Buy The Stubby Shaft!

[1gcrazy]

Hokey, So... I'm trying to get this damn home made balance shaft eliminator kit to work. I get a call early this morning saying I dont hafta goto work. Sweet.

So at 9am, I get the call, start looking for a tap at sears or somthing. Sears was all out of the single taps so I goto Harbor Freight and pick up a 40 piece Pittsburgh Metric tap and die set (which i HIGHLY don't recommend.)
So there I am, giddy, ready to get this shit DONE!
First, my tap twists, shit ok, under warrenty. Took it back no issues.
Next, the handle to hold the tap is a piece of shit. It rounded off the 90 degree angle on the inside of the holder right at the deepest point of the tap. Great.
So after keeping the tap and telling Harbor Freight to #### themselves for selling me a piece of shit. I got a new set...again.
I stick the new handle on the old tap trying to get the thing out. Rounds off the NEW HANDLEWTF
So there I am, every pair of vice grips, pliers, cresent wrench and basically anything I had to try and keep this tap and get it out of my cut off stubby shaft.
I ruined two pair of vice grips and eventually stuck the damn tap in my REAL vice, tightened as hard as i could and used the vise grips on the stubby shaft gear with a towel.
That FINALLY worked.

So after figuring out i've gone down just far enough to get this shit done. I find a nice bolt that works. I add my blue goo at the base and thread locker at the top of the bolt. Put the gear in the vice and put this bolt down into it's home.
Snap.
I was LIVID. At this point it is 6pm. I had spent HOURS trying to get this ####ing thing to work. ANY help from god would have been nice.

So i'm like ok, lets try again.
Drill a hole down into the broken bolt and then insert my easy out.
Snap.
There isn't a face to describe my frusteration. Now after my whole day is wasted. I'm ready to buy the stubby shaft.

So here's my advice to you. SAVE YOUR DAY AND BUY THE DAMN FACTORY STUBBY SHAFT!!!

 

[turboking15]

thats odd, i did the homemade bse and it went flawlessly. i had no issues whatsoever. just take your time follow the directions and be patient, and it works like a charm.

 

[Daveed]

That blows dude! Thanks for the tip. I'll probably be getting the $15.95 kit from partsdinosaur.

I always think twice before I buy anything from harborcrap. I usually get there then realize the quality is so bad it won't last or work for me then get disappointed and leave.

 

[99gst_racer]

I've never busted a tap, tap handle, or easy-out in my life. Are you sure you were using them correctly? And what exactly were you trying to tap?

 

[luvmygst]

I cut mine off and welded the hole up. Done in about 1 min. start to finish. (cutting then welding.) went perfect for me

 

[Mikael SS]

I think maybe you just aren't cut out to work on cars.


I did the "free" bs removal, and it worked fine. I have a mac tools tap and die set, so that made it easier.

Autozone now sells single tap/dies, and they are pretty good quality with a lifetime warranty. So does home depot and lowes.

Harbor freight tools are only good for simple stuff, everyone knows not to use them for precision stuff like taps.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

The guy is just venting and sharing his experiences with BSE. What you should take home from this is that cheap tools, even lifetime warranty tools, can break and that sometimes it really IS best to save yourself the trouble and spend the $40 or whatever on a complete kit instead of home brewing your own shiz.

Have you not never slipped and bashed in your knuckles? During installation of part x there was no mention of bashing your knuckles needlessly. If thats you, clearly, you're not cut out to work on cars.

Have you never split apart a lifetime warranty socket while trying to get your stock 100k turbo bolts undone? And then you broke the replacement? If thats you, clearly, you're not cut out to work on cars and it has nothing to do with the quality of the tools and is entirely dependant on your lack of cognitive ability.

This is MY vent, and I'm incredibly surprised to see that proven members of this board can resort to attacking a person's worth simply because of a troublesome installation for what can sometimes be a breeze. You do know we're talking about DSMs here, right? Nothing is ever as simple as it should be, and a person, let alone a DSMtuners member, should never attack the intelligence of another simply because they had a tough time with a project that you may or may not have completed without or without issue.

I'm glad you pointed out that HF is not known for their extreme quality, but I'm also fairly positive that no one knows them as "the place to not pick up simple parts like a tap and die set". I only take issue with the insult, save 'em for the guys who come on here with their "gangsta speak" or just to cause trouble.

Nothing personal,

 

[1gcrazy]

Haha, yes... not cut out for cars.... thats me!
Anyway, back to reality... Yes, i know how to use the set. I'm not sure what was going on, no matter how many times I twisted the tap down about half an inch, the damn thing was getting harder to turn. I tried putting pressure left and right going up and down to see if I could gain clearance on the threads. Eventually when I hit the hole at the bottom it was pretty tough to turn as it was and the hole did not help.
The first tap, i bent twisting too hard to fast. My mistake....
The rest of the times, where the tap meets the handle, the damn thing didn't have enough meat to grab and just twisted the square edge inside the handle.

Whatever, things are good.

MAPerformance seems to think that them sending me an email saying they have recieved my order also means you need to fax in a copy of the card holders drivers license....
Thanks map.
Must have been what happened to my timing belt kit a few years back.
I dont really appreciate this crap.
"Your order has been processed successfully. " Riiiight...