Technical The best brand of tools for someone who just works on his own cars?

Took my broken Craftsman tap wrenches to Sears to be replaced - two years ago! - and still waiting to hear from them regarding replacement. Stopped holding my breath a year, 11 months and 30 days ago. Done with Craftsman. If you want to make sure on sockets, bring bolts of three or four consecutive sizes and see how well they fit. Same with wrenches. Some are too loose and will strip before they break. Parents bought me Powercraft (Monkey Wards) tools for me when I was a young adult. Also have a Westerncraft pry bar and some other tools from Western Auto. All are still intact, fit tight and have been going strong for 50 years. Their ins***utional retailers, not so much, so don't worry about warranties.

 

I am a big fan of made in the USA. I really like Snap On tools, yes they are expensive. Get to know your local snap on guy and build a relationship. Typically only newbies are charged full retail, after a few purchases work them for a discount. Once you buy the basics the prices are easier to handle.

 

I needed a new ratchet to replace a junk Craftsman one. I looked at my local Menards store and found one in their Masterforce line that seemed decent for a fair price. I looked at it closer and found that it is USA made with a lifetime warranty. I've also bought a couple sets of their combo wrenches. They also have pliers sets, but they are imported and look pretty cheap.

Gary

 

I have always used craftsman. Don't buy cheap open end's. Sure as **** they will spread when you have a tough nut. I have had S K ratchets and found they would just fall apart or strip the gears. Maybe that's why I got them for nothing. I have bought doubles of most of my socket sets. My shop's a mess and I would always lose, at least, one socket or wrench on my trips to the s**** yard.

 

I've thought about buying a cabinet but if I'm going to spend £600 I prefer to spend it on actual tools. Steel filing drawers from the office lined with bits of old carpet do the job well enough ;-)

 

I am what you call a serious hobbyist, but work in an engine research lab during the day (but they supply the tools).
When I first started out doing bodywork for people, a very smart friend, Joe Bontempo (Bontempo Brothers Compe***ion, Linden, NJ) helped me out with some advice. As I was hand "long boarding" his 67 Camaro, he suggested I ought to invest in air tools. Of course, just starting out, I really couldn't afford them. He advanced me some money on the job, and had me visit his Snap-On guy. I almost **** myself when confronted with the price of a Hutchins Hustler long board sander. But taking his advice, I put a deposit in it, and made payments. It made the job go much faster (maybe that was his intention??? I charged by the hour!) Haha! But it got me in the habit of buying quality tools to help a job go faster and do a better job. This was in 1976 or so, by the way.
Well, a month ago, my long board sander started giving me problems. I order a couple new gears, some gaskets, and wear strips, for about 100$, and it works as good as new. Yes it is the SAME air tool I purchased in 1976. First time repaired.
Nothing ****s more than breaking a wrench or socket on a Saturday might, when stores are closed. And skinning a knuckle, or chipping a tooth while doing it! Then having to extract a rounded off nut or bolt, wasting hours of precious time, and adding to aggravation and frustration. I'll GLADLY pay the cost for super well made, in the USA, quality tools!

 

I have bought very few Craftsman tools since 1978. Their ratchets didn't hold up to professional usage and some other replacement tools are now real cheesy. Ace Hardware carries them and I buy an odd screwdriver or socket that I need right now. Craftsman wrenches are not as comfortable as an SK or Snap On.

I recently bought some used Par-X hand combo wrenches and those are nice. They were a Snap On lower line of tools. I still have my OG Par-X 9/16" combo wrench that I found in the street as a kid, may as well fill out the collection.

 

That's one of the reasons I quit buying them; they just didn't fit your hand well. But 'back in the day', they were a good value 'entry level' tool for the hobbyist or casual user. You very, very rarely saw a 'pro' with Craftsman tools.

Early on in my electrical career, I would see new apprentices show up on their first day with a tool pouch full of new Craftsman tools (if nothing else, a set of Craftsman screwdrivers). Within a year, those would be replaced with better 'specialty' brand tools like Klein, Channelock, and Ideal. Craftsman tape measures were popular (for the 'free replacement' but didn't last as well as the Stanleys. Their screwdrivers were junk....

 

I have a wide variety of tools, my good ones, pretty good ones, and my "whatever" ones. Some old Craftsman are my best. I have to say, even though others will argue the pint, that the tools I have bought from Canadian Tire (ratchets and socket sets) have taken a beating and hold up well. On sale great prices. A "you break it we exchange it" policy for life. Probably made in China but you have to remember that China makes what the companies order; cheap is cheap if ordered cheap.

 

This is probably the most sound advice on this thread... Unless you are making a living with these tools the above suggestion is the most reasonable. The above poster isn't bragging... I have Snap-On , S-K or whatever brand from Fort Knox..Like some ancient hot rod puffer fish... His reply is practical and focused on the use and frequency of your work. Great advice here.Best of luck !

 

I have doubles of most stuff, and triples of 3/8 thru 5/8 stuff, especially most wrenches. As I said earlier, when I break a wrench, I generally don't return it, I save it for that occasion when I might need to heat and bend a tool to get at something, or to make a job easier.
The biggest difference between mid range wrenches and sockets (****sman) and high-end (snap-on) isn't the warranty, its that the expensive stuff is thinner and less bulky, it only matters when access gets tight, but then IT MATTERS. I have and use both, depending on the cir***stance.

 

The pawn shops around here want more for used tools than you can buy them for new.

I've bought some cheap sets of tools from Harbor Freight just to have a set in my vehicles and I found myself using them a lot because my other tools were at work. I didn't find anything wrong with them and I could buy a set for less than one wrench from Snap Off cost.

Now that I'm retired and have all of my tools home, I still use the HF tools because it's easy to grab the case. I buy combination wrench sets at my local Farm and Fleet store when they have them on sale for $26.99 for a 3/8 through 1-1/4 inch set in a roll pouch. If you lose one Snap On wrench it will cost more than that to replace it.

 

I'm not brand loyal as long as it has a lifetime guarantee AND a stable place I can make use of that guarantee if I need too. I have lots of craftsman stuff, some Kobalt, Mac, snap on, Stanley etc.

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Not buying much anymore, but got my FIRST SET OF CRAFTMAN TOOLS, along with a tool box and my Motors Repair Manual, a Christmas gift from Mom & Dad, when I was 15.
The "Chevy section" of the Motors Repair Manual has the most fingerprints on the pages.
Today, at 74, my Mom and Dad have p***ed, but I still have each piece of the above mentioned items, that Mom and Dad provided to me, as an up and coming gear head.
I did, however, use the Craftsman lifetime guarantee to replace a few screwdrivers.
Thus far, Craftsman has given me 59 years of service .... and still counting !
Thanks Mom and Dad.

 

A shame that craftsman went to china.

 

All I have at home are older Craftsman tools,I do have Snap on tools at work and I sure did pay a bunch for them. If I did not work at shops for the last 30 years that had tool trucks showing up I probably would have all Craftsman tools at work,every time the Snap on truck shows up I have that picture in my mind that I seen on Facebook that says here is Bob (standing next to the biggest tool box they make) and he can not afford to send his kids to college but his Snap on dealer can send his to the best schools.

 

I've got a mixed bag of tools, ....bought at various levels of 'mental stability' in my life...yard sales have yielded some great treasures over the years, and CHEAP, that I could afford to buy a 'few' more tools instead of just one (My home garage require a measure of honest budget to survive!).....I have my grampa's old Snap-on tools in my possession now, and prize them above all the rest....however, I do have Craftsman, and a small collection of Harbor Freight, bought as needed. I buy the tools I feel comfortable with, and I've even gotten rid of even a few Snap-on tools if they felt ''uncomfortable'' in my hands....I've had enough busted knuckles, that I'm suspect of ''any'' tool anymore from the school of hard knocks....but, I do believe the ''best brands'' will save you some heartache over time .....Snap-on and Craftsman seems to do the job with a satisfactory nod of approval in my garage....I've been satisfied and no remorse so far.

 

I must add that you should not count that much on the Sears warrenty. I remember that years ago my then wife bought 3 or 4 sets of sheets from Sears. She got screwed on every one of them.

 

Craftsman torque wrenches now come with a 90-day warranty.

If you bring in a "lifetime warranty" one, it will be replaced with one with a 90-day warranty one.

 

Yep, another true story.... While Sears has kept their warranty in place on their basic hand tools, don't expect that to be extended beyond those. I bought the top-of-the-line Craftsman oxy-acetylene set in the early 70s for home use. Eight years later, I went back to purchase some replacement/additional tips for the cutting attachment and found that they had been discontinued (and the subcontractor that made them for Sears had gone out of business). When I complained and wanted the torch head/cutting attachment replaced with something matching and current, I was told that these were considered to have only a ten-year service life (Seriously? Ten years?), so I was offered a 20% discount... only just on the cutting attachment. And the new cutting attachment didn't fit my existing handle. With the high separate item list prices on the torch handle at 100% and 80% on the cutting attachment, I was looking at about 90% of the price for another complete new set. And I still didn't have the tips I wanted. I bought a Victor instead... which I still have and can get tips at almost any welding supplier. This incident (along with a few others earlier) finally ended my relationship with Sears...

 

The one tool in my tool box that I won't give up is my ratcheting screwdriver. It has a magnetic tip to hold apex bits. Your standard cross point or Philips screwdriver will wear out, the apex bits are cheap and are easily replaced.
I'm going to buy one for each of my sons for Christmas off of the snap on truck. They all like to use the one that I have at home.

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To address original post; I would say 90% of the tasks will involve your 3/8 ratchets or your SAE wrenches. So make sure you are happy with those. The rest buy what your budget allows so that you can actually work on cars, because you will need a lot of task-specific stuff.

I work day in, day out in an industry where everyone loves to jerk-off over their expensive tools (woodworking). I have serious disdain for tool snobs, so I go out of my way to do better work than they can with my cheap tools. When someone is insulting my Ryobi 18volt cordless drill, I always do the same thing: I hold my arm fully extended out directly in front of me so the drill is 5' from the ground. I open my hand and let it free fall to the ground in a noisy and violent collision. I pick it up, pull the trigger and it always works fine. Then I say "I've had this drill for ten years and have beat on it and used it every single day, and it works perfectly. Let's see you do that with your $400 Bosch drill". (I actually do this every time someone gives me ****, which is often.) More than one newbie, who witnessed me doing this to some senior tool snob guy, has come back a job or two later with a Ryobi 18volt set up that they actually could afford on their salary vs. the Bosch set up 5X the cost. Then they rock on.

That being said, if I can ever afford some Snap-On wrenches and a ratchet set, I am going to get them. I've used friends' and they fit the nuts and bolts like a glove.

That being said, my garage is filled with HF, because I would rather have a transmission jack, a horizontal 4X6 band saw, a pneumatic tube bender or an engine lift when I need one rather than NOTHING because I couldn't afford an American made one.

My 2 cents

 

What I've learned is never p*** up tools, all kinds of people want to give away old tools. I buy higher end tools like torque wrenches, but Craftsman, Husky, Lowes brand, and HF sockets and combo wrenches work just fine. Garage sales, estate sales, and swap meets are good places to find sets of good tools...

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I use a mix of brands at work Snap on for ratchets and some sockets. I have some SK, but will never buy anymore. I break them, all the time and very hard in my area to get warranty done. I have in my box Husky,Snap on,Mac,BluePoint,Ingersoll,Craftsman and Gearwrench.Then there is a socket set. I bought 20 years ago and have never broken one and I'm very mean to them. I bought it at Auto Zone Great Neck professional series. I got same type tools at home.

 

Lots of talk about brand name tools, witch I have a service truck full of them but if not for work and not having time to go replace them. Parts store tools like NAPA, Stanley from wal mart, are good tools have them here at home just don.t have some one come to me to replace and don't be fooled that those brand names are made here in the good old USA

 

25 years ago, I bought a, "shudder", Chinese 3/4" socket set at a flea market. At the time, the same Craftsman set was over $700 and I just didn't have the money. I figured that if I broke a single piece, then I;d replace it with Craftsman or better. After using it a bunch, about 5 years ago the ratchet gave out and I bought a used Craftsman online and it works great. I have yet to find a way to break a socket.

Overall, I'd say you will never be disappointed buying the best quality tool you can-and I understand you are asking what's best. You still have to consider how much you have to spend and how much you'll use the tool.