Harbor Freight Tool Chests?

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72 Mach 1, Q code 351CJ, 4 speed.
I have completely outgrown my 80's craftsman top and and bottom boxes.  I know there are a lot of you that will say the high end boxes like SnapOn, Matco, MAC are the way to go but I am a weekend hobbyist and they are way out of the budget.  

Does anyone have one of these?

what do you like\dislike about it?

Why\why not buy it? 

What would you go with in the same price range?

Harbor Freight

$349.99 w\out the 20% coupon.  $280 with 20% coupon

 
I just bought a Harbor freight 56". Like you I can't justify spending the big bucks on a high end unit. For the money the quality is good enough for my needs and I can spend the differemce on car parts instead of storage space. Also the harbor freight boxes have side attaching extensions so you can expand your storage space later.



 
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I've had to many tools from Harbor Freight fail. I only buy disposables from them now, like sandpaper, bead blast media, gloves, etc. If it was something I would only use once a year, maybe, but I use stuff more than that. I've also found that getting replacement parts is almost impossible. I bought something similar to this from Costco several years ago and am really happy with it. It's more money but not as much as Snapon, etc.

https://www.costco.com/TRINITY-41%22-Stainless-Steel-Tool-Chest.product.100075459.html?pageSize=96&catalogId=10701&dept=All&langId=-1&keyword=tool+chest&storeId=10301

Steve

 
HF has certain items that are of decent quality at a low price. That box is one of those items. I bought my son that exact box two year ago and it is well made and functions well. I looked at a lot of boxes it was the best made box for anywhere close to that price. Second place choice was a Homak box at Northern Tool. Chuck

 
lowes has a good quality 41" base unit with a large sideswing panel and large casters onsale right now for 299.00 Just bought one for my son to use at work, and hes a mechanic.

 
My buddy bought the big 72 " one and it is nice!!! I am going back and forth on buying the big 72" or the 56".  Either way both of those boxes are really nice. I shy away from most harbor freight thing but these boxes are NICE!  

Also just a heads up for anyone look for a good welding kart/cabinet. Harbor freight has 2 really nice ones. I currently have the small one stacked full of tools and consumables for my mig welder.  I am waiting for my new tig welder to show up and when it does I will probably be purchasing their big welding kart that will hold my Mig, Tig and plasma cutter.

https://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-large-welding-cabinet-63179.html





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For me, there are two areas I look at for a large tool cabinet - the drawer glides and the casters. The rest is just bent sheet metal. The glides must be smooth and ideally they will slide closed the last inch or two and stay closed as the box is moved. I drag my cabinets to the cars, so the casters have to be good - no flat spots after standing in one place for a few months and they need to roll easily and not jam up on the smallest little thing on the floor, and be easy to turn. The casters have to lock as well because I don't want the cabinet to roll off on it's own into a car. I have a nice and smooth concrete floor, so even midrange casters work well. If your cabinet isn't going to move anywhere very often, this is not such a big deal.

 
I have Craftsman and Harbor Freight. The craftsman was bought back in the 90's and it's a good unit. Todays Craftsman tools and boxes are made cheaply and are not what they used to be. For the average guy needing a tool box that will stay at home, the Harbor Freight will be fine. And it will save you some money. It's only my opinion.....but opinions are like a**holes, everybody has one.

 
Harbor Freight has a nice tool cart that a friend purchased and it works great. It's very convenient to have all the commonly used tools in one spot and able to to roll it over to your project.

https://www.harborfreight.com/30-in-5-drawer-glossy-red-tool-cart-61427.html

There are others that are similar and different colors, but they are different and not a nicely built.

That said, I've had the same 42" Craftsman top & bottom set since '94 with zero issues, and it's not even a bearing drawer glide box. I worked as a full time mechanic for seven years and it's seen very heavy personal use. I recently lucked upon a slight worse for wear 60" Matco for a steal to supplement my storage.

If I was in the market for another box on the cheap, I'd lean toward a Husky box. We bought a couple at my last employer for the machine shop to keep all the maintenance tools and supplies in. They were well built and IMO a steal at the price.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-46-in-9-Drawer-Mobile-Workbench-with-Solid-Wood-Top-Black-7440946R/206839475

No matter what you buy, I highly recommend a box with a full width, deep top drawer. I makes it really nice to keep all of your sockets, ratchets, extensions and other 1/4-3/8-1/2 drive tools all in one place.

 
I have quite a bit of the Harbor Freight stuff, Air conditioner gauges and vac pump, engine lift, sheet rock lifter, small touch up paint guns. I got one of the Daytona floor jacks when it was on sale and hit the 20% off also. My friend that does all the high end over $100,000 restores was over the other day. He has all of the Snap On tools and one of the huge BelAir tool boxes and also a Snap On floor jack. I ask him to give the Harbor Freight a try. He was amazed at how well it worked he said much better than his Snap On. I also has grease fittings on the wheels and pivot points. It is quite heavy at just over 100 lbs. When I move cars around the shop by myself I jack up under the rear and just go with it.

I compare it to like buying a BMW instead of a Ford it is more name that quality.

Remember I worked in China for 17 months and we had two guys that welded pretty much all day with the Chinese welders. I never saw them replace one. No I would not buy their drills and saws and such but a tool box yes. The engine lift also works great just me here and I use it all the time. I actually stood up my 2 post lift with the engine hoist. The lift is Chinese also but has the U.S. certification which means it has actually been physically tested to more than the rated capacity.

I think as far as hand tools are rated they are like in 4th. place if I recall some testing reports I read.

Heck I have never found a torqx bit that will not twist off in the seat belt bolts. I have broke six different ones and have never got the bolts out. I might get a Snap On and see if I can twist it off also. The Kobalt at Lowe's broke two and when I took back they would not replace. It had a card in the box that said "Socket For Life" . When you go to their online thing to claim it is a never ending loop and you can never do it.

I have some cheap tools and some decent tools but I never can justify paying for the name brands. I got my wire welder a Lincoln at a pawn shop had never been used for half price of welding shop. Was probably stolen but I have it now, lol.

Pawn shops here are loaded with tools for cheap prices.

David

 
I bought the HF a few years back. It has worked fine for a hobbiest such as myself. I don't roll it around so no thoughts on that.

The drawers continue to operate as expected.

Spend the money on the tool organizers inside the box. I found working with different types of socket holders to be night and day in eash of use.

 
I upgraded to Sears tool boxes about 8 years ago. It's holding up very with no issues except user error in breaking off a lock key! They have some good sales sometimes.

 
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