Yes they can be and are that bad. The metal on the crimped section is so
weak that instead of crimping the connector is smashed onto the wire. Then
the wire splays out and is not tight in the crimp.

With a good crimp you should be able to grab the connector with one hand,
the wire in the other and rock the wire back and forth. There will be no
wire movement inside the connector. This will never be the case with the
cheap Chinese crimp connectors sold by Harbor Freight.

David recommended NAPA - take his advice.

Don't get me wrong, Harbor Freight sells some good stuff, just not these.
For example, I own a tire mounting stand that I use to mount motorcycle
tires whenever I need new ones and the stand works great. I also own a chop
saw, a arbor press, a drill press and assorted other items from them and
they all work great.

But I looked at a end mill they were selling and the there was so much slop
in the carriage that I turned a crank one direction then turned over a full
turn the other direction before it started moving back the other way!

The key is - can cheapening the product reduce quality and reliability to
the point where I won't be happy with it? If the answer is "Yes" then don't
buy it at Harbor Freight!

Tom
www.towercooler.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
Rob
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 9:26 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Tools

I'm not arguing... but we are talking about these metal pieces with
plastic for insulation, you slip a wire in and crimp it. Can HF
connectors be that bad?

Rob
becida@comcast.net
on the road BBB currently in Sonoma county California

At  1/10/2011 06:41 PM,Tom Hargrave wrote:
>My experience with Harbor Freight electrical connectors is they are junk.
>
>You are better off buying your terminals at your local parts store.
>
>Tom

and

At  1/10/2011 06:48 PM,David Beierl wrote:
 >Rob, do yourself a favor and at least go to NAPA instead.  Crimp
connectors are like electrical tape -- the best you can find is
barely good enough.  You won't like what >they cost, but you'll only
have to buy them once.

 >Yours,
 >David