's name according to HF. Sometimes there are multiple items which are similar, some better than others.
-If you would recommend the item to others, mark it WIN, if not, mark it LOSE.
-Please write a short description of how you are using the items and your reason for liking or disliking it.

Wed May 16, 2012 7:41 am

-#68287 18 Volt Cordless 3/8" Drill/Driver and Flashlight Kit - WIN - I can't say I held out high hopes for this. I bought it for temporary use because my nice cordless drill set was in storage 2000 miles away. I've had it about 2 years and surprisingly it's held up through many, many projects.

-#37107 6 Piece Alligator Clips - LOSE - Bought these to make some test leads. Cheaply built. They are useless as a crimp on connector. I ended up having to solder them to make them work. Alligator clips should be quick and painless.

-#9639 5 Piece Heat Shrink Wire Wrap Assortment - WIN - Decent quality heat shrink tubing. Not much that can go wrong here. EDIT: Would have been nice if they included 1/8" with it though.

Wed May 16, 2012 8:42 am

I don't see exactly what I have on their web site right now but similar to this:
#93888 - Mover's Dolly - WIN

Not a tool exactly but I have a couple of their furniture dollys and they work great for sliding engines around in my garage.

Wed May 16, 2012 6:21 pm

Their notcher is suprisingly good
The black shrink wrap is very good
there big chop saw blades are good
also their little small nut and bolt sets arent bad

Wed May 16, 2012 6:42 pm

I bought a leak down tester... its crap.

Wed May 16, 2012 7:07 pm

#93547 - Fuel Pump and Vacuum Tester - WIN
I bought this on the recommendation of someone else on the Forum here to check the fuel pressure in my Bus.

The needle is a little bit unsteady (could be my engine I guess) but it worked well to get me a general reading.

Wed May 16, 2012 8:29 pm

#93608 40 Lb. Capacity Floor Blast Cabinet - WIN

I think this sandblasting cabinet is great, but does need a couple modifications. This is what I did to mine:

Seal every single seam with some sort of sealant when you assemble it. even around the light.

Add a Dust Deputy in line in the exhaust port to collect and recycle the media and keep it out of the air and shop vac.

Of course use a shop vac on the vacuum port. Use a bag in the vac to keep the dust out of the air.

Make sure you use a 20% off coupon!

Mon May 21, 2012 5:40 pm

EverettB wrote: I don't see exactly what I have on their web site right now but similar to this:
#93888 - Mover's Dolly - WIN

Not a tool exactly but I have a couple of their furniture dollys and they work great for sliding engines around in my garage.

WIN: I used that very Mover's Dolly to roll my engine around a garage for 3 weeks and it performed perfectly. My only complaint is that it wasn't one of those 3 sided engine dollys.

WIN: #99699 5 Piece Metric S-Type Obstruction Wrench Set
Pittsburgh

I've only used the 13mm one to get at carburetor to manifold nuts, rear fuel pump nut, and a few other difficult to reach nuts but it's been a life saver a few times.

LOSE: #239 1/2" Drive Click Stop Torque Wrench

Set it to 15 ft/lbs and it never clicked leading me to overtorque the nut on my rocker stud. Ruined my weekend a few months ago.

Tue May 22, 2012 12:52 am

D/A/N wrote: LOSE: #239 1/2" Drive Click Stop Torque Wrench

Set it to 15 ft/lbs and it never clicked leading me to overtorque the nut on my rocker stud. Ruined my weekend a few months ago.
The fail is your fault. You shouldn't be using a ½" drive torque wrench for such a low torque. Get a 3/8" drive torque wrench.

Tue May 22, 2012 10:04 am

Bruce wrote: D/A/N wrote: LOSE: #239 1/2" Drive Click Stop Torque Wrench

Set it to 15 ft/lbs and it never clicked leading me to overtorque the nut on my rocker stud. Ruined my weekend a few months ago.
The fail is your fault. You shouldn't be using a ½" drive torque wrench for such a low torque. Get a 3/8" drive torque wrench.

I can't speak to the sizing (although that makes sense to me) but I have seen multiple reports of their torque wrenches not clicking properly.

Tue May 22, 2012 4:17 pm

#65053 radiator pressure tester. Win. $50 to $80 range
Used this tester on many import cars from BMW to VW. never a problem yet.

Wed May 23, 2012 4:55 am

EverettB wrote: Bruce wrote: D/A/N wrote: LOSE: #239 1/2" Drive Click Stop Torque Wrench

Set it to 15 ft/lbs and it never clicked leading me to overtorque the nut on my rocker stud. Ruined my weekend a few months ago.
The fail is your fault. You shouldn't be using a ½" drive torque wrench for such a low torque. Get a 3/8" drive torque wrench.

I can't speak to the sizing (although that makes sense to me) but I have seen multiple reports of their torque wrenches not clicking properly.

I bought several sets of usually expensive speciality tools. Been great because they are low use. Cant say I would trust anything like a torque wrench or any other calibrated tool. Just seems like a tool to not bargain shop on.

Wed May 23, 2012 8:13 am

EverettB wrote: Bruce wrote: D/A/N wrote: LOSE: #239 1/2" Drive Click Stop Torque Wrench

Set it to 15 ft/lbs and it never clicked leading me to overtorque the nut on my rocker stud. Ruined my weekend a few months ago.
The fail is your fault. You shouldn't be using a ½" drive torque wrench for such a low torque. Get a 3/8" drive torque wrench.

I can't speak to the sizing (although that makes sense to me) but I have seen multiple reports of their torque wrenches not clicking properly.

Fair enough.....user error could have factored into it but in my "defense" I was within the advertised range of the wrench. I have another 1/2" drive torque wrench that handles 15 ft/lbs. Anyway....

Here's a WIN: #37049 Pack Of 100 X-Large Latex Gloves
I actually only got the large but they're cheaper than at the 99cent store in my neighborhood and are perfect for avoiding annoying small cuts to the hands and not spreading grease, dirt, grime around your engine, garage, house, etc.

Thu May 24, 2012 12:01 pm

item# 99849 3/4" Forged Ball Point Joint Separator $20

WIN!

I use this tool often to pop tie rods loose without damage to the tie rod or boot

Thu May 24, 2012 4:53 pm

Another good one: the nutsert tool very handy when you need threads on a blind hole, like when you mount the coil to the fan shroud

Sat May 26, 2012 7:18 pm

6000Lb Winch.. FAIL!

Killed the winch loading a bay window bus on my trailer... Sparks and smoke everywhere.... Not rated for SHIT...

the 12k on the other hand is a killer winch... I like it better than the 15k ramsey winch I had...

http://www.harborfreight.com/6000-lb-off-road-vehi...68141.html

Tue May 29, 2012 10:35 am

#37822 - 6" Bench Grinder w/Gooseneck Lamp - WIN!
I've needed a bench grinder for a while now but I'm operating on a limited budget. I saw the other HF 6" grinder #39797 for sale at an consignment tool shop for $30, but due to many of the reviews I read saying it's underpowered, I decided to pop for the one with the lamp. Haven't done anything VW-related with it yet, but I've used it to sharpen a few tools and it's performing flawlessly.

Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:23 pm

item # 42202 Abrasive blast cabinet, works very well for any small metal bits and will even fit an entire exle housing. Definately a win.

Fri Jun 29, 2012 1:23 pm

Here's a similar thread on another forum I frequent. It's up to 6 pages, so there's more info there than here.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=415511

Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:57 am

vwfanatic67 wrote:
I bought several sets of usually expensive speciality tools. Been great because they are low use. Cant say I would trust anything like a torque wrench or any other calibrated tool. Just seems like a tool to not bargain shop on.

I was on the fence about buying the HF torque wrench and have been reading mixed reviews, mostly good, but a few bad too. Seems like they're a decent tool with a few bad apples slipping through quality control.
I know it's an important tool, but it's not something I use often enough to invest $100+. I thought about the cheaper Craftsman until I read this, it convinced me to go ahead and try the HF wrench (from slick deals forum):

Quote: Update on my purchase.

I ended up returning the 1/2" drive $39 one this weekend at Sears. That afternoon I called up my friend who works at a shop with a torque wrench analyzer. I decided to take my 5 year old Craftsman 1/2" drive, the new Craftsman I purchased this weekend, and a 4 year old HF 1/2" drive to test.

The new Craftsman featured in this deal consistently tested about 10% lower than its setting after the first few clicks. For example, at 40, 60, 80, and 100 ft-lbs the analyzer showed 36, 55, 73, and 91, respectively. The drop in accuracy with each click was astounding. In case you're wondering, he did properly "warm up" the wrench following the analyzer's instructions before testing. My friend said if they see a reading this bad, they send the new torque wrench back for a replacement. All their wrenches are usually 1 - 3% within spec.
My 5 year old Craftsman (that I mentioned a few times in this thread) looks identical to the new wrench, just doesn't have the high contrast paint in the Craftsman logo on the handle. It tested about 3 - 5 ft-lbs lower than what the setting showed across the range. Not bad for a wrench that has seen moderate use in the last 5 years.
Even more interesting was the HF wrench I had sitting in my garage for years that I avoided to use because I was worried about HF precision tool reliability (bought it for $20 years ago - identical to item 239 on their website). It tested dead-on across the range. At the 80 mark it was about 3 ft-lbs lower than the setting (I think this is because I found the wrench set at 80 when I opened the case - who knows how long it was sitting there not zeroed out. I was certain it was toast after finding it like this!). But at 100 it tested in at 100.35. The only weird thing was it wouldn't turn past 135. Might need some lube. But the 135 test came in at a little over 135. 135.75 if I remember correctly. I was shocked.
So, as you can probably imagine I went back to Sears this weekend and just returned the wrench. Even at $40 bucks I didn't want to deal with it anymore. Sure, I could have just exchanged it but I figured I can now reliably use my HF as a back-up (my main reason for getting the second Craftsman). Hell, maybe I should use the HF one as my primary wrench now!
Anyways, sorry for the long post. Thought I would post an update after spending some time last week defending Craftsman wrenches. Either I had a bad one of Craftsman is really cutting corners. Either way, it's a shame. When I went back to return it, I saw a pile of about 4 that looked like they had also been returned. He put mine in the same pile.

I have a coupon for the 1/4, 3/8 or 1/2 that expires today... 12.99/ea. I'm going to pick up one of each and test them with weights (I do this for ski binding calibration tools every year, basically a glorified beam-style wrench). If they pass, I'll keep and use them... if not, back to HF. Will post results.