Best Harbor Freight Tools – Most Durable
Can you really buy durable tools at Harbor Freight? We tested 18 tools to find out.
➡️Air Adapter Set: https://amzn.to/3AeyDNU
➡️24×16 Square: https://amzn.to/3NFo9Ky
➡️Swanson Speed Square: https://amzn.to/3AnSWs6
➡️Swanson 7 and 12 Inch Set: https://amzn.to/4fbXCQA
We tested 18 different tools from Harbor Freight to try and find the most durable, buy it for life gear. Watch our video to find out the winners and losers.
Stubborn Gear is a channel that focuses on finding the best product that you only have to buy once (BIFL).
Here are links to the Harbor Freight tools:
➡️Magnetic Parts Holder: https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-magnetic-parts-holder-57464.html
➡️Doyle Adjustable Wrench: https://www.harborfreight.com/10-in-high-performance-adjustable-wrench-56657.html
➡️Doyle Pliers: https://www.harborfreight.com/10-in-high-performance-groove-joint-pliers-64467.html
➡️Hitch Pin: https://www.harborfreight.com/5-8-eighth-inch-x-3-inch-hitch-pin-with-clip-65432.html
➡️Hose Nozzle: https://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-brass-garden-hose-nozzle-31811.html
➡️Aluminum Level: https://www.harborfreight.com/9-in-solid-aluminum-level-69223.html
➡️C-Clamp: https://www.harborfreight.com/5-inch-industrial-c-clamps-39609.html
➡️Jack Stands: https://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-heavy-duty-ratcheting-jack-stands-black-58343.html
➡️4 Ton Jack: https://www.harborfreight.com/4-ton-professional-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-black-64782.html
➡️Spring Clamp: https://www.harborfreight.com/2-inch-heavy-duty-spring-clamp-91838.html
➡️F-Clamp: https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/clamps-vises/12-inch-bar-clamp-96214.html
➡️Magnetic Pickup Tool: https://www.harborfreight.com/15-lb-capacity-telescoping-magnetic-pickup-tool-64656.html
➡️Crow Bar: https://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-brass-garden-hose-nozzle-31811.html
➡️Breaker Bar: https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-drive-25-in-breaker-bar-60819.html
➡️Lug Wrench: https://www.harborfreight.com/20-inch-four-way-lug-wrench-94110.html
We tested 18 different tools from Harbor Freight to try and find the most durable, buy it for life gear. Watch our video to find out the winners and losers.
Stubborn Gear is a channel that focuses on finding the best product that you only have to buy once (BIFL).
We don’t accept payment from any company, so you know our reviews are honest and unbiased. We are completely supported by our viewers. This page contains affiliate links. That means that we are awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost for you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
To view more in-depth reviews of this and of other products, go to our website at: https://stubborngear.com
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Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:48 Bar Clamp
1:44 Steel Square
2:26 Aluminum Level
2:48 Lug Wrench
3:20 C Clamps
3:43 Parts Tray
4:07 Pliers
5:06 Breaker Bar
5:24 Rafter Square
6:01 Air Adapter
6:29 Hose Nozzle
6:51 Crow Bar
7:21 Magnetic Pickup
8:09 Jack Stands
9:02 Jack
9:54 Hitch Pin
10:12 Spring Clamp
10:48 Winners and Losers
Wait till the tariffs kick in. Get ready to pay a lot more.
Bought a 18 ga Brad / staple nailer back when they were only $15.
Still runs great today, and I have used it routinely
Hf bar clamps do not last you will bend them with daily use theyre nice for a large glue up because they are cheap and the lifetime is nice but to consider it a good clamp is laughable say your coping a entire building of trim using two hf bar clamps to hold your piece your lucky if they last a week
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.
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.
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.
WHile there is a lot of nuance when it comes to whats good or not, I know I can always trust something when professionals use it in the field. In this case, Daytona jacks and the US General toolboxes are definitely up there, as I’ve seen them in all sorts of automotive applications, and even a few Mechanic Youtubers.
The jacks don’t have a life time warranty no one does
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 💯😁
A few seconds in and the annoying, obnoxious, crappy-ass background "music" ran me off.
2:38 bro just say “it” its a tool not a person…
Are the ratchet wrenches any good looking to buy a good set. While not breaking the bank.
Hard pass on the China made knock offs.
Trying not to fund China’s aggression against America.
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.
Doyle pliers are 🗑️ they don’t break because you can’t use them for any real work
JUNK!
I’ve purchased many tools from HF. I’ve yet to have one fail.
The Magnetic Tool Holder Bars are a Big Win … Very Strong and Useful
ICON is a con. Barely better than the terrible Pittsburgh brand and round off fasteners.
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.
The jack stands, oppisite the locking pin, there is a U shaped cut out. f you read the directions, you’re supposed to bend in inward, this keeps the height adjustment from pulling out
as an old fart that grew up with a grease gun in my hand I like seeing the grease fittings on the floor jacks especially on the wheels
4 in 1 screwdriver. Fantastic for simple use. Home and DIY.
That extension magnet has saved a few projects by retrieving lost fasteners
I had a Central Pneumatic 2 1/4 ton jack for 30 years until the seal started leaking. I used it for lifting my 76 buick Lasabre and 72 Oldsmobile Delta 88, just brought 2 new Pittsburgh jacks, the low profile and regular one
When you go to HF, you’re going there for the cost. If you are going to use tools everyday, HF may not be the right choice. But their new product lines have immensely improved on quality. If you need a tool for the weekend or not going to use it very much, get HF tools. I like them a lot. But I know what I’m getting when I pay for it.
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,
Great stuff
I have the Doyle ‘channel locks’, and wire stripper/crimpers. They are pretty good, the cutters on the strippers don’t really cut anymore though. I have the jack stands and they are great. Always use the lock pins. And as for the jacks themselves, I see those things everywhere, as in all the tire shops i go to, and all the heavy equipment places and truck shops have them too. I also see a whole lot of Icon tool boxes and US General boxes parked next to the likes of Snap-on and Matco boxes.
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.
Nope the Doyle line is just as good as Kline electrician for over 20 years
I did not have any luck with the C-clamps. I bought four for a project and had three of them snap in half.
Icon pliers wrench Doyle water pump plier
Pittsburgh crowbars are trash especially they’re flat bars garbage idk what stee they use but the flat bars snap and the crowbars bend when your actually using them on a daily basis I get 100 times the life out of a Stanley for not that much more worthless in my opinion waste of time and money lifetime or not they just break before the paint even starts to get scratched off
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.
Misleading title. You are judging Mid tear level tools in a HF Best tools review, why not review the high tears only. Icon.
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.
Harbor freight tools are good for a one time Job. Stop buying after they quit giving out 20% coupons
Those bar clamps have thin bars that bend like a bow when tightened. The aluminum bar camps are a better alternative.
I have both the 6" and 4" magnetic parts trays. I especially love the 4" trays when they’re the free item. Get them and stock up. You can never have too many.
It’s good to have more than one to help sort your parts. For instance, one tray for fasteners to one valve cover. Another tray for the other valve cover. Etc.
Don’t recommend the Merlin air adapter. Had one blow apart on me after only a few uses.
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 tools are pretty good.
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
Icon channels are good
Haha, drop a nut into a hard to reach spot. Haha
I have the harbor freight floor. Jack a. Creeper 6 ton jack stands. I don’t really care for a Quinn or Pittsburgh but I love the icon brand and I have the ratchets. When I get my tax return I’m going to buy their 56-in tool chest
I think the Quinn diamond tip screwdrivers are the best screwdrivers for the cost anywhere. The hold up well and feel comfortable.
You know, not too long ago, most of you guys use to be like; Harbor Freight is crappy, they only have cheap stuff etc. Now look at y’all trendy buzzards…