Harbor Freight Horror

rondothemidget · Post by **rondothemidget** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:50 am

Halloween horror! My local Harbor Freight said the wonderful 12 volt-powered impact wrenches have been discontinued. Unfortunately I wasn't able to buy one before they stopped selling them.

I just got their ad and they have a traditional AC impact wrench on sale for $37. Would this provide too much torque for taking off and on the variator?

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:15 am

I'm curious to know this too. I would rather have the AC one rather than the 12V one anyway but don't want to do any damage.

bigbropgo · Post by **bigbropgo** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:30 am

gotta love harbor freight. DO NOT buy a cordless anything from this place. everyone i have bought or anyone i know who has bought one has ended up throwing it away. having said that...i love this store for the scaled back hobbyist version of tools. there are many great tools and deals to be had at this place. but just because it is a "door buster sale" doesn't mean you should buy it.

cheap tools...thats what they got.

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:20 am

The $37 is the same wrench, more torque, and adjustable max torque with LCD screen. Not sure how accurate it is, I think I feel safer without a LCD gauge telling me what it's torquing to.

I might be wrong, i just googled and found they have a plain old LCD-less impact wrench too that does up to 240 foot pounds.

pdxrita · Post by **pdxrita** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:42 am

bigbropgo wrote: DO NOT buy a cordless anything from this place. everyone i have bought or anyone i know who has bought one has ended up throwing it away.

I don't know about that. We bought a cordless drill from them about a year ago and it's still chugging along. This after having tried to deal with a Black and Decker cordless for the past several years and finding that one battery after another failed within a year or so. I was skeptical about the HF drill when my partner brought it home, but so far it's holding up at least as well as the name brand.

dakotamouse · Post by **dakotamouse** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:32 am

pdxrita wrote:
bigbropgo wrote: DO NOT buy a cordless anything from this place. everyone i have bought or anyone i know who has bought one has ended up throwing it away.
I don't know about that. We bought a cordless drill from them about a year ago and it's still chugging along. This after having tried to deal with a Black and Decker cordless for the past several years and finding that one battery after another failed within a year or so. I was skeptical about the HF drill when my partner brought it home, but so far it's holding up at least as well as the name brand.

The quality on Black and Decker has really slid. No where what they used to be.

DennisD · Post by **DennisD** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:52 pm

Last month I took my Black and Decker drill, light, batteries, charger, stud finder, packed them carefully in their expanded plastic case, made sure the plastic latches were secure and placed it in the large black trash container picked up once a week by the city and transported to a landfill. I repeated the process with the DeWalt kit.
Give me a corded tool anytime. I'm not in a hurry and have several heavy gauge extension cords. It might be different if I had to use them to make a living, but I don't.

Lil Buddy · Post by **Lil Buddy** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:08 pm

DennisD wrote:I repeated the process with the DeWalt kit.

WHAT? shame on you! I love my Dewalt tools (18v Lithium hammer drill/driver, 18v Lithium impact driver, 18v 5 1/2" circular saw, jig saw, palm sander, orbital sander, flash light, reciporcating saw....also have their corded reciporcating saw and 12v driver). They get regular to heavy use and have easily outlasted my old Ryobi and Craftsman tools.

Quo Vadimus · Post by **Quo Vadimus** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:09 pm

Enter your zip or postal code to find a rechargeable battery and cell phone recycling location near you.

bluebuddygirl · Post by **bluebuddygirl** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:24 pm

Lil Buddy wrote:
DennisD wrote:I repeated the process with the DeWalt kit.
WHAT? shame on you! I love my Dewalt tools (18v Lithium hammer drill/driver, 18v Lithium impact driver, 18v 5 1/2" circular saw, jig saw, palm sander, orbital sander, flash light, reciporcating saw....also have their corded reciporcating saw and 12v driver). They get regular to heavy use and have easily outlasted my old Ryobi and Craftsman tools.

DeWalt is still Black and Decker, just their better end. I have a Bosch cordless that I have been using for 8 years now, and I am HARD on it, sometimes using it days on end, 8-12 hours a day.

KRUSTYburger · Post by **KRUSTYburger** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:31 pm

Quo Vadimus wrote:Enter your zip or postal code to find a rechargeable battery and cell phone recycling location near you.

Yeah, Dennis we recycle batteries at Lowe's where I work. You could have given them to me and I could bring them to work, or I might have just kept them!

oh yeah : HITACHI FTW!