I was going to rent a hammer drill to put some anchors in our concrete patio. A co-worker said to go to Harbor Freight because I could just buy a drill for the price of renting one. I didn't believe him so I looked on the website and saw an impact drill for $27.

So I paid my first visit to Harbor Freight. Its full of all kinds of tantalizing stuff but I would say shop carefully because some of the tools are clearly substandard. The full size drill presses for $500 looked pretty good though.

I got to the power tools section and the $27 impact drill is now $17! It seemed too light to be a serious implement but I bought it anyway. Once home I tried it right away and man that thing screams - like a big dentist drill - I got those holes done within minutes! Even if it breaks the next time I use it, I'm still ahead.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

yup. they have compression testers that work well too....$10! amazing

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

Welcome to the world of globalization. Surprised it took you this long to join in.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Their full size drill press, which had to be delivered, in three pieces, is quite sturdy and accurate. I timed the belts and the speeds with a manual tach and the speeds are accurate

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

HF is a great resource. Some of the more expensive specialty tools you need can be found at 1/4 of the price. I've had some projects where the tool in question only lasts for that job and then it breaks, but the cost savings is still there. You do get what you pay for. Although sometimes you get lucky. My junkyard tools are all from HF and they get subjected to the worst abuse ever. Mainly leaving tools behind is my biggest problem there though, not breakage.

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http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...-RESIZED-1.jpg
1991 300E - 212K and rising fast...

Communism in action!

I love their nail guns and screw guns. If they break down, I just throw them away.

I found Harbor Freight about 3 years ago. My wife tells me it is my favorite store...along with the local Farm Supply store of course.

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2009 ML320 Bluetec
1985 300CD
1981 300TD

Past Mercedes
1979 300TD
1982 300TD
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1998 E430
1984 300SD
1980 300SD

I love shopping at Harbor Freight!

I am wired as a shopper, so I don't buy too much of the time - mainly I'm curious as to what can be bought there.

I bought some leather gloves - work gloves, and a blue tarp for the roof of my motorcoach while I was repairing the roof last year. I'm satisfied with both those purchases.

I went over the other day to check out their adjustable RPM buffer-polisher. I have one but it is heaaavvy, so I wanted to see what their $34.99 buffer polisher looked like. Hey, it looked good to me!

Their ball joint press is a POS. It bent. Basically, its a store full of cheap crap, but sometimes that's a good thing.

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99 E300 Turbodiesel 100k

Some of it is cheap crap. Some of it is just cheap. I got a gasoline powered 1" impact wrench for $87 last fall. HF regular price was around $400. Non-HF version is in the thousands. Seems to work fine. I had a cordless drill from them I paid about $30 for and it worked fine for about 15 years till the battery crapped out.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Did anyone here bought one their aluminum racing floor jacks?

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

oh? is that so?

so you are not concerned about landfills, waste and oil spills?

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Nahhh! We got plenty of THOSE! Now as for national parks and lands not besmirched by mining companies operating under medieval mining laws...

I witnessed the REALLY cheap guys at HF.
They bought an air-powered roofing nailer. OBVIOUSLY use it for a job, then return it in a week or two, and claim they didn't ever use it. And they get their money back.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags