Harbor Freight Tool/Product Review

[Jrgunn5150]

Alot of my tools are HF. FOr me wrenching is a hobby, not livelihood, so it's not worth it to blow the bank account on thing's.

I have,

6 ton Jackstands, no complaints.

Pittsburg Floor jack, no complaints.

Engine hoist, no complaints.

Several grinder's, love them, so cheap I can keep several with various wheels for whatever I need.

Sawzall, the 20 dollar one, absolutely sucks.

180 Amp welder, first one was DOA, second one has been great for about ten months

Air body saw, can't get it to work worth a crap.

Air filters/water separators, working well, but I cracked one, my fault.

Breaker bar, ratchets, wrenches, etc, no complaints.

Consumables, blades, cutoff wheels, etc. All suck, they don't last worth a crap, the cutoff wheels explode randomly, welding wire missfeeds and works like chit.

 

[silverscottsk10]

I did get a 1/4" air angle grinder that was doa whole 3 seconds on it as far as use, the other I had was good but it exploded in my hand, not sure what made it do it but it's in 2 pieces

 

[DanMcG]

I was wondering if anyone has the 5hp 60 gallon Central Pneumatic air compressor? I need a new one and normally I wouldn't even consider HF but from what I've read (somewhere) its the same as a BelAire and supposedly made in the USA.

 

[74 Shortbed]

My neighbor has one it's at least 4yrs old now hasn't had any problems with it so far, and it looks identical to mine which is an Ingersoll Rand that I've had for over 25yrs..

 

[DanMcG]

Thanks for the feedback Art.

 

[74 Shortbed]

Thanks for the feedback Art.

You're welcome..

 

[skysurfer]

I was wondering if anyone has the 5hp 60 gallon Central Pneumatic air compressor? I need a new one and normally I wouldn't even consider HF but from what I've read (somewhere) its the same as a BelAire and supposedly made in the USA.

True. The parent company for both brands is ABAC and they are made in South Carolina. The pump used on these has been changed on recent units to a V-shaped style and the early reviews aren't as favorable as the original upright pumps. I was in HF a couple of weeks ago and they still have compressors with the older style vertical pumps so look for one of those.

It's a good compressor for the money. Mine has been trouble free for the eight years or so that I've owned it. They're not quiet though, compared to low rpm compressors like Quincy the HF unit makes some noise. They get the cfm rating by spinning the pump at a higher speed. Mine gets used for extended periods with my blast cabinet and it can maintain 120 psi when the trigger is held open.

 

[skysurfer]

So this started out with me needing to torque some spark plugs to 13 ft./lb, a value that's below the minimum reading of my old Craftsman clicker torque wrench. Was looking at what HF has to offer and noticed they have something called a Digital Torque Adapter, item 68283. Picked one up and have been trying it out. It's design is a strain gauge, which uses current through a wire to measure torque and they are extremely accurate, mine came with a calibration sheet that shows it tested 88.6 ft/lb when set to 88.5 ft/lb. It is 1/2" drive but comes with both 3/8" and 1/4" adapters in a sturdy storage box. It can be used to verify the accuracy of a torque wrench or can be used with any ratchet as a digital readout of torque. The package indicates a range of 29.5-147.6 ft./lb but I found it worked fine even when set at the 13 ft/lb I needed for the spark plugs.

I rigged up a calibration spot for my Craftsman with a coupling nut, washers, and a bolt mounted in a vise. The washers allow for some slippage so the torque values don't climb too fast, giving me more time to read the gauge as I applied pressure.

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I set the digital readout to various settings and then checked my torque wrench each time to see if it was clicking at the same values. It was way off. Not horrible at the lower settings, 23.1 ft./lb when set to 25, but the higher I went the worse it was, 59.6 ft/lb. when set to 70. Calibrating the Craftsman was easy. Just release the tension, remove the end cap from the torque wrench handle, and tighten down the allen head inside the handle. Took less than 5 minutes once I figured out the HF tool.

Two things slowed me down. The battery that HF supplied was crap and made the adapter act goofy. If you buy the tool, pick up a new 2032 button-type battery on your way home. The other thing is in the instructions it says the adapter has a light that goes from green to yellow to red as you get close to the set value. Mine, and the ones I saw on Youtube, just go green to red. It's still easy to know when you're close to a set value even if you can't see the digital readout since it also beeps within 20% of spec and then gives a solid tone when you're at the set value.

Handy little tool. Not something I'll use often but just knowing I can accurately torque things now makes it worth the money.

 

[4WDKC]

Had bad luck with the HF plastic creeper, says recommended for 300lbs but while using it at 280lbs the casters wouldnt swivel. So i pulled on the car to move the creeper as needed and the casters flat spotted, this only lead to more troubles rolling and not swiveling. I should have bought the metal one atleast it I can weld and try to make work if it were to break.

 

[HotRodPC]

This is it @stlbob .

 

[suburble]

Hydraulic Wire Crimper PN 66150

I was working on an Alternator upgrade and wanted to crimp some 6awg battery cable. I wasn't planning on getting a "fancy" crimper, but the ratchet crimper I ordered from Amazon didn't ship and I hit HF. With a 20% off coupon it came to about $44.

Everything seems to be pretty solid, I did 8 terminations and some "practice" crimps without issue.

My only 2 minor gripes were:
-The squeeze handle is not spring-loaded, you need to pull it back open again after each squeeze, which pushes it solidly into 3-handed operation category
-There is a cylindrical shield over the hydraulics (the fat part of the handle) that wants to unscrew when you use it.

Overall I was pretty happy with it. I would not have sprung for it if Amazon delivered, but I think it's keeper.

Pics show 10awg ground wire (black) and 6awg positive from Alt (red).

-Josh

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[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Bought the Chicago Electric impact wrench for appx. $53 with tax. I actually didn't know that they made non-pneumatic ones, and even though I've got an American made one from the seventies lying around somewhere, I needed it right away, I needed it cheap, and the air compressor took a dump some time ago so that made my mind up for me. Plus, I didn't want to start a mini project trying to cater to the old wrench's needs. This one does 230 ft/lbs of torque, and it has a big rocker switch for forward and reverse. The reviews were 4/5, which was promising, and I t works great so far. We'll see how long it lasts.

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[skysurfer]

Bought the hi-res inspection camera from HF. Needed something that would help me open the door of my dd '94 Accord which was suffering from the dreaded latch failure. If you've never heard of it, imagine kneeling on the driver's seat facing backwards while trying to pick/pull on a tiny pin located within the guts of the latch with only enough room to wedge your arm between the door and door panel which can only be partly removed because the door won't open. Nightmare of a job.

The camera seems like it's well made with a nice heft to it and survived a couple of inadvertent drops on the floor. Light output was enough to see what I was doing and it's capable of taking pictures with the included micro sd card or hooked up to a laptop with the supplied a/v cable. Has zoom capability which wasn't necessary, the standard picture is plenty clear. Also comes with a small hook tool and magnet that can be mounted on the end of the flexible wand. Everything comes in a decent plastic case. I've thought about buying one of these for a while but kept putting it off until I came up against this door repair job which couldn't be done without it.

https://www.harborfreight.com/high-resolution-digital-inspection-camera-with-recorder-61838.html

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[Kyle Childress]

Alot of my tools are HF. FOr me wrenching is a hobby, not livelihood, so it's not worth it to blow the bank account on thing's.

I have,

6 ton Jackstands, no complaints.

Pittsburg Floor jack, no complaints.

Engine hoist, no complaints.

Several grinder's, love them, so cheap I can keep several with various wheels for whatever I need.

Sawzall, the 20 dollar one, absolutely sucks.

180 Amp welder, first one was DOA, second one has been great for about ten months

Air body saw, can't get it to work worth a crap.

Air filters/water separators, working well, but I cracked one, my fault.

Breaker bar, ratchets, wrenches, etc, no complaints.

Consumables, blades, cutoff wheels, etc. All suck, they don't last worth a crap, the cutoff wheels explode randomly, welding wire missfeeds and works like chit.

YES THE CUT OFF WHEELS EXPLODE lol, I had one of the 4.5" wheels blow up on me. Fresh wheels, right out of the pack, made sure it wasn't broken, no cracks, started cutting the top off a ubolt, got about 1/4 way thought and BLAM!!!! got my finger good and my chest because i was sitting on a 5al bucket hovering over it....

 

[Mr Clean]

Has anyone ever bought, or used a Welding helmet from HF? My is crap, I was looking at them thinking the auto darking would be a good replacement for the one I have. I don't do much welding, but when I do I want something that is half ass decent.