LOL @ Harbor Freight stuff.
 

Notice that it was tested by an "EPA-accepted laboratory".

4 cylinder use only? Wtf?

Just use two if you have a V8

If you have 6 cyls, you have to buy 2 and then cut one in half and use the 1.5 units... then the other half can be used for a motorcycle or two lawn mowers or something.

Harbor Freight makes me lol with some of their things, although they still have some cool stuff.

I buy all kinds of stuff from Harbor Freight, usually tools, but sometimes other stuff, like magnets.

I just love to laugh at some of the stuff they're selling... and it's not like they're selling it because they know it's worth being sold... they're just following a business model of selling what people will buy.

heres one I bet really might work Sutticar Fuel Saver Kit, Model# Sutticar0001 | Fuel Savers | Northern Tool + Equipment

That actually probably would work, based on the same principal as using a heavier spring on the throttle.

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices - AC current and DC voltage. Well, it's almost useful, and it's only $10. Kind of like their 50W solar panels.

I love harbor freight, but they certainly do sell things that won't do what most customers expect.

I bought a set of solar LED lights in glass rocks.. we use them for lights in the bedroom, and once a week, they go outside to be charged. We went almost all month without charging them last month, out of sheer laziness. At night, they provide plenty of light to get around in the bedroom.

They also make nice ambient light when you're sitting in the living room watching TV or something, as well.

...Harbor Freight is to TOOLS, what Radio Shack is to ELECTRONICS, ie: the best/worst of the China-imported products.

and yet, some of my HF stuff has held up better than Crapsman or Snap-On tools that I have/had. Only difference is that when the others break, I get free replacements, no questions asked.

I was actually planning on buying a welder and some other stuff of that nature from harbor freight pretty soon. Any recommendations? :p

I've never used a HF welder, so I can't recommend that... pullers are soemthing to stay away from, unless you have fab skills and can make new mandrel arms for them.

EDIT: Typed this in the hurry - by mandrel arms, I'm referring to the plates that go from the middle of the puller to hold the actual arms. Plates with a hole in each end, bolt goes through them, there are two per "finger" of the puller.

You ALWAYS want more welder than less. My shop teacher had a good saying, "Save to buy the welder you think you need, and then buy the one bigger." Get a welder that will fit your needs.

I actually use one on a V6, the nice thing about harbor freight is that their online price is usually a factor of 10 higher than the in store price, at least if you wait for a sidewalk sale, coupons or in my case clearance.

My fuel magnet was $1.99 and worth every penny, it holds stuff up to the fridge perfectly. (actually I have been using one on my buick lesabre) and I am getting better FE oh but I failed to mention I also got a scamguage at the same time as the magnet. Ah well truth in advertising. :)

And I do love Harbor Freight for cheap tools that I will probably only use a few times.

Well worth it for an oddity or two as well.

And their $1.99 multimeters were a good deal as well, I now have 4 but one already has a dead battery.

I get all kinds of tools from HF. Wrenches, sockets, tool boxes, trailer lights, spot lights, work lights, definitely love the occasional oddity as well.

As far as the multimeter goes - just change the battery. It's probably soldered, but you can still change them fairly easily, if it's the same one that I'm thinking about.

They're not soldered. Just open 'em up with a screwdriver and it's a standard 9V.

Meh, I've gotten a few Chinese products that have had CR2032 batteries soldered in series to the mainboard. I don't think I've seen it in a multi, yet, but I still haven't had to change a battery in one, either.

I dunno about Radio Shack, their stuff seems constructed well, and I haven't had any problems with any of their stuff. Now JC Whitney carries the worst electronics I've ever seen. Stuff so bad I didn't even know they made it in the first place. The radios my sister and friends bought from them were not even worth installing brand new out of the box. My favorite was the ad for a radio "flashing LED lets thieves know that breaking in isn't worth the effort", ain't that the truth. I also bought a set of crowfoot wrenches from them, some were missing, others were so badly cast that I couldn't even use them. But the tie rod tool I bought from them was decent and has held up well.

I ordered some fog lights on sale from HF once, some were decent, some were super cheap. The winch for my plow was the same as HF sells, after 2 seasons it seized up and I had to tear it apart and clean out the rust, seal the connections, rebuild the motor brushes, and I packed it full of wheel bearing grease. Shouldn't have had to do that but no problems since.

Yah, but the HF multimeter with the battery is almost the same cost?

Replace it with a rechargeable battery :P

Regardless of whether it's the same monetary price, it still costs more to buy a new piece rather than just replace the battery that's in it, when you consider the work, materials, environmental impact, etc. of making a whole new piece, rather than just making a battery.

Rechargables don't work due to the voltage difference, I've found. You end up with the voltage going haywire, thats the sad part with these is that they never really stop, they just become very inaccurate w/ dying batteries.

I am not throwing it out by any means, I usually unload workable crapola on ebay every now and again. You would be surprised how much people spend for the $1.99 Harbor Freight multimeters on epay.

Also I do have uses for probes :)

I kinda like HF but it's sort of the Big Lots of tools - some of it's crap. The discriminating shopper has a good chance of getting a great deal. The random shopper has a good chance of getting a tool that will hold up just long enough for the receipt to be thrown away.

My Pittsburgh 1/2" drive wrenches are fantastic. Love 'em. Chinese or maybe Taiwan, and I don't care. Dang, they're tough. And in the same breath, I've got some nameless screwdrivers I just nabbed because they were cheap and bright orange so I could keep track of them - they're for the junkyard bag. I should've just left them at the junkyard. I know why they're nameless - I sure as heck wouldn't want MY name on them.

All of my tools end up in the junkyard bag at some point.

I also buy broken tools from people, usually for $0.25 or $0.50.

I can fix ratchets and stuff, which makes it worth it to me. Sometimes, I'll even buy broken sockets, if they're cracked and I can cut the cracked section and just make the socket shorter. I've also bought them so that I could cut the side out and make them fit on weird nuts or bolts, some of which have flanges and the like.

Also, broken sockets make nice holders for allen (hex) wrenches, and you can braze them in so that you can use them on ratchets, keep track of them on socket bandoleers, etc. or use them for driver bits, etc.

I also have several bolts that I've ground grooves perpendicular to the threads so that I can use them to clean out the threads on engine blocks. They end up looking like taps, but they're not sharp. If you can get them started in a hole in aluminum or something, they'll still cut threads though.

I've done that, cheapo $2-for-a-handful sockets from the pawnshop, two minutes with the angle grinder and bingo, new O2 sensor socket.

I have to pick locks at work every once in a while. I could pay $50 for the local guy to come do it ($45 trip charge, $45 per hour, takes him maybe three minutes), or pay the $10 for a set of decent picks, but every time I need to pick a lock I sacrifice a couple of paperclips to the Handyman Gods and get to it. It's surprising how well it works. Some tools are just so...superfluous.

I confess, for the bigger ratchet-drive hexes I just paid the $10 for a set. I didn't need them, but the price was pretty good, and they looked so nice. I admit it, I'm addicted.

I'll probably wind up buying the lockpicks, too.

I bought a door-lock set for automotive doors... (Read: SlimJim)... I don't need it, I can do the same thing with a knife (which I always carry) and a leather belt. (Which I always wear.)

I'm like MacGyver... I've always got what I need. I also carry a credit card that's no good with a filleted edge, and a small metal card with a serrated edge. I used to carry pieces of char with me too... survivalist mentality.

try this for picking locks
 

get some 12 inch hacksaw blades and cut them into three pieces.
then look up some pics of lock picks and print em out.
take your cut up blades and your pics and a cup of cold water and head off to the bench grinder. now, you want the back of the blade to be the back/top/ of the pick. start grinding very lightly and slowly on the blades to copy the shape of the pick in your pic you printed. ATTN: only grind for a few seconds lightly and dunk the blade to keep it cool, if it gets hot it will lose temper. these work better than the store-bought picks because they are carbon steel. stiff, flexible, and springy. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS!!!! costs anout $2 to make a whole set. and the holes in the blades fit a small key ring!
and please grind off ALL the teeth. you don't want to lose a finger.

Standard disclaimer applies to above. :rolleyes:

You know, that's brilliant. I never even thought of that. (headslap)

I've ground a knife blade out of a worn-out circular saw body (el cheapo, not worth sharpening) and had it come out very nicely. Biggest hassle: drilling through the tang for handle rivets.

Harbor Freight is a pretty nice store. Not everybody's cup of tea though. Good place to get odd things in my opinion.