OOOOPS!!!

Seeing as Harbor Freight manufactures none of what they sell, why isn't the NHTSA going after the manufacturer as well? Chances are knowing how this stuff works, more places than just Harbor Freight are selling the kits.

NEWS FLASH, fiat is trying to force a merger with Harbor Freight.

I'd rather buy those lights from HF than anything NHTSA could possibly sell.

Hey people, this is the lousy government we voted for!

How did our father's generation every survive or feed their families without *ssholes at some federal agency looking over their shoulder at everything they did?

Between the government in Washington, and the trial lawyers who want to sue anything that moves, we will soon be in a place where nobody wants to manufacture or sell anything for risk of being sued.

Because hf is an easier target than the Chinese manufacturer. This regime gets away with imposing enormous penalties and nobody blinks.

Yup, that's what happens when you have to buy so much crappy junk made in Cheena, since the same said Gov't ran so many companies out of the US with their non-stop reg's and BS

Harbor Freight tools are one time use. Anymore than that and your asking for trouble . that should make them exempt if they include this with a warning label lol

The fine is $400,000 not the $1 million the headline says, another $600,000 if they do not comply, big difference, another sensationalized report....

If anything needs to be cracked down on is the exhaust of motorcycles. No mufflers or converters, loud and smelly....

I buy a lot of tools and stuff from HB. Some of the stuff they sell are low quality, you just gotta pick and choose what you buy.

Seeing as Harbor Freight manufactures none of what they sell, why isn't the NHTSA going after the manufacturer as well? Chances are knowing how this stuff works, more places than just Harbor Freight are selling the kits.

@Keith. Could not have said it better myself.

HF is a good place to shop in my area, except you cannot get through the checkout without getting hit up for some promo they're doing. Apart from that I can spend hours there poking around.

Agree it is too hard to go after the Chinese manufacturers. Harbor Freight is a much easier target.

Keith CT,
Why should the manufacturer be targeted?

You will find that those light kits or components of the light kits are sold globally.

I would even think that Harbor Freight could of specified what goes into the kits.

Harbor Freight is responsible to sell products that meet what ever regulation to protect the consumer.

Harbor Freight was even approached by the NHTSA and ordered to recall the light kits.

Harbor Freight failed at all levels in protecting the public.

The argument by the NHTSA and fine are at least reasonable. The fine (if it goes to the maximum figure) takes away all profit received by selling the product. The argument is that HF simply should have bought a legal version for sale in the first place. It's HF's responsibility to ensure lights and fixtures of such sorts meet Federal standards when they make their purchase. In essence, we can pretty well assume the buyer of these lights has been fired.

@Roadwhale,

why don' t we just take him out back and hang him? Or shoot his sorry *ss?

Sounds like HF's failure to satisfy some arcane federal regulation gets you pretty riled up, eh? Are you perfect, Mr Vulpine?

Can you pull out every income tax form you ever signed and let us all have a look? Are you the man in the glass house, sir?

Under the US Constitution, our government has three principle duties

1. National defense
2. Operate a system of federal courts
3. Maintain a viable and trustworthy currency

Where exactly does headlight kits fit in to those constitutional directives? Please inform me and the rest of the readers here.

More often than not you get what you pay for and HF is no exception. While cheap knockoffs might be just fine for items a nonprofessional will use 2 or 3 times a year (and Ill admit I fall into this bunch and love saving money on tools/items I don't need quality versions of for the small size and infrequency of the projects I use them on), but for something that really matters. Where life, limb, or you are using the tools with regularity to deliver a high level of result HF is not where you go and these aren't the things you look to save money on as it ultimately costs far more in the long run.

I'm not surprised. Most of the stuff that Harbor Freight sales is Chinese junk. Americans now have less money to spent on tools that's why Sears is going out of business and the only choice now for many is this Arbor Freight chain.

Fined for missing side lights? That's pretty trivial compared to the problem I had with my lights. The Trailer kit I bought from them came with a light kit, and the wires just about fell apart in your hand. They lasted about 3 months, with my dad and I constantly looking for bad connections.
Finally I replaced them with a nice LED set from Tractor Supply and haven't had a problem since.
DO NOT BUY Harbor Freight trailer lights. I'm not the only one who's had that problem.

I agree with Clint. I'm an industrial mechanic and there is nothing from HF in any of my tool boxes. Unfortunately, Craftsman probably isn't any better any more since they went to China as well. I find myself shopping used tool dealers and auctions/estate sales to pick up old craftsman, Snap-on, etc. pieces.

BAFO - Then how come the Feds don't go after the dealerships in vehicle recalls? Why no go after grocery stores for tainted produce also? They didn't manufacture the car, they just sell it. Much like Harbor Freight.

Harbor Freight is great for Hobbiests or a homeowner that needs a few tools for a job they won't be doing frequently. I bought my miter saw from them. I maybe use it 3-4 times a year. Hardly worth paying for a DeWalt. It is a totally different issue if you are using the tools daily or as a professional making a living.

I quit craftsman hand tools since they started making them in china. The rub is they charge the same as when they were made here. Sears still exchanges them at no charge but so what. Chinese tools are junk. Harbor freight is only good for disposable items. Here's a situation: Trucking company buys cheap Chinese trailer tires. One explodes and a car gets damaged. Who are the lawyers going to target?

papa jim - one can argue that the government doesn't even get those 3 core items correct.

I can see Harbor Freight getting in trouble if they are responsible for ordering to their specifications and "in house" branding.

They got fined for "it did not follow federal guidelines regarding the recall of more than 800,000 trailer light kits that did not include the proper side lights"

They were told to pull the items of the shelf and did not do that.

I buy a lot of stuff from there. Can't go wrong with a hammer. Their end wrenches, screw drivers, etc. are great. Teflon tape, consumables for grinders and cutters, drill bits. Had to modify a shop press from them but still amazing for the price. Love the ratcheting end wrenches for the price. Socket sets. Their super large crescent wrenches, pry bars, and pipe wrenches I have used many many times without a problem. Most of these tools have a lifetime guarantee. You do have to pick and choose carefully since a lot of the stuff is junk, but I have spent thousands of dollars at harbor freight with only a few small regrets. probably 98 percent of what my farm spends is on american products (think tractors, trucks, heavy machinery) so I don't mind buying a few things from china if they are super cheap, work fine, and make working on the farm so much more convenient. I'd rather have 6 sets of tools from harbor freight than one really good set for the same price, especially when small tools get lost or broken on the farm on a daily basis. I just load up on stuff and have tools EVERYWHERE. Every tractor, every atv, every pickup has a toolbox heavily stocked with tools. Stay away from their duct tape, rubber hoses or just about anything made with rubber, air tool attachment pieces, electrical parts (though they have a fantastic wire stripper). I do have a top quality set of just about every kind of tool in the shop for when the harbor freight tools just don't cut it, but most harbor freight tools have never failed me.

I don't get the excitement in the comments. There are certain rules, whether you like them or not. The certain store did not follow these certain rules. The certain store gets fined. What seems to be the problem? Try to drive 95mph a few times down your street and see what happens. Then you can cry all you want about the government abuse in front of the judge.

@Bob,
Monsanto contributes to every presidential campaign, regardless of party. They also contribute to groups like the Alabama Farmers Federation, one of the largest Republican political organizations in the country.

From an Alabama farmer whose farming family and neighbors have been hurting since George Bush, Sr. signed off on the NAFTA agreement that sent a hefty part of our industry to Mexico.

Keith CT,
There s a big difference in how a manufacturers franchise operates to how an independent operates.

You should know this.

beebe - a friend of mine is a heavy duty mechanic. He buys a lot of tools from places like Harbor Freight (I don't think they are in Canada). He has some tools that are almost exactly like Snap On. He's worn out ratchets and the Snap On "guts" slide right in. He says it is much cheaper than buying the entire Snap On ratchet brand new.
I'm like you in regard to tools. I have a set in my truck, a set in a fanny pack for dirt-biking and quading and a set for the shop. I even have seperate stuff for the house. It saves on time and having to remember where you left your stuff.
I've even made a tool kit for my son's bicycles since it keeps them out of my stuff.

@Immoore would you rather have Bush Sr or would you rather have Bernie Sanders?

With Sanders you'll have union work rules for cornfield labor and grove workers. If that's what you want, fine...vote with the Democrats.

@Sierra_WT in my state the Democrats wanted to let every municipality and county to have their own gun laws.

Great, they passed it and for a little while back in the 1990s you needed to keep a lawyer in your back pocket if you ever traveled outside your own area with a gun in your car.

It doesn't matter that federal law allows you to keep an unloaded shotgun or rifle in the trunk (home state only), because if you get cited for packing a weapon you now have an arrest record that looks like hell, even if you were complying with the law.

Can you really afford to live in a place where lawyers and liberals run everything?

Damn govt. always trying to regulate product safety. They just do whatever the law says they can do, don't they?

Stupid laws created by democratically elected members of Congress and signed by a democratically elected President...what is this, Russia?

The Constitution is the only set of laws we need. Harumph!!

@Bob

How do GMOs exactly cause cancer? Last I checked a GMO was a genetically modified organism. All this is is taking the genetics of the plant and changing it to do certain things, such as withstand drought better, or make it to where roundup or pests do not effect it. Plants genetically modify themselves, it has been happening ever since the beginning of time. Roundup has very little effect of broadleaf weeds anymore, because they have on their own genetically modified themselves to withstand it better. Plants always are doing this to survive. How exactly does this cause cancer?

@Papa Jim:
"Sounds like HF's failure to satisfy some arcane federal regulation gets you pretty riled up, eh? Are you perfect, Mr Vulpine?"
-- It's hardly an "arcane federal regulation", Papa. Those laws have been in place for over 40 years. When I replaced the worn-out lights on a boat trailer back in the late 60s, the set already had the side-light requirement that included amber lamps to be mounted forward of the trailer's wheels.

"Can you pull out every income tax form you ever signed and let us all have a look? Are you the man in the glass house, sir?"
-- As a purchasing agent for a manufacturing company some years back, I was able to go back all the way through the predecessor company's files to know what they purchased. It's not exactly rocket science, you know. Even Harbor Freight has a requirement to observe Federal regulations when it comes to purchasing materials to be used on road-legal vehicles.

"Under the US Constitution, our government has three principle duties
1. National defense
2. Operate a system of federal courts
3. Maintain a viable and trustworthy currency"
-- I strongly suggest you read that document again. "The Safety and Security of the American People" is in there too.

"Where exactly does headlight kits fit in to those constitutional directives? Please inform me and the rest of the readers here."
-- Already did. The regulations you are complaining about when it comes to headlights in particular go all the way back into the 50s, when it was enacted to block Tucker from having a movable headlamp in is automobile with a line about "sealed beam headlamps." Fortunately that specific regulation has since been repealed as newer headlight technologies, including movable beams, have proven brighter and safer than the old sealed beams. If you want the trailer-light laws repealed, complain to the government, not to me.

By the way, did you know the Government mandated all those brightly-reflective red-and-white stripes on the backs of OTR trailers (in fact, most trailers over a certain load limit) and the sides of railroad cars? Why? Because they make it harder for drivers to miss seeing them at night where too many cars have crashed into the sides of trains and under the backs of big trailers because the drivers, when they survived, said, "I didn't see it until I was already too close!"

@vulpine are you really serious? The safety and security of the people refers to national defense.

NAFTA was signed into law by president Bill Clinton in 1993. Bush 1 had already left office.

Take Kroger feedback survey to some discount.