Tool Review Time
- Thread starter NIKwoaC
- Start date
I failed to mention that I also set two wheel studs with this wrench and a couple of combo wrenches as a spacer (if that gives you a good idea).
manicmechanic007
5 Year Member
Glad to see a special bleed tool, finally, for the plastic caps
I have 3 drilled caps in my toolbox
That was one of the secrets I was going to divulge someday
!/16 hole drilled through the cap and gasket, then some air pressure and your done in 5 minutes
I have 3 drilled caps in my toolbox
That was one of the secrets I was going to divulge someday
!/16 hole drilled through the cap and gasket, then some air pressure and your done in 5 minutes
Hey guys…… anybody have any experience with the Bauer tools from HF? I’m looking for a bigger better miter saw, and see this guy on clearance. My 10” single bevel, no slide just isn’t “cutting it” anymore!!
www.harborfreight.com
10 in. Dual-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw
Amazing deals on this 10In Dual-Bevel Sliding Miter Saw at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
No idea on the HF one but if you happen to be in NJ I got brand new in the box Bosch gsm12sd I'll sell for $500 lol.
If I was using it every day, I’d definitely be looking for something better than HF, and that would be a great deal…… maybe even worth the trip from Long Island! Lol
I’m just a constant DIYer, that’s getting more particular the better I get….. so looking for something that can do more than I have.
I tried some smaller crown on the one I have, and it wasn’t fun!! Has trouble with 6” base too when you start the angle cuts. Haven’t liked it for years and it’s time to go!! Lol.
There’s my rant on my miter saw!!
Anyone buy a cheap exhaust expander?
Considering adding cats to my stainless 3 piece X pipe.
For clearance reasons since my exhaust is made up of different years it may not be possible to mount them to existing seams.
I suppose i could mach it up and take the pieces to an exhaust shop have them expand the one end and move on, but it would be nice to just do it all at once.
So if there is a cheap non commercial grade one that will do stainless and barely open up 2.5in pipe, that would be great.
Considering adding cats to my stainless 3 piece X pipe.
For clearance reasons since my exhaust is made up of different years it may not be possible to mount them to existing seams.
I suppose i could mach it up and take the pieces to an exhaust shop have them expand the one end and move on, but it would be nice to just do it all at once.
So if there is a cheap non commercial grade one that will do stainless and barely open up 2.5in pipe, that would be great.
I haven't done one of these in ages... but I recently picked up a new pocket flashlight that blew me away given how cheap it is, so I thought I'd share my experience with some of these.
The first pocket flashlight I bougt as a tech was this guy:
Amazon product ASIN B002E1AUEY
$20 off Amazon, but sold for as high as $50 on the tool trucks, Streamlight is the gold standard in the automotive field for flashlights. Every technician I know either has a Streamlight Stylus in their shirt pocket or a larger Streamlight in their pants pocket. I was no different for years. The biggest pro on these is their lifetime warranty, which is even better through the tool trucks because the part that fails the most, the switch, can be warrantied out on the spot by them. The biggest con? They're not actually any better in durability than any other choice on this list. I've had several crap out on me, all of which were never dropped from higher than their "guaranteed" drop height. Yes they warranty them every time, but you'll be without your flashlight until they ship you another each time. Huge inconvenience.
The next that I tried was a Sunlite Slim Jr. All I can say is... DON'T. It takes AAAA batteries. No, that's not a typo, there really is such a thing, they're not sold in every single store (though you can get them readily enough online), and it goes through them like Charlie Sheen goes through cocaine. It's an incredibly bright light for it's size, and it's tiny form factor means you can see just about anywhere you want, but the inconvenience of an odd battery size combined with the fact that you may get new old stock AAAA batteries that end up leaking and ruining the light (which is also the one thing they won't warranty), it's just not worth the hassle. Throw in a switch with virtualy no "feel" to it, and this is my least favorite of all of the flashlights I've tried.
Then there's the Coast G20. This is the first light I'll 100% endorse, in spite of it's one shortcoming. It's got the weakest beam I'll be reviewing here. Why am I still a proponent? Well, that beam is incredibly focused and tight, meaning every ounce of light it's putting out is exactly where you're looking. If you're looking into places where glare or reflection can cause issues, this is a great light to have. While it's not my #1 every day carry choice, it's a fantastic backup and specialty choice, and at the price point, it's pretty great given that they're harder to kill than the rest.
www.mactools.com
This has been my everyday carry for three years. I'm on my second one because the first failed under the 1-year warranty (and just barely), but the 2nd is a warrior, still working like a champ, though it does randomly flicker a bit. The thing I like about these is that they have a better pocket clip design than all of the others, they're one of the brightest, and they're incredibly durable (the one I did kill? Fell 15 feet and still worked, the lense was just shattered, and Mac still warrantied it). There's also an optional rubber bite ring for holding it with your teeth when you need both hands to work on something, a feature I use the hell out of. It's my second choice as of right now, because I decided to pick up the last light I'm going to talk about on sale last week, and the price difference is the deciding factor.
www.harborfreight.com
This little guy was on sale at my local Harbor Freight, batteries and all, for $6. That makes it the cheapest of all of them by a lot, it costs less than half of it's next cheapest competitors' prices. It's the second brightest in my experience, it's actually more compact than the rest, and has a nice wide beam that thows the light cleanly. I genuinely can't believe just how good this light is for the price point, and if it's at least as durable as the rest, then it's the best buy of the bunch by a massive margin. I honestly feel like it has the second best pocket clip, the second best overall construction, and I really like the flutes on the side designed to keep it from rolling. The switch feels better than the Sunlite, and as good as all of the rest.
The first pocket flashlight I bougt as a tech was this guy:
Amazon product ASIN B002E1AUEY
$20 off Amazon, but sold for as high as $50 on the tool trucks, Streamlight is the gold standard in the automotive field for flashlights. Every technician I know either has a Streamlight Stylus in their shirt pocket or a larger Streamlight in their pants pocket. I was no different for years. The biggest pro on these is their lifetime warranty, which is even better through the tool trucks because the part that fails the most, the switch, can be warrantied out on the spot by them. The biggest con? They're not actually any better in durability than any other choice on this list. I've had several crap out on me, all of which were never dropped from higher than their "guaranteed" drop height. Yes they warranty them every time, but you'll be without your flashlight until they ship you another each time. Huge inconvenience.
Slim Jr. LED Penlight (90 lumens) Penlight :: AAAA Penlights :: Slim Jr. LED Penlight (30 lumens) [SNLSJWT10] - $14.99 : Sunlite Shop for LED Flashlights and other LED lights, Sunlite LED flashlights, headlamps, underhood light workstation light for
stylus, Slim Jr., Slim, power, LED, lighting, flashlight, sunlite, 625nm, 525nm, 465nm, 395nm, streamlight, Initial 30 lumens. Light dim after 5hr; Stays on for 10 hr. Fit in the shirt pocket. Interchangeable LED head. Recessed glass lens. Dimension: 5.6X0.39, Weight: 1.2 o.z with batteries...
www.powerledlighting.com
Coast G20 Inspection Beam LED Penlight 21449 - The Home Depot
Whether you store it in your shirt pocket, pants pockets or a tool bag, the G20 Flashlight with its Inspection Beam Optic is a light that you should keep close. Optimized for up close use with its crisp
www.homedepot.com
2AAA Pro LED Flashlight - Black
High-output LED is rated up to 70 lumens and up to 100,000 hours of continuous service .Tough aluminum housing is anodized inside and out for corrosion resistance .High-impact polycarbonate lens
www.mactools.com
85 Lumen LED Pocket Pen Light
Amazing deals on this 85 Lumen Led Pen Light at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
Since I posted the review that excerpt is from back in 2019, I actually did purchase the full set, 8-32mm, of the Mac Precision Torque wrenches. They went on sale for half price a couple of years ago, so I went for it and took my mix-and-match set that included five different brands home to replace my Pittsburgh wrenches. Zero regrets whatsoever, they've been fantastic.
Any professional wrench set (Mac, Matco, Snap-On, Cornwell ect) is light years better than Pittsburgh.
If you wrench occasionally ( 1-2 times a month) then Pittsburgh will do. Use them everyday, they are trash.
As someone who uses wrenches almost every day, ( for 40+ years) take my word for it.
Or not.
If you wrench occasionally ( 1-2 times a month) then Pittsburgh will do. Use them everyday, they are trash.
As someone who uses wrenches almost every day, ( for 40+ years) take my word for it.
Or not.
How is the new “Icon” (I think I have the name right) brand from Harbor Freight?
I’ve been burnt by some Pittsburgh stuff before, while other Pittsburgh has been ok. Im more of the buy once cry once side, so I don’t mind spending money on something that will last.
To be honest, I wouldn't even stick with Pittsburgh as a serious hobbyist when it comes to wrenches. Their impact sockets are just fine at even the professional level, and some of their ratchets even rival to the tool trucks, but their wrenches... even Husky, Kobalt, Craftsman, Ampro, Duralast, or PowerTorque are huge upgrades. Being sick and tired of those Pittsburgh wrenches is what drove me to buy the Mac set for the shop and bring my mixed set of BluePoint, SnapOn, Klutch, Mac, and Teq Correct home (Bluepoint was 8-19, Mac was 20, SnapOn was 21-22, the rest were the cheaper brands).
Icon is both good and bad, and not in quality. It's good quality. I've only bought two things in Icon (a set of the metric S-wrenches and a stubby 3/8" ratchet), and both are of really good quality. The problem is, they're relabled generic professional grade tools from Taiwan. MrSubaru on TikTok and Facebook has shown them side-by-side with other brands available on Amazon and the only difference is the engraving of the Icon name. The part/model numbers are even identical along with the advertised specs.
That's not a dig at Harbor Freight or the Icon brand, I get it, they wanted an actual professional-grade line, so they bought one. Taiwan is where a ton of really high-quality tools are made, including SnapOn's and Cornwell's budget lines (BluePoint and BluePower, respectively).
As a pro? I have no problem paying the Icon markup just like I have no problem paying the tool truck markup for certain things, and a ratchet just might be one of them. Amazon is a great place to save money on tools, but if something breaks, getting it warrantied can be a pain. Harbor Freight never asks a question, they just swap it. If I was a home gamer? Watch the video below and decide for yourself.
Wow……. That’s a pretty telling video of the Harbor Freight “brand”. Being just a garage mechanic, Maybe Amazon is good for some stuff!!! Lol
Snap-on Store
Snap-on Store
Snap-on Store
Take a look at those. I once owned all of those, and two more tools from the SnapOn 14.4v line.
Now, take a look at this:
Milwaukee M12 FUEL 12-Volt Li-Ion Brushless Cordless Hammer Drill and Impact Driver Combo Kit (2-Tool) with M12 3/8 in. Ratchet 3497-22-2457-20 - The Home Depot
Milwaukee M12 FUEL 2-Tool Combo Kit has the Most Powerful Subcompact Drill, the Fastest Driving Subcompact Impact Driver while being the overall Most Compact Drill and Impact Driver. Includes Milwaukee
www.homedepot.com
That's three Milwaukee M12 tools, two batteries, and a charger for less than any ONE SnapOn tool, and none of those SnapOn tools comes with the battery or charger.
I had close to $2000 invested in SnapOn 14.4 tools, all but one of which was good (the 14.4v drill was horrible), but when I tried Milwaukee M12 tools for the first time a few years ago, I knew I'd be switching. I sold all five of the SnapOn tools for a whopping $500 (and I had the highest asking price on Facebook Marketplace for a set like that), and I'd regret it, but I'm at 10 Milwaukee M12 tools now, and the $500 I got from the SnapOn tools bought the first six of them.
The tenth tool, not pictured here, is the M12 fuel sander/polisher. Out of all of the Milwaukee M12 tools I own, the only one I don't actually recommend is the right-angle 3/8" impact on the bottom right. That thing is borderline useless. The all-star of the bunch is the screwdriver on the right hand side of the middle tool holder. That little screw gun isn't even from the high performance brushless "Fuel" line of Milwaukee M12 tools, and it makes so much torque that it'll hurt your wrist if you don't use the clutch on it. The only one of the bunch that I feel isn't vastly superior to SnapOn is the Fuel 1/4 ratchet. Ironically, I used to have the non-Fuel version of said ratchet and LOVED it, but it managed to disappear (I'm fairly certain it was left under the hood of a Ram I replaced a radiator in). I upgraded to the Fuel version, and it just... doesn't feel like it's quite as good somehow.
Long story short, whether you're a pro or a shade tree, don't waste your money trying to go "better" than Milwaukee when it comes to cordless tools. You're not going to succeed.
I'm a milwaukee tool fan. As a contractor, it's certainly the most expansive group of tools.
But they are not without fault.
My guess is that i own somewhere around 30 of their cordless tools (maybe more, i've never counted). Including most of their yard tools.
From that m12 link above, i have all three, the impact, drill and ratchet.
I toasted that ratchet in just a couple weeks.
The drill while fine with basic bits, put a wood bit in it and it sucks.
The impact is the one i use all the time at work (electrical work to be clear). It's nice because it has (if that's the one) a button on top for power 1,2,3 and drill. So you can put small bits to drill pilot holes in it.
Now if you are building a deck? That is not the impact you want, you want m18 (which i also have), it's no comparison.
I have many duplicate m12 and m18 tools.
The m12's are light and great in small spaces or when you need to be mobile, but generally they are weaker and the batteries will shut you down if you work them too hard.
The nice thing about when you blow them up is that you just load your info into their site, they give you a label, throw it in a box and in a few days you have your tool back. I burned up 3 milwaukee m12 hackzalls (one of my favorite tools) and finally i called and asked for a new one, not my old one back and they did so. Typically they repair yours, not give you a new one.
I even destroyed an 8.0 m18 battery by dropping my weedwacker while loading it with string. Oddly enough after some specific packing instructions, i sent it in and they gave me a new one.
If you aren't buying the tools for a specific trade and you don't have any interest in buying multiples, personally i would stick to the m18 instead of the m12. Especially if you want to use them for household and vehicle projects.
But they are not without fault.
My guess is that i own somewhere around 30 of their cordless tools (maybe more, i've never counted). Including most of their yard tools.
From that m12 link above, i have all three, the impact, drill and ratchet.
I toasted that ratchet in just a couple weeks.
The drill while fine with basic bits, put a wood bit in it and it sucks.
The impact is the one i use all the time at work (electrical work to be clear). It's nice because it has (if that's the one) a button on top for power 1,2,3 and drill. So you can put small bits to drill pilot holes in it.
Now if you are building a deck? That is not the impact you want, you want m18 (which i also have), it's no comparison.
I have many duplicate m12 and m18 tools.
The m12's are light and great in small spaces or when you need to be mobile, but generally they are weaker and the batteries will shut you down if you work them too hard.
The nice thing about when you blow them up is that you just load your info into their site, they give you a label, throw it in a box and in a few days you have your tool back. I burned up 3 milwaukee m12 hackzalls (one of my favorite tools) and finally i called and asked for a new one, not my old one back and they did so. Typically they repair yours, not give you a new one.
I even destroyed an 8.0 m18 battery by dropping my weedwacker while loading it with string. Oddly enough after some specific packing instructions, i sent it in and they gave me a new one.
If you aren't buying the tools for a specific trade and you don't have any interest in buying multiples, personally i would stick to the m18 instead of the m12. Especially if you want to use them for household and vehicle projects.
I was comparing M12 to Snappy's 14.4 for direct head-to-head within the same class, but I get what you're saying about the M18. The primary reason I have, and have stuck with, the M12 line is size. They're all so compact and easy to get into and out of tight places. Nobody does that better than Milwaukee and SnapOn. When it comes to the 18-20v class, I actually use DeWalt now. I really like both DeWalt and Milwaukee and don't have a firm preference between the two in that class. In the 12v class though, Milwaukee is vastly superior.
I'm with you on it.
The m12 tools really do come in handy with their smaller size in tight places.
But i also find that it's best to break any bolt or nut loose by hand first.
I just wanted to note that if you are a going to use these tools at a home where they will also be used for other minor construction projects and you aren't interested in owning multiple sets the m18 line is probably the better choice.
I've actually had friends come over to give me a hand that were on the verge of leaving snap on tools.
While milwaukee doesn't have the very best of every tool. They have made the m12 and m18 into an ecosystem of tools that is impossible to leave. Kinda like apple and google have done with phone software.
