4 Underrated Harbor Freight Tools You Should Have On Your Radar

Harbor Freight holds a special place of esteem among gearheads, tradespeople, hobbyists, and DIYers of all walks of life and interests. The store is legendary for its wide selection of power and hand tools, and while its prices are generally extremely affordable, Harbor Freight sells various products that can rival those sold by far more expensive brands. The store maintains various exclusive, in-house brands, and its inventory includes everything from basic hand tools to high-power pneumatics, as well as a large selection of other gadgets and products, including everything from generators to camping supplies.

While Harbor Freight is highly popular among both professionals and hobbyists, the budget store's inventory is extremely large. Such an expansive selection of tools will inevitably lead to some products being more popular, while others are overlooked or underrated. We wanted to find some of the most useful, albeit underappreciated, products that Harbor Freight sells, so we took a look around the site and found four great examples. 

Each of these tools offers various uses, in both professional and DIY settings. However, most of these devices also aren't as well-known as basic things like screwdrivers and hammers, while others may be relatively common tools that just don't get enough appreciation. We chose these devices based on things like product application, price, and user reviews, but we'll cover our methodology in greater detail later. For now, here are four underrated tools from Harbor Freight you should have on your radar.

If you're a home mechanic, work professionally in the auto repair industry, or are into DIY car repair and maintenance, you've probably performed your fair share of coolant services. Coolant flushes or replacements involve draining the old dirty coolant out of the engine cooling system and replacing it with fresh liquid. Auto manufacturers recommend performing these services regularly to keep the engine running smoothly and at a healthy temperature. While this task is essential for your vehicle's longevity, refilling the radiator with fresh coolant can be tricky and annoying. That's primarily because it's easy to spill coolant when using a standard funnel, resulting in a sticky mess in the engine bay, as well as the fact that you must run some engines while performing the service to bleed air out of the lines.

Fortunately, you can grab a Pittsburgh No-Spill Radiator Funnel Kit from Harbor Freight to make the process significantly easier. The kit includes five radiator cap adaptors, allowing you to connect the funnel to most makes and models for a spill-proof seal while adding coolant. Additionally, it comes with two extensions, allowing you to use the tool in tight spaces, while a plug enables you to remove the funnel, even if it contains excess coolant, without making a mess. When you're not using the kit, you can store all of the pieces inside the funnel and use the same plug and an included lid to keep all of your adaptors safe and secure, without spilling drops of coolant around your garage. The kit costs $39.99 and comes with excellent customer ratings, boasting 4.8 out of five stars based on more than 500 user reviews.

Flashlights are a type of tool that many people may take for granted. They often sit in a drawer or toolbox, forgotten and collect dust for ages. However, flashlights are also invaluable when you need one. They're useful for everything from finding your way through a dark house during a power outage to working on cars and helping illuminate a workspace while performing household chores. There are a lot of solid flashlight brands out there. The problem is that some flashlights provide very weak lighting, and others have disappointingly short battery lives. 

If you're looking for a powerful flashlight to use for work or to keep on hand for power outages and other low-light situations, you may want to consider the Braun 1,800 Lumen Rechargeable Waterproof Tactical LED Flashlight, available at Harbor Freight. With 1,800 lumens of light output, the compact light is extremely powerful and capable of projecting its beam up to 740 feet into the distance. It's IPx7 rated to stand up against water and the elements, making it ideal for outdoors enthusiasts, as well as those working in the trades. 

The rugged tool has a heavy-duty aluminum body and a shock-resistance rating for falls up to 1 meter, while spot and flood light modes increase its versatility. A built-in spring steel clip allows you to connect the tool to your pocket or work belt, and variable light modes let you scale the tool's brightness to your needs. The Braun flashlight costs $29.99 and is well-rated by customers, featuring 4.6 out of five stars based on 557 user reviews.

Fuses are ingenious devices designed to prevent current overloads and electrical short circuits. They work by allowing a specified amount of electricity to pass between components. However, if there's a malfunction and too much power passes through the fuse, it will break, severing the electrical connection and protecting your technology. These devices are used in a vast number of industries, and inspecting them is a common part of troubleshooting electrical issues. You can visually inspect fuses for damage, or you can use a device like a test light for quicker results. 

Test lights are invaluable automotive diagnostic tools, but they're also useful for other trades and DIY tasks, too. These devices work by connecting to a metal ground surface or battery post, forming part of a circuit, and then touching the tool's probe tip to each of the fuse's two metal contacts. If the tool lights up when touching both contacts, the fuse is in solid condition. However, if no light appears, or if the light only illuminates for one of the contacts, the fuse is likely blown.

If you're a DIYer or even a pro in the market for an affordable test light, you may want to look into the Cen-Tech 6/12V Circuit Tester with 5-foot Lead. The no-nonsense tool provides the ability to quickly test any six or 12-volt fuse and comes with a 5-foot lead, allowing a range of movement and versatility. The handle is built with high-impact plastic for durability with a needle point probe for electrical inspections, while the bright indicator light allows you to easily identify faulty fuses. The Cen-Tech test light costs only $3.99 and comes with exceptional customer ratings, boasting 4.7 out of nearly 3,000 user reviews.

Regular brake replacements are an integral part of car ownership. If you work professionally in the auto repair industry or are into DIY car maintenance, you probably know that compressing brake calipers can be tricky without the right tools. There are various devices designed to tackle this job. However, many of them are designed for use with specific types of brake calipers, meaning you can't use them on every vehicle you encounter. While some calipers can be compressed using a basic tool like pliers, others must be screwed in, using either left or right-hand threads. That means that if you perform brake jobs on various different vehicle makes and models, you'll need a wide selection of tools.

Fortunately, you can pick up an Icon Master Brake Caliper Set from Harbor Freight to cover most, if not all, of your bases. The 20-piece kit includes brake tools designed to work with calipers found on most major car brands, including domestic, Asian, and European names. Whether you're a pro working in an independent shop or a home mechanic, this set should cover virtually all of your brake jobs. 

The set is compatible with both screw-in (left and right-hand threads) and push-style calipers, and you can use it on front and rear axles. The magnetic thrust bolt plate helps keep the tool secure when using different adaptors, while the included multifunction storage case allows you to contain the entire set safely. The Icon brake caliper kit costs $69.99, but is currently available for $49.99 for Harbor Freight Inside Track Club members. It's well-rated by users and features 4.8 out of five stars based on over 300 reviews.

We chose the tools for this list based on a handful of criteria: the product's features and its mainstream use, price, and user reviews. First, we wanted to look for a selection of tools that are both acutely useful and relatively underrated in terms of general popularity and mainstream recognition. Finding useful and unexpected tools in Harbor Freight's vast inventory is a relatively simple task. When it comes to a tool being underrated, though, we had to dig a bit deeper. At the end of the day, underrated is a subjective term. For this article, we considered it as referring to tools that fall outside the list of popular devices, like screwdrivers, hammers, and drills, and we ultimately chose four devices that many people may overlook or take for granted when building a kit.

Next, we checked out the prices. To us, underrated tools aren't those that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Rather, they're relatively affordable devices that don't get as much mainstream recognition as well-known and popular tools. Each of the products on this list costs less than $75, and most of them fall well below the $50-mark. 

Finally, we wanted to find out what actual customers had to say about these devices. So, we checked out the reviews, and we chose to include only those products with a minimum of 4.6 out of five stars based on hundreds to thousands of positive reviews. That said, it's still important that you do your own research when buying tools. You know your needs better than anyone, and it's critical that you take that information into consideration, even when purchasing relatively cheap products.