I've been going into Harbor Freight for years usually for tools or equipment that I don't use on a regular basis. The other day I was doing the rear brakes on the wife's Mazda Tribute and noticed it calls for a 7mm 3/8 socket Allen wrench and guess what out of three sets of Allen wrenches and a big box of oddball stuff I had none. The only thing to do was to go to town and pick up said tool, sorta big deal as I live about 27 miles one way to town but it.s a twisty mountain road and I took the Miata just for fun and made it in near record time.

Back home I took said tool and placed it on the caliper pin and with a 8 inch ratchet applied pressure to the tool ..It promptly broke flush with the socket base and after a hour trying to use the Allen stub and a Crescent wrench I gave up and and made another trip to town where I bought a tool at Auto Zone for 4 bucks.I had well over A hundred miles and 3 hours of time involved in that tool... Live and learn but I'm afraid that I'm going to run out of living part before I do the learning part....... Tedd

 

A snap on 7mm Allen wrench has been in my tool chest for years now. Wrenching on European car brakes makes it a must have, and my must have tools are all top brands.
So are Torx wrenches, male and female, along with 9mm and 7mm wrenches.
In fact I keep my a/f tools at home now.......

Roger.

 

The trade off of getting out of town and living in God's country. I do buy stuff from Harbor Freight, but your right, sometimes it saves a buck and other times its a headache! I lived in the boonies for many years and found when I needed to go to town for that stray bolt I'd buy and handful just so they would be on the shelf next time I needed one.

 

i buy supplies there..no tools..ive never had any luck with any of their junk

 

I will not buy any of their hand tools. Odd stuff yes air tools yes. I have had a 6 in. D.A. sander in my box at work i used for 3 years then i bought a snap on one . Here is the kicker. My harbor freight sander has been submerged in water i rarely oiled it and the palm trigger broke from day 1 so i rigged one up Still works great. My snap on one ate the bearings 2 weeks after buying it. I love buying snap on and matco but for some things i go with harbor freight.

 

x2

 

Engine hoist, engine stands, jack stands, air hoses & fittings, compressor, car dollies, ratchet straps. These kinds of things I've had real good luck with from them. I've not purchased many hand tools, but did get some deep air sockets once that I've not used a lot, but so far no problems.

 

I have bought more at Northern Tool than Harbor Freight. I think Northern has a better grade of tools. I still get a few things from Harbor but hand tools I stay away from.

 

I have had good luck with tools, hoists engine stands,power and battery drills inverter welder and most tools also good luck with some wrenches and the torque wrench is spot on. Less luck with the accessories like duct tape drill bits saw blades cheap little flashlights and a lot of other supply stuff that is use once or twice and that's it

 

I've bought a lot of Harbor freight stuff.
They're good for occasional or seldom used applications versus spending more
for a better quality item that doesn't get used much.
For regularly used items, you're usually better off spending a little more for better quality.
Although I've learned from experience to avoid their power tools,
their electric multi-tools are great for a fraction of the cost of a brand name one.
I've had terrible luck with Harbor Freight pneumatic fittings.
Almost every air hose chuck of their's I have leaked right out of the package.
2 out of 3 of the tire inflating fittings didn't work.
I have a brand new $90.00 Craftsman torque wrench that was off by 20%.
The $12.00 Harbor Freight one was dead on.
Bottom line, some of their stuff isn't worth bringing home at any price,
some of their stuff is a good deal for the price, emphasis on "for the price".

 

I have learned to never buy anything from Harbor Freight that requires electricity.

 

I tend to lose more tools than I break. For me HF is perfect.

And yes, their electrical stuff is questionable.

 

I have a 3/8" extendable ratchet from H.F. (Shipwreck tools, name stolen from Chris Witt I think) that I keep in my junkyard box. I love it & have really torqued it in the fully extended position & have had no issues at all with it. I am always suspicious of any of their tools but some of them are really good.

 

Any brand of 7mm Allen tool can be broken easily. It's a small tool that needs all the help it can get when loosing a tight bolt.

 

I got their engine hoist, straps, 12000 lbs winch, plasma cutter, mig, air compressor. Haven't used the plasma or mig yet. Compressor tipped over and landed on me the other day while I was installing it so I'll let you know if it can hold up to abuse once I get it going. After I can walk good again. The hoist, winch, straps work great though.

 

I pretty sure the tool was heat treated but not drawn back, it shattered as though it were glass. As a gunsmith I work with and temper springs all the time.This thing sure acted as if it missed the drawing process all together, certainly wasn't because of the huge tork I was putting on that eight inch ratchet...... Tedd

 

Their ratchet wrenches are great. I have a set at work and they have held up as good as well as the big brands do.

 

The first HF tool I ever bought was an air nailer for building it a fence. Right out of the box it would double fire just about every time I pulled the trigger. Returned it for another one that did the same thing, Returned that one for my money back an said I would never buy there again.


I kept that pledge for a long time. Recently I started buying there again and have had no problems so far - engine hoist, last cabinet, multiple air and electric tools and a few hand tools as well. I am an occasional user so they seem to be fine. Cheap enough that if something breaks or quits, it's not a big loss. Definitely wouldn't buy things there if I needed to depend on them for a living

 

As many others have said, Harbor Freight is hit or miss when it comes to quality. Luckily, I'm ahead right now so I will continue to shop there.

 

I think this is good advice. That's the only stuff that I've had problems with. Well, that and their tarps only lasting for one job...

 

Harbor Freight - not so great. The king of single use tools. There is a reason shopping center owners tend to backfill 3rd generation retail space with companies of such caliber.

 

Thing I'm concerned about is not replacing the tool when it goes, but the part it destroyed with it. Flare wrenches are a good example of this.

 

The good thing about HF is they know their stuff is cheapo and expect a lot of returns.
My boat trailer had a crack, decided I needed to DIY it but could not justify a Miller or Lincoln wire feed welder. Bought the $105 one from HF.
First rattle out of the box it would not feed the wire- took it apart and half the gear teeth on one of the plastic gears were missing.
Returned it and got another which thankfully has worked.

Since then I bought the Olds and wish I had bought a true MIG set-up.

 

Lesson learned...Stay outa harborjunk! Wast of time money and personal safety. All were doing is lining they're pockets with this glut of INFERIOR chineasium JUNK, and putting us out of jobs. Go back and return the tool 3 times you could of purchased a good one once and not wasted time and gas. There are still mid range priced, high quality tool makers here, even if you dont have snap-off deep pockets. Proto, Armstrong some of Stanley and a few others...just have to look. Most of Crapsman is now junk! Thats very sad. I wont even buy bungees or tarps at that crap hole anymore. They only last 6 months now. I found USA tarps and bungees.
When ever I purchase from a company that still makes stuff here I always send them a note thanking them for keeping it the USA and keeping us working...we should all do this and stop buying the junk. Eventually "they" will get it that were not buying it, so stop the container ships full of garbage... keep it there...

 

I have used very unreasonable force on my Allen wrench on many occasions, it's still like it was the day I bought it.

Roger.

 

There rags are a great buy!

 

100% unadulterated pure chineseum crap.

 

I know HF has a lot of crap but some stuff is as good or better than other brands here in the US. The flip side to that is you aren't going to get some items in US form without paying big bucks. Things like my sand blast cabinet required a larger pick up/feed tube to work properly but it runs like a champ now. I don't use these tools for a living so I can wallow in the crap until my patience wears out. They fill a need for the weekend warrior for sure.
I do agree on the electric tools because I have my fair share of burnt and melted electric devices from them but I knew that going in. I have no problem losing $15 a pop knowing I won't be needing it down the road but even I have a limit on craptastic stuff. When their small hand grinder blew up for the 2nd time I didn't go for 3rds.
I would never buy hand tools there except in a pinch. I prefer my Craftsman stuff because I know I can return it for a replacement for free but the quality lately of Craftsman has gone down.
I do like their black iron socket sets though. I get the deep version in six point and have never had an issue.
Caveat Emptor

 

I very much do not like the place but from time to time I will pick something up there. I have got glass bead there a couple times because my other sources were out. They have a couple "disposable" transfer pumps that I will use. Cheap enough to toss them when they go bad after a couple uses. My boss at work got a torque wrench there and compared it to a calibrated Snap On and it was 15 ft lbs off. He also got an air 1/2 impact gun there and you could stop it with your hand. I have a couple lights that came from there and those do work good.

 

I prefer to buy USA made products, even at a premium, when possible.


For tools, I prefer used USA stuff over cheap chineseum crap.


The metallurgy of their stuff is horrible.

 

They have a store by my house so I've gone there for stuff I won't use much and have had mixed results. I bought a compressor there to blow out my sprinklers & that has been fine so far. Used it for a nail gun too & it worked for that but wouldn't try to work on a car with it. Also looked at their nail guns but didn't like the look of it so bought elsewhere. I bought a floor jack from them. 1st time I used it seals blew out & leaked oil on my driveway.

 

Regardless of what the argument is the money still goes offshore and puts Americans out of work. For that reason alone Ill do my part and steer clear of the place and all others like it which is most big boxes as well. We need to manufacture here and keep the standards. Offshore purchases for me are the very last choice. If I turn it over and the label says china twain etc...it goes back on the shelf. Aldis sells chinese garlic bulbs! Im not kidding...yes, offshore perishable food! Ummm... bet thats grown in high quality dirt. Our farmers arent struggling??? Its my own crusade apparently, but it makes me feel n sleep better.

 

My father in law was the same way. Even with clothing, which it is almost impossible to find USA made t-shirts and jeans.

 

I wouldn't buy anything precise or high strenght from HF, like flare nut wrenches or other hand tools. On the other hand, you have to try pretty hard to screw up a bench vice, for example.

I bought a trans jack from them about ten years ago. I use it maybe once or twice a year. Works great, and for $149, I have no complaints. Some of their Pittsburgh brand floor jacks look like Arcan. I've had a 3.5 ton Arcan from Costco for over a decade that gets constant use. Their soda blaster conversion kit works about as well as the expensive one from Eastwood. As for electricity, I got a Central Electric (ie, HF) spot welder at Carlisle a few years ago and once I filed and aligned the tips, it works amazingly well for sheet metal.

 

The anvil I got from HF works like it should.

 

http://www.madeinamericastore.com/

Proto tools (Part of Stanley Black & Decker)
Armstrong(Apex) tools
SK tools
Klein tools
Stanley tools(some USA)
Wright tools (An independent manufacturer)
Williams tools (Some of it is USA...Subsidiary of SnapOn)

Armstrong and Proto are in alignment with SnapOn and MAC as far as quality. I have all 4 in my box. I cant tell the difference between the Proto professional wrenches and the SnapOn except my wallet is lighter buying SnapOn. Proto is 25-50% less.

 

No question for hand tools (all mine are US-made vintage Craftsman), but for occasional use tools like the trans jack, I can't justify the far more expensive price. And frankly, most of the stuff at NAPA now is offshore.

 

Treat them nice.... When they brake and you trade them in you get new junk ones. Maybe I should not say junk because I do have good luck with them. They just don't hold up as well as the old ones do. At the same time I refuse to pay Snap On prices for sockets and plane wrenches when we have broke just as many Snap On at work as I have Craftsman.

 

Funny you should mention that. I just recently broke a very old 5/8" six point socket. Of course, the replacements are all Chinesium. The biggest problem I have with that is that the socket walls are considerably thicker on the new ones, which restricts where I ca use it.

 

It falls off cliffs and pulverizes coyotes?