I try to stay way from that place, but I have bought a couple things from there when I was in a pinch. I currently have an aluminum low pro harbor freight jack. My Mac jack that I bought 12 years ago started leaking and not working 2 years after I bought it.
The last two times I've gotten a 25% off coupon, I go in there and run the isles....and end up leaving empty handed. Sometimes I buy their nitrile gloves, but I usually buy from Amazon now.
Bought an OTC aluminum jack and stands from Summit. It didn't last one year before it started leaking. Took it to their recommended repair shop for rebuild. Nice old guy running the shop. Well, it didn't last more than a couple months. And like Ronnie said, I don't take chances with a jack, ( anymore)! I had a trailer fall off a jack crushing my left leg under it. Cheap jack wobbled as I was stepping away from it. Tore my Achilles' tendon and gave me a Liz Franc injury. The injury people used to get when falling from a horse and the foot stayed in the stirrup. Basically it breaks your foot in half. Needless to say, OUCH!! Bought an Arcan 3 ton aluminum floor jack last year and this thing is well made. Not sure of the country of origin but it is well made! So for me, I'll never buy a cheap jack. Do what you want.
The days of putting a 2 foot long cheater pipe on a Craftsman breaker bar with a 3/4" socket are long gone. As with anything, you hafta use discretion when buying tools. Their 110Volt electric stuff is marginal at best, but if its for a one shot deal, 20.00 beats 200.00. The hand tools have come up in quality and Ill confess, I do have some wrenches in the 2nd shop from there. I havent busted one yet. They do warranty EVERYTHING in the store tho. Never had a problem returning anything, even the chinese LED lights for a new one. I like the stupid buy anything and get "one of these free" deals. Magnetic parts trays? A+. Throw away paint brushes?? BY THE BOXFUL... Roll around tool boxes? Best deal in town. Just sayin'... BTW... batteries suck. Due dilligence here! Wun Fun Tung is left handed so the designs on some of the stuff is a little weird, but usually works. What ever became of Northern Hydraulics, the pre-cursor to HF? ws
Not to be a fuddy-duddy, but your life shouldn't be dependant on a jack at all. If you're climbing under a car or trailer or whatever without jack stands under it, well.......it doesn't matter what jack it is. Don't trust your life to a hydraulic cylinder and seals no matter where it's made or how much it costs. Jackstands ALWAYS.
Yeah, and those odds grow greatly when you're laying under the car for minutes or hours. I've had 2 slipped jacks, one was while lowering a car (a pebble wedged under the wheel so the jack couldnt roll causing the pad to slip off of the frame) so there couldn't be a stand under it. Had to put a new gas tank into my moms Lumina for that one. Another time it wasn't supporting the vehicle, but was supporting a rear end while changing a broken leaf spring. Taulb slid a stand under the rear and not a minute later the spring popped lose and the rear slammed down onto the stand. That one saved me some pain (thanks again Taulb!). ALWAYS USE JACK STANDS, I dont care how much you paid for that fancy brand name jack. They all still use 5 cent o-rings, it's not worth risking damage, injury, or worse.
Bill . Yes the regular batteries suck . But you have to buy the NiCad rechargeable batteries and a charger . I have some of those I have recharged over 50 times and they work fine .
Alright, now back to the original subject: I have some Harbor Freight tools. Not many, but some. I get my 99 cent picks and free flashlights there. Sometimes, like a couple weekends ago, you have no choice but to go there. I had my truck's steering gear out doing a swap on Saturday, and the pitman arm nut is a 1 5/16" (who the he11 decided to put a 1 5/16" nut on anything?). Well, guess where I had to go to get my socket, because it's the only place open that would have one (checked NAPA, ACE, Oreilly's, etc. first.) So I grab my little flyer, go in there and get my 1" to 1 7/8" socket set and my next free flashlight for $39 total. I wish it didn't have to be that way, but with the downfall of Craftsman and Sears, that's the reality. I wish all my stuff was the old Craftsman and Mac tools (never been a Snap-On guy), unfortunately I've got to buy Chinese every now and then.
Ill only go there if I have a huge discount or if I need a new purple spray guy. at 14 bucks I don't know how they make any money. use it once or twice and toss it out if it gets clogged. they spray pretty good, but I'm not painting full cars. Mostly epoxy primer or parts.
Im gonna look into that... Im still at the throw away stage right now. My flashlights all have krypton bulbs and a fully charged battery is what makes them brite. One think I dont like is no individual sockets or wrenches... hafta by the set or look in the return section... ws
Exactly what happened. I'm not saying I haven't done stupid, wrote the book on most of it personally. But as for getting under something without jack stands...never have done it, never will. Hindsight being what it is and all, should've had the jack stands closer beforehand.
I have a long frame Blackhawk 2 1/2 ton I picked up at a farm auction years ago. I broke a wheel on it and when I tried to get a new one the guy at the dealer said I must have the model # off the plate wrong . Not enough digits he says. I showed him the picture of the plate and he puled a dusty book out from under the counter and says it was built in 1941. He got me a wheel - good as new. Bet someone gets a great deal on this jack at the auction they hold after I die.
I've got a blue Arcan twin piston my Dad bought me from Sam's Club in the 90s. It's my first floor jack, and the thing has been great. Has never needed a repair, has never leaked, and it's lifted a LOT of heavy old cars and trucks.
I’ve gone to HF a few times when I needed something that didn’t have to be high quality. I always go with coupon in hand. Traps!! Great place to get a cheap tarp! Mark
ALSO, be careful with those cast iron jack stands. They can ONLY take downward force loads. Move side to side & they just snap off like pretzels.
add me to the list of the weak- you can have my 1/2" "earthquake" pneumatic impact gun when you take it from my cold dead hands. Sorry guys, the damn thing is indestructible, a good buy and just works. i have a pile of the other guns that aren't worth the metal they are made of and they cost 3x the cost of the earthquake. The $12 4.5 inch grinders are pretty good too. beat the hell out of them and they keep working. even comes with spare brushes. again i got a pile of the craftsman and other models that cost 4x that that didnt even last the life of the brushes before blowing up the gears. cant argue the value here either.
That I did not know I do have to admit though iv'e have that cheap small entry level floor jack from Harbor Freight in my trunk for years and still going strong after quite alot of use. Thinking the seals will go soon now that iv'e mentioned it
