Buying some tools

[TimV]

If it was me, I would buy a set of deep 1/2" sockets in standard and metric. Only in 6pt though. I can't think of a time where I needed a 12pt 1/2" socket. Infact, I have only seen 12pts used in a few places on cars. Easier to buy those singles when you need them.

 

[kcm1582]

I think I'm going to end up passing on the 1/2" stuff and buy a set of Gearwrench's instead. I've been talking to a few other people and the general consensus is that I wont use them enough to make them worth buying.

 

[goodie85]

If it was me, I would buy a set of deep 1/2" sockets in standard and metric. Only in 6pt though. I can't think of a time where I needed a 12pt 1/2" socket. Infact, I have only seen 12pts used in a few places on cars. Easier to buy those singles when you need them.

you have obliviously never takin your driveshaft off then im guessing?.....you NEED a 12pt 12mm for that haha


p.s i know you said used in some places....i wasnt trying to come off as a jack@$$

 

[strvger]

i have 2 sets of tools:
cheap Harbor Freight chinese tools for all the stuff i own made in china. they are the only tools that will fit that crap.
craftsman for all my stuff made here in the US that are really the size they are stated to be.
but that's just me.

 

[ranger_mclaren]

I actually had a box of tools to be replaced by snap on. Wasn't a lot but several. Everytime i went to replace them i was told they were out of stock.. I finally got tired of waiting so I called their Memphis HQ and said I had a list of stuff I wanted to buy. So the lady said we will get it all together and get it to the shop
Tomorrow. Well in 30 mins I had 3 snap on trucks show up lol. The first guy handed me a box with all the tools in it and told me that'll be $320 or something like that. I reached around and grabbed my box Of broken tools and said paid in full. Thank you very much.


He wasn't happy....... Lol

How'd you get a whole box of tools for $320 when a screw driver cost about that much LOL!

 

[adsm08]

Don't by anything in standard unless you actually work on cars older than 1980 regularly. Otherwise they are worthless. I have worked on cars for almost 10 years now, 5 years playing in the back yard, 5 years in the shop. I started on a 65 Mustang, I owned a 78 Omega. I can still count on one hand the number of time I actually NEEDED something in standard because a metric wasn't close enough. It doesn't always go so nicely in the other direction.

 

[CHKNFKR]

Lots of mixed opinions in here already, i figure i might as well add mine to the mess. Adsm is dead on about the metric stuff, unless you are dealing with heavy equipment. I spent the last 6 years of my life fixing big rigs, tracks, and material handling equipment for the army. In that line of work sae is where its at. Where your bread and butter is 3/8" drive metric, mine was 3/4" and 1" drive standard. Most of my heavy tools are kd, the small stuff (1/2" drive and smaller) was craftsman. The craftsman stuff holds up just fine to daily abuse so long as you use the tool as it's meant to be used. The only kd tools i ever broke were hand wrenches (usually doubled up for leverage) and their non impact sockets aren't good above 1600 lbs/ft.

 

[CHKNFKR]

Oh yeah and fwiw when you start shopping for torque wrenches and torque multipiers you can't go wrong with armstrong. They guarantee calibration for a year in both directions. And will recalibrate every year at no cost. I even get emails from them when my calibration date is coming up so i dont have to bother logging it.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

buy the metric set first. you will almost never touch the standard set.

also... you could probably buy a whole craftsman starter set with everything you need for the same price as 1 snap on metric set.

i went to the snap on guy for a 1/4" drive socket set without extensions. just the ratchet and sockets. $300

i almost never buy from snapon unless its an amazing deal or its something you can't buy anywhere else.

 

[adsm08]

i almost never buy from snapon unless its an amazing deal or its something you can't buy anywhere else.

I wish I was that smart. My catch phrase with him is "I'm tempted here.... but I already owe you too much money."

I buy mostly from our Snappy dealer because the other two guys are too unreliable. They always show up, but they forget/didn't get in what you asked them for the week (or two or three) before. My Snap-On dealer hasn't let me down yet.

 

[kcm1582]

Don't by anything in standard unless you actually work on cars older than 1980 regularly. Otherwise they are worthless. I have worked on cars for almost 10 years now, 5 years playing in the back yard, 5 years in the shop. I started on a 65 Mustang, I owned a 78 Omega. I can still count on one hand the number of time I actually NEEDED something in standard because a metric wasn't close enough. It doesn't always go so nicely in the other direction.

The shop I work at, my boss will take in just about anything he thinks he can make money on. I have worked on everything from semi's to snowblowers new and old. So even though I wont use them every day they do get used. Heck I was changing rear shocks in a Lincoln Towncar the other day and I couldn't get an 11mm on the nut up top, but a 7/16" fit and turned it no problem.

Oh yeah and fwiw when you start shopping for torque wrenches and torque multipiers you can't go wrong with armstrong. They guarantee calibration for a year in both directions. And will recalibrate every year at no cost. I even get emails from them when my calibration date is coming up so i dont have to bother logging it.

All I have for torque wrenches is an old craftsman but I don't really use it. Those Armstrongs look nice, I will definately consider them when I do start having a need for them though.

buy the metric set first. you will almost never touch the standard set.

also... you could probably buy a whole craftsman starter set with everything you need for the same price as 1 snap on metric set.

i went to the snap on guy for a 1/4" drive socket set without extensions. just the ratchet and sockets. $300

i almost never buy from snapon unless its an amazing deal or its something you can't buy anywhere else.

I already have a craftsman set of tools, and I want to start replacing them. They are good but I've had better luck with Snap-On. That $300 set you bought from him I could probably get for $160 with my student discount.

I wish I was that smart. My catch phrase with him is "I'm tempted here.... but I already owe you too much money."

I buy mostly from our Snappy dealer because the other two guys are too unreliable. They always show up, but they forget/didn't get in what you asked them for the week (or two or three) before. My Snap-On dealer hasn't let me down yet.

The Snap-On dealer is the only one that stops at our shop. We have had others but they just disappear after a while and we never hear from them again.


I don't remember if I have said this or not but thanks to everyone for the responses. I am getting a lot of good information from this.

 

[kcm1582]

Well I placed my order tonight. I ended up saving my money and not buying the 1/2" drives. Even the Snap-On said that I was better off with just the impact sockets for 1/2".

 

[geojag]

Most of my tools came from pawn shops, so I have a mix of Matco, Snap-On, Mac, Craftsman, KD, and S-K. They all work, it just seems that the Craftsman don't have the finish that the other tools have. As far as wrenches go, I like the Mac wrenches the best. Most of my sockets are S-K (I lucked into a complete set of 3/8 metric and SAE shallow and deep sockets for around $50 at a pawn shop) and so far I haven't broken any of them. I did break the S-K ratchet, but that was with a 3 foot pipe on it. One think Snap-On makes that has come is really handy is a "wobble plus square drive" extension. It gives you almost 20° of wobble. Or, you can push the socket on all the way and have a straight drive extension.

 

[Snoranger]

One think Snap-On makes that has come is really handy is a "wobble plus square drive" extension. It gives you almost 20° of wobble. Or, you can push the socket on all the way and have a straight drive extension.

I always brake the "wobble" part off the 1/4", and its always on the GM 3.0l 4cyl in a Hyster forklift. Its my fault, not the tools. I should be using the 3/8s drive, but It saves a lot of time using the 1/4". I dont have to drop the hydraulic pump to get to the starter like I do to fit a 3/8th.

I brake 2 or 3 of them on every starter, but I dont have to drain a hydro tank.

 

[kcm1582]

Most of my tools came from pawn shops, so I have a mix of Matco, Snap-On, Mac, Craftsman, KD, and S-K. They all work, it just seems that the Craftsman don't have the finish that the other tools have. As far as wrenches go, I like the Mac wrenches the best. Most of my sockets are S-K (I lucked into a complete set of 3/8 metric and SAE shallow and deep sockets for around $50 at a pawn shop) and so far I haven't broken any of them. I did break the S-K ratchet, but that was with a 3 foot pipe on it. One think Snap-On makes that has come is really handy is a "wobble plus square drive" extension. It gives you almost 20° of wobble. Or, you can push the socket on all the way and have a straight drive extension.

I like SK, my boss has a full set of wrenches and I have a set of flarenut wrenches but I've been reading that they went bankrupt last year and were bought by Ideal so I have no idea where they are headed and don't want to spend money on them till I see more. Mac aren't bad, and I like matco but Snap-On is the only one I got a discount on through school, and are the only ones that come to my shop. The pawnshops in this area are almost as expensive as the tool trucks and the stuff they do have is pretty beatup. But those swivel extensions are nice, I'll probably but a set this summer.