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Phone posted:Do you have a link to the Snap-On torque stick? I bought that exact impact gun a couple of weeks ago to get out seats in my Miata. Seconded, a torque stick would let me use my shiny new Harbor Freight impact gun a lot more often.
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Mar 5, 2008 18:07
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leica posted:Harbor Freight sells a set of 6 for $30, but not separately. 55 to 100#'s and also 3/8ths drive unfortunately. Not sure if there's a 90 in there. 1/2" drive version Harbor Freight is good enough for me 
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Mar 5, 2008 18:43
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leica posted:60 bucks though. Yup, the truck, Miata, and Volvo, plus whatever the hell else I happen to be working on. These would also be great for jobs that require lugnut-like torque (like the shocks on said truck).
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Mar 5, 2008 20:26
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That set was at the store here and I almost bought it, but thought better of it since I knew I could get a 80# Snap-on separately.
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leica posted:I use a HF 5# plastic sledge filled with buckshot, about the same results I would imagine. It might even be less damaging than a lead hammer. It probably is, since while the lead probably won't dent I bet it does scuff and scratch like a bastard. I really need to pick up a plastic dead-blow from Harbor Freight one of these days.
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Mar 5, 2008 22:45
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miklm posted:Thanks. There goes yet another small portion of my paycheck. My luck the local HF won't have any in stock; they're terrible about having inventory here. Oooh, I have that but in red and minus a few of the drawers in the middle. Nice set The plastic tool tray, as I discovered while in the long slow process of finally organizing my tools now that I own a house, is phenomenal for electrical tools and crap. I have an old truck that often requires some reworking in the wiring harness so I've got it loaded up with a ratcheting crimper, automatic stripper, a test light, and a huge assortment of wire and crimps. The only wiring-related tools I don't have in it at the moment are my 120V detector (which I'm pretty sure is broken anyway thanks to it lying to me about an outlet I was working on) and a multimeter (not enough room).
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Mar 5, 2008 23:56
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Pfft, none of those qualify as Giant loving Screwdrivers. My dad has a pair, which have been hammered on and pried with for probably 30 years. The handles split long ago, so the back end of the metal portion is not only exposed, it's full on mushroomed. They are absolutely hideous and one actually has about a 30* bend from god only knows what - I suspect my dad must have had to use it to lift a goddamn house or something because nothing else has bent it.
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Mar 6, 2008 04:44
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Nitrox posted:Can anyone recommend me a good soldering iron? I would like to get a good cheap one if there is such thing. Last I shopped around, Hakko irons were still available drat cheaply and it certainly beats the hell out of the ~20 year old Craftsman my dad uses.
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Mar 6, 2008 19:38
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SNiPER_Magnum posted:What is the difference between 12pt and 6pt sockets? I'm guessing 6pt would be less likely to round a nut and 12pt is easier to slip on a nut. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference in price. That is pretty much it. A 12-point socket can go on at more angles than a 6-point socket, but loses surface area against the hex as a result so it's more likely to strip or break.
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Mar 6, 2008 20:06
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BabyJesus posted:Can I use my standard sockets on a 1/2" or 3/8" drive torque wrench. Sorry, I'm a noob when it comes to them. Never had one Yup, torque wrenches don't need any special sockets.
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Mar 7, 2008 16:11
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BigKOfJustice posted:I almost lost a wheel assembly while driving a few weeks later. So that explains:  BigKOfJustice posted:[Company was Big O Tire, they righted things buy paying for repairs and a new alignment no questions asked at a dealer but that chain can go eat a bag of dicks]. Agreed, that chain sucks rear end. When my wife got her old '79 280ZX, the previous owner had some roughly two-month-old Nankangs on the back of it that quickly each popped a belt in a big way, and they wouldn't do a damned thing about it. Sure, they legally didn't have to but that's just lovely service.
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Apr 9, 2008 22:58
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Pissingintowind posted:Seems like Sears/Craftsman is better, unless someone has had a bad experience with them: You're trusting your life to this equipment, do not cheap out on your jack and stands. I had one of those little ones - yes they do lift the weight but their small size and short handle means you're getting uncomfortably close to the vehicle while you're jacking it, and it's a bit fiddly too. Really, it's marginally better than a scissor or screw jack, at best (and I hate those things). It looks like, at least according to the Sears site, they don't sell the Craftsman jack I have - it's a black / yellow 3.5 ton with quick lift. I got it on sale a while back with a pair of stands (I can't remember if they're 3 or 4 ton stands) and I've been reasonably happy with it. The quick lift really is quick - granted, none of my vehicles are 'tall' but it means that the first pump is literally all I need to get the saddle to the vehicle. However, I do suspect mine needs a good bleeding since if I'm really cranking the truck up there it seems to start running out of steam. It's worth noting that once it 'switches' to the standard lift mode from quick-lift, it requires more pumps to get to a certain height than my dad's ancient Craftsman (probably older than me) does. That said, Harbor Freight is awesome for getting super cheap versions of tools you will use rarely, at best. I just finished up the new A/C system for my truck today and needed to pull a vacuum on it prior to charging - this $10 'pump' from HF performed flawlessly, especially given the low price tag. It does suck down a good bit of air to do it's job so I'm glad I was doing this with a relatively large compressor (compared to 5-gal ones like mine). No matter how you do it, you should have a valve in-line between the vacuum pump and the A/C system - this would be especially important if your compressor will have to play catch-up.
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Apr 20, 2008 05:55
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That looks considerably bigger than the chintzy one I was talking about, though the handle is oddly short. Most proper full size jacks have a two-part handle roughly twice the size.
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Apr 21, 2008 04:18
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I'm pretty sure with anything Harbor Freight that plugs into an electrical outlet, having it not burst into flame immediately is considered a success.
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Jul 10, 2008 21:17
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Uthor posted:I'm totally getting something like this once I get enough stuff to warrant the cost and space: I just got one like that for Christmas. Holy poo poo is it nice not having my random bolts and other leftovers strewn all over the garage.
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Jan 5, 2009 19:28
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frozenphil posted:Don't you have a fender and some baggies to store your bolts? That was my previous storage solution, except that my fender can run and be legally driven  Except right now, because I need to put on two new front tires and get a new battery...
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Jan 5, 2009 23:38
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frozenphil posted:My car runs, is registered, and is insured. Legally I can drive it on the roads in Alabama since we don't have any of those pansy safety or emissions checks. Suck it down. So, why are you posting on the internet instead of driving? And while I usually don't mind that we don't have safety checks locally (my Volvo would probably fail on a few technicalities), every time I walk by a late-model truck in a parking lot on 20"+ wheels with tires showing cord, or see a car that's clearly taken a hard hit to one corner with no repairs, I rethink my opinion. Bringing the thread back on topic, I think I might need to swap out the bench grinder I got for Christmas. The drat thing vibrates like hell when on, especially while it's spinning up - worse than my dad's 25-year-old grinder did when I finally bought him a new one for Christmas two years ago. I might try removing the wheels first, though, since it looks like one or both is out of round...I want a wirebrush wheel anyway.
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Jan 6, 2009 00:20
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I just got myself one of these: Mityvac vacuum pump / bleeder kit. Holy poo poo, might be the best $30 I've ever spent at Harbor Freight. I had to replace the clutch master cylinder on the Miata and this made it so stupid easy...put a box-end wrench on the bleeder, hook the Mityvac up, pull a vacuum and loosen the bleeder. Repeat a few times until the fluid coming out is clean, tighten it all back up, and you're done. I know mine will be getting some more use in the near future with a brake job on my brother's '79 280ZX and probably a once-over on the brakes on my truck. I wish I had this a few years back when I did the master cylinder on the Volvo. With Craftsman, are they still just exchanging them in-store or are they repairing them? I've got a kick-rear end swivel-head Craftsman 3/8" ratchet with a long handle that was originally my late father-in-law's, but the ratchet mechanism has been jammed since long before I got a hold of it. Since it has some sentimental value, I'd rather repair the tool instead of swapping it out with a newer random part.
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Jan 15, 2009 21:46
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RealKyleH posted:I saw the "Vacula" brake fluid changer, would I be able to hook up like a shop vac to a cup and suck brake fluid out that way and then just pour in new fluid until what comes out is clear, close and repeat? I guess I am asking what the fastest way to change brake fluid is without a $150 Vacula that I will sue twice. Is there a good, quick, harbor freight alternative? It is definitely past time for my Mark VIII. Get a MityVac at HF for $30. I picked one up to do the clutch master on my Miata and I'm never doing anything with hydraulics any other way ever again.
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Jan 23, 2009 23:07
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RealKyleH posted:I saw that, isnt it just a hand pump unit? Yeah. It doesn't take much force to operate, nor does it take a whole lot of work to flush brake fluid through a system.
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Jan 24, 2009 03:27
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Lowclock posted:That pump looks like it might be able to evacuate with one side and pump with the other? If so, it would probably be pretty good for flushing transmissions and coolant systems. Nah, one side is the air feed - it's powered by compressed air.
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Feb 19, 2009 23:35
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sharkytm posted:Keep some extras, try to trade the rest on GarageJournal. Lots of SAE-wanters. I need to do this. I have a decent bit of duplicates - first from me getting a small socket set as a gift when I was a kid, then a much larger set later on, and then inheriting what's left of my late father-in-law's collection. drat shame that apparently much of that set was given away years ago - even what's left is all old Craftsman at worst, and there's some Mac / Snapon / other low-volume high-end brands mixed in. It also isn't helped that I had to buy a whole set of Craftsman 3/8" metric sockets, just to get the 3/8" drive 21mm.
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Mar 9, 2009 04:35
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Jared592 posted:I've never heard of jackstands failing, even lovely ones. I attribute this to their being pretty foolproof as long as they're not made of plastic or something. I'd pay a little more for one that didn't mar up the driveway without necessitating a wood board placed under them, though I'm not sure if such a jackstand design exists. There is an older style made out of thin stamped steel - I've seen more than a few pictures of them bent like pretzels after a failure. They typically have a hollow center tube for the adjustable portion, along with a pin to push through to hold the set height, as opposed to the lever style with a cast center portion. I don't think anyone sells them new anymore, but if you (or anyone reading this thread) has the old stamped ones, throw them out, they're not worth it.
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Mar 13, 2009 20:40
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Those tiny hydraulic floor jacks are borderline useless, IMO; they're almost a glorified version of a screw jack you get in the trunk.Kynetx posted:Yeah, I have the HF version of that jack and it's pretty crappy. To properly jack up an MS3 in the front you have to do it by the crossmember and there is very little mechanical advantage with the tiny handle. The travel of the handles starts about 20 degrees above horizontal so if you're in cramped quarters you're screwed. Does that crossmember work well for jacking the MS3? I did an oil change on ramps but since I need to lay out wood in front of the ramps to clear the airdam, and I would have liked some more space, I think I'll jack it next time. Do you use a 2x4 or anything to spread the load?
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Jun 1, 2009 16:46
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PBCrunch posted:When I have put t-belts in DOHC cars it has always been a real struggle to get the belt on even with two people. I've only done one SOHC car and it was very easy to get the belt to slip on. Does this match others' experience? I've only done timing belts on two cars ever (SOHC Volvo, DOHC Miata) so take this for what it's worth, but the Miata's wasn't bad at all - I used the trick where you take two crescent wrenches, put one on each flat, and use a clamp to hold them together. Works great for everything except the part where you have to torque the cam gears down, a second person is a near-necessity for that. Kynetx: I have a decent full-size Craftsman jack with about a 4-5" cup, my worry was that it would put all of the weight on a couple of very small points on the crossmember since it's cupped and not a flat pad. Time to grab a scrap 2x4, and I need to bleed it as well - I always leave my jack up at the height of the car even when it's on stands, and over the course of an hour or two it will sag down from holding a bit of weight to about a half-inch gap between the pad and the car.
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Jun 1, 2009 19:37
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TurboLuvah posted:Why not try the, "cut the old TB in half and slide the new one on, then finished cutting off the old TB," method. I was going to do that on the Miata myself, but the fact that I needed to also replace the idler, tensioner, and water pump made that impossible.
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Jun 3, 2009 01:32
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Speaking of Proto, I have my late father-in-law's old Proto torque wrench - 3/8" drive with in/lb measurements. However, it feels like the whole goddamn thing is seized up. Will they repair it or just send me a refurb?
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Jul 21, 2009 16:28
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mod sassinator posted:Has anyone used the HF knock-off of the MityVac vacuum bleeder? I want to change the clutch fluid and I figure this will be a lot cleaner and easier for me to do alone. That's not a Mityvac ripoff, that pressurizes from the MC side instead of creating vacuum on the bleeder side. Also, HF sells the actual Mityvac for less than that.
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Jul 27, 2009 05:33
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Drunk Pledge Driver posted:So the VACUUM pump creates pressure? He must've changed the link, it went to this before.
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Jul 27, 2009 06:56
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Doctor Zero posted:I'd add to Kynetx's list an extending wrench. I got this from HF and this is seriously my favorite tool right now. God, I have a few of those with Crescent branding, one in 1/2" and one in 3/8". They are seriously awesome for those bolts that shouldn't require a breaker bar, but need more than a standard-length ratchet to loosen...Miata oilpan drain plug, I'm looking at you.
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Dec 9, 2009 17:04
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Electric leaf blowers are still plenty loud, I have a Toro that will leave my ears ringing after too long on the highest setting (it also puts out a considerable amount of thrust at that setting!)
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Dec 15, 2009 00:55
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Self sufficient, gently caress, I think goons would pay you to use it. Alignments and tire mounting / balancing are the only jobs I absolutely have to pay someone to do.
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Feb 5, 2010 06:36
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Yeah but doesn't that multiplier only work on things like lugnuts? Useless if you can't anchor it somehow. The breaker bars are so cheap that I have both a 3/8" and a 1/2" drive version of the HF bar. Protip, the 1/2" HF breaker bar, combined with a 21mm Craftsman socket, will let you get the crank bolt off of a NB Miata without loosening or removing the front swaybar at all.
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Mar 16, 2010 15:30
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I would imagine a dead-blow hammer like that can't quite put the same amount of force into a knockoff wheel like a lead hammer could - the nylon in the dead blow has a lot of give to it. I actually have a copper hammer from HF somewhere.
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Apr 7, 2010 01:51
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Out of :sperg: curiosity, can you not just chuck up the square drive directly in the vise? Seems like you'd avoid any possible slack between the square drive on the ratchet and the socket itself...then again, that's slack that will be there in a real-world use of it too. Also, on all of this side-loading talk, how many percent are we talking about in error? An additional 3% either way, or 10%, or what? Seems like these days a lot more companies are speccing out torque ranges like 65-75 ft lb instead of 70 on the dot.
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Jun 29, 2010 00:09
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Goddamn, Circuit Specialist is practically on the way home from work for me. If I ever decide to tackle a decent sized soldering project beyond just my R/C stuff, I might pick up one of those stations.
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Aug 5, 2010 22:26
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grover posted:I've had Fram suredrains on my Camaro and 4Runner for probably about 6 years, and they're great. Oil changes are even more trivial than before. I put one of these on my truck years ago when I still had the old 350. Unfortunately, with the 20w50 I had to run to keep some oil from not getting blown out of the valve breathers (blowby what), even if the oil was hot it took for-loving-ever for it to drain. I suspect with synthetic oils and thinner oil grades, though, it'd probably work great.
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Oct 11, 2010 17:23
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I know there's been a lot of bitching in here about the poo poo quality of Harbor Freight's tap sets, but are they any good for at least chasing / cleaning threads that are already cut in aluminum? I managed to do a number on a threaded hole in the intercooler on my Mazdaspeed3 and while it's far from critical, I would rather not have a gaping hole in the engine bay.
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Nov 14, 2010 20:03
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FatCow posted:The HF stands are fine. The welds don't look pretty but it's made from thick steel and the shaft is cast, not stamped. I sound like a broken record on this I'm sure but yeah, any jackstand that's stamped should be avoided like the plague. On cordless tools - I've seen more than a few highly reviewed 18V Lithium Ion impact drivers that are apparently beefy enough to spin off a lug nut (as long as it wasn't spun on with a 200 ft-lb airgun first). I've been thinking about switching from my mix of 14V and 18V Black & Decker stuff to a Lithium Ion set, but can't quite decide. I'm leaning towards the Milwaukee M18 system by starting off with this and adding on other devices later. Except that they don't have much other than drills and impact wrenches, and I'd at least like a hand vac I can run on the same battery system, which has me leaning slightly towards Makitas instead. Edit: Hmm, just noticed the badass Milwaukee shop-vac. Thoughts? IOwnCalculus fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Dec 1, 2010 |
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Dec 1, 2010 18:32
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Skyssx posted:e: You're definitely not going to spin off air gun application bolts with that Milwaukee set. Those are the half capacity batteries and tools. The full sized M18 batteries are twice as thick and the tools that use them are more powerful. Makita has the same thing, except their compact line is white to differentiate it. It's still 1400 in-lb of torque (116 ft-lb), it looks like it's the same unit as this review. As far as I can tell the only difference in the battery is capacity - 1.5 Ah in the compact and 3.0 in the full, and you can use either one on either tool. No, I'm not expecting to get anything off that went on at 160 ft-lb with an airgun, but I avoid tire shops that do it that way anyway.
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Dec 2, 2010 21:48
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Nah, OBDWiz is some new thing that requires a license to do anything. Kind of annoying. The old software is still around somewhere, you've got to dig a bit.
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Dec 14, 2010 00:07
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