Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[KubotainNH]

A neighbor bought one years ago. We replaced the bolt and nut with grade 8 hardware. We greased the heck out of the expanding parts (aluminum or pot metal) and it still never worked on exhaust pipes. The best we could achieve was to get the pipe to expand but it wasn't round. Where the expanders weren't the pipe was flat. Then the expanders started bending in the middle. It was clearly one of those failures that looked good on paper. Maybe the Chinese saw one made out of high quality steel and said "Let's use cheap soft metal, bet the Americans never thought of that". Reminded me of an episode of Top Gear when they were looking at cheap Russian cars that had aluminum brake drums.

Yeah, I didn't think I was asking much out of it as I had one from elsewhere that did do the job. They'll get this piece of junk back and I'll buy something else. Maybe those gloves mentioned above.

 

[Gregster613]

"Looking at all of them, the Chicago and the Bauer and the high end blue one's instruction books and parts breakdown's, not much difference in parts, big difference in price though. Don't see the value in the 179 buck Earthquake versus the 69 buck Chicago and it's not an every day thing with me either though I do want the 50 foot hose. In reality, I could get by with the 39 buck hand crank one. I just need to get the hoses off the floor and out from under my feet."

5030, I have that cheapo hand crank one - just to keep my hose out of my feet - and it's been just fine for many years now. An auto retractable would be nice but has more misc items that "could maybe" fail. I stretch my hose out, use it for whatever I'm doing and then in a minute or two it's all coiled back up on the wall and out of the way. Serves my needs just fine and for only a few bucks. YMMV Greg

 

[buck12]

Those would be the ones.. Mine say made in Pakistan.. not a big difference

View attachment 642617

I buy those a couple of pairs at a time. I seem to have a way of splitting the seem on the right thumb. They are just as good as the ones sold other places for $10 to $15.

 

[LouNY]

I have the manual rewind hose reel that looks like this one;
Air Hose Reel
Mine has over 100 feet of 3/8 line on it been in use for several years, did change out the hose a few years ago for hose that stays flexible even in the cold weather, not sure were I got the hose if it was Harbor Freight or Northern.
I like it as I can get way outside when I need to with the large capacity on the reel.

 

[hunt4570]

I buy those a couple of pairs at a time. I seem to have a way of splitting the seem on the right thumb. They just good as the ones sold other places for $10 to $15.

Interesting, I always seem to wear the fingertips out.

 

[aczlan]

I have the manual rewind hose reel that looks like this one;
Air Hose Reel
Mine has over 100 feet of 3/8 line on it been in use for several years, did change out the hose a few years ago for hose that stays flexible even in the cold weather, not sure were I got the hose if it was Harbor Freight or Northern.
I like it as I can get way outside when I need to with the large capacity on the reel.

I have one looks just like that, but I think I got it at Tractor Supply. I also have a slightly larger version. Both have black rubber air hose on them which stays flexible even when it's cold out.

Aaron Z

 

[KubotainNH]

Something else to pass on is the pipe expander. Not only did one of the bars break but the threads on the nut are so weak they stripped out on the first try. It says thin walled pipe, I assumed 18 gauge was thin enough but maybe it would be ok on tin foil.

Medium Tail Pipe Expander

Well here's an interesting thing. A few days ago HF sent me an e-mail asking me to rate the items I bought. I went and rated the pipe expander, badly of course with a picture of the failed tool. Curious I just went on to check the reviews. No new ones since August, that's peculiar.

 

[dragoneggs]

Well here's an interesting thing. A few days ago HF sent me an e-mail asking me to rate the items I bought. I went and rated the pipe expander, badly of course with a picture of the failed tool. Curious I just went on to check the reviews. No new ones since August, that's peculiar.

I think anything under three stars gets lost.

 

[California]

HF 30% Off Coupon thru March 1 2020 (limit five $10 items)

Did anyone post this here already?

I bought three pairs of the yellow leather gloves, a bundle of 10 angle grinder cutoff blades, and the collapsing camp lantern. The gloves never seem to be on sale any more so this was a good price. The other two items were a few cents cheaper than the present coupon prices.

Harbor Freight Coupon Database - Search Page

The 30% Coupon Show this on your phone to the cashier.

 

[Diggin It]

^^ There's also one good for up to nine items.