Harbor Freight

[mccormack944]

Harbor freight is good and bad. There 12 dollar breaker bar will never break but it’s only like 18”? The snap on I bought is 40” for like 110$. Honestly I’ve bought a lot of harborvfreight over the years for home and some at work stuff but the deceptive advertising is a joke and the higher quality brands? Dang near as much as tool truck brand. My combination wrenches at work are gearwrench 7-24 paid $100 off snap on truck, HF icon wrench set was like 150. The triple bank icon series bottom box lists for more than what I bought my master series triple bank for with a Rhinolined power top, and 30” deep not 24”. And as nice as the icon boxes are, A I find it hilarious how it’s a direct rip off of a snap on but B they don’t have the same strength as a snap in, if I lean on an open drawer they deflect, identical snap on drawer I can stand in and barely deflect (actually just tried that yesterday). It’s just sad that all they do now is design tools to aid in deceptive marketing and the price is so high it makes me not want to shop there anymore for the random one off things or home stuff. On a side note I did pick up a Bauer battery sawzall there Saturday and it was awesome Sunday at the junkyard

 

[joesregalproject]

This guy seemingly knows what he's talking about and has some pretty good things to say about their 1/2" Stubby Impact-

 

[5spdCab]

That is partially true. People are cheapazz idiots that don't care about what happens to their neighbors. "If I can save a buck TS on them". But who placed the bait in front of them? American business. China did not steal anything. We GAVE it away. Remember when you were a kid? Made in Japan was a joke. Then what happened? Cars, toys, electronics, everything went there. And when they got expensive China was next. Someone else will follow, Korea, maybe Africa. I wonder what will happen when they run out of cheapshit labor? Maybe by then WE will be cheapshit labor.

We are guaranteed to be cheapshit labor if people keep voting for socialist politicians.

 

[5spdCab]

Simple rule for the 20% or (rare 25%) coupon, it isn't valid on anything that'd make it worthwhile to use.

That is the reason why they offer it, simply to get you in the door so that you might buy something else. As others have warned, we need to read the fine print before making fool's of ourselves at the checkout counter.

 

[5spdCab]

Im not sure if the HF engine hoist is the same. I looked at them before I finally bought one to replace the non folding one that I bought used. That one was an older HF.
I went to Pep Boys because thay had the Torin Big Red one on sale but they were sold out. Looked online at all the ones sold by the other auto parts in this area and they all looked the same so I called customer service for Torin. The woman told me their hoist is sold by Pep Boys, Auto Zone, Advance and NAPA. Just painted a different color for each company. I wound up buying it at Auto Zone. They price matched the sale price, had it in stock and the guys even put it in the back of my truck.

It's true, you are a Royal Smart Person.

 

[rogue_ryder]

I visited my first Harbor Freight 20 years ago and so much of the stuff was low end trash from India or slightly better Taiwanese BUT you could actually buy some Made in USA Channel Lock, Estwing Hammers and Goodyear Air Hose. Fast forward to today and there's not much if any name brand items in the store. BUT I'm VERY satisfied with how good the tools are now even compared to a couple years ago. I'm super satisfied with the 20Ton Press, Engine Hoist and floor jacks which have more than paid for themselves. I built the bulk of tool collection with Craftsman (RIP Sears) and a mismash of flea-market pro stuff, long before there were Harbor Freights in every town; but I'm always adding and really have found for similar money to Harbor Freight, that Tekton tools seem to be better quality (fit and finish) and the sets are more complete for similar money and Gear Wrench is really good stuff for the hobbyist mechanic (although it's not cheap it's definitely inexpensive compared to the pro stuff). Still grateful that when I'm in a pinch I can run to HF for a cheap tool vs paying many times the $ at the Autoparts store.

I've slowly been doing some Home Improvement projects and 3 years ago I bought their $145 Chicago Electric Table Saw and got 20% off so it was cheaper than renting but not a tool you'd expect to last a lifetime and it took very careful setup of the rip fence and use of miter gauge to make good cuts. 6 months ago I started on my stairs and the table saw was inadequate and I needed a 12" Miter Saw and bought the Harbor Freight "Hercules" Brand Miter Saw and it's a BEAST of a saw compared to the "Chicago Electric" Garbage! Precise cuts and goes through wood like a hot knife through butter. I didn't use the $600 Dewalt but I checked it out at my local Home Depot and the fit and finish of the Herc was as good if not better than the Dewalt and obviously the specs are about equal but the savings especially with a coupon (no 20% off the good stuff but they offer coupons on this model) are huge >$200! Sure the added Hercules, Admiral and Bauer lines of power tools have greatly increased the cost of HF Tools the quality has come up WAY UP, and for the guy who doesn't need the high quality or can't afford it they still have the old super cheap tools.