junk items from harbor freight

I bought their AC Manifold tester and the second time I used it one of the plastic knobs broke.

harbor freight orbital sander...blew out the air seals within 10 minutes (in all fairness I might have not regulated the pressure off the compressor low enough)

I found their electric one to be great. I have used it for at least 40 solid hours with zero issues.

Jim

I've used a few things from them. notably their air horn when I had my samurai and NEEDED a louder horn. got a lot of troublefree use from that horn.

my friend has their wire welder, and stick welder, the wire welder SUCKS, but the stick makes pretty nice welds, and they've got several lifts and motorcycle jacks from there, all working just fine.

compressors though. buy quality brands, just trust me.

I've read great reviews though on the gas engines they sell, frm 3-13hp. they're honda clones and I'm seeing people have built the 6hp horizontal shaft models into 14hp and run reliably. I'm picking one up soon as I can for my big compressor, which is more or less a mobile sandblasting machine.

Get him to use a better quality wire, like Lincoln wire from Home Depot. It works MUCH better.

Jim

PS It is half the cost of HF wire.

Didnt know that, thanks for the tip. it'd help if we knew how to USE the wire welder better too. the stick is easy for us.

I'm far from an expert, but that simple change in wire made a huge difference in my ability to successfully weld!

Jim

You should have bought the w(h)ackbar instead of the prybar, then it wouldn't have shattered. duh

Imagine the job security you would have working in the HF returns department!

harbor freight is like a disease. I just succumbed and got one of these. diggin' it so far:

$20 reciprocating saw chewed up it's gears within an hour of use.

$36 bench top drill press chuck came apart internally after a year. Ordered a replacement part for under $10 including shipping, working fine after 3 more years.

Box of various size hose clamps are crap.
Zip ties are crap.
Cheap rotary tool is worthless.
Compressor working fine after 3 years.
Bench grinder A-OK after 3 years.
Combination wrenches made in India are fine.
Screwdrivers are OK.
Zippo lighter copy is fine.
Handwarmer (lighter fluid type) better than name brand.
Digital thermometers A-OK
Cheap simple pop riveter A-OK, more expensive twistable one junk.
Safety goggles A-ok
Flux welder, welding apron, gloves, self darkening helmet A-OK
Saber saw A-OK
3/8 hammer drill A-OK
1000 watt 4 stroke generator failed after 2 years, stuck valve.
Bolt together trailers are A-OK
99c stainless steel pocket knife is good
$2 Multimeters are good.
Rechargable batteries are good.

I got the air powered grease gun the other day looks great but I cant seem to get it to "pick up" the grease. The 1 sheet paper instructions say to burp to purge the air out so I guess I will try again. Am I wasting my time? Anyone else have good luck with one of these?
Thanks,
Bob

I think I found your answer, it was on the review of the gg on HF's site. Not my solution.

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<dl class="block-content" id="product-reviews-list"><dt> Not bad, but may need a slight modification. Review by Thomas </dt><dd> <table class="data-table review-summary-table"> <col> <col> <tbody> <tr> <th class="label">
</th> <td class="value">

</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> This item would work great for bulk grease. I needed it for cartridges...
I bought one and exchanged it, it didn't work with two good quality cartridges. Got the second one home, same problem. Took apart the grease section of the gun (with a HF air ratchet) and noticed that the rubber piston lip is too large for a cartridge. I checked the hand gun I have and it has a smaller diameter plunger. I trimmed the lip around the circumference a bit with a razor scraper (don't take off too much- you want it snug in the cartridge body), reassembled and it fired grease on the second shot. My hand grease gun is going to be very lonely now. I don't suggest more than 3 pumps on this thing into a ball joint, you can burst rubber seals. Keep an eye on the seal as you pump.

With all the discounts, it was worth it to me and I kept it even though I had to modify it. Other stores want twice as much for pretty much the same tool. If you oil these air tools they will have a very long life.
(Posted on 5/28/10)
</dd></dl>

I buy what I need to use for a particular job from HF......like say a Cordless drill or a wlve tool.......then you have 30 days to return it for ANY REASON. if it breaks within 30 days i get money back or a new one.... if it breaks within 90 days, store credit or exchange.
Never a quibble..... cant say fairer than that.

Total garbage, HF Haul-Master Motorcycle Swingarm Rear Stand and Front Fork Adapter



On first look, this appeared to be of acceptable quality and capable of doing the job. In reality, it was incapable of performing its intended function and is downright dangerous to use. First off, the wheels were not in alignment with each other making it impossible to lift the bike and remain level. Secondly, the "prongs" on the fork adapter started to bend when the weight of the bike was applied during the lifting operation!

I was only trying to lift a YZF600, not a fully laden Harley-Ferguson!

Needless to say, these two fine examples of Chinese craftsmanship went back to HF and I picked up an overpriced Made-In-the-USA Pit Bull front stand to compliment my existing Pit Bull rear stand. There is something to be said about a quality product that performs its designed function!

I got a dual sided carborundum stone (combination sharpening stone #7345) and it is pretty useless as a sharpener as the particles of the stone are not abrasive at all. Granted it is only $3 but it's a waste of $3.

Generally speaking you can look at the hand tools and tell if they're going to be junk or not. some are decent, some aren't. Most of the air tools the aren't super cheap are ok. The earthquake impacts are good.
The power hand tools are mostly acceptable just stay away from the drill master stuff.
As long as you don't expect a $20 grinder to be as good as an $80 one everything is usually alright.

Has anybody used the harbor freight dirt bike stand? $16 after the usual 20% coupon. Crazy cheap. I just don't want to crush it the first time I swing my WR400 on it.



I have had a lot of those LED lights stowed in my car/camelbak/desk that are free with the coupon. They work fine. Their $3 ratcheting tie downs work fine for dirt bikes,

no but it looks like it might make a good portable shitter LOL.

A friend uses the other syle HF dirt bike lift/stand and has been happy with it.

They would have to out do themselves in a big way to make this stand so bad that it wouldn't work.