yes it makes life spicy , lol .
MIGHT BREAK THIS
- Thread starter 71340Duster
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I own that same POS 3/4" breaker bar. The "ears' spread apart under heavy use. I wound up cranking them back together in my large vise and welding the swivel to the handle at a 90 degree angle. No problems after that.
mine are all old 3/4 drive stuff , no welding yet .
Mine spread holding rear end yokes and crushing sleeves.
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Heck my 1/2 Craftsman purchased in 1981 has been through hell. I bought it cause I tossed the shaft in my 69 Runner and needed to get the pinion nut off to change the yoke. Dropped the car on it wedged to the road to break the nut. It still has the asphalt scars. Never needed 3/4 only an adapter!
Ah but look when you bought it. I'll bet if you bought one from Sears today it wouldn't hold up to that kind of abuse.
Hell I don't even swap out Craftsman ratchets these days. They'll give you a bigger POS than you traded in!
I agree with a lot of what's being posted about cheap tools. I don't own many at all. I asked my buddy where I could buy one, he said he wouldn't as they a good one of the 3/4 breaker bars is VERY expensive and considering the limited use deemed it not worth purchasing. He also has a GOOD breaker bar, handed down from his grandfather who worked on heavy equipment. While I don't mind borrowing my friends breaker bar, I'd still rather have one and for $19 it can break.....but I have a back up plan.
The same goes for those "EVO" adjustable crescent wrenches. I got a set of those, was using one at 200 feet on a communications tower (you take an adjustable there cause you don't always know the size of the hardware and you DONT want to hike an assortment up there). Anyway, the wrench handle isn't connected well to the body of the wrench, they separated and the metal part fell to the ground, could have killed my ground guy, or at least put a good dent in his hard hat.
No, I don't buy cheap car parts, in fact the Moog bushings I'm replacing are twice as expensive as the alternate. I just started poking around looking for a good manufacturer for this tool, got a chuckle from the Tekton website, shows a guy in an old truck in a barn. Then you dig a little bit and find out they import most of their crap from China or Taiwan and don't have any manufacturing of their own. Their breaker bar lists for $58 on ebay, gonna keep looking. Craftsman lists for $38, don't know that it is much better. Neil Young says it best.
Daves69
Well-Known Member
I never tried it but if the candle wax trick works (or even helps) on rusted lugs, maybe it's worth trying on BJs as well.
ScampMike
Despicable Damn Yankee
candle wax trick during a BJ... kinky little f**ker aren't ya...
- - WHAT!?!
are we talking waxing it up , well flavored wax maybe , like wax lips the kids . but what about the ice ? so wax up n cool down , lol .
at least craftman tool are returnable if they break . and great choice in parts , can't get much better them moog replacement parts .
HF hand tools have a lifetime warranty as well, I've already walked into a store with a broken ratchet, grabbed a new one, walked up to the counter and handed them the broken one and walked out. No questions, no problems. No I wouldn't use HF if I were a licensed mechanic working on other peoples stuff but for a broke teenager (when I started working on my car a few years back) it's a great way to build up your tools, then by time you can swap out broken/lost tools with better, higher quality ones.
justinp61
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About five or six years ago I had a couple gift cards from sears and decided to order a set of polished stubby wrenches. When they arrived I took them to the shop and took them out of the package to put them in my box. Nice looking wrenches but upon inspection there was something missing, no "Made in USA" proudly stamped on them. Looking at the plastic packaging, there it was on the back, a very small sticker "made in china". No more craftsman tools for me, if I'm going to buy made china made tools I'm paying china made prices.
I have several sets of HF impact sockers and the only problem I've ever had was the roll pin came out of one of the swivel sockets. HF replaced it no questions asked. I keep a small collection of HF tools in my boat for emergency repair and will most likely do the same for my Honda Pioneer side by side. That being said my ratchets, non impact sockets, extensions, wrenches and screwdrivers are quality tools.
I have several sets of HF impact sockers and the only problem I've ever had was the roll pin came out of one of the swivel sockets. HF replaced it no questions asked. I keep a small collection of HF tools in my boat for emergency repair and will most likely do the same for my Honda Pioneer side by side. That being said my ratchets, non impact sockets, extensions, wrenches and screwdrivers are quality tools.
Well I got it and it was easier than expected. I think the overall condition of the replacement arm and the soaking in PB blast helped. I had the pipe extension on the breaker bar but don't think it was needed.
Now onto the bushings, think I'm going to rent the bushing removal tool from O'Riley's
A lifetime warranty doesn't guarantee quality! I learned this in the mid 70's working for a firm called Discount Auto Parts.( Now Advanced Auto Parts) The firm was family owned but the brains behind it was one of the brothers who was a criminal Lawyer ans a brilliant business man. At one of our management meetings he announces we now sell lifetime starters, altenators,water pumps, etc. Same old parts we had, just cost more for the warranty! It worked people ate that **** up. The best place to buy quality tools is at flea markets, garage sales, yard sales, etc. Look for the old Snap On, Mac, Matco, Cornwell, etc and buy the expensive stuff there. I have bought 1/2" and 3/4"extensions, breaker bars, ratchets, and more.
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