Priced right off the Snap-On truck

Back in the early 70's my younger brother got a degree in auto mechanics from a local junior college. Their instructors told them that potential employers would want to know if they had adequate tools to be considered for employment. I was working summers at Sears part time as a stock boy. Along with my discount he bought one of those mega craftsman sets (500+ tools and large chest and cart) from the catalog. He couldn't afford anything more at the time. When the Pontiac dealership he worked at closed he changed careers but he still has those tools today along with the chest and cart. He told me he was surprised to see how many mechanics at the dealership had craftsman and husky tools back then. They simple could not afford tool truck offerings and they could always run over to the local Sears store to get free replacements when needed. I guess those were the good old days when craftsman was pretty good stuff.
 
I didn't mean to offend you, just that there are OTHER options for American made tools besides REALLY overpriced tool truck tools.

Williams, SK, Tekton. Snap-On doesn't give a crap about the little guy, just the bottom line. They are no different than any other tool manufacturer, so I'll buy from the one with better prices.

Everything I have heard about Snap-On is that their tools while of great quality, the customer service leaves a lot to be desired.
Agree with all points.
 
A 3/8's ratchet wasn't working smoothly so I tracked down the Snap-On truck and the guy overhauled it for me :cool:
I have done the same, I just let them know I don’t work at a shop anymore. My neighbor is now a Snap-on dealer so I have had him repair and warranty a few things. I try to buy a few small things so I don’t seem like a complete waste of his time.
 
Back in the early 70's my younger brother got a degree in auto mechanics from a local junior college. Their instructors told them that potential employers would want to know if they had adequate tools to be considered for employment. I was working summers at Sears part time as a stock boy. Along with my discount he bought one of those mega craftsman sets (500+ tools and large chest and cart) from the catalog. He couldn't afford anything more at the time. When the Pontiac dealership he worked at closed he changed careers but he still has those tools today along with the chest and cart. He told me he was surprised to see how many mechanics at the dealership had craftsman and husky tools back then. They simple could not afford tool truck offerings and they could always run over to the local Sears store to get free replacements when needed. I guess those were the good old days when craftsman was pretty good stuff.
RIP Sears and the quality Craftsman tools. I worked there while in college. Horribly run company and no surprise when they closed
 
RIP Sears and the quality Craftsman tools. I worked there while in college. Horribly run company and no surprise when they closed
Well Craftsman is still around, Lowes and Ace hardware sells them. And while Sears is a former shadow of itself, now down to 29 stores, it's not dead yet.

 
Bought a bunch of tools yesterday, no big brand names though. Still, made in germany it says for some

One was a (most likely chinese) drill head to fit inside my SDS drill, so I can run regular drill bits. 6 euro or so but branded stuff was 40 euro, might aswell buy a complete drill then.

An oil filter wrench with a strap. german made apparently... like this but nicer finish and longer strap:

348175.jpg



a new can of copper grease, will last me the rest of my life. Bentonite clay with synthetic oil, copper and aluminum dispersion. Doesn't dry out, doesn't drop oil, doesn't swell rubbers. Best I've ever used..

and a set of ramps to drive on, will need to extend them to get on with the fronts though

oh and this:




41773.jpg

whatchamacallit in english? impact screw driver?
 
oh and this:




41773.jpg

whatchamacallit in english? impact screw driver?

I have one of those. I've had it for decades. That set (or the ones very similar), used to be available everywhere, but are now hard to find. I don't use it too often, but every now and then, it works great. Most people don't know how good it is until they use it once when nothing else will work.
 
I've never needed one until I started working on hyundais. Occasionally i used a chisel or centerpunch to drive out a screw but maybe once or twice a year. I wore out several chisels on those koreans...
 
I've never needed one until I started working on hyundais. Occasionally i used a chisel or centerpunch to drive out a screw but maybe once or twice a year. I wore out several chisels on those koreans...
Never tried to get Chevy truck rotors off? From the factory they have this screw. It is usually “lost” after the first rotor removal
 
Pretty sure snap on is only designing manufacturing and marketing their high tools to professional tool users in maint, repair and industrial settings.

they are pretty much not what a diy or joe home owner is going to buy. Probably wouldn’t even be worth it if you are a oil change person

there is a difference in quite a few tools. You can get by with some cheapies you really can. But as others have stated it’s about service to your shop and a relationship with another human trying to make a living like yourself.

the tools they make at their own usa plants are top quality. Companies this large with this many items to offer have to rebrand stuff that meets their approval

The prices go up yearly just like most things do.
 
phillips (and pozidriv) head is the root of all evil.
Pozidriv is fundamentally a sound design that addresses the low torque/cam-out issues of Phillips.

The big issue with it is that you can still ruin all of that if you use a Phillips driver on a Pozi screw.

A Pozidriv screw driven with the correctly sized bit can handle nearly as much torque as a torx or hex.
 
GM uses Torx....Even that's a recent development as they used to use those sheet metal star clips. The Japanese love to use Phillips.
They use JIS, and people mess them up trying to use a Phillips on them instead of the proper tools. Buy a good quality set of JIS Screwdrivers, end of the problem.

ps. My Dad has boxes full of high end tools, many are Snap On, and I get spoiled by using them, when forced to use cheap tools. Their warranty is amazing, if anything breaks, it gets replaced quickly, no questions asked.
 
They use JIS, and people mess them up trying to use a Phillips on them instead of the proper tools. Buy a good quality set of JIS Screwdrivers, end of the problem.

Yep, JIS is another cross-type screwdriver that looks like Phillips but isn't.

I don't have any "big" JIS drivers, but have a full set of smaller ones as you might find on cameras/electronics. Phillips or even Pozi will strip those tiny JIS electronics screws out in the blink of an eye, especially if they have thread locker on them. As a side note, on small screws, assuming they're into metal, I use a soldering iron to heat them for a couple of seconds before even attempting to remove. That's enough to basically kill Blue Loctite or whatever equivalent thread locker they're using.

Good electronics driver sets should have PH, PZ, and JIS bits/drivers, but a lot of the less expensive one will just be PH. Even if a screw actually is PH, I get a bit nervous down in the 00 and 3/0 size range.
 
Ahhh, I see.... This one ?
$16-17 from Amazon, Zoro, JD Tools, etc vs $53 from Snap On.
I am a huge fan of GW, but their filter wrenches leave something to be desired. I’m not a pro, but I’d have no faith in one either. Ended up getting one some Sears points and it’s pretty flimsy. Very disappointed in the quality and the photos don’t do it justice. The band was also bent in the center and took several attempts to grip. Looked like a manufacturing flaw so it wasn’t even good out of the box.

I can’t remember the p/n, but my dad has an old US made one he’s had since the 80’s. I ended up doing a search on eBay and was able to find one for $15 shipped.

I can get a photo if anyone’s interested.
 
They use JIS, and people mess them up trying to use a Phillips on them instead of the proper tools. Buy a good quality set of JIS Screwdrivers, end of the problem.
3 of our 4 current cars are Japanese and we've had many before these too. I bought Vessel drivers many years ago and they are great. Our son has an Accord and I bought him a set as a Christmas gift. I am curious if Honda uses JIS fasteners on their US-built models though... We use the JIS drivers on his Marysville-built Accord and they work great on those fasteners but I've found that JIS drivers work well on non-JIS fasteners anyway.
 
Back
Top