Here's a thread for tools that you paid good money for & were a big disappointment

I got a MityVac (which claims to be a vacuum & PRESSURE tool) to reverse bleed my clutch master & slave from the bottom. This is the preferred way per the ZFDoc & many others.

Well after several tries & a lot of spilt clutch fluid I concluded that this may be a hell of a vacuum tool but it stinks for pressure bleed. It is supposed to put out about 15 psi but I doubt it got to 2 psi.

I ended up using my air compressor (throttled way down) to apply pressure to the resevoir and tube system of the MV and finally got it bled.

This tool goes back to Sears tomorrow.

 

Well, I must admit that I never used a Mit-Vac for that purpose, but I found it was a heck of a tool for sucking out fluids like when I change PS or differential. It also is good for testing vacuum operated things like EGR.

But I had my share of crapola tools. Not that the design of the tools were bad, but that they were poorly made. These are usually the ones that I got at swap meets - made in China Stick with Craftsman or Snap-On.

 

iv'e liked mine... but i did have some problem's with the hose's sealing
on the connection's... but it wasn't the tool's fault...

 

Another big offender is Horrible Freight. Some of the stuff they sell is real junk.
My neighbor buys stuff from them all the time and thinks I'm crazy for buying Proto, SK, etc.
For instance, he bought a 15-piece impact socket set, in 1/2" drive for like $3.99. Now, I know that ONE 1/2" drive socket from Proto will be twice what he paid....at least.
I just hope he has his safety glasses on the first time he tries to use those things...


Larry

 

Hey, I like Harbor Freight! For about $200 they brought me half a UPS truck full of crap! Granted, some of it's quality is a little lacking and I've never used the sandblast cabinet I purchased from them but it looks really cool sitting in my garage!

 

I have a set of those pittsburg impacts from HF and they work jsut as well as my snapon set.. I think they were like 14.99 for english and 11.99 for the metrix set with the metal box. some stuff from HF is good.. some is junk.. you jsut have to be careful and send back what you odnt like.

 

EXACTLY!

We have a HF store near here... kinda creapy, really.

 

I bought one of those Spark Plug ratchets with the handle on the top so you can "easily remove those hard to get plugs in your C4 Corvette" - It's more of a pain to use than any other tool I've ever owned, just sits in the drawer now.

 

Other than the "Dirt Devil" I can't think of any "bad" tools; I mostly buy from Sears and get quality.

 

That hood opening tool [$25], I'm sure it works for someone, but not for me.
When my hood was stuck I pulled the hood release cable with a pliers untill it released.

 

Some of Habor Freight's stuff (like the Pittsburgh tools) are actually better than my boutique brand tools. Just pay attention to what you buy.

 

I live three miles from a Harbor Freight store. When your there in person its pretty easy to point out the good from the crap.

The Pittsburg tools are usually pretty sturdy, and theyre guarunteed too.

Bead roller- runs about $100 or so. Looks nice and well built but is total crap. It wouldnt bead a piece of sheet metal 3 sizes under its rated capacity.

Off brand vise grips- total crap. They break right at one of the pivots.

6(?) ton jackstands- run $19/pr on sale- these are so-so. The lock mechanism is difficult to release. Their solid and trustworthy, but difficult to lower.

Hydraulic jack- I have about a 3 ton or so floor jack, paid like $39 for it on sale. Excellent. Used it many times with no problems.

Pressure sand blaster- excellent. Runs about $80 or less.

Air hose- excellent. They sell a decent rubber air hose, 3/8x50 ft for $7.99, or goodyear 50ft on sale for $14.99

Manual air hose reel- a steal at $7.99 on sale.

Cordless drill. This one is questionable. I bought one for my 5 yr old son last year to play with. 14 volt, keyless chuck- for $14.99! It still works as new, but I'm not the one using it! It probably has plastic gears or something. Like I said though- its still working great. For my son or my wife I would gladly buy another. For me I'll keep my Craftsman 19.2V.

Digital volt meter- these are on sale almost every day for $3.99, and come with the leads too. Works fine. I never compared it to the Craftsman readings though. The leads are almost worth the price of the meter.

If the price sounds just too good to be true, it probably is.

 

I have one of those bead rollers and it works great. Used it on all the sheet metal in the race car.

 

One of the most useless tools I ever bought, the name of which escapes me at the moment, is that long 3/8" rachet with a turnable T handle on the end of the regular handle. The head of it is so thick that it's useless for getting anywhere where it might actually be of benefit. An air ratchet will do the same thing and is much more compact. Regarding Pittsburg Forge impacts sockets, I have shallow and deep sets in 1/2" and 3/4" drive that I've had for many years. I've broken exactly two of them, both the shallow and deep 15/16" in all of that time, both of which I use the crap out of at work behind a *****-out 1/2" air wrench. Another really great brand of impact sockets, if you can find them, are Sunnens. Comparable in price to Craftsman and probably the equal to Snap-Ons, Macs, etc. in every way.

 

I thought we were supposed to post stuff that doesn't work. 8^)
I bought an engine leveler to remove an engine from Hardly Freight and all it did was bind up. A real piece of garbage.

 

 

First thread in the history of Corvette Forum to get a little off track.... We've got to nip this in the bud. Thanks for bringing it to our attention, whew!