JT - Jeep must haves from Harbor Freight

[TJDave]

I've had some good luck with many Harbor Freight items. Most of my mobile Jeep tool bag is full of their Pittsburg wrenches, sockets, and other stuff. My Pittsburg torque wrench has been great for years. Angle grinder and replacement discs, aluminum floor jack, jack stands, zip ties, tarps, etc. all good enough for me.
The one thing that wasn't was one of their earlier winches when I bought my first Jeep decades ago. I keep hearing good things about their current Badlands winches. But after a Harbor Freight and Smittybilt winch fried on me, I've been a Warn guy ever since.

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[DLAW]

I was sort of surprised to see that anyone relies on ANY jack without jackstands!
Jackstands are not a backup but should be the primary support after a vehicle is raised using a jack.
I'd never be foolish to use ONLY a jack.
My wife's cousin's husband was killed doing that. Mommy sent daughter out to get daddy for dinner. Girl reports back to mommy that daddy won't answer, there's something wrong with his face.
No stands.

When I was young and stupid, I dropped my Pathfinder while working on the brakes. Wheel off, on a bottle jack only. I cranked on a bolt, and pushed the truck right off the jack. Luckily it happened slowly enough where I could jump out of the way.
These type of stories hopefully make the next person do the right thing and not hurt themselves. It's really f***ing dangerous to have thousands of pounds of steel suspended in the air above you.
REDUNDANCY! Jack stands at a minimum. I never fully crawl under unless I have a third layer, like a wheel laying flat to catch it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

When I was young and stupid, I dropped my Pathfinder while working on the brakes. Wheel off, on a bottle jack only. I cranked on a bolt, and pushed the truck right off the jack. Luckily it happened slowly enough where I could jump out of the way.
These type of stories hopefully make the next person do the right thing and not hurt themselves. It's really f***ing dangerous to have thousands of pounds of steel suspended in the air above you.
REDUNDANCY! Jack stands at a minimum. I never fully crawl under unless I have a third layer, like a wheel laying flat to catch it.

I have 3 working floor jacks (used to have 5 but one was cheap and went back - tossed it, another I'll look for a place to find parts) and I have enough stands to fully support 2 vehicles all 4 corners and 2 smaller stands (10 stands total).
I will not get under a vehicle unless it's lowered onto the stands so they are fully supporting the weight of the vehicle, jack under it unless in the way but as redundency only, and then I grab the vehicle and shake as hard as I can. If it doesn't wiggle, I'll get under it.
I've seen hoists drop, cars fall off of hoists, I've seen 4 post lifts MOVED by a vehicle moving on them, you name it, I've probably seen it. (when you work around idiots, you see scary stuff LOL)
One guy was doing exhaust work on a two post lift - in that case it was front and back, not on the side like people think of two post lifts - one under front axle, one under rear axle. He was doing exhaust work, not done, time to close.
So there's tall stands holding the pipes up for him to clamp and/or weld.
We came in the next morning to find he hadn't set the safeties on the hoist and the hoist dropped, those exhaust stands were sticking up through the windshield of the car! Yup - through the floor,wrecking the dash and stuck right up through the windshield. WOW, scary.
Then I got to work at another shop one morning and walked in to see the boss and a couple of my co-workers standing around a car that had gone head-first off the front end of the hoist and into the side of a car they had parked in front of it because of the weather outside. The guy had the car centered - but not the WEIGHT - it was an Eldarado, VERY VERY front-heavy car! So overnight it tipped forward off the lift and into the side of another car.
Dang it guys you gotta center the WEIGHT, not pretty it up like hanging a picture on the wall!
And my son drove his 81 SX4 onto a set of ramps I had so he could change his oil. I had no problem with them. I'm not a fan of ramps, expecially those you buy, but then I knew how...... and I watched as he drove up on them, hit the brakes a bit quick and got out as the car smashed down and flattened the ramps. Dude, you ease up onto them!

 

[Blade1668]

ShadowsPapa

I've seen the results of jack stands, lifts and ramps failing. My late cousin GMC got totaled by a vehicle lift collapsing only thing recovered from it was her rear HD bumper, it was her work truck and horse trailer towing vehicle. I've never liked being under my XJ or LJ on a lift since.
Now I'm really missing my old jack stands I had before I moved to AL. I could really use them now with my JT they was made for big trucks, great for my XJ in past.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

ShadowsPapa

I've seen the results of jack stands, lifts and ramps failing. My late cousin GMC got totaled by a vehicle lift collapsing only thing recovered from it was her rear HD bumper, it was her work truck and horse trailer towing vehicle. I've never liked being under my XJ or LJ on a lift since.
Now I'm really missing my old jack stands I had before I moved to AL. I could really use them now with my JT they was made for big trucks, great for my XJ in past.

You should have seen how I had my big Case tractor front end supported when I did a wheelbase lengthen on it. A pair of house jacks and stacks of timbers. We're talking TONS of iron and a big honking diesel engine I had to support.

 

[Blade1668]

You should have seen how I had my big Case tractor front end supported when I did a wheelbase lengthen on it. A pair of house jacks and stacks of timbers. We're talking TONS of iron and a big honking diesel engine I had to support.

When I was living in GA. the guy across the street from my house was always using 8in concrete blocks for jack stands on the ends, I always expected to get home to find him killed by that.... "He" wouldn't listen or at least use wood blocks. I expect to hear he's been crushed by a car some time.

 

[trust]

A buddy had his 240z fall on his chest, it was the rear end and he had been a powerlifter so he bench pressed it off but never trusted just a Jack again....

 

[brianinca]

They're carrying much higher quality items, at a higher price but still good. I bought a set of cobalt drill bits for some fastener removal, HOLY SMOKES do they work amazing! Then a set of four carbide deburring bits (in a $14.99 air tool) and jeeze, I got covered in metal sawdust in no time at all. Yes, $60+ for each of those, but I'm happy to be able to run downtown and pick up what I need and the quality I'm willing to pay for. I agree, they have really stepped up their game in the last 20 years.

Well I've got 3 Craftsman toolbox's and a old HF crap one. S### ton of Craftsman tools. A good quantity H.F tools now too. 12 or so ton press, drill press, furniture dollies, ball joint press and accessories for it it's paid for it's self over and over just don't loan it to a jackass that some how screws it up.... So a replacement one too. I've done probably a dz sets of ball joints and about the same in u-joints with it. Had a transmission jack from H.F. and floor jack. A early H.F 8k winch "pre Apex winches", slow as heck but still working. I should have bought a H.F. shop air compressor and not a Craftsman one. A H.F. 12 air compressor still going strong. Overall I think H.F. has really stepped up their game on a lot of stuff. I've bought 4 trailers from them one was total POS the others have worked well for my use, hauling a small "pond prowler" boat after mods the other was a 40×40 light duty use, I gave to a friend to haul his trash cans to dump. I bought there 12 v drills and got a lot of work out of them before I wore out the batteries. Last month I picked up another cordless drill from there to use for less than a Dewalt battery.

 

[93civej1]

They're carrying much higher quality items, at a higher price but still good. I bought a set of cobalt drill bits for some fastener removal, HOLY SMOKES do they work amazing! Then a set of four carbide deburring bits (in a $14.99 air tool) and jeeze, I got covered in metal sawdust in no time at all. Yes, $60+ for each of those, but I'm happy to be able to run downtown and pick up what I need and the quality I'm willing to pay for. I agree, they have really stepped up their game in the last 20 years.

Ill continue to use their things as long as I have no issues. The time I do or ever have, i just went in and swapped it out. Ive got a compressor still going strong for years now. Recently got what seems like a decent battery powered Baur drill, and it works great and has been for a while.

 

[eaglerugby04]

They're carrying much higher quality items, at a higher price but still good. I bought a set of cobalt drill bits for some fastener removal, HOLY SMOKES do they work amazing! Then a set of four carbide deburring bits (in a $14.99 air tool) and jeeze, I got covered in metal sawdust in no time at all. Yes, $60+ for each of those, but I'm happy to be able to run downtown and pick up what I need and the quality I'm willing to pay for. I agree, they have really stepped up their game in the last 20 years.

I think its a combination of them stepping up when everybody else stepped down. Craftsman isn't what it was 20 years ago, as brands like that have fallen it has become very easy for a slight improvment to make them almost equal on some items.

I would trust anything out of HF before I would trust Ryobi at this point. Those things fail like crazy on me.

 

[trust]

Years ago I was in a HF store in Albuquerque, the closest one at the time, and some guys were returning a tool. The guy doing the return finished guys left and the guy asks the boss who I was waiting to see how to code the return... boss says just mark it as DUI.... I pondered and thought as I waited in line and when I got to the front of the line and was about to talk to the boss when he grinned and asked me if I'd figured it out yet.... I wasn't aware it was so obvious I'd overheard but apparently it was. After I confessed I hadn't figured out DUI he grinned again and said "done using it".... went on to say they had a lot of customers buy tools, use them in the parking lot then return them...

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I think its a combination of them stepping up when everybody else stepped down. Craftsman isn't what it was 20 years ago, as brands like that have fallen it has become very easy for a slight improvment to make them almost equal on some items.

I would trust anything out of HF before I would trust Ryobi at this point. Those things fail like crazy on me.

I made my living with mostly Craftsman tools - I won a mid-sized mechanics set as a result of the Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest I won in 75.
I have replaced the few that broke as they broke (and I mean FEW as I could count them on one hand). I have recently replaced a socket (I used a standard socked on a Milwaukee impact with a swivel - MY BAD!!!) and a ratchet I literally WORE OUT. I took it in and said I wanted a repair kit - they made those - and it was worn, not broken. I literally wore it out in about 40 years. Instead they gave me a whole new ratchet that's actually pretty nice, IMO.
I have a set of Craftsman "universal sockets" as I call them - they'll work on standard hex bolts and nuts and also on torx head bolts.
I needed them to break loose VERY VERY stubborn bolts in my Eagle front suspension (the hubs, etc.) I think those things were torqued at about 150+ pound/feet originally and with age and rust.....
These things are 3/8" and I put an adapter on and used my long 1/2" breaker bar and got those bolts loose with NO damage. I then used them to torque things back when done.
Maybe SOME things aren't as good - but I have yet to find something I couldn't abuse a bit and have it hold up.
I have broken tools from every brand - Snap-On, Matco, Mac, Lisle, you name it, I've broken it.
But with a lifetime guarantee - even against wearing it out - I still replaced things with Craftsman tools.
I made my living with them and in a way, I still do - in my restoration business and car hobby.

These are some of the smaller bolts I was using those sockets on - there are other, larger ones, involved in these cars, too............the hubs are literally held to the steering knuckle with these bolts, they are hard bolts and highly torqued because all of the stresses of the steering and suspension relies on them.

 

[eaglerugby04]

I made my living with mostly Craftsman tools - I won a mid-sized mechanics set as a result of the Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest I won in 75.
I have replaced the few that broke as they broke (and I mean FEW as I could count them on one hand). I have recently replaced a socket (I used a standard socked on a Milwaukee impact with a swivel - MY BAD!!!) and a ratchet I literally WORE OUT. I took it in and said I wanted a repair kit - they made those - and it was worn, not broken. I literally wore it out in about 40 years. Instead they gave me a whole new ratchet that's actually pretty nice, IMO.
I have a set of Craftsman "universal sockets" as I call them - they'll work on standard hex bolts and nuts and also on torx head bolts.
I needed them to break loose VERY VERY stubborn bolts in my Eagle front suspension (the hubs, etc.) I think those things were torqued at about 150+ pound/feet originally and with age and rust.....
These things are 3/8" and I put an adapter on and used my long 1/2" breaker bar and got those bolts loose with NO damage. I then used them to torque things back when done.
Maybe SOME things aren't as good - but I have yet to find something I couldn't abuse a bit and have it hold up.
I have broken tools from every brand - Snap-On, Matco, Mac, Lisle, you name it, I've broken it.
But with a lifetime guarantee - even against wearing it out - I still replaced things with Craftsman tools.
I made my living with them and in a way, I still do - in my restoration business and car hobby.

These are some of the smaller bolts I was using those sockets on - there are other, larger ones, involved in these cars, too............the hubs are literally held to the steering knuckle with these bolts, they are hard bolts and highly torqued because all of the stresses of the steering and suspension relies on them.

How are you getting them swapped out at this point? With Sears no longer being a thing pretty much everywhere.

I have my grandfather's tools and craftsman cabinets and I can say for sure the ones I got from him are still solid. The recent move to selling them at lowes has been a bit of a turn off for me, not going to lie. Have you tried those ones yet?

 

[Mac]

I have some Craftsman from my dad and some I bought 40 years ago, I use them but if I am doing something that may result in a broken tool I use my Kobolt stuff. Don’t care if they would replace the Craftsman if broken I have a sentimental attachment to them.

 

[Jonny A]

Ace hardware stores carry Craftsman too.

I have my old 45 yo Craftsman set. Every now and again I will buy new tools for another tool box in car or house. I truthfully don’t see o r feel any difference from then to now. I have not been disappointed. I have used all the major premium brands and will say Snap-On has always had a better finish and feel. For the huge price difference it just isn’t worth the $ in my mind.

The HF Icon brand? They are comparable to Craftsman in price, but have that Snap-On look and feel. If they have the reliability of Craftsman, I would recommend that brand to amateur mechanics.

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