Best Harbor Freight Tools - Most Durable

I love this channel!

I don't care if a tool looks like a potato as long as it gets the job done and doesn't break. 😉 Too many tool snobs out there polishing their expensive tool, afraid it might get dirty. 🙄

You know jack stands are buy it for life, whether they fail or not.

The orange dead blow hammers have been pretty good. And they have a lifetime warranty so you can swap them when they wear out. Also the magnetic parts trays are good.

In my family almost all of these have lasted. If it's not in my shop it's in my brother's or an uncle's shop. Even the magnetic pickup tool has lasted almost 5 years with me and over a decade with my uncle.

Daytona for sure professional shops use them, icon, even the Pittsburgh line is really good. Have their racheting wrench and ive literally stood on it when thays all i had. Though for sure i would mess up the teeth but worked great. Hercules, bauer for the most part. A multitool is only as gpodas its blade and my bauer multi tool has lasted years and ive used it a bunch. Tons of quality tools at HF. I used to only buy Dewalt but their batteries got ridiculously expensive so switched to bauer and Hercules and have not had any issues since.

That swanson set is wayyy cheaper at menards

I disagree with the tire cross... Buy a 1/2 in breaker bar and the 3pcs lug set (4 diff sizes)

Regarding the plastic caps falling off the various clamps, as soon as I buy the clamps, I remove the caps, put a dab of E6000 glue, replace the caps, close the clamp tight, and after a couple of days of curing, no more worries about the caps coming off. How's that for a run-on sentence?

One note on the clamps, if the rubber feet do rip or get lost HF does sell replacement rubber feet for clamps, comes in an assortment pack with a handful of different sizes

The Doyle Demolition screwdrivers are a steal at only $8 full steel shank, comfortable nylon handle, and a labeled strike cap, The Pittsburgh bolstered screwdrivers, Pittsburgh long reach demolition screwdrivers full steel shank, good length, and strike caps. The Central Pneumatic cut off tool, been using it for about 14 years now, never oiled it once, drop it constantly and just won't die

Icon 1/2 in. Drive 25 in. Professional Breaker Bar with TPR Grip. Got it for $35. Add both a 19mm and a 21mm Pittsburgh impact socket. Now you're set for any car tire.

Bought a 18 ga Brad / staple nailer back when they were only $15.
Still runs great today, and I have used it routinely

LOL for 16 dollars drop that lug wrench and get a breaker bar and a socket set, Pittsburgh will do, if someone is breaking harbor freight tools then they need to learn how to use tools, if a nut or bolt is to tight then get a breaker bar not put a pipe on a ratchet FFS. as for the jack, cant say for the new ones but my old one is 20 years old and still going strong,

I'll pitch the 12" Hercules compound miter saw... so far, so good. Its a beast, powerful, smooth and accurate. Like it better than the old DeWalt it replaced. Put it on a Ridgid stand from Home Depot.

That extension magnet has saved a few projects by retrieving lost fasteners

Icon tools are pretty good.

I think the Quinn diamond tip screwdrivers are the best screwdrivers for the cost anywhere. The hold up well and feel comfortable.

I like the Pittsburg impact sockets.
I bought a couple sets 20 years or so back and they work fine.
I also have had good lick with Pittsburg wrenches.

Anyone know how the HF brands Doyle and Quinn stack up?
I think Quinn is supposed to be the HF knock off of Channel Lock.
It isn't that good but they are decent for the money.

Menards Tool Shop brand surprises me at what you get for your money.
Lifetime warranty, just keep your receipt.

I've had good luck with Harbor Freight tools. For the price and quality it's a good buy. Only been a couple times I wasn't overly happy with what I bought there.

I have a few things from Harbor Freight and I'm pretty happy with everything I got from there. I can't speak to the quality of the tools from back in the day but today they have some good stuff. On the clamps though, they do bend after some use but it doesn't affect the function of the tool. Most of the stuff I have is from the Bauer line, however I am trying to get the money together to get a thickness planer. I want to stay on the lower cost side but I don't want it so cheap that it breaks down quickly. I've looked at both the Bauer and Hercules line in the store but I would love to see them in action and also want to know how they hold up over time. Stay safe and Happy Building 💯😁

Trying not to fund China's aggression against America.

ICON is a con. Barely better than the terrible Pittsburgh brand and round off fasteners.

I swear bye there sockets I use them every day just as same as tool truck yes some things are junk I am mechanic I am tool whore

Don’t recommend the Merlin air adapter. Had one blow apart on me after only a few uses.

Are the ratchet wrenches any good looking to buy a good set. While not breaking the bank.

My go too harbor freight tools are their combination wrenches cause they dont break, i use the box ends on stubborn bolts all the time and even when you double wrench them with two people on them (one pushing down and one pulling down) they just wont break (the open end isnt that precise and can strip bolts out so i recommend also having some flare nut wrenches with these). I love their pry bars for how cheap they are but just know that they will bendz but the beauty of it is that they have a life time warranty, so just get a new one. Their adjustable wrenches are decent and i use them often for airlines on semis and 26 foot box trucks (its easier than pulling out a whole wrench rack dont judge me). Their rubber mallets are pretty good (orange deadblow) and i use them a lot for wheel seals and rotors. Their hercules electric ratchets are good but miluakee is better for sure, if you dont want to spend a fortune on batterys though go buy the hercules. Their voyager tool bags are great if you just need a cheap tool bag to organize your tools, i keep a bag on my truck filled with just simple electrical diagnosis tools and its real handy to just grab the bag and go, beats scrambling though drawers over and over again and its such a simple solution for 5 bucks. Their buckets arent bad either, i keep my hammers in them and literally toss my hammers from a couple feet away into their bucket and for the life of me i cant get that bucket to break. One of my favored tools from harbor freight is their extendable ratchets (especially the 1/4th and 3/8th dual head ratchet) ive torture tested the hell out of that ratchet and find no flaws other than the sleeve that releases the shaft of the ratchet gets stuck from time to time and you have to beat it to set it free. I have their flex head icon 3/8 ratchet and while it is my go too ratchet for most things i dont like the slop in the flex head and prefer gear wrenches lockable flex head with the matco like lock pin (that thing is a pleasure to use). Their doyle screwdriver set is by far the best screwdrivers i have and i use them for lots of things and enjoy the striking caps they have. I also like the doyle spinoff water pump pliers spoofed from knipex, they do the job. Their orange handle pick set is deal when you can get it for a dollar and i use them for o-ring removal and placement. I like their impact sockets but hate the size skips, if you want cheap impact sockets thatll do ya good go for the vevor sets on amazon. Their wire brush set is garbage and easily bent so a oud those. Their wire brush cup wheels are great and ive cleaned up many grounds with them and they seem to never wear down. The black handle pittsburgh pick set has some stand outs for me, the straight pick is perfect for putting holes in bottle and pulling cotter pins out in a pinch. By far my favorite harbor freight tool is the ten inch long locking pliers, those make the springs on big drum brakes light work to the point i have a spare set just in case i lose the original set cause i wouldnt be able to live without them. Their standard locking pliers feel cheap and id never buy them. Harbor freights extensions are worth the money and my tool box is filled with them. their permanent markers arent miluakee quality but for the price theyre super nice and i keep a good 5 around at all times. Their brake lining thickness measurer is metal so its my go too (those plastic ones break a week in). Yeah, i go to harbor freight weekly and id be hard pressed to say they dont have good tools. I like quality but im shocked that as a diesel mechanic harbor freights tools stand the test of time and prove themselves to be reliable day in and day out. Youd be a fool to be buying brands like snap on when these tools do the job at a fraction of the cost. The only snap on tool i own is a ratcheting screwdriver i got for free from my dad. I never use it.

Hard pass on the China made knock offs.

Nope the Doyle line is just as good as Kline electrician for over 20 years

Great stuff

A mower jack i bought from there had a catastrophic failure right before I was to go under it. Would’ve been a bad day.

I have throughly abused most of the HF Pittsburg line of mechanics tools, and with rate exception, have found they preform as good as any big name tool. Since they have a lifetime guarantee HF has always replace any tool I have damaged or broken with no questions asked. With that being said, HF now has the even higher quality ICON line of tools, and they are a superior value, especially when on sale, and have found then to be as good as any brand name.

Icon channels are good

The Magnetic Tool Holder Bars are a Big Win ... Very Strong and Useful

Misleading title. You are judging Mid tear level tools in a HF Best tools review, why not review the high tears only. Icon.

The jacks don't have a life time warranty no one does

Sorry guys these were just a bunch of generic picks and some of them aren't that great when the higher end HF brand is actually decent. I'd prefer some less common items people might not know are even sold there, let alone that they could be high quality.

4 in 1 screwdriver. Fantastic for simple use. Home and DIY.

Haha, drop a nut into a hard to reach spot. Haha

JUNK!

Wait till the tariffs kick in. Get ready to pay a lot more.

The reason for the split opinions is that HF USED to be mostly badly made junk. However in the past 5-10 years they have made a huge effort to upgrade their quality and it now shows in their several house brands. some of their tools are very good, yet they strive to hold prices down and do a pretty good job of it. So if you wrote HF off years ago, go back and have a look. i think you will be surprised.

F clamps. I wouldn't buy 18" or bigger. the rail is too flimsy (still) and when you crank down on the pressure, the rail will bend, throwing the Paralellism (sorry for the fake word but I think you get it) off and compromising your efforts.

Harbor freight tools are good for a one time Job. Stop buying after they quit giving out 20% coupons

Icon pliers wrench Doyle water pump plier