Harbor Freight tools thread.

I like that word....*note to use it in a sentence as an adjective next time.

spiffy (adj.)
1853, of uncertain origin, probably related to spiff "well-dressed man." Uncertain relationship to spiff (n.) "percentage allowed by drapers to their young men when they effect sale of old fashioned or undesirable stock" (1859), or to spiflicate "confound, overcome completely," a cant word from 1749 that was "common in the 19th century" [OED], preserved in American English and yielded slang spiflicated "drunk," first recorded in that sense 1902.

 

Anyone use any of their winches?

 

Not personally but there's a thread somewhere on them. Appears it's hit or miss - you can get a good one or a dud, 50/50.

As with many other HF machine tools, a thorough disassembly, regrease and adjustment/assembly is usually the key to success.

 

I have one of their smaller winches. The 120V one (so not for our trucks or atv's) that i use for lifting my RTT on and off. Its worked fine for the year ive had it though it only gets used a few times a year.

I did have one issue with it but it was 100% my fault. I ended up pulling to the side (with no fairlead or anything to guide it) and it got between the spool and motor and seized up. But took it apart and reassembled and it still works just fine.

 

I swung by Harbor Freight on my way home from work while ago. I grabbed a set of 6 ton jack stands and a set of 12 ton's....Not because I NEED 12 ton, but because of their extended height. They all have ANSI safety rating, so can't be too marginal....They'll do what I need. I've got an old set that were NAPA house brand jack stands that are roughly equivalent to the 6 ton, just shorter. That, a 4 ton and a 3 ton floor jack, 3 20 ton and 2 10 ton bottle jacks, a Snap On porta-power, and a Hi-Lift jack.....aughtta be able to lift a corner of a Tacoma when I need to!

 

Got the 12k.
Used many many times.
After a couple of years, I pulled it apart and regreased it, didn't look like it even needed it.

Just had the shop guys at work install one on a flatbed trailer to load dead trucks with. Seems to be working fine as well.

 

I watch a Youtube channel by someone that recovers used riding mowers, fixes them and flips them. He attached a winch in his bed, using a battery jumpstart to power it and seem useful to have that handy, incase there was something like a riding mower you wanted to load in your bed using ramps.

 

Where good winches set themselves apart from mediocre winches is the waterproofing. Gear drive is important, but far more of them end up not working after a dunk in a creek or a deep mud hole. Warn and some of the Smittybilt models have a good rep for water tight construction.

Also, long sustained hard pulls have a tendency to heat 'em up and burn out motors on the less expensive brands. Use them intermittently to allow them to cool off and the life span is a little longer in most cases.

 

The last time I went to HF my printer was low on ink and wasn't printing legibly, so I wrote everything out, including the coupon code. I told the associate about not being able to print the coupon and he said that was OK and just typed in my code to give me credit. I was always under the assumption that you needed to always print the coupon out, but just writing down the code is good enough.

 

I just pull up the coupons on my iPhone and have them scan em from there.

 

Same here

 

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I still don't own a smartphone.

 

I've had one for about a year, they ain't that damned smart.

 

Someday I will join the rest of humanity in the 21 Century and drop my landline.

 

As i tell my mother who cant use hers, "Sometimes its the user, not the smartphone."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0n-2aF4Bd0

 

How do you surf TW without a smartphone?

One of those big, bulky computer board things?

 

LOL

 

I still have my HP desktop I bought new in 2002 and it uses Linux, but mostly I use a Aspire one laptop. I would really appreciate having a smartphone, mostly to compare prices and for emergency on the road, so I just need to save up some money, then join the rest of you in the 21 century.

 

Linux? Go on ...