My experience with Harbor Freight Tools

jmcarruth

jmcarruth

Joined
Dec 27, 2004
Messages
760
Location
Medina, Tennessee
Bike
2021 Tracer 9GT
I have been working with tools for a long time and would like to share my experience with HF tools. Some are not good, some OK, others are excellent, and surprisingly so. Most of my mechanic hand tools are SnapOn, SK and old style Craftsman, but I have used HF for my traveling tool bag with satisfaction as the their quality.

HF stuff that I have used that sucks:

Battery powered electric drills
Screwdrivers, the free ones, steel too soft
Flashlights - the lights are ok, the batteries that come with them do not last
Anything with a solar panel
T handled allen sets -steel too soft


OK stuff:

Corded drills
Belt sander
Hand held electric grinder
Heat gun
Cut off saw
Digital calipers

Excellent stuff:

Torque wrenches, all sizes, click type. More accurate than my Craftsmans. A real bargain at about $10 each, make sure they are made in Taiwan.
1/2", 3/8" and 1/4" ratchet wrenchs, Taiwan made. I like the 1/2" wrench that has the extendable handle.
1/2" "Earthquake" air impact, best I have ever used
1/4" air ratchet
1/4" colored metric sockets
Impact sockets
Impact tool, hammer type
Old style MC tire changer, paid for itself the first time I used it. It has had some modifications.
3 ton steel floor jack
3/8" air ratchet
30' air hose reel
13 drawer roller cabinet and matching top box, another bargain

These are my experiences, I have heard of good experiences from others, please share yours, good and bad.
 
I haven't bought much of their stuff, as I find cheap tools in general to be a negative return on investment, they cause more trouble than they fix.

I tried and returned one of their cheap digital calipers. It wasn't as accurate as the analog dial ones I already have, and when I use a caliper I'm looking for a precise measurement. If you use a caliper to measure something "close enough" then when these go on sale for $10 then they're probably a pretty good deal.

I have an angle grinder that I think I bought from HF, but can't remember for sure. The switch is flaky, but its almost 20 years old and works well enough for the few times I need it. It was probably 1/3 the cost of a name brand equivalent, and seems to work equally well for my usage.

I have some old impact deepwell sockets that aren't very good (metal too soft), but can't recall if I bought them at a swap meet or HF, they're probably 30 years old so I've forgotten where they came from.

The stuff I actually use most often like ratchets, sockets, combination wrenches, screwdrivers, torque wrench, I own Snap-On, and lately Vessel for the screwdrivers. I think I prefer the Vessel to the Snap-On philips screwdrivers, but I'm comparing a new Vessel to a 30-year-old Snap-On.

John, your comment about "make sure they are made in Taiwan" made me laugh out loud, how the times have changed. I'm still holding onto some older power tools with the "made in USA" plate like they are rare coins or something collectable.
 
Last edited:
My rule has always been to buy quality US made for tools I'm going to use frequently. Craftsman has served me well as have S-K, and a few Snap-On pieces that I have. I used to avoid Japanese and Chinese tools like the plague. I'll admit that Japanese tools are fully up to snuff these days, but they often cost more than a US made equivalent anymore. I buy tools from Harbor Freight for that one job, when I don't expect to use them very often.

A couple of recently (?) noticed development has me re-thinking some of this. The other day I was at Sears and noticed almost all of their Craftsman labeled tools are now made in China! When did that happen?? At 2 to 3 times the price of the Harbor Freight ones, but still being Chinese, I'm thinking I might as well avoid the expense of the Craftsman buy the HF ones! I think HF also offers a life time guaranty on their hand tools now.

The downside with HF is that to get that one tool you need you often have to buy a whole set that ends up costing more than the one tool you need if you can find it individually, even if it's a higher quality US made one. Most recent example this past weekend; I needed 14mm hex driver for a 3/8" drive ratchet. HF had one but it was with a kit of a dozen sizes for $30. I said no thanks and kept looking, finally found a singly packaged 14mm 3/8" drive hex at Pep Boys for $10. Surprisingly, when I got home I noticed it said "Made in USA".
 
wjbertrand said:
almost all of their Craftsman labeled tools are now made in China! When did that happen??
Click to expand...

This was actually a couple years ago. I know this because I bought a set of flare nut wrenches on close out because they were the old style, American made ones. The American ones had the raised panel on the side that said Craftsman, the new Chinese ones are the smooth, snap on style.
 
wjbertrand said:
The other day I was at Sears and noticed almost all of their Craftsman labeled tools are now made in China! When did that happen??
Click to expand...

Hey Jeff, haven't seen you posting in a while. Next time you're at Home Depot pick up a Milwaukee power tool and look at the nameplate, everything is made in China these days. I hear if the sponsoring company is on top of their QC game, good quality products can be produced in China. On the other hand, I've bought some mixed quality stuff in the Shanghai subway vendor areas, but it wasn't tools.
 
Craftsman is still alive and well, and made in the USA if you know where to look.
Google craftsman professional USE tools or INDUSTRIAL use tools. They have some nice old style sockets and wrenches and even some sets with an industrial black oxide finish for the same price as the SEARS/ORCHARD HARDWARE/ACE china made stuff.I just picked up a couple of their premium grade ratchets in quarter inch and half inch and have been very pleased. I like the smaller one better than my snap on one.
 
I too was disappointed when I went to Sears to replace a Craftsman 3/8 tap that had a few missing teeth. It was from a big set that has standard & metric sizes that go all the way up to 3/4 inch and the metric equivalent (can't remember). Bought them around year 2000. They didn't have any individual taps on hand. But I did notice that all the sets were from China. Ended up leaving the store without doing anything. Do the Chinas still have the lifetime warranty? Don't these companies understand that its not all about who can sell it the cheapest?
 
I threw out or gave away all of my old Craftsman tools...and I had a lot. The old tools were great- before they changed suppliers. But having good tools that you can't exchange because you'll get back junk doesn't make sense.

Harbor Freight does indeed have some good tools. I like those colored socket sets. I use them every day in the pellet boiler business and haven't broken or worn one out yet. I also have a couple sets of allen sockets that seem good. They have a tool cart that is good, and some of their larger shop tools are good. They do sell a lot of junk though, so you have to know what you are looking for.

Years ago on a tip from a friend I bought a set of Benchtop (K-mart brand) Torx sockets. Those things were much stronger than my Snap-On set! Working on Jeeps, I was always breaking Snap-On Torx sockets. I've removed bolts using the Benchtop socket after breaking off a Snap-On on the same bolt. I wish I could still get them!
 
nhdiesel said:
I threw out or gave away all of my old Craftsman tools...and I had a lot. The old tools were great- before they changed suppliers. But having good tools that you can't exchange because you'll get back junk doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

Good thinking to get rid of those great old tools to avoid having to exchange them for junky new tools. wait.. umm..what? :confused:
 
Raj_Zin said:
Good thinking to get rid of those great old tools to avoid having to exchange them for junky new tools. wait.. umm..what? :confused:
Click to expand...

I use my tools for work. Having a tool fail costs me money and time. I'd rather throw out something useless than waste my time with it. When I was a mechanic I couldn't stop what I was doing and drive to Sears to exchange a tool. I needed something that wouldn't break as easily to begin with. If I was in the middle of a job at the dealer and my primary tool broke, I couldn't finish the repair; and if I can't finish the repair, I don't get paid. On top of that, if it happens more than once I could lose my job. No, I wasn't keeping junk around. I put most of them in buckets and gave them to a friend who was only going to use them on a casual basis. I did throw almost half out though. I just got tired of tripping over them. I had a box full of Snap-On, Mac, and Matco. One set of Snap-On wrenches cost $400. That is probably what all the buckets of Craftsman crap cost total.
 
wjbertrand said:
The other day I was at Sears and noticed almost all of their Craftsman labeled tools are now made in China! When did that happen?? At 2 to 3 times the price of the Harbor Freight ones, but still being Chinese, I'm thinking I might as well avoid the expense of the Craftsman buy the HF ones! I think HF also offers a life time guaranty on their hand tools now.
Click to expand...

Just because it is made in China does not mean it is a bad tool. It is all up to Sears' specifications and quality control. Apple iPhones have components made in China. But, I don't really know anything about Craftsman's current quality.

In another thread I mentioned that this week I bought a 10 piece 1/4" drive socket set at Lowe's* for $4.95. Obviously made in China, and how can it possibly be any good for so little money? This weekend I used it to change the skid plates on my snowblower - the bolts were rusted and the 10mm socket did the job without breaking. This is going to be part of my bike's tool kit so it will not receive hard use. For only $5 bux? I cannot get over it.

*BTW, Lowe's has a lost socket guarantee. If you register and lose a socket, they replace it.
 
Does the Craftsman lifetime warranty still apply? I have 2 ratchets that need replacing.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I owned a large tool store for several years and in that time I sold a few million dollars worth of hand and power tools. Because I had a warranty on everything I figured out what works and what doesn't in regards to imported tools pretty quickly. As mentioned earlier Milwaukee has been owned by the Chinese for quite some time now, the Chinese are capable of making premium tools when they want to. Taiwan-made I consider equivalent to US-made tools in most cases. Good import products include the composite ratchets at Harbor Freight, and I actually seek out Chinese/Taiwan impact sockets for their durability.
 
nhdiesel said:
They changed suppliers from their decades-old quality supplier long before that. When I was in school around 15 years ago I was warned about the dropping quality of their tools due to a change in manufacturers. Unfortunately these days Sears is more interested in selling marginal quality home fixit/do it yourselfer tools rather than professional tools.
Click to expand...

More accurately, Sears is more interested in selling anything to stay alive.
 
Just a couple comments:

1. I can't see throwing out tools that haven't yet broken just on the possibility that if they do break they'll be replaced with junk, especially good old Craftsman ones that will probably last generations. I know I have a few bits handed down from grandfather to my father that have seen a lot of use and show no signs of wearing out.

2. I don't think Craftsman has ever offered the lifetime free replacement warranty on torque wrenches. They've always had that disclaimer for as long as I can remember in their warranty text.
 
I walked through a Harbor Freight store last year and had two feelings come over me. The first feeling was ... Wow what great bargains on tools I should buy everything I need right now to have it on hand. The second feeling came over me as I had tools in hand heading to the cash register...these tools will probably not last. If I am in a situation that has to be done right away do I want to depend on these tools...no. Then, I put all of the tools back on the shelf.

After that experience at Harbor Freight I have started to upgrade all of my tools to mostly SK, Dewalt, and GP DuoSockets sets with some Home Depot Husky and Lowes Kobalt. I did buy one Snap-On tool - a 36" or so long screwdriver to reach one very hard to get to Oxygen Sensor, bank two sensor one, in my Jeep Grand Cherokee. That was the most expensive screwdriver I will ever buy but it saved me $250 in dealer labor costs for that job.

My collection covers most automotive and motorcycle maintenance.
 
Last edited:
Exactly what does a screwdriver do to an oxygen sensor? They make sockets that fit the 7/8 nut, I imagine that would work pretty well in removing the sensor.

Brian
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom