8 Automotive Gadgets To Buy From Harbor Freight (And 4 To Skip)

Harbor Freight is a wonderland of tools and gadgets, and the fact that most of the products sold at this hardware warehouse are fairly affordable makes taking the occasional risk on a unique product an easier pill to swallow. When I started my career as a professional automotive technician, the first thing I did was get a tool chest from Harbor Freight, along with a handful of tools. There were some missteps — neither the impact wrench nor the impact hammer I purchased lasted more than a month — but several of those tools lasted longer than I expected.

Harbor Freight's offerings include everything from affordable hand tools from brands like Pittsburgh to high-end products available online or in store. Purchasing decisions can quickly get overwhelming, but SlashGear is here to help with some automotive gadget recommendations as well as a few products to avoid. As a former professional mechanic, I was more than willing to take a few field trips to my local Harbor Freight to assemble this list, comparing products on the shelves against many I've used or purchased in the past. Hopefully, you'll find the info you need to make an informed pick.

Brake service — especially bleeding the system to remove air after a brake fluid exchange or the installation of a new hose or caliper — is often a messy affair that requires a buddy pumping the brake pedal inside the vehicle while you crack open bleeder screws. Most technicians use some form of vacuum and suction to minimize mess, remove the need for a partner, and speed up the entire brake bleeding process.

In theory, the Pittsburgh Brake Bleeder and Vacuum Pump Kit should provide that suction, with its hand-powered vacuum pump and small reservoir for fluid. In practice, the tool seems to present more problems than solutions. User reviews list virtually every part of this tool as suspect, from internal seals that blow out on first use to a hand pump that either doesn't provide enough vacuum or stops working after one or two pulls.

Harbor Freight offers several better options than this Pittsburgh Brake Bleeder and Vacuum Pump kit, which it sells for $28. Priced at just a dollar more, the Pittsburgh Pneumatic Brake Fluid Bleeder with Auto-Refill Kit is a similarly priced version of the pneumatic bleeder I used for the entirety of my wrenching career, and it includes a refill bottle that uses gravity to keep the master cylinder full of brake fluid during service.

A portable jump starter is something every driver ought to have in their glove box already. Smaller than traditional jump boxes, lithium-ion jump starters have gone from an expensive new technology to something you can purchase on the cheap. And while the Viking jump starters from Harbor Freight may not be as inexpensive as some highly rated jump starters SlashGear has written about, they are some of the best-reviewed products on the discount tool warehouse's shelves.

Viking 2000 Peak Amp Lithium-Ion Jump Starter and Power Bank is the top-rated jump starter on Harbor Freight's website, and it's easy to see why. This little guy can start engines as large as 8 liters — up to a V8 — or a 6-liter diesel. It doubles as a power bank for USB-A and USB-C powered devices and features an LED spotlight, large LCD display with charge status, and eight error detections to make the thing basically foolproof.

The manufacturer says this gadget can perform up to 50 jumps on a single charge, making it at least as reliable as having a set of jumper cables and hoping for a good Samaritan to happen by. Purchase the Viking 2000 Peak Amp Lithium-Ion Jump Starter and Power Bank for about $140 at Harbor Freight.

Side terminal batteries can be a pain, especially if you're not familiar with battery replacement. Automotive batteries don't have universal connections, and servicing batteries with the side-post style presents a unique set of complications. The bolts are small and the soft metal the terminal bolts thread into is very easy to cross-thread. Not only is there often very little space to access the bolt heads, but you've also got to factor in the size of the ratchet and socket you're using.

The Pittsburgh Side-Terminal Battery Ratchet Wrench might seem like a waste of money or an impulse buy while you're browsing Harbor Freight — it really isn't. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that  anyone who owns a vehicle with a side-post battery should own this gadget. It's a flat, reversible ratcheting wrench. One size, no bits, no additional features, but it easily slides into the tight gap between battery terminal bolts and the walls of an engine bay, and its available sizes of 10 millimeters and 5/16-inch prevent accidental rounding out of your terminals or bolts. And with a Harbor Freight price of just $3.50 each, it's worth investing in one or two for your glove box or truck bed tool box.

Working on cars and trucks will eventually mean you've got to move some fluid. Whether you're draining coolant before a radiator replacement or topping up your transmission fluid after a pan gasket job, a transfer pump makes pulling and replacing automotive fluids a relatively straightforward job. Or at least, that's the impression I was under when I purchased the bright orange Pittsburgh Multi-Use Transfer Pump. 

I actually went through three of them before realizing it wasn't user error that kept blowing the hoses off the pump and leaving a differential, a floor, and a technician all covered in GL-5 more than once. If it wasn't the hoses failing, it was the entire top or bottom cap of the pump itself flying off of this gadget, or the stiff manual plunger getting stuck. Other users have reported internal seal failures as well.

Even with a price tag of $9 at Harbor Freight, there's no good reason to purchase this tool. There are better pumps out there — heck, there are better pumps at Harbor Freight, like the Battery-Operated Liquid Transfer Pump that sells for just $5 more.

Anyone who's worked in a shop knows the joys of being sent up a lift in a vehicle so you can start it while other technicians are diagnosing a starter or other vehicle component. Sure, you get a little break while other mechanics have you turn the vehicle on and off. But you're also wasting time, which means losing money and work for both you and the shop.

If you're working alone at home, or just don't want to inconvenience your coworkers, a remote starter switch is the answer. The Maddox 12/24V Remote Starter Switch can turn over a vehicle's engine at the touch of a button by sending 12 volts to the starter solenoid — the same thing turning the key would do — and starting up the vehicle, assuming everything else is working as it should.

An LED indicator lets you know that you're properly hooked up to a hot circuit, and 5-foot long cables that allow for enough mobility to work in the engine bay as well as under it. The gadget weighs under a pound, is resistant to oil and grease, and only costs $20 at Harbor Freight. I purchased mine in 2010 and it's still working perfectly.

The Kenway 4-Way Trailer Light Tester is an incredibly useful little gadget whether you're setting up a trailer solo or with some help. This little device can provide a quick light check and also verify that power is getting through your trailer wiring. The light tester's LEDs are bright enough to see from a distance, so as long as you have trailer wiring long enough to see the connection from your driver's seat, you can use this tester by yourself. In fact, I'd add this to SlashGear's list of trailer essentials.

The gadget plugs into a trailer's 4-flat connector and provides clear LED markers for each light, and provides an easy way to test both turn signals as well as tail and brake lights — and it's small enough to keep on your trailer's keychain or toss in a glove box.

The Kenway 4-Way Trailer Light Tester costs just six bucks at Harbor Freight. And in case the price or size makes you concerned that this is just a cheap little piece of plastic, over 1,000 five-star reviews on Harbor Freight's website should calm those fears.

Tire work in a shop is usually, as the guy who taught me how to do the job always said, "dinero facíl." With access to a proper tire machine and balancer it's easy work, easy money, and, if you're lucky, a chance to sell an alignment or brakes after inspections. Tire work at home can be exhausting, frustrating, and even costly by way of damage to wheels.

A tire bead breaker may be stretching the definition of a "gadget," but it's still worth mentioning the Pittsburgh Bead Breaker on our list. The idea is that you can set the little shovel on the edge of a rim, press down on the lever, and break the bead, allowing you to remove a tire from the wheel. Unfortunately, the poor construction of this gadget means you're more likely to see a poor weld break than your bead. If that's not the case, then the metal used for this bead breaker is simply too thin for the job, often resulting in a broken tool and a frustrated tire swapper. And with a Harbor Freight price tag of $90, it's hard to see why anyone would go with this tool when the highly rated Maddox Manual Bead Breaker sells at Harbor Freight for the same price.

Sometimes you come across a gadget at Harbor Freight that doesn't seem like it would work, but the potential and price point line up to justify the purchase. Sometimes it doesn't work out, and other times you end up with a really cool tool you didn't know you wanted. This one's perfect for anyone that uses their pickup truck to haul loads rather than to impress the neighbors, and it may actually end up saving you some money.

The concept behind the Haul-Master 2,000-pound Capacity Truck Bed Cargo Unloader is simple — you set it up before loading the truck bed with gravel, mulch, topsoil or anything else that's a pain to unload. When you're ready, attach the removable crank and the large drag sheet pulls the load to the back of the vehicle, dropping it out of the tailgate and allowing for the easy unloading of heavy loads.

Costing around $50 at Harbor Freight, and only requiring the attachment of a few straps rather than invasive drilling for installation, this was a surprising discovery that I've already used in my little Ford Ranger to save some cash by buying mulch in bulk this season.

Diagnostic equipment is indispensable while performing automotive work, especially on late-model vehicles. Finding out what that check engine light indicates is always useful, and while a common code reader can pull a code, some newer vehicles require a scan tool for otherwise simple tasks like an oil change or battery replacement. Often, access to that requires a trip to your local auto shop, and incurring the costs that go with that visit, but that's chump change when compared to the exorbitant costs of a professional diagnostic scanner, a tool that also often requires a subscription for updates and full service information.

Enter the Maddox MRBT Smart Mobile Device OBDII Code Reader. Yes, buying a code reader or diagnostic device from a discount retailer seems like a recipe for disappointment, but this little dongle is an exception. Plug the device to your vehicle's OBDII port, and the gadget connects to an app on your phone or tablet via Bluetooth. The information you get from the Code Reader's app isn't just limited to reading codes, either — battery registration, oil or service indicator reset, smog checks, TSBs, live data, recalls, and lists of services that can potentially fix issues indicated by engine codes are all available, and at a reasonable price.

The Maddox MRBT Smart Mobile Device OBDII Code Reader can be purchased from Harbor Freight for around $60.

If you've ever noticed your mpg dropping and tried to swap out a fuel filter, odds are you've struggled with removing the fuel lines. Some filters use retaining tabs that just need to be pulled out (and ideally replaced) to remove the filter from the fuel lines; others use a threaded nut or a quick-disconnect hookup that requires a special tool for removal. Adding to that struggle is the fact that there are so many tools designed to help with fuel filter replacement, and unless you've gotten advice from a seasoned pro, you might just go with the cheapest option.

At Harbor Freight, that cheapest option is the Pittsburgh Fuel Line and A/C Quick Disconnect Tools. This inexpensive set of plastic tools sells for under $5, and if that low price seems questionable, your suspicion is justified. These hard plastic tools are tough to snap onto lines, and often break during the process of spreading them open. If you're lucky enough to get past that first step, you may discover that some of these tools aren't long enough to release the connection inside the line. At $4, it's hard to criticize these, but you're better off spending a little extra on a metal tool like the Pittsburgh Quick-Disconnect Tool Set, sold for $8.50 at Harbor Freight. Those have yet to let me down, and I bought mine over a decade ago.

When you get into suspension work, you get introduced to a whole new set of daily challenges. Connections can be larger than the tools you've got. Access to fasteners can be a challenge due to their locations. One of the tougher puzzles for an inexperienced technician to solve is the removal of an inner tie rod end. After all, how do you remove an inner tie rod when no socket in the world is deep enough to get past the rod and onto the ball joint?

I've seen mechanics use pipe wrenches or adjustable wrenches to much frustration and little success before introducing them to this godsend of a tool. Less a gadget and more of a long pipe with a bunch of crow's foot adapters, the Maddox Inner Tie Rod Tool Set is used by slipping one of those adapters onto the flat parts of an inner tie rod's ball joint. Those adapters are secured to the tool by way of a sliding collar, and then you just use a ½-inch ratchet to remove the part without having to drop the rack and pinion. That same ½-inch fitting means you can use a torque wrench to install a new inner tie rod end at the proper torque.

Selling for around $60 at Harbor Freight, the Maddox Inner Tie Rod Tool Set is a handy gadget that saves time and sanity during automotive steering and suspension work.

I was honestly a little shocked when I saw this tool while wandering my local Harbor Freight to research this list. Power Probe is one of the most trusted brands in automotive electronics testing, and seeing the brand's most popular product at the discount warehouse was a welcome surprise. To put it simply, if you're one of the technicians in your shop who is competent with this thing, your earning potential rises significantly.

The Power Probe PP319FTC Circuit Tester is a combination digital multimeter, relay and component tester, and continuity tester. The Power Probe is powered by a vehicle's battery via clips or a cigarette lighter adapter, and the generous 20 feet of cable included means you can use the tool anywhere on a vehicle. Since it's got a direct feed to battery power, the Probe can also activate components, so you can test components like a window regulator or door lock actuator directly without having to pull them from the vehicle.

Learning the variety of abilities and procedures that the Power Probe Circuit Tester is capable of is part of the fun of owning one, and once you get a hang of how it works, you'll never believe you did any automotive electrical work without one. It's a versatile, useful tool and you can pick one up at your local Harbor Freight for $225.

This list was assembled with the help of several sources. First and foremost, my 15 years experience as a professional automotive technician, paired with my inherent hesitation to spend money, led me to make several purchases from Harbor Freight — most successful, but some not so much. Friends still in the automotive industry offered up some suggestions for Harbor Freight gadgets, both good and bad. Product reviews on YouTube and Harbor Freight's website were also referenced, but I've owned or at least used most of the products mentioned.