Harbor Freight tools thread.

yea im just not sure as the balljoint clamp looks more secure than the reg c lamps. it would be the only job id use it for really lol

 

How do you bend a cast part?

 

Heat it red hot.

 

I broke a brand new unused 1/2 in drive, 25 in long Pittsburgh Pro breaker bar trying to remove a pittman arm nut that was torqued to 130 ft-lb. It snapped at the head and is a pita to send back. Costed $15 so no loss.

 

Bring it back to the store for a warranty swap out?

 

Evidently very slowly.........

 

Well the ball joint press did not work. I tried to make a sleeve work that came with the kit. It just crushed the sleeve. Going to take a different sleeve to work from the kit and have one of our machinist make it fit or make me a new sleeve.

 

In use, I mean.

I don’t see HF cast clamps bending as far as he’s eluding to without snapping. Staying bent without a load? I dunno.

 

If you have a welder:

Beat the ball joint lose loose from it's cage.
Clean up the ball joint cage getting out most of the grease.
Weld a bead all the way around the inside of the ball joint cage.
Allow to cool.
Snack it out with a hammer.

The weld expands the cage when laying it down, breaking the rust lock, and then shrinks to just under original size as it cools actually making the ball joint cage smaller. Then they usually just pop right out.

At least it works on 40 year old rusted in volkswagen bug ball joints. I have not done this on a taco.

 

Last time I did it I used a torch an heated the lca up an beat the ball joint out with a hammer. I really dont want to do that again.

 

Well perhaps the "C" is not cast and but another material and I miss-labeled. It doesn't change the fact that it bent beyond alignment for use as a BJ press when using it for the function it was marketed for. And that I managed to bend it back into alignment with a shop press. I'm not a metallurgist and I get your point but it doesn't alter the reality of what occurred under use.

 

Doesn’t bother me, I was just curious as I’ve never seen cheap casts bend. They flex, but snap after too much of it. I was genuinely curious.

Saw these the other day, had a 6 ft rack that was 5 ft tall for C clamps. This brand was the only ones that had rust, and these were covered..

 

Those say "ductile" iron, which should mean iron that's cooked up such that it can bend. So, sometimes cast stuff can bend. The bench vise that I have at home is a 4.5" craftsman bullet style that i got specifically because it's made of a "ductile" iron, which is generally stronger and less break prone that regular cast iron. Not that I abuse it I've had it for around 15 years I think.

That said, most HF stuff is the cheapest dirtiest cast stuff they can make and normally snaps before it bends. Also, those rusted up clamps are funny. I honestly can't see how they ended up like that without someone intentionally trying to make them rust... but they are ductile iron. Those clamps look to be US made though so depending on the place I might try to buy them for $10 each. Most of my clamps I get at yard sales and flea markets anyway. That way I usually get better stuff for cheaper than I can buy new HF cheap stuff.

Bugs

 

The Pony clamps are US made - or used to be at least. I have some old Pony bar clamps - and they are tough as iron

I'd try and talk the manager down on the price, take those clamps home and clean them up.

 

Just make sure it for something $10 and under, cause it wont work for anything above that.

 

I wouldn't even clean them up. What do they need to be pretty for? Oil the acme thread and toss em in the welding cart.

 

i got my $15 gift card from HF. They had some missing hardware and compensated me. Make sure you let them know youre not 100% satisfied....

 

I was thinking of getting another HF Braun light stick as a back up to the one I have, but didn't want to pay the higher $25 price with coupon, when my first one only cost $19.99. I did a little searching and found this compareable Astro 410 lumen for $9.46 with free shipping and saved over $15. => https://www.ebay.com/itm/Astro-Pneu...ght/332693248995?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

 

$10 bucks. That's a solid deal. They are going for $50 on Amazon!
Wonder if the ebay one is a knock off, probably is considering its shipped from China.