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Harbor Freight Jack Caution

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Steve_S

Steve_S

Yoda
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Hi all, here's a quick story I hope may save someone injury or damage. I don't mean to start a debate about economics, origin of manufacture, etc so please don't take it there. Like everyone I have my opinions on the matter but I'd rather not discuss them here. Anyway...

It's extremely rare that I buy a cheap off shore tool, but I was in a pinch recently and in need of an additional floor jack. So, I ran over to Horrible Freight (which is traumatic enough in itself for a guy who strives to buy American) to pick up one of their popular "aluminum racing jacks". A couple days ago was maybe the tenth time I've used the jack and while raising the car there was a metallic pop / click sound, followed by the car dropping to the floor. I raised it again thinking the pad may have slipped and again it dropped to the floor after raising about 5 to 6 inches.

No harm done but imagine if it happened while placing a jack stand. It could easily have resulted in injury or severe damage to an expensive aluminum oil pan. I'm sure there are thousands of these jacks out there still working fine, but it only takes one bad unit to ruin your day.

Be safe, use jack stands (and caution when placing them) and never go against your gut instinct when buying safety-critical tools!

That's all, over and out! :wink:
 
Irrespective of tool shopping source and tool build source Steve's got a very good point.

My garage is full of tools. Most of these tools are at least 10 years old, and many are as old as, if not older than, me. Why keep these old tools? Because they have stood the test of time and are reliable.

As far as I'm concerned the quality of our tools has diminished in the past 10 years, and particularly in the past 5. The how's and why's aside, always make sure your tools are trustworthy. I don't care about the brand name on said tool, or what sort of guaranee it has. If it doesn't work when you need it, it's rubbish.

And in the case of tools akin to what Steve mentions above, SAFETY FIRST! Never trust any tool that it's failure could cause your death. Redundancy of safety and fear are your best assets here.

Jody


p.s. Nice Haiku Steve.
 
Most of my tools are Craftsman. I still have the ratchet set my wife bought me for our 1st anniversary! I do buy some Harbor Freight stuff, but nothing where long-term quality of safety are a big issue. I have a Sand Blast cabinet I bought there and it's been doing what it needs to do for several years. But if I want a hand tool that I know will last forever, I usually buy Craftsman.

I agree with above about safety! When I'm working under a car, I verge on paranoia and never get under there without good, solid jack stands!
 
Basil said:
Most of my tools are Craftsman. But if I want a hand tool that I know will last forever, I usually buy Craftsman.
Click to expand...

I find craftsman sucks now too, especially the screw drivers.
 
kellysguy said:
Basil said:
Most of my tools are Craftsman. But if I want a hand tool that I know will last forever, I usually buy Craftsman.
Click to expand...

I find craftsman sucks now too, especially the screw drivers.
Click to expand...

I used to B*tch and moan about crappy screw drivers all the time (from everybody). Then I finally bought a decent set and swore I'd only use them for proper use. I relegated all my old screwdrivers to improper use. The new set still work great! The old set has been replaced two or three times now by Harbor Freight sets that I periodically destroy.
 
Craftsman has never (in my lifetime anyway) been known for their screwdrivers. You want quality? Buy Whia. I prefer them even over my Snap-Ons.
 
Speaking of Harbor Freight, when I did my study/office with 3/4 inch oak flooring, I rented a "manual" flooring nail gun from Home Depot. Needless to say, after the floor was done, so was my arm. So when I did the living room and hallway, I bought a $99 air-powered flooring nail gun from HF (It was on sale, regular price $149). This gun is 1000 times easier to use than the manual version. So far I have done the living room, the hallway and am about 1/2 done with the back bed room. The last room to do is the master bedroom. If it lasts long enough to do that, then after that I don't care. Considering the Manual nailer was $75 per day to rent, and I'd have had to rent it for several days, this HF nailer is the best $99 I ever spent. Now, if I was going to make my living doing this, of course I'd invest in a better item, but there is slim chance of that ever happening.
 
Steve_S said:
Craftsman has never (in my lifetime anyway) been known for their screwdrivers. You want quality? Buy Whia. I prefer them even over my Snap-Ons.
Click to expand...

The Craftsman screw drivers I own (most of them) are great, but then I got them 35 years ago!
 
Boss, being that I have 900 square of flooring to do do you recommend it?
What type of flooring was it ?
Solid, prefinished ,type?
 
I towed a TD to Salem,Oregon for a guy.I told him to
get some rollarounds for the wheels,as a rear wheel was frozen.
All we needed to do was get it off of the trailer,& up his
driveway into the garage.
He bought a set at HF.We tore two wheels off of them.

- Doug
 
AngliaGT said:
I towed a TD to Salem,Oregon for a guy.I told him to
get some rollarounds for the wheels,as a rear wheel was frozen.
All we needed to do was get it off of the trailer,& up his
driveway into the garage.
He bought a set at HF.We tore two wheels off of them.

- Doug
Click to expand...
That's too bad. So far the stuff I've bought at HF has served its purpose, but anything I know I want to be built to last I but elsewhere. My sand blast cabinet is 7 years old and still works great, as does my floor nail gun (I just hope it will hold out long enough to complete one more room).
 
DNK said:
Boss, being that I have 900 square of flooring to do do you recommend it?
What type of flooring was it ?
Solid, prefinished ,type?
Click to expand...

I am laying down 3/4 inch pre-finished solid white oak on 3/4 plywood, which is nailed with concrete nails using a special powder-activated nail gun (rents for $36/day at Home Depot, but to buy one is nearly $600!). Then I use the HF flooring nailer to nail the 3/4 inch oak to the plywood. Yes, I would recommend buying one if you are doing the type of floor that it will work with. I'm not sure how thin the wood can be for it to still work, but for 3/4 inch it's great!
 

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Is that solid or engineered wood? Looks like Jatoba
 
Nice knees. :smirk:
 
I managed to get 3/4 of the floor done before my body told me it had had enough! Now I have to return to an out of town work location until the end of this month, so the rest will have to wait.
 
Man I hate home improvement work. (Probably cause I'm not very good at it.)
 
Jatoba is a Brazilian Cherry.
Your photos the wood looks dark,so I thought it was that.

The wood I am planning on using is about 57% harder than the oak and was curious if the HF nailer can handle that wood.
 
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