Harbor Freight tools that DO suck

[KennyG]

Anything with a rechargeable battery. I like a lot of HF stuff, but I steer away from the "Drill Master" tools in favor of the "Chicago Electric".

 

[Rustyiron]

All things equal, I'm glad they have a store within an hour from me. I actually have a set of early ratcheting box end wrenches, back from when they were mail order from a cheesy flyer....... from the early 80's!
Unfortunately, it has become a "throw away" world for a lot of things, but that was a consumer (price) driven change.

 

[zzvyb6]

Just sayin'

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I posted this in the "Don't Suck" thread, but I'll repeat it here. The ratcheting PVC cutter that HF sells is junk. It's so flimsy that it starts flexing as soon as you apply pressure, and the result is an angled cut on the PVC pipe.

I bought one, used it once on three different pieces of PVC with the same result. Returned it, got the hacksaw out and finished the job.

 

[TractorGuy]

Their ratcheting bar clamps suck. Will break with not much pressure on them.

Their 4-1/2" grinders suck. Have burned up the cheap one and their " Heavy Duty Paddle Switch Angle Grinder ". Gave up and bought a Dewalt after those two. Had a paddle switch Craftsman for 30 years prior to that. The Dewalt is almost as good. Sears had nothing to compare to my old one so they lost the sale on it's replacement.

On the other hand I have two of the tools mentioned above that I find satisfactory. The manual tire changer is not much fun to operate but it does the job. I have mounted 315mm wide race tires and did the rear 33x12.5x15 tires on my JD with it. I also have the PVC cutter and while it isn't as nice as a high price one it works okay for the price.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Bungee cords etc, are not worth the plastic packaging they come in or the oil that they came from.

Agreed, but I'm actually very pleased with their cargo net.

The 4.5 inch grinder. Tore up the first time I used it as well as the replacement they gave me. And all I was cutting through was 1/4 inch angle iron.

Anything with a rechargeable battery. I like a lot of HF stuff, but I steer away from the "Drill Master" tools in favor of the "Chicago Electric".

Their 4-1/2" grinders suck. Have burned up the cheap one and their " Heavy Duty Paddle Switch Angle Grinder ".

Another vote against the grinder. Mine failed just outside of the 90 day warranty. Just wouldn't start. Nothing. Went to Lowes and bought a Porter Cable for about ten bucks more than the Chicago Electric cost me.


I have decided to just not even look at anything electrical at HF. Third times the charm, I guess.

 

[Colgate2004]

Funny, I've actually had really good luck with my HF 4.5" grinder... I've flap-wheeled a bunch of steel welding projects, cut galvy steel tubing and posts, cut a whole ton of concrete patio tiles with it (getting concrete dust all throughout the insides!), and still haven't been able to kill the thing!

Here's what I'll say certainly DOES suck:
The chopsaws. I needed a second and third chopsaw a while back and figured "ah, these are just site tools, not my main, nice chopsaw, I can get cheap HF ones, right?" Nope. Those things SUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. Everything that wasn't plastic was totally flimsy cast aluminum. NOPE.

 

[dragoneggs]

I recommend disassembling the drive casing on the grinder and replace the crappy little blob of grease and pack it with real stuff. I've done this with several that I own and have had good luck with them.

 

[frugalangler]

Hankook, like Kumho, is Korean, not Chinese. They are OEM on some cars and trucks. Might not be a bad choice.

I had Hankook on a VW Jetta, got over 60K out of em and they handled great.

Got Kumho on my current Jeep Grand Cherokee, they seem to be just as good, I'm impressed.

 

[Peter 315]

I had Hankook on a VW Jetta, got over 60K out of em and they handled great.

Got Kumho on my current Jeep Grand Cherokee, they seem to be just as good, I'm impressed.

2010 ford focus had Hankook tires, noisy but got 60k out of them too