Free P4 pliers stiffness after moderate or heavy use

[israelpiper]

This user claims that the pliers head pivot becomes very stiff, in the working position, after cutting various material, is starting to spread. Apparently Tim Leatherman demonstrating nail-cutting has partly backfired. Some users report the pliers pivot is so stiff that the arms fold when trying to open the pliers after a hard cut. Some reviews report the stiff pivot after normal use--not heavy.

Mine, too, have grown stiff, but not from cutting nails, bedsprings, coat hangers, or titanium spikes. I prefer the slightly stiff pliers, but, not if the arms will fold when I open the head after use.  Leatherman has suggested, according to some reviewers, that they bang the pivot hard after use. Or wiggle the arms back and forth. 

No thank you.

Doesn't anyone in the multitool industry do geniune stress testing anymore, or serious Beta testing? Or is everyone just falling back on returns policy and long warranty> Unacceptable business plan. Quality up-front, PLEASE!   

[Aloha]

My thinking on wire cutters is, if you cannot by hand strength alone cut the intended material then get the proper cutters. 
I agree Tims demonstration leads some to belie or want to believe a MT should be able to handle a nail or materials that in no way are meant to be cut with wire cutters. 

Now as far testing,  .  We have had some reports of MT pliers becoming very stiff when being pushed hard or even in use.  I forget why it was sorry  .     

[ddogu]

Some users report the pliers pivot is so stiff that the arms fold when trying to open the pliers after a hard cut. Some reviews report the stiff pivot after normal use--not heavy.

reminds me of my Wave's pliers Happens quite a lot after miserably attempting to cut electrical wire (which Wave cannot do, the Vic SpiritX's pliers can do though) after which individual uncut wires get stuck between the plier heads. 

[SteveC]

I think it has to do with the pivot being slightly out of round.  Sometimes they become slightly loose as well.

[McStitchy]

I think it has to do with the pivot being slightly out of round.  Sometimes they become slightly loose as well.

This 

[parnass]

I think it has to do with the pivot being slightly out of round.  Sometimes they become slightly loose as well.

I suspect the pivot is being bent out of shape when using the pliers forcefully.

[Junkcollector]

My P4 seemed fine out of the box but then I went into my shop to put it through its paces. I cut through a piece of #12 stranded wire and the pivot locked up so tight I could hardly move it. I used a small screwdriver to pry on the pivot both ways and it loosened up. Every time I clamped down on something with the pliers they would get tight. I tried to work some valve grinding compound in the pivot which helped a little, but I finally got frustrated and sent it back to Leatherman. Two weeks later I got it back, Seems to work ok now; I don't know, I'm kind of afraid to use it now. Looks like someone beat on the plier pivot pretty hard with a hammer, there are marks on both sides.

[McStitchy]

Hmmm.... can you share a picture maybe?
So we can have a guess how they fixed it?
You've got yours back, right?

[tango44]

Let me tell you my story with my $120 Free P2...
I paid $120 from Amazon and received in a few days, My P2 came with grease and a polish stone stucked in the pocket clip.
I used WD-40 to remove the grease and a small screwdriver to remove the stone on the clip.
Cleaned with Microfiber and star using it.
I was very happy, I order the P2 because I like the idea to do pocket carry and the clip was fabulous for me!
Don't get me wrong but I love my Spirit but it needs a pocket clip and that does not exists yet...
Next day my son asked me if I could help him with a school project and we needed to cut a simple shirt hanger to complete the project.
After just cutting the hanger the P2 was completly stucked and the pliers did not open anymore, we where in the middle of the project so I went for my Spirit and finished the simple tasks with it.
We finished and I wait for my kid to went to bed that night I was ready to throw that thing away!
I tought that the wire cutter where bent and I decide to remove those, nothing happened.
I try to pry the pliers and nothing happened.
Next day I contacted Leatherman via email and this is their response: (below as a pic attachment)

Does not make sense to me to spend $120 for a tool that you have to use a hammer every single time that you use the wire cutters to make it work, so I send it back to Leatherman and after a couple of weeks I received a brand new P2, inmediatly I tried to cut a hanger and guess what:

EXACTLY THE SAME HAPPENED WITH BOTH TOOLS!

I was mad and just put away the P2 and went back to my 100% reliable Spirit!

I started looking for information on the internet and found this videos from a french person in Youtube DIEZELLE57:







and more...


To be honest I'm very dissapointed, I wanted the P2 because of the pocket clip, but the whole thing went wrong...

I hope Leatherman comes up with a solution soon and get fixed by their warranty, but who knows...

Now my P2 is all hammered on the pivot (will share pics when I get home)

So makes no sense for me to spend that money on those...

VERY DISSAPOINTED! I CAN'T TRUST THAT TOOL ANYMORE!

So this not an isolated event this is happening to a lot of people like me is a design problem not only bad luck!


 

[SteveC]

 

[AimlessWanderer]

So, a 25 year warranty so long as you fix it yourself 

That's a sorry tale from start to finish there, Tango. I can understand a bit of factory debris sneaking out of the door (to an extent), but not having to whack new tools with big hammers to make them work. 

[Aloha]

  Unacceptable.

[Max Stone]

Oh man...I got some stiffness when using my P2 for general work, but this now has me worried. Not all that keen to start ‘whacking’ mine with a peen hammer either. Seems just another reason to leave the P2 in the draw, which is kinda sad. 😢

[SteveC]

And they touted them as being their strongest pliers ever   

[AimlessWanderer]

And they touted them as being their strongest pliers ever   

Yup 

[Sam Lim]

And they touted them as being their strongest pliers ever   

Only for the strongest I guess.. 

[The Copilot]

If Leatherman hopes to get people to shell out the serious coin that the are asking for the Free P series tools, they can’t afford to have durability issues like this come up.  Unless it is addressed (and soon) it could have serious consequences.  Don’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth feedback in this day and age.

Also very unfortunate that the writer of the P series “home repair instructions” being sent by Leatherman doesn’t know how to properly spell “ball peen” hammer!

[tango44]

MY P2 TODAY:

[CraftsmanSAK]

To be honest... I really like Leathermans but this whole line up felt more gimmicky than anything to me, so I was skeptical about issues that might pop up.  Couple that with the price tag and now I'm glad I haven't bought any of these models so far.  Improvements on some older models would have gone farther with me than this line up.  I hope they correct their course and quick.  I want to see Leatherman do good. 

[AimlessWanderer]

I wonder if they knew they'd made a major booboo. After all, they didn't do SHOT this year.

[tango44]

Could be, I hope they read this!
I want to believe that their warranty dept. works together with the engineering dept to solve this kind of problems!
I hope so!

[Aloha]

So Alex came on MTO to push a ask anything on another site.  Maybe shoot him a message on the thread he started or the link he provided in his opening post.

He was clear however, that he had little if any intention to chat on MTO and preferred his links discussion board.  I don't know if he's or Leatherman is still active there but who knows.

https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,82892.msg2021996.html#msg2021996

[comis]

and more...

 

This very last video claimed the same stiffness problem exists for all current models(Charge, Wave, etc)?  That's a bold claim...I rarely do need my LM pliers for cutting material, but can anyone with experience chime in on this? 

And the ball peen fix on pivot for Free P2/P4, that's a new low. 

[israelpiper]

A very sad testimony to outright bad quality control. What's more, when the going got tough, the "oh so generous" warranty service seems to have been ill-prepared and is offering unsatisfactory or incomplete responsed. Sending back a tool with a dented pivot? Got to be kidding!

How on earth did such a large number of Free series tools go through the planning, testing, manufacturing and quality control process only to distill down to an instruction from Leatherman, to the customers, to pound the pivot with a hammer?  The stiffening-up fault could be disastrous to a tradesman in the midst of work, or a soldier in the field. Unreliable.

Will the pivot settle in over time? Will there be a major recall?

Leatherman owes us all a serious public answer, and not just piece-meal replies to individuals.   

[McStitchy]

This very last video claimed the same stiffness problem exists for all current models(Charge, Wave, etc)?  That's a bold claim...I rarely do need my LM pliers for cutting material, but can anyone with experience chime in on this? 

And the ball peen fix on pivot for Free P2/P4, that's a new low. 

I remember this happening occasionally to some.
But not to that extreme. Just slightly stiff, and it would loosen up again after some open/close action.
I had it too on a Wave, Rebar or Surge once.
Not sure which one it was.

[ReamerPunch]

So, before, if you hit the MT with a hammer it voided the warranty, but now it is a genuine repair method, encouraged by the manufacturer. 

[Mechanickal]

MY P2 TODAY:

That's horrific...

[tango44]

You should see it in person! it's even worse, the pic does not shows on detail the sctatches and dents on the pliers! 

[Mechanickal]

Beyond words...

[Poncho65]

I would either call or email and tell them how irrate I was with getting this kind of service from a $140 or more tool Tell them they need to send you a self addressed envelope back to them and you send instructions to them that you want a new plier head