Tools, which do you like & why???

[milwaukee]

Snap On would be out of business in a month if they didn't finance tools to people with bad credit.

I saw a stat one time that said 90% of snap on sales are financed by individual techs.

It is pretty tuff to pay $800 bucks for a set of wrenches when the same craftsman set can be purchased for $100. High interest loans and a lack of financial sense is a wonderful thing. At least for lenders anyway.

When I worked at a car dealership the techs usually had about a $300 tool bill (trade term for payment on tool loans) every single month.

The snap on guy played them like a fiddle.

The idiots were tickled pink to get a "free" die cast car when they bought a $10,000 tool box.

 

[oilboy123]

Lincoln Floor Jack I bought a few years ago is real nice.
A made in Japan craftsman Jack I have had for 21 yrs is not bad. It is rated at 2.5 tons and can't lift as well as the 2 ton Lincoln Jack.

 

[JHZR2]

Avoid HF tools for impact sockets.

Jacks are more or less the same, from what Ive seen - within the
JMH

 

[Donald]

I think it comes down to if your a mechanic who uses his tools all week or a backyard mechanic who fixes things once and awhile. If your a mechanic then you need tools that use can day in day out that will not break or wear out. So Snap-On or Matco comes to mind.

For the rest of us tools from Harbor Freight are fine. I have almost all my air tools from HF and none have broken but they are used once a month if I am lucky. I have broken a HF impact socket, but it was replaced under warranty.

 

[labman]

Donald makes a good point. I picked up a set of offset box wrenches from Harbor Freight about the time I traded off my Grand Am thinking they might help in some tight places. I haven't really gotten around to using them. Now that my Cavalier is over 4 years old and has 75K miles, I am starting to have to do a little more work on it. Likely I will occasionally find one useful. I can't see that a better set would have been money well spent.

 

[unDummy]

If you're on a budget(backyard mechanic with signnificant other controlling cash flow), cheaper tool brands, like HF Pittsburgh, are good enough.
BUT, any tool that breaks or strips something(like a bolt or nut head), should get replaced with Mac, Matco, SK, Metrinch, Snap-on, Husky, Kobalt, Craftsman, and other brands....
Within a few years, you'll still have MOST of the infrequently used cheap sockets/wrenches/pliers with most of the more commonly used tools upgraded without breaking your bank.

My jack stands, jacks, and seldomly used specialty tools are HarborFreight specials. These are worked regularly enough and haven't failed me yet.
My drive up ramps are the plastic ones from Pepboys/Walmart/Autozone. Best $30 spent. Even though I didn't buy the truck ramps, the standard Rhino ramps have no problem with the SUVs/Pickups that I've driven up on them.

I'm also a big fan of the euro Metrinch socket/wrench sets. They will remove any and all nuts and bolts that had their heads stripped by other tools. But, they'll dumb down your ability to tell size, or whether something is metric or standard, since you use the sockets 'by feel'.

Ebay and your local ad newspapers are an excellent place to find tools and boxes from 'retired' or injured mechanics. I wouldn't even consider wasting money buying new tools/boxes with the number of seasoned sets out there. There is nothing like picking up $3k worth of tools and a box for $500. Be patient in your search.

The cheaper import impact tools will break after 1 or 2 uses. I can crack them with an electric impact wrench. Put them on a more powerful pneumatic impact and those cheap import tools become disposable after one use. The small sizes will work OK. The bigger sizes will break. Again, if on a budget, a set will get you working. And, replace the cracked or broken ones with quality sourced tools.

 

[Clyde65]

quote:

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Originally posted by milwaukee:
I saw a stat one time that said 90% of Snap-on sales are financed by individual techs.

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I must be part of the other 10% because I've invested over $60K in Snap-on tools over the years and NEVER once financed any of them. Just cold hard cash.

 

[Bret Chase]

for a floor jack, neither.. I can't remember the name of my floor jack ATM, but it's a "real" floor jack, it's 4'+ long, has about a 30" lift, a 6" pad, and weighs about 200lbs. I got it when I inherited a butload of tools from my wife's great grandfather. it'd probably be $500 to replace it.

as for hand tools, I've got S-K, Proto, Snap-On, MAC, craftsman, PowrKraft and a few other brands. I like the S-K stuff the best.

I prefer american stuff, but I can't complain about the service I've gotten out of the first 1/2" drive set I ever bought, a Popular Mechanics from Wal-mart. I've never broken any of those sockets or the ratchet, even when pounding on them with a hammer, 4' pipe, impact wrench, etc.

 

[cousincletus]

FWIW I have broken many Craftsman and import tools, but never a Snap-on. If you work for living using hand tools, then I suggest you buy Snap-on or another premium brand.

 

[TooManyWheels]

I am happy with my real floor jack, which I believe is a Blackhawk. The release mechanism is a little choppy, but otherwise it was reasonably priced and has held up well. If you have the room, get a full size jack, not one of the trunk sized units.

 

[JetSnake]

As an aircraft mechanic, I find snap-on to be the only way to go. I looked at Matco but never bought any.

 

[Jim Spahr]

I have several sets of the Metrinch tool kits which were once sold on infomercials. Sears then had a close out sale on them. Metrinch started the now popular one socket fits both Metric and SAE bolts. These are a good tool kit to carry in your car or truck. Another invention is the GearWrench sets which have the ratcheting slim line heads. These allow you to easily get into tight spaces that even a ratchet and socket won't go.

 

[1sttruck]

Snap On for home use on a tight budget ? I have a Snap On tool chest, metric sockets, socket wrenches, etc., Proto wrenches, and found that Snap On did better than Craftsman around machine tools when being used daily for work. Over the years though I've filled in with Craftsman and have had no problems. Well, they did recently replace a large steel square as it rusted underneath the clear finish over the course of about 10 years and I couldn't read the markings anymore.

My recent dumb tool trick consisted of using a cheater bar thru the box end of a 1 5/16 Craftsman wrench, the open end being used on end instead of around the nut, as I couldn't find a crow foot big enough. It worked fine, for breaking two nuts loose and tightening them again.

Use Craftsman with no worry. If you're working with hand tools find out what others are using. If you have no kids and extra money by all means get Snap On as they're beautiful, functional tools, kind of like industrial art.

 

[1sttruck]

Forgot to mention... Sears sells a nice, basic non-branded Fluke meter for about $50, it was $40 on sale recently. It's a model 81437, and looks different than other Sears meters.

 

[Propflux01]

Sockets = Craftsman or matco
Ratchets = Snap-on
Wrenches = Craftsman or Matco
screwdrivers = Craftsman or Matco
Pliers = Snap-On, Matco, sometimes Craftsman
Hydraulic jacks = Pretty much all of it is made in China anyhow.
Jack Stands = Varies.

 

[andyd]

30 yrs of shadetreeing and my Craftsman 1/2" and 3/8" drive stuff is wearing out. I call the new stuff I get when I trade it in "Crapsman" The quality just isnt there in their new stuff, esp the ratchets.

 

[Clyde65]

 

[Clyde65]

 

[Clyde65]

 

[Clyde65]