Hot Rods You get what you pay for !

Been using a HF 1/2" "XT" impact (the one they compare to S-O)for over a year now. Regular $149, got it on sale for $129. Just split a Craftsman 18mm impact socket last week with it, clean in half (fresh). Hater's gonna hate, but that's a bad SOB in my book. If I made my livin' from it, I'd be a Snap-On guy too. But I ain't, so it works for me.

 

I have a ton of snap on that I used while working , large company discount , prices believe it or not not much over HF . Not the issue I have with my local truck salesman is “ hey you didn’t buy it from me “ I got so furious that I ask “ where in the hell on this truck does it say not replacing if not bought here ? “ I explained to him if you want me to return it back where I bought it you should have gave me a shovel with it to dig the salesman up , he’s been dead for 15 years ! Sorry just a rant !


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About 18 years ago I got a 3000 lb aluminum racing jack from Harbor Freight and have used it a lot when I was amateur racing sports cars and later years on my hot rods and never at had a problem with it
When I go to tire stores I make them take off and replace the lug bolts by hand, it pisses them off and I don't care I got tired of them screwing up my studs and bolts

 

You can get a bad tool anywhere.

When I worked on fleet cars one of the show off mechanics paid $1,500 for top Snap on. We lost a lot of wheels off of vehicles before we realized his gun had no power.


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Fast, cheap, or good. Pick two.

 

I do the same thing. I keep a cheater length of pipe in both cars just in case.

 

I've had a pair of Craftsman ones for so long I can't recall buying them and they work great. I have a Snap On 3/8" air ratchet I got at a garage sale for $10. Takes some abuse and always works.

 

"You get what you pay for" If you're lucky.

 

All my Craftsman impact is good for is spinning off the nuts after I break them loose with a breaker bar. I've had a HF right angle die grinder for at least 3 years with no problems.
On the other hand I bought a $20 HF electric angle grinder and got a good 45 seconds out if it before it stripped the gears. It's hit and miss over there, but if I had to buy all pro grade tools I wouldn't be able to afford this hobby.

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I think with HF you need to avoid any tool that is electric. At least that seems to be what I hear the most.

 

$5.00 worth of a $200.00 grinder - how long should it last? $5.00 worth of a $50.00 clamp- how good should it work?

I bought one of their Hercules grinders, it's been keeping up but not as smooth as my metabo.

 

Too many people fail to oil their impacts regularly, it makes a big difference!

 

To anybody having trouble with air tools stalling, or not being up-to-the-task, try Milton V fittings.

They fit everywhere 1/4" fittings do, but are larger inside, and flow 74scfm.

 

I have a big brand-name air impact wrench that I really like. I also bout a Harbor Freight air-impact ratchet wrench for working in spaces the big gun won't go. The thing works fine. My favorite Harbor Freight product is the colored sockets. You can tell what size a socket is just from its color. They also have a size number that is also printed large. All my other sockets have their sizes shown in small engravings. I sometimes have to take them out in the sun to see exactly what size they are. And I haven't had any Harbor Freight sockets break.

 

That deserves repeating! Oil your air impact wrench regularly. I do so a couple of times a day if I'm using the wrench intensively.

 

- they are free here in California - Ha!

- x2

have bought used stuff and big brand name stuff too - same results - some were good and some not so good

 

I quit buying their junk years ago!

 

Not a fan of HF however some air tools seem to work better and have more power after they have been used for a while, the seals seat themselves same as piston rings. Impacts use quite a lot of air, compressor might be getting worn out if you were also having problems with the old wrench.

 

I had a Rodac (anybody remember them?) 1/2 impact that I bought for about $35 new in the early '70s. That lasted up to the late '90s before finally wearing out. I replaced it with a HF made in japan (NOT China) unit that was the twin to a Ingersoll-Rand (for 1/2 the money) and it still works great. I picked up a fairly new Craftsman impact at a yard sale, it's not 1/2 the wrench the HF is....

HF has always had quality issues (although less so as time goes on), if something breaks or doesn't work right, take it back. By and large, I've been very pleased with their air tools. Their die grinders for the money can't be beat; sure, you'll probably wear one out inside a year if it's your only one, but I buy them in multiples and set each one up for a specific job. I've had very good luck with their sanders and spray guns also.

I had a drawer full of 'name brand' air tools for a long time that wore out; the rebuild costs were well above the cost of a whole new HF unit. While they lasted longer than the HF units, the time/cost equation didn't favor them. I finally scrapped them.... Same goes for the HF 4"/5" sander/grinders. Again, I've got a drawer full of name-brand units (Metabo, Bosch, Milwaukee) with failed switches and the switches cost more than two new HF units... and only last about a year in any case. The only one I've got that's held up is a Makita, although I've had to replace the cord twice.

And Danny, I have that exact same press brake. Yep, mine broke the same, but I was abusing it at the time. I built new arms out of plate steel, it's worked flawlessly ever since.

 

Seen that. Looks like pot metal, doesn't it?

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Attn Danny and Steve,,,,,My press brake also broke as in your photo...I repaired it myself...its still going.

 

I think the HF tools for the most part are just fine for the average home shop. I have used them mostly during the last five years and have had little problems. One of my favorite tools they sell in the small 3 inch bench grinder. I use this thing all the time and it performs great.
Their tool boxes can’t be beat for the price......


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I'm using a Snap On electric 3/8" impact wrench with a lithium battery and a 1/2" Clarke mains powered impact wrench. Would never go back to air tools now.


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For as old as most of us are, (I'm 72) I'm surprised anyone would even step foot in a Harbor Freight. I cringe every time someone buys a cheap tool and says "I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I don't use it that often."

 

The only thing I can guarantee about installing lug nuts with an impact gun is that it will be either too loose or too tight.
Different vehicles, for different reasons, have different torque requirements.
When i was a body tech at a dealership, the tire jockeys in the mechanics area upstairs had a chart on the wall for most vehicles that they were required to check for torque requirements before reinstalling the wheels.
All tightening was done to final torque with a torque wrench. (BTW...that means the lug TURNED before the final click. Didn't just click with no lug movement as that just shows the lug is torqued beyond spec already!)

I remember we had a customer lose a wheel on the highway...damaging the fender and some other bits extensively but luckly nobody was hurt.
The installer was fired right away. No second chance.

I do remember another tech come to the body shop to install a new wheel assembly he had just finished and he used an impact to tighten the wheel...then clicked the torque wrench on the over tightened nuts. I called him out on it but he said thats how you do it and left it as it was.
I redid it the correct way when he left.

That guy was an apprentice mechanic...not a regular tire tech.
I guess procedure wasn't drilled into him as, being a future mechanic, he was expected to know already!
Tire work wasn't his regular job...but still...he SHOULD have known better!

Electric impact guns have surprised me.
I have one for the impossible jobs like frozen FWD axle nuts. The electric one hammers them loose while the air powered just gets laughed at...

 

I bought one of the Earthquake impacts from HF about 8 years ago and have been more than happy with it. If it won't break a bolt or a nut loose its time for a little heat and a shot of PB Blaster and a long breaker bar. It's been a good tool for me. As far as their electric tools, my best find there has been the DA polisher/sander. I run 45-60 grit stick on discs and it never runs out of air. It has done what I bought it for so I can't bitch about it.

 

I have tried both sides of this argument and have come to the conclusion that in any kind of air tool I buy IR and be done with it. In electric tools I prefer Makita. JMO.

 

"I can get them tighter with this, than any gol-danged torque wrench."

 

I bought an IR231 impact in 1982, it was the first air tool I bought. I bought a new one two years ago and use that one as a backup now. Over the 30 odd years I had to replace a couple of trigger springs and one anvil. When I bought it I was very bothered by how expensive it was (+/- $125) but I needed it for work. I'm pretty much over the sticker shock now and it and most of my other "expensive" tools have paid me not cost me over the years.

 

I have a HF air saw that has lasted me over 10 years,it only gets used a few times a year and would probably have to buy a better brand if used daily but it does what I want it to. I gave up on air impacts years ago and now use a Snap On 18 volt cordless that works great when the battery is fully charged,I do have a nice Mac air impact for back up that I should hook up and oil before something happens to it.