Cart (workstation) suggestion?

Bill D said:
I'll eventually be looking to get an impact gun from them.



I'm all for cheap tools for one or two time use, but I've had 2 or 3 cheap impact guns and wish I had my money back from them. The cheap ones work a few times and then never have the grunt to remove the bolts you bought the thing for. I've had my IR impact gun for over 12 years, it still shears off bolt heads with ease.
 
yakky said:
I'm all for cheap tools for one or two time use, but I've had 2 or 3 cheap impact guns and wish I had my money back from them. The cheap ones work a few times and then never have the grunt to remove the bolts you bought the thing for. I've had my IR impact gun for over 12 years, it still shears off bolt heads with ease.





Yakky, thanks for that first hand experience. Maybe I just ought to hold off and get something to be used in conjunction with an air compressor, rather than an electrical. That's my next eventual, big ticket garage tool purchase. Sounds like Sears or similar might be the better way to go...
 
Bill, here are some things to consider.

Size/capacity of compressor vs CFM and pressure required for any air tool you wish to buy and use.

Invest in the better airline(50 ft), and a spool/wall mount for the hose, a good regulator, in addition to the one of the compressor and at least two water traps.

I have a shop full of tools, electric and air, most from Harbor Frieght that I have been buying for 12 years.

Read on the label where a lot of air and battery powered tools come from of the "name brands".

Most come out of some of the same manufacturers, just badged with a high dollar name.

I have 1/2 impact, 3/8 wratchet, 3/8 butterfly, air cutter, two grinders, etc, DA, all from HF.

None have broken.

Three of my paint guns are from them, as is my air brush.

I perfer their $29 drills as I am not using them everyday vs a $120 name brand that is used 8 hours a day, 5 or more days a week.

Both my nailer and large compressors came from HF, my chop saw, drill press, shaper, router, belt sanders, my bench grinder, bench polisher, one of their rotary buffers, (plus my DeWalt and Milwaukee) and other power tools.

Tons of other tools as well from HF.

My corded drills are Skill and HF, the battery ones are HF as said, cause replacement batteries are usually $10 each. seem to last 3 to 4 years, vs the name brand replacement batteries at $40 and up for each.

The 1/2 inch hammer drill and my corded 1/2 heavy duty are from HF and Consumer Reports rated both in the top two of all.

That said, HF does have some "junk", but as with anything, "buyer beware", know what you are looking at, amps, etc.

Most even come with an extra set of brushes.

There is one other thing I wish to add.

If you don't know the tool, don't buy on-line, go to one of their stores.

Talk to others walking about, ask them if they have this or that tool.

Amazing how many you talk with at the store, are repeat customers and will give a personal rating of tools they own and use.

Grumpy
 
Ron,



Thanks very much for that info. Let me print that out. Also,I apologize to all for taking this thread OT. So briefly and finally, I really just wish to have something reliable to do tire rotations and maybe the occassional removal here and there for heavier detailing. Fortunately I have a HF and a Sears in my area and I can check out tools in person. I will PM you for more info and help when it's closer to when I'd like to buy. I really appreciate your sharing!
 
Bill D said:
Yakky, thanks for that first hand experience. Maybe I just ought to hold off and get something to be used in conjunction with an air compressor, rather than an electrical. That's my next eventual, big ticket garage tool purchase. Sounds like Sears or similar might be the better way to go...



Just get a big breaker bar from HF. The long ones will get anything off.
 
Ron Ketcham said:
I have 1/2 impact, 3/8 wratchet, 3/8 butterfly, air cutter, two grinders, etc, DA, all from HF.

None have broken.



Oh, I'll agree, they don't break easily. The impact guns I had were still "working" when I threw them away.
 
yakky said:
Just get a big breaker bar from HF. The long ones will get anything off.

LOL! This is funny, one of the HF tools I did break a few back was the 1/2 inch breaker bar.

Took it back and they gave me new one.

Heck, I thought maybe I had went to Sears for a moment.

Grumpy
 
Ron Ketcham said:
LOL! This is funny, one of the HF tools I did break a few back was the 1/2 inch breaker bar.

\



That is funny. I love mine, it has to be 36" long. I am scared to apply full force to it at times as it seems it will break whatever bolt it is attached to. Lately I've been using heat, lube, tighen some+then loosen and lots of patience. Broken fasteners are no fun. Nothing beats getting a screw extractor stuck in a bolt.
 
Bill D said:
HF is a lifesaver for sure. Luckily there's one less than an hour from me. I'll eventually be looking to get an impact gun from them.



My remodeler friend believes Panasonic to be the best and most reliable, but they are around a few hundred bucks or more I think. This is for hard daily usage. He is however quite excited about the smaller and very maneuverable DeWalts that just recently came out (maybe a half year ago or something). He could even recite the three local stores that had them at the time, and how many of them they had left, or something like that.



I was considering getting an impact gun, but then lost interest. I probably would have made an impulse buy at the beginning of the year, except I would only buy a corded one. I would use the gun so infrequently that the battery would simply go bad on me. I can find corded impacts online, but when I was last tool shopping, I bought most of the stuff in stores, where they were ALL cordless, and now the time has passed for me.



Ron Ketcham said:
Dollar type stores, WalMart, etc have small plastic bins or storage pans that are available in various sizes, CHEAP!

Measure the size of the bottles, figure what sizes of bin is best, then use some "automotive double stick trim tape" to fasten them to the cart (won't slide around that way), and you got what is needed.

Regular double stick tape won't hold up for long.

Grumpy



Man, you are chock full of ideas. At first, I was thinking that I don't want to "permanently" alter the cart where perhaps I couldn't use it for some other unforeseen application, but then I was thinking maybe your modification would make it all the more superior, at least for the main reason why I want to buy this thing. I will mull it over. :bowl:



EDIT: Sorry, I quoted the wrong post- I meant to select Ron's, and it's now corrected, forgive the confusion I may have caused.
 
Here are a couple of pics of the cart in action and with the new lights mounted.



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MichaelM said:
Here are a couple of pics of the cart in action and with the new lights mounted.



I am looking at mounting some lights like that on Meguiar's cart.
 
Got extractors, but haven't had to use them in years.

Have a 1/2 and 3/8 air impacts, if they don't break it loose quickly, then I soak with pentrating oil.

If the bolt shows really bad corossion, will presoak before I hit it with an impact.

Haven't broke a bolt in years.

Grumpy
 
So, I recently and finally pulled the trigger, and the Trinity cart (Phishy4's recommendation) from Costco online just arrived (they didn't have squat for in-store selection btw). As my tiny little thank you for all of the suggestions and advice, I'd like to give you all a couple of dark, crappy, blurry, and simply horrible before/after photos.



You can put it together without the directions, really super simple, just plug the tubes in, though I noted that they said to put both locking casters on the right side (totally arbitrary as far as I could tell; maybe it was only important that both were on the same side, whether left or right). I went with the left because by the time I realized which side was right, I had already worked the caster in a bit with my hands.



The only thing that stopped me from building the thing in 1 minute flat was getting the casters all the way in. At first I didn't want to hammer them in, out of fear of damaging a caster, but I was even more fearful to screw up the plastic hole by torquing sideways on accident with my hands when I gave that a little go. Then I grabbed my c-clamp to see if it might work, nope, then a pipe clamp, no go either. Rubber mallet would be too big, so I simply hammered them in after all, and voila.



Anyway, I just wanted to update you guys, and show that I do listen to and follow the advice given here, cheers. :xyxthumbs



Well shoot, I am failing to attach the couple of photos (a fatal error or something here). Oh well, I tried, and they were bad photos anyway.



Only going by the picture on a monitor, the Rubbermaid at more than 3x the cost does indeed look nicer and perhaps is more sturdily built, but I think this Trinity, while a tad more than I was hoping to spend, was exactly what I was looking for, functionally, and without the need to turn it into Frankenstein. I can foresee it helping out with completely different tasks unrelated to cars in the future as well. I'll grab a google photo so you can see which one the Trinity is. I think it was $75 or so, OTD.



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Ron Ketcham said:
LOL! This is funny, one of the HF tools I did break a few back was the 1/2 inch breaker bar.

Took it back and they gave me new one.

Heck, I thought maybe I had went to Sears for a moment.

Grumpy



That's the nice part about HF... they do give lifetime warranties on a lot of their cheap crap just like Sears.
 
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