Lazy Thread: Harbor Freight Tools

'Asian' ratcheting wrenches, sockets and adapters are all* made from recycled metal containing a sad amount of tofu. Or maybe it's zinc? If you are there for torque it is better to spend (much) more for 'western' alloys.

*I I know of no exceptions.

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I do buy so-cheap devices for science, but also several spares. For example


Pumps


Makes lovely, expensive low-voltage air movers. Buying humble* alternatives means I can pay grad students for more months.

* could have said crappy

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Brailsford 'pumps' on International Space Station. They are indeed lovely.

 

I’ve had their 3 ton floor jack for 13 years now and it still does the job.

The pressure washer is also something I've had in my arsenal for over 10 years and it still works great. Particularly for egr coolers.

So my track record with their products has been really good and I’ve saved my hard earned $$$ for other things while having a decent stockpile of tools when needed.

 

The powder coating kit I got only worked for about a dozen uses before the high voltage quit.

3-Ton floor jack is holding up well so far. Had it about a year. But it won't fit for use on the front center jack point on my Prime.

I have a couple torque wrenches that are holding up so far, but with limited use and I don't know how well they are calibrated.

Digital slide caliper is doing fine after many years. I always remove the battery when not using it.

IR temperature scanner still works after about 10 years.

 

I bought my first HF tool on behalf of dot.gov well over twenty years ago.

Not the canoe club, but for the Naval Research Lab.
NO US military organization would EVER be caught by inspectors using 'ferin junk' when they can satisfy the whims of snooping Congress Critters by showing then US Made junk instead.
My last unit used Snap-On tools because (a) they were (mostly) US made at the time and (2) they were expensive enough to keep tabs on.
That was Naval Coastal Warfare, where a lost wrench meant that somebody had to account for a WAAAAAAAY too expensive socket if there was an empty slot in the $18,500 tool set.
NOT exaggerating about that price BTW.
Meanwhile....
Submariners and Airdales have very little in the way to tool "loss" not because they are expensive, or because stealing stuff goes against the Sailor's Creed, but rather because unaccounted-for tools require a swift and accurate investigation.
Tools rattling around inside a tank or void space in submarines and even surface ships can cause something known as a "sound short" or a "transient".....something decidedly human-caused to arouse the attention of listeners-in. This has been....ah....."rumored" to have caused a warship (or warships) to literally be hauled into a dry dock for mitigation.
Putting 10,000 tons of American diplomacy into a dry-dock is expensive and time consuming.
The money is important to be sure....but TIME is ever more precious since a ship welded to a pier is NOT doing a job that needs to get done, and budgets may shrink but the ocean never does.

Hand tools rattling around inside an air-frame can also be VERY expensive, and it is not unknown for something with "Craftsman" stamped on it to have been ingested by a howling jet engine about 100 feet beyond V1...so there ARE no cheap tools in the military.
One way or another.

Fortunately/Unfortunately, the research and development end of all things military operate in a less stressful environment EXCEPT for budgets.
Budgets REQUIRE as cheap a tool as can be counted on to get the job done, most especially tools that have to operate in a marine environment (salty, sandy, DEEP) because the only thing sadder than losing part of a $150 Snap-On 8-piece screwdriver set over the side is having to EXPLAIN why it's rusted or lost over the side.

I always advise would-be DIY-ers to get $100 worth of HF tools to start off their journey in freeing themselves from the whims of dealership service managers, although I lean towards middle-shelf brands like Craftsman, personally.
I've known people who buy Snap-On tools because they are "the best" and never use them.
I've also known people who buy certain tools from HF because they are "the cheapest" and have to buy a replacement almost immediately because they use them, but I think that even tool snobs will agree that a HF box wrench in the hands of a beginner is no more or less dangerous than a Snap-On wrench costing 10x as much.
If you are reading this and you are not sure about all of the tribalism and hype, then I still maintain that things like wrenches, jacks, funnels, pliers, etc will save you much more than their buy-in price while you discover for yourself what is "good enough."
The only thing that I would (initially!!!) suggest that you spend a little more money on are screwdrivers. Go for a middle-shelf brand like Craftsman for those.....but by all means take and keep the free (or $1) 4-piece set and keep them in a tackle box or desk drawer.

The YouTubes abound with "buy this" and "don't buy that!" stories about HF tools.

Meanwhile?
When I ordered my first HF tool all those years ago, you HAD to order them and wait, and now they have something like 1,000 brick and mortar stores, THREE of which are within an hour's drive from me....and they're building more all the time.
Sears is struggling furiously to go where Toyz-R-US went, but since they foolishly sold off their Craftsman tool line off some years back you can still buy those trusted tools, and their screwdrivers are fairly cheap and also fairly durable.
I went to a Dillard's store yesterday, and it was in something that is soon to be extinct in America....a shopping mall.
So...
Harbor Freight must be doing SOMETHING right.
I have many of their free flashlights in drawers and glove boxes, and have even used one of their free screw drivers, little red multi-meters, tape measures, and other "junk" when I didn't have a "proper" tool handy......

YMMV

 

Most of my HF purchases are "single use" items; that is, something that I likely will only need ONCE and it will just sit and rust away after that.

Their Cen-Tech electronics are generally a joke......except for the little red multi-meter for $10 of which I have several.

I had one of their "pancake" air compressors and it was still going after 5 years.
The second one I got crapped out after about 6 months. You just never know.

 

Floor jack, jack stands, torque wrenches, ground auger, chainsaw sharpener, and various cheap tools anywhere from 2-5 years old now, are all still working fine. That said, I don't use those tools that often. Buying expensive high quality tools may make sense if you use those tools often enough, but for very occasional user, HF products have proven to be extremely economical.

 

I think this is the old article I alluded to in the other thread.
Torque Wrench Testing - Shop Tools - Hot Rod Network
Didn't actually test the other brands, but does show the HF wrench starts out accurate, and what happens to the wrench when left set at a higher setting.

Wrench was set 70lb-ft.Test 1 was day. Test2 was after leaving the wrench set at 70lb-ft for 30 days, and test 3 for 60 days.

The HF Icon did better in this comparison, but the article points out it wasn't a test on long term reliability.
Testing torque: Harbor Freight vs Snap-On

No matter the torque wrench, it should be stored at its lowest setting, and should be calibrated regularly. Which can be done at home.
How to Calibrate a Torque Wrench (with Pictures) - wikiHow

 

On a bit of a tangent, we live closer to a Northern Tools store than the nearest Harbor Freight. They seem to have a little higher standards (and prices) than HF. I don't get much from there, but I love the 1800 psi electric pressure washer I got almost 5 years ago there.

And --- I'm still using the Craftsman hand tools I bought back in the 70s. They are showing their age, though. But so am I.

 

From HF I have bought a nice metal 4 foot long power strip, the nitrile gloves are very good, an air chisel with attachments, a straight edge or two, cable organizers, some cheap moving blankets, chip brushes, a few appliance dollies, a long 1/2" breaker bar, some cheap snap-ring pliers, a few fluid pumps. All have done OK.

 

I don't buy much from HF as I've subscribed to the buy quality tools once philosophy but those have been non-pro level name store brands (craftsmen, kobalt, etc with exceptional warranties) and have served me well but nothing to brag about. Having worked in a couple of shops in my early years, I did get to watch the wrench monkeys literally run and hide when the Snap-On truck rolled into the parking lot coming to collect on their tools purchased on credit. But when I need the occasional rarely or one time use item, I don't think twice about heading to HF, NorthernTool, Tractor Supply, etc.

My HF 2.5 ton floor jack leaks enough that I'm always prepared with a block or jackstand at hand so I never have to walk away from it.

 

Torque calibration wiki@8 is good stuff.

 

I have the Battery Operated Liquid Transfer Pump

And love it. I have only used it about six times, but it has saved me having to lift mucho pounds, which a year ago would not have been a big deal. Even if it broke next week, it would be worth it. Use it to pull gas from my generator, as well as to pump from five-gallon gas cans into smaller cans or cars.

Have a three ton floor jack also. Works great, but it does not get used much. It is in the barn, which is about 200 or more yards from where the cars are parked and it is heavy and even when I was 100 percent I did not like carrying it.

Bought a $20 hammer drill a couple of years ago, despite not knowing what it really was. Never did use it. Gave it to my brother-in-law this April. He has not used it either.

So, HF has been good to me so far.

 

Don't use that pump to transfer gas and clean your aquarium.

 

Toyota puts very nice rubber caps on their bleeders that seem (very successfully, in my experience) to keep them from going crusty from the inside.

Then you can get away with tofu wrenches to open the bleeders.

As long as you put the rubber plugs back after.