I was just wondering if anyone has bought these things from harbor freight and had experience with them.

20 Ton Shop Press

Vertical Air Compressor - 2.5 HP, 21 Gallon, 120 Volt, 125 PSI

I wouldn't use these things on a daily basis.
They would be put in my garage.
The press i would use mostly for bushing's and ball joint's, one tranny re-build, and maybe a wheel bearing or two. (Or atleast that's all I'm planning for now.)

The compressor i would just use to take off lugnuts and other stubborn bolts with a 1/2" impact gun and use a 3/8" air rachet. (I'd be mostly using the air rachet than my impact gun.)

So any opinions on these would be awesome.

I have that same press for about 2 years and use everyday with out any probelms.

hope this helps

Well, I bought the 10 gallon air compressor Electric Air Compressor - 2-1/2 HP, 10 Gallon, 125 PSI about 6 months ago and HATE it. It seems to use the same motor. Its ridiculously loud and takes forever to build psi. Even in that little tank it takes over 5 minutes to fill up. It may not seem long on paper, but just sitting there waiting and listening to it is frustrating for me.

Gysgt Guy said:

Well, I bought the 10 gallon air compressor Electric Air Compressor - 2-1/2 HP, 10 Gallon, 125 PSI about 6 months ago and HATE it. It seems to use the same motor. Its ridiculously loud and takes forever to build psi. Even in that little tank it takes over 5 minutes to fill up. It may not seem long on paper, but just sitting there waiting and listening to it is frustrating for me.

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I second that ^^ I bought that compressor to they are junk its never quit but like he said it takes for ever to recover on air and mine trips out if you use it to much.

The Press is Ok, i too have the same one, and have used it faithfully for 2+ years with out issue.

The compressor, Meh doesn't quite have the CFM to run half of the Airtools, sanders, Etc that I own. The one I bought at Home Depot on sale Flows Twice that and for about 100.00 bucks more.

http://www.homedepot.com/Husky/h_d1...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
The one i Have, but got it as a Display, and at a Huge discount.

I have both and with the work I have done on the car (AWD Swap) both worked fine for me. Good Luck!

Thanks alot for the info guys.

One more question.

Where did you guys (if you did) get the adapters for bushings, bearings, gears and ball joints?

Harbor freight seems to only have the ones that are used by hand tools.

4.7 SCFM @ 90 PSI is not an impressive fill rate. If you want a compressor that you might use for an extended period of time, look for something around 10+ CFM. But for small, quick jobs, I'm sure that one would do just fine. It's definitely priced right.

THIS is the compressor that I use, and I know for a fact that my local Harbor Freight has one in stock that looks identical to mine and is spec'd the same as well. But I can't find it on their website right now. Either way, if you'll ever need it to do more than lugnuts, this is the size that I'd recommend.


I've wanted that press for years. It would be something that I would rarely use, but it would be handy to have around and it's a good bang-for-the-buck. I've heard nothing but good things about that one.

I have the press for 4 years and it has never had a problem. my brother had a compressor it worked great for 2 years and it stopped compressing air. It was a 21 gal oiled compressor. I took off the compressor and I am using it as a extra air storage tank now

The press is fine, nothing really to go bad on it, tools and metal fa are my only source of income now days and there's things i will buy at HF and things i WON"T.. I took a chance years ago on a 60 gallon US general 220V single phase compresor from there and it's held good, it will shut off after pumping up under non stop paint or die grinder usage (they comsume the most CFM) and it's lasted a surprising 10 years (anything smaller wouldn't cutit for my needs, 21 gal may be OK for you)

As for the press, i've broken a few of the pieces on it like the arbor and the blocks, but you can make new ones out o standard materials, the basic frame and jack are good enough for what most people eed to do

I'd stay away from any compressor where the motor and pump are integrated. (ie no belt). They are very loud and seem to be prown to failure. I have yet to meet anyone that is happy with that style. Find yourself a cheap used air compressor that has a pump driven via belt to the motor.

Like this:http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/tls/2735309902.html

I have several like this:http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/tls/2704216445.html (one in shop, one in garage, one in parents shop, they can be had for $60-120 and work great for simple light work. )


Meanwhile, start saving up your money for a nicer larger one later.

99BoostedRS said:

Thanks alot for the info guys.

One more question.

Where did you guys (if you did) get the adapters for bushings, bearings, gears and ball joints?

Harbor freight seems to only have the ones that are used by hand tools.

Click to expand...

Well my shop bought that press it does the job. As far as what to use, I am using my impact sockets to press out what i need untill Get enough left over like wheel bearings and such to use as press dies. U can also use diffrent diamiter pipe and cut them down to a couple inches. The press does come with 2 plates.

Thick wall pipe not exausht pipe.