May need to buy my first Icon tool

[Trav]

Nothing wrong with Icon stuff. Their ratchets are great and they are the best for retail homeowner warranty claims. Walk in and replaced pretty much no questions asked. I have 2 within a 15-30 min drive. I am a homeowner but do a lot of repairs on various things and their tools are good. Might be different if I was a pro mechanic, but I would even question that.

They are good tools, the G2 ratchets and wrenches will hold up to pro use. A lot of the naysayers either don't own one, never used one or come with this "I wont support the Chinese" argument or they are seriously PO'd they blew so much money on the tool truck.
They are made in Taiwan not China, the Icon pry bars and punches are Mayhew made in USA as are the Chief air chisels and punches.
These folks that complain about made in China have no problem whatsoever buying Milwaukee power tools made in china or Vietnam by TTI and post how great they are.

 

[JHZR2]

They are good tools, the G2 ratchets and wrenches will hold up to pro use. A lot of the naysayers either don't own one, never used one or come with this "I wont support the Chinese" argument or they are seriously PO'd they blew so much money on the tool truck.
They are made in Taiwan not China, the Icon pry bars and punches are Mayhew made in USA as are the Chief air chisels and punches.
These folks that complain about made in China have no problem whatsoever buying Milwaukee power tools made in china or Vietnam by TTI and post how great they are.

I don’t care to support Taiwan, frankly, any more than China. At some point all that investment there will likely be nationalized by the Chinese juggernaut, and/or many of our own kids will die trying to protect it.

Too many things we don’t have a choice.

The point on power tools went through my brain if I ever decided to get a new set, what would I get - but I’ve always been of the mind that each tool may have a vendor best and despite the battery thing it’s not best to be blindly allegiance to any one. Thus I have dewalt, Bosch, Milwaukee, and makita. Unfortunately other than a few dewalt tools I’m not sure any are US made.

Like so many other things.

Wal-mart pry bars are also made in USA. Yes, chief punches are too - I was pleasantly surprised. It’s just a matter of time before profit motive changes that.

Unfortunately for the topic at hand, even the snap on tool is made by Astro. Both the icon and the Maddox at HF explicitly said made in China, not Taiwan. Maybe the Astro one is different, but tomwait I’d be without a complete job, even with as fast as Amazon is near me. Sucks but is what it is.

 

[Trav]

Unfortunately Snap on blue point are made in Taiwan also by Infar, the same company that makes Icon. Snap on has no problem repackaging China made stuff and charging 3 or 4 times the price for it.

 

[JHZR2]

Unfortunately Snap on blue point are made in Taiwan also by Infar, the same company that makes Icon. Snap on has no problem repackaging China made stuff and charging 3 or 4 times the price for it.

Agree 100%.

I’m not beholden to snap on by any sense. Even if th ey repackage first world stuff my first approach is to buy the OEM that made it.

When I see that their set is sourced from China there is zero value in buying it.

Even if it wasn’t I hadn’t planned well enough to buy something in advance.

 

[The Critic]

Snap on has no problem repackaging China made stuff and charging 3 or 4 times the price for it.

It's called pre-paying for your warranty replacements.

 

[Tempest1]

I bought the Orion kit thinking my 02 Highlander needed the twist function. It does not. Can these kits be used to push in "regular" caliper pistons?

 

[Lenny5160]

I bought the Orion kit thinking my 02 Highlander needed the twist function. It does not. Can these kits be used to push in "regular" caliper pistons?

I don't know exactly what you bought, but assuming it is something like this Orion kit, yes, that can be used to simply push pistons back in.

I have any older Pittsburgh-branded kit from Harbor Freight that looks identical, and have been using it for years on all kinds of calipers. Only one of which was twist-type on a Ford Fusion.

 

[spasm3]

I bought the Orion kit thinking my 02 Highlander needed the twist function. It does not. Can these kits be used to push in "regular" caliper pistons?

Yes. I open the bleeder, and push it back in using this set.

 

[The Critic]

Yes. I open the bleeder, and push it back in using this set.

If you open the bleeder you can probably just use some channel locks.

 

[Donald]

I bought a kit on Amazon because I had not bought any tools in a month or two and was getting itchy to buy a tool.

 

[Donald]

So I have a pile of various tool kits on a shelf. All lying flat. I need a way to label the end so I can pull out the right one tool kit the first time.. I end up pulling out a bunch looking at the label on top.

 

[Hohn]

I've had good luck with most of the Icon tools I've bought. I now own quite a bit of the stuff. A really short review of all my Icon stuff:

• Pliers: Superb. Especially the diagonal cutters, which will snip human hair.
• Chrome Sockets: legit snap on contenders. Super snug fit like snapon, sometimes too snug with rusty stuff. Had to warranty an early production set for plating defects, but no drama getting it replaced.
• Ratchets: generally very good (I have no G2s) but the 1/4 drive is notably not up to the same level as the others. I like them but nothing special vs Gearwrench 90t or Tektons. Not the bargain they once were IMO as they've steadily raised prices
• Extensions: very good. I prefer Tektons or (especially) Koken
• Torque wrenches (Beam)-- probably the best bargain around in torque wrenches. Accurate, reliable, and not too expensive.
• Deadblow ball pein hammers: good, but perhaps a little overpriced.

Icon stuff is very good, but not automatically my first choice despite the convenience of an HF store 5 min away. Once you use some Capri/Koken/Nepros/KTC/Tekton/Astro you won't really have an automatic brand loyalty as I've found some absolute gems in these brands.