When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Don't get me wrong, 12 tonne will be fine I'm sure, I mean I done the whole car with 10 tonne press. You just have to weigh up is it worth the small saving getting the 12 tonne over the 20 tonne? and risking its not up to the job? I went for the smaller option and regretted it when 1 front and 1 rear wheel bearing was stuck to the point I had to pay a garage a small fee to get it out which defeats the object in buying it in the first place lol.... depends where you live to I guess, I'm in the uk so the car had seen bad weather for years which makes things worse.
The 20% off coupons may exclude the presses if you check the fine print. They often exclude many of the expensive items. Good thread, though. I've been considering getting one, too and good to know it's better to just go for the 20.
Yeah if you just google "12T vs 20T press" the overwhelming majority will tell you to go 20T especially for the minimal cost difference. Although 12T seems like a lot, there are quite a few situations where people were not able to do what they should have been able to do with it.
For those who have the extra cash, i paid around $160 for a "pull - press sleeve kit" on ebay which i highly recommend. It's a sleeve kit with various sizes meant to allow you to press in or out bushings without necessarily having to remove the arm from the car. Reason i mention it is because the HF presses never come with any press fittings and they don't sell anything to help you either. An array of sockets can help, but it's nice/necessary to have receiving cups at times too. The sleeve kit paired with the HF 20T press has allowed me to do a wide variety of bushing sizes. There are times when i saved time/effort not having to take the arm off the car and conversely, other times where i was forced to get it on the press for the extra oomph...i would have been SOL on many occasions without this setup.
Good to know. But...I seem to recall times when there were several part numbers for same item, not just two. Like when you have a coupon, and it lists all the pn's it can be used for, and there are like 5+ pns listed.
I went with the 20 ton HF when I bought mine. Still small enough to get out of the way, still large enough to do most things I need. Love having it and it has already saved me about as much as paying someone else when I need one.
But, if you buy one, remember to read up on safety with a press. You are putting things under severe pressure, and what looks mundane can turn horribly, horribly bad. Materials can splinter and it is surprising just how much damage can be done! You dont need to run scared, but be aware of what could break and go flying and take some simple precautions when using a press. 40,000 pounds can create a LOT of kinetic energy in the part that goes flying if that happens.
I went with the 20 ton HF when I bought mine. Still small enough to get out of the way, still large enough to do most things I need. Love having it and it has already saved me about as much as paying someone else when I need one.
But, if you buy one, remember to read up on safety with a press. You are putting things under severe pressure, and what looks mundane can turn horribly, horribly bad. Materials can splinter and it is surprising just how much damage can be done! You dont need to run scared, but be aware of what could break and go flying and take some simple precautions when using a press. 40,000 pounds can create a LOT of kinetic energy in the part that goes flying if that happens.
This is a very good point to remember! Harbor Freight used to ship their presses with cast arbor plates, and there were numerous threads about them exploding under pressure. They have since started shipping them with hot-rolled plates, but If you imagine suddenly releasing >44,000 lbf into a 2lb chunk of steel, it can do a LOT of damage.
I generally keep a 3/4" plywood sheet between me and the press as I'm pumping it so that at least SOME of that energy will stay away from me if anything lets go.
05-08-2018, 03:11 AM
