Harbor Freight Clamp Hack - Quick, Easy Fix!

Harbor Freight Tools makes a great, handy little ratchet clamp that is really affordable, but it's limited by a cheap design flaw.
In this video I show you how for less than a penny and in fewer than 5 minutes you can make this simple clamp even better. And Harbor Freight, if you're watching (they're not), you can incorporate this into your manufacturing at little cost and still be able to sell the clamps at $2, $3, or whatever.
The problem with the clamp is that if you apply too much pressure to the clamp the handle pops off. The handle rides on two small nubs or hubs built into the cover and the extra pressure causes the handle to either pop off the hub or it breaks it off, rendering the clamp useless.
But don't throw the clamp away! All you need to do is simply drill a hole through the cover of the clamp where the nub stuck out and force-thread a small machine screw through the hole. The handle will then ride on the screw rather than a piece of plastic and it allows you to apply a lot of clamping pressure without having the handle pop off.
It's a simple, cheap fix that you or Harbor Freight can do for less than a penny in virtually no time at all.
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[@zippymcfearson2776]

Thanks for the tip. Those clamps were nearly free with a coupon back when my job put me near the Harbor Freight nearly every day. My fridge is covered in free flashlights. I got a whole bunch of the small clamps a long while back for some veneer gluing. It was when I started using them for other stuff when they went bad. RUclips must be spying on me because they suggested this video. I was going to throw out about a dozen that had started to break before I saw this. I just went out to the garage and drilled all the way through one of mine. I used a longer bolt and a lock nut. Better than new. A handful of pennies will save me a couple of bucks. Thanks.

[@rocktech7144]

I was thinking nut and bolt but your solution is much neater. Thanks for the mod.

[@arthilliker3721]

I've got a bunch of these and also have THE GOOD ONES ....well, for the price of the "good ones" (that do the same thing eventually) this is a nice easy CHEAP (my middle name according to my wife...LOL) fix that I'll certainly do !! I try my best to keep things out of the land fills and the ching in my pocket !! Thanks for a very helpful video !!

[@mattmgarza]

Genius! Great video!

[@dang2443]

Great video. Always gotta do something to a HF product to improve it.

[@TheRainHarvester]

How old is that clamp? I haven't seen those with orange handles. About 5 months ago, I bought one and it was all grey. They had also redesigned from previous version I had. (I fixed my old one exactly as you did!! ) The new version was insanely strong. Uncanny for harbor fright...I know!

[@edwardcrone2465]

Bump is a knarl.