Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[PhysAssist]

One thing I try to do religiously after ratchet strapping down a load, is drive a bit and then pull over, get out and check my straps and cinch them down tight. Often unusual, awkward loads shift and settle some after a couple start/stops, bumps, etc. Almost always I can tighten up a little. Just good practice IMO.

Also, anything woven like straps have some stretch, and given a few minutes at tension and with the torsional stresses applied by the road and ride, they give a little, so stopping to re-tighten them makes good sense.

 

[fidowanttobe]

This item belongs in the "HF Tools That Suck". The theory is good but the product "SUCKS". They do not stand up to field use or stowing behind the seat of the PU. The collapsible shaft is very flimsy, the shaft is not long enough for PU and trailer, and the yellow balls fall off. I went through 3 of them in quick order. They are the perfect solution to lining up to a trailer w/o help, always dead on if you keep the two lined up. One day I saw a heavy plastic wand w/a magnetic base about 5' long at NAPA. bought a set of them. The last forever and the whole shaft is safety yellow. Perfect solution. I also use them when backing my equipment trailer with one on each back corner of the trailer so I know where the corner is all the time.

Ron

Pictures or part numbers?

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

One thing I try to do religiously after ratchet strapping down a load, is drive a bit and then pull over, get out and check my straps and cinch them down tight. Often unusual, awkward loads shift and settle some after a couple start/stops, bumps, etc. Almost always I can tighten up a little. Just good practice IMO.

Also, anything woven like straps have some stretch, and given a few minutes at tension and with the torsional stresses applied by the road and ride, they give a little, so stopping to re-tighten them makes good sense.

Agreed! I usually find that one stop is all that's needed, unless it's a very long trip. If I'm stopping for gas, the straps get checked.

Another thing you can do is to NEVER have your straps flat. Put a half twist in them. That prevents the wind from making them vibrate. It spoils the air flow enough that they don't get into that vibration mode. Vibration will greatly accelerate the stretching of your straps and settling of your load, so twisted straps keep your load more secure.

 

[IslandTractor]

Another thing you can do is to NEVER have your straps flat. Put a half twist in them. That prevents the wind from making them vibrate. It spoils the air flow enough that they don't get into that vibration mode. Vibration will greatly accelerate the stretching of your straps and settling of your load, so twisted straps keep your load more secure.

Excellent idea. I've usually deployed a bungee from the middle of a strap to some solid point just to keep the vibrations down but I like the twist idea better.

 

[crazyal]

Back in the day when I was into riding dirt bikes we would do the half twist in the straps and it worked well but we used the cam lock style straps. With the ratchet straps it seams like they can be tightened up more and don't seam to vibrate in the wind.

 

[mrblanche]

He also picked up a 1/2" torque wrench while he was there for $12 I think. It will be interesting to see if he will continue to use some HF stuff a few years down the road.

One of the hot rod magazines, possibly Car Craft, did an article on torque wrenches. They found most of them significantly inaccurate, but they had high praise for the electronic torque wrench adapter from Harbor Freight. 1/2 in. Drive Digital Torque Adapter
1/2 in. Drive Digital Torque Adapter I guess that would count as a Harbor Freight tool that doesn't suck.

 

[California]

One of the hot rod magazines, possibly Car Craft, did an article on torque wrenches. They found most of them significantly inaccurate, but they had high praise for the electronic torque wrench adapter from Harbor Freight. 1/2 in. Drive Digital Torque Adapter
1/2 in. Drive Digital Torque Adapter I guess that would count as a Harbor Freight tool that doesn't suck.

What did they find for HF's click-type torque wrenches? I verify mine against two different old beam-type wrenches every project - because it is from HF after all - but all three always show identical.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Back in the day when I was into riding dirt bikes we would do the half twist in the straps and it worked well but we used the cam lock style straps. With the ratchet straps it seams like they can be tightened up more and don't seam to vibrate in the wind.

I've seen plenty of them flapping in the breeze. The tighter they are, the higher the frequency of the vibration.


I learned the half-twist trick from a trucker, and they don't use cam-locks as far as I know.

 

[dragoneggs]

One of the hot rod magazines, possibly Car Craft, did an article on torque wrenches. They found most of them significantly inaccurate, but they had high praise for the electronic torque wrench adapter from Harbor Freight. 1/2 in. Drive Digital Torque Adapter
1/2 in. Drive Digital Torque Adapter I guess that would count as a Harbor Freight tool that doesn't suck.

While I am a HF fan for more stuff than I should admit... the problem with reviews sometimes is they don't catch the variations in quality. One can get lucky and test a tool that is 'right on' but in reality maybe 50% aren't nearly as accurate. I am not saying this a knock on HF... just that a sample size of one in a test is not a good measure of quality.

 

[PhysAssist]

While I am a HF fan for more stuff than I should admit... the problem with reviews sometimes is they don't catch the variations in quality. One can get lucky and test a tool that is 'right on' but in reality maybe 50% aren't nearly as accurate. I am not saying this a knock on HF... just that a sample size of one in a test is not a good measure of quality.

In ANY test, an N of 1 just makes the likelihood of a random chance dud or perfect specimen the real factor being measured.

Part of why I often don't even bother to read reviews unless there is a pretty significant quantity of them.

How many it takes to be significant is dependant on what my loss will be if the item is a dud- in other words, the cost of the item to me [including lost time ordering, shipping, breaking it or screwing up my project, AND ordering a different one...] on TOP of the price in $.