I had my first summer camp at Tobyhanna Army Depot in the Pocono Mountains. A few of us walked the mile down the road to a bar after work. I was 22 at the time but the lady didn’t believe me or my picture license or military ID. We were all 22 or 23 in our fatigues and obviously not kids even though I looked young but still I drank Coke instead. I figured someone must have put the fear of the Lord in her. Maybe hanging is the penalty for a bad serve in Penn., I dunno.
I remember a few years ago . . .
some guys in Mexico tried to enter the US, posing as US marines
They were about the right age, but there were a few problems, the big one being . . .
The uniforms all had the SAME name
Please don’t anybody suggest I’m racist or anything like that. I told you guys already I’m of mixed heritage and don’t really “pass” . . . more than that, I kind of look like the guys that tried to enter
I’m merely using this as an example of somebody doubting the identity and/or age of somebody in uniform. In this case, it was a fake uniform
I agree that Craftsman quality has suffered, but their life time warranty for sockets, wrenches and a bunch of other things are the greatest. Replaced the rear wheel bearing on my wife’s Acura last yesterday. The 36mm socket cracked and split when I attempted to undo the wheel locking nut. Went to Sears, they looked at it and gave me a new one, no questions ask or receipts wanted. The guy just looked for the craftsman mark. Took less than 2 minutes.
Since your socket cracked . . . I’m assuming it was a chrome socket
Was it also a 12-point socket?
yes, chrome and 12-pointer
Considering the type of force generally involved removing/installing an axle nut socket, an impact socket is the better choice
And if you’re actually using an impact wrench, an impact socket should be the only choice
I don’t know if your axle nut socket is 12-point or 6-point. Using a 6-point socket really does make a difference. 12-point axle nuts are more common on European vehicles, in my experience
I’ve seen guys get badly hurt, using a chrome socket with an impact wrench, trying to remove an axle nut socket
Please don’t let that happen to you
I agree, but that was all I had. Actually was only the second time I did rear bearings replacement. I used a 3ft breaker bar to undo the nut.
I’ve seen guys get BADLY hurt, doing exactly what you were doing
Count yourself luck that when it shattered, you didn’t mess up your eyesight
Seen that too
I used one of my Father’s Craftsman thin wall sockets with a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar and 3 foot length of pipe to break loose a stuck lug nut. The only thing breaking when I jumped on the pipe was the socket. I was 16 years old. I rushed the socket 10 miles in my spare car to Sears. They also instantly replaced it no questions asked. I had it in his tool box 40 minutes before he arrived home from work. Whew!!!
The one I broke was chrome/12 point, and thin wall. As stated I was 16 years old. One of my Father’s impact sockets would have been a much better choice! We are always/forever learning.
“One thing I DO NOT like is the coupon concept. It delays checkout and forces the buyer to remember to bring his/her coupons to the store to get the sale prices.”
Harbor Freight has always given me the coupon price whether I had a coupon or not… or even knew it existed. And if they have a “free with purchase” coupon, they give me the freebie too, even if I didn’t know about it. My experiences with HF have been better than any other retailer I’ve ever purchased from. My experiences with them have been 100% positive.
I’ve been doing a little painting on my trailer the last couple of days and I am finally using that HF spray gun I picked up a couple years ago. I was really concerned about it since it was less than $20, but actually it has been doing a very nice job . Lays down a nice pattern and can be fully disassembled for cleaning. I was surprised that my BIL had used them on his restoration since he is an experienced painter but based on him I picked one up. He said just treat them as disposable and buy a couple at a time.
I NEVER pay full price for anything Harbor Freight sells. Some things never go on sale, but several times a month they have a 20-25% off coupon in their flyers. The stuff that’s excluded by percent off coupons is frequently on sale, so you don’t need them for those items. Some sales are better than others, but if you’re willing to wait, a lot of stuff is half price or less at it’s best sale price. And some of it ain’t half bad quality. I bought a HF branded SawZall for $20 bucks that I expected to last the first two or three times I used it and at 3 years old and hundreds of 2X4’s later, it’s still going strong. Now they’ve got one with a swivel handle for the same price that I might just invest another $20 in. If it lasts as well as the first one, I’ll just wait 'till the next worthwhile feature is added to buy again.
There is one caveat that I might add to all this praise for HF Tools… There are a LOT of their tools which require expendable attachments, but their inventory of these attachments do not fit their brand of tools. I’m still looking for a sand blaster nozzle for one of their portable sand blasters. The only place I’ve been able to find them is WWGrainger, and they don’t sell to the retail customer.
And finally, I hate the L-O-N-G list of exceptions to their percent off coupons. It’s in the (VERY) fine print, but that’s a lot of exceptions. Just when you thought you were going to get their best price ever, along comes their list of exceptions to jar you back into reality. In the market for a compressor? Fugitaboutit. Even a list of brand names you’ve never heard of that’s as long as your arm. I understand why they do this, but IMHO, it’s misleading at best. And if your vision is as bad as mine, you need someone to read the list to you because it’s in SUCH fine print, I’m not sure 20-20 vision would allow you to read it all.
And like so many retailers these days HF wants customers to joins their club and get their credit card. Retailers’ gimmicks are becoming very annoying.
“I bought a HF branded SawZall for $20 bucks”
I’m not sure if you’re aware that “SawZall” is in fact a brand name
It’s kind of like calling all off-road types of SUVs “Jeeps” . . . yes, there are quite a few people out there that do that kind of thing
or calling all cotton swabs “Q-tips”
Anyways, I’m glad that tool worked out for you
Yes, I knew that SawZall is a brand name, but I used it like you use ‘Coke’ to mean any cola soft drink (or cotton swabs used interchangeably with ‘Q-Tips’). I assumed that everyone knows what a SawZall is, so I used it to avoid having to go through a lengthy description of the tool I was talking about.
But I do appreciate your comment. I also own an old Milwaukee ‘SawZall’ which is essentially worn out… The reciprocating ram wobbles around so badly, the width of the cut is double or triple what it should be. So I use the less-used but also less worn out HF tool. I considered replacing the worn out parts on the Milwaukee, but for the same cost I could buy four HF tools, so I’ll probably keep buying them as long as HF sells 'em for $20.
I belong to HF’s Insider’s Club, but I’m not sure I’m going to renew when it expires. The only thing that I can see that it does for you is gives you special sale pricing (like Sidewalk Sales, Labor Day sales, etc.) one day in advance of the actual sale. Once a month they do offer Insider’s Club members a special booklet of sale prices, but if you wait and watch their circulars, you can get just as good if not better prices on just about everything in the book.
That HF Insider’s Club . . . is there some kind of a membership fee?
Yeah, you’re right about the worn out Milwaukee sawzall . . . you can get them rebuilt, but it would probably be cheaper to just buy a brand new HF saw
So the air compressors are NEVER on sale . . . ?
That’s kind of surprising and also disappointing, considering a lot of people go there specifically looking to buy power tools and accessories. Are their air compressors significantly lower priced, versus Craftsman, Husky, etc.?
I’m just thinking, if the HF air compressor price is already significantly lower than those other brands, perhaps they’re already only making a modest profit, and to reduce the price, they would be losing money. Perhaps it doesn’t make financial sense to put them on sale
I’m done ranting for now
I just looked at the Harbor Freight site and the Insiders Club membership is 24.95 for a year and 44.95 for two years. Not something I would do.
1 Like
I didn’t mean to mislead you, db460. Their compressors are almost always on sale… At least the smaller ones. What I meant to say was that you can’t use their 20% - 25% off coupons for air compressors and a whole lot of other exceptions. But they do have them on sale all the time. For example, they’re now running a 20 Gal, 2.5HP unit for $149. I already have one, but my big Craftsman compressor recently broke down and I bought a 2-Stage 5 HP 60 Gal compressor from Harbor Freight for $700.
Much to my surprise, it’s NOT made in China. The motor is a single-phase, 220V Century, made right here in the good old U.S. of A, the compressor is made in Italy, and I’m not sure where the tank was made, but it it’s heavy duty and very well constructed. A similar Campbell-Hausfeld compressor is upwards of $1,600. I bought an extended warranty (replacement warranty) for $60 for two years, but the reviews indicate I probably won’t need it.
You’re probably wise to steer clear of the Insiders Club, Volvo_V70. I can always cancel and get a pro-rated refund, and I think that’s probably what I’ll end up doing. It’s just not worth it. You can get some very good deals without it.