Harbor Freight tools thread.

I meant to quote this post, but y'all get the point.

 

Black & Decker / Dewalt Service Centers are everywhere. In the rare occasion I've needed service (mainly battery replacement) I've had no issues getting quick service.

 

Picked up this jack yesterday. I has good reviews. Still didn't use it yet. Anyone here has experience with it?

 

Here's my charger wall. Mix of 18v, 20v and 60v. 18v batteries are being phased out. The main reason I've stayed with one brand is to keep the battery chargers to a minimum. Battery management is a little simpler.

 

let me know if that works on a lifted tacoma, my current floor jack cant get the wheels off the ground anymore

 

Snap-on is suing HF because of the design of the daytona jack. Perhaps Snap on thinks it is a good jack.

 

Where are you jacking from? In the rear, jack under the differential. On the front, jack from the cross member. I've never had issues getting them up with the HF jack.

 

Stopped by today and picked up a clamp, an elastic cargo net and a free magnetic bowl- I think that makes three of them I have now. I still can't believe anyone would spend $10 or more for a magnetic bowl from other places.

 

...total cost would be $183.2 for the HF( with coupon applied). So $183 vs $259, makes the decision a bit more difficult.

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/impact-wrench-comparison-seven-electric-models-tested-gearbox
Did some searching on the topic, keep in mind your cost to benefit/quality ratio. For not much more $$ you could have a really quality tool for years to come!

 

the rear isnt an issue, its the front. i have enough droop travel that the floor jack i have dosent lift high enough, it just barely gets the wheels off the ground, so you have to fight to get the wheel back on.

 

I have the low profile high lift Jack from HF. I think it lifts 24" or so.

 

FWIW I would not buy any of HFs cordless tools. I know from experience that their 18 V Ni-Cad line was absolute crap, and their new Li-Ion stuff yet to prove itself¹. In fact (and keep in mind I am an HF booster when warranted) most of their corded and cordless tools are garbage as compared to similar "happy-homeowner" grade tools from Wen, Ryobi, DeWalt, Kobalt and others.

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¹ - BTW, why is it that only Ryobi moved from Ni-Cad to Li-Ion with no reconfiguration of the battery packs? I have a very old Ryobi drill/driver, 5-1/2" circular saw, "sawzall" set (real old, blue, not even One+) that works fine with the latest Li-Ion One+ batteries.

Milwaukee and DeWalt both pissed me off when they made my older 18 V tools obsolete by changing the battery package--at least DeWalt offers an adapter (absurdly priced at $60) to allow the newer battery packs to work with the older tools. Milwaukee just said screw you and for a while did not even offer the older batteries.

 

Ahh. A 3" chunk of 4x4 in between the jack and the cross member would solve that issue.

 

My somewhat educated guess would be that the change had less to do with the battery chemistry and more to do with it being a convenient time to change form factor. The "slide pack" is a more compact configuration. This has a few advantages:

1. Smaller = marginally cheaper. These tools have a pretty small profit margin. Even a $1 savings over 1million units is a lot of money.
2. The terminal and slide pack configuration is more easily adapted to different types of tools, even if they don't have pistol style handles. Is it possible to design for the stem pack in non-pistol grip tools? Sure, but it's a lot easier with a slide pack.
3. Getting the battery stem out of the handle allowed them to slim down the handle for better ergonomics. DeWalt consistently gets good reviews for handle ergo, mostly made possible by getting the battery out of the handle.
4. Freeing up that space in the handle allowed room for upgraded electronics. The eventual move to brushless motors drove the need to more PCB's and control modules. They needed a place to live and the handle was a great place for them considering the trigger is there.

That's all I can think of. Just my thoughts on the switch to the new battery style. Makes a lot of sense to me even if it did tick people off. The whole industry really went the same direction for good reason.

 

Use a piece of 4x4, 4x6, or 4x8 to get more lift. Its how i lift my front end even the the jack could do it by itself. Less pumping to get it up. Just use jackstands or other form of stands (i prefer stacks) as using a 4x4 on the jack is just another potential point of failure (slipping off)

All that plus it was just a great move by Ryobi. As a company they knew their market was home owners and DIYer's who wont replace a whole setup of tools. By allowing batterys to be backwards compatible they let their customers buy new tools while still being able to use their older ones. Basically keeping them "in the line". I know a lot of people with the old blue ryobi stuff who got the green after just cause the batteries were the same (myself included).

 

Hard to compare Ryobi and DeWalt. They market to different users with different requirements. Example, Ryobi can sacrifice ergonomics in favor of battery compatibility because their typical user isn't using the tool all day long everyday. If your job is to run drywall screws continuously 50 hrs a week, ergonomics is much more important.

 

O i wasnt trying to compare the two. Mor ejust saying from a marketing stand point ryobi did good in keeping the batteries compatible.

 

I picked up a pro-series angle grinder a few weeks ago. I'm really impressed with it. It had plenty of power.

 

Has anyone had any luck with this ?