I've used most of them and like drive train says just get the Craftsman. I've used them for years and have a set of 3/8 drive and 1/2 drive sockets and assorted wrenchs and the only thing that's failed was the screw drivers (No I didn't use it as a pry bar) and they will not warranty torque wrenchs without the sales receipt or after a year. Snap On an Mac are great if you're doing it for a living and can afford it. The Pittsburgh socket sets are good along with several other items from Harbor Frieght.

 

if u want quality get craftsman or snap on
i know span on is pricey but if you have any pawn shops around check them out and write down prices and then check a snap on price sheet dont have a truck come by very often go check with any farm implements or auto shops they will know when their truck comes by and you can then get to it

i got my 1st pair of snap on pliers from a mech at a mf dealer while the snap on guy was there they were old and very worn we put half the jaw in a vise and took a 10 lbs hammer to the pivit point and broke them then got new ones on the spot Right in front of the guy

 

ps stanley makes some good shiney tools but their warr SUCKS tried to replace a socket 5 days after i bought it and they wouldnt do it

 

Sears for price but if you get one of the complete kits(say 315 piece set) then it is like the dish TV companies that group together the stuff you want with the stuff you don't. Seems like a good deal until 5 years later and you haven't used 1/2 of the odd tools but used the standard stuff over and over.
I have since went back and purchased separate socket sets in the plastic cases and been very happy, Bondus hex wrenches, A new screwdriver set every year.

If I had it to do over again I never would have bought the big set but would have bought individual sets as I ended up doing anyway.
The craftsman torque wrench I bought was out of calibration and I didn't know it until I stripped the 4 cylinder bolts on a XR 250. I was a little upset as that is the reason that we use torque wrenches to prevent that sort of thing.

 

Tofer, how did you break it? We have driven my stanley 3/8 drive sockets with our 1/2 inch pneumatic impact gun, and not broken them. We have also rebuilt an engine with them. So I'm curious.. I don't worry about warranties for tools. They will break, and they are cheap. So I just pay to replace them.

 

I tend to buy tools as I need them and because of that, most of them are Craftsman. That said, I'll also go on "shopping sprees" where I'll go into Sears and just go wild - did that recently and left with over $400 of tools. Some tools I used right away... some I probably won't use for years. I've accepted this as part of having a tool collection.

I'm pretty easy on tools and rarely break stuff. I've never broken a ratchet, socket or wrench, just a few screwdrivers over the years. If I think a tool is that important, I make sure to have a back-up. Bear in mind, anything can break.

With all that said, Craftsman are definitely "good enough" for the weekend DIY mechanic. Sure, I'd love to have tools from one of the "crack trucks" but it would take me a long time to justify the cost, whereas a typical store-bought tool will pay for itself in DIY repaires pretty quickly.

 

Most tools are warranted so worring incestantly about that is useless and paying for it is about like paying 10,000 more today for a car because it will have a 2000 better resale value 5 years fom now. There is not much doubt Snappy is probably the best tool made but they are pricey beyond recouping the investment usually, a set of their 6 point end wrenches in smaller sizes and a couple sockets are worth having. On occasion some othe the specialty tools may be worth it. Their dealers are often arrogant too, that doesnt endear more than a few people. Craftsman,,, well, you can get decent stuff for the $, you should stress test the wrenches and sockets right off and they are kind of bulky sometimes but they are ok. If I wanted Premium tools for the $ it would likely be SK. That Husky stuff looks nice and considering the cost it woud be fine. I have a couple hundred end wrenches from Tractor supply, pay 1.50 for the sizes I want and they work great, only time I have broke them is using them on backup for impacts. I think that Harbour Freight stuff for the most part is ok, with some sockets, especially impacts plan on replacing often used ones with better and some of the sets are not complete, missing the ones always under warranty, but considering the cost, ok sometimes. For the convenience, especially for less than the full time mechanic and for the cost I would look hard at that Stanely stuff at Walmart. Its actually rather impressive and they have a good selection. I was suprised. Had 3/8 drive metric hex bits in stock. A few bucks here and there and a guy could have a fair tool set in short order quite affordable.

 

snap on and others are the better tools because of the cool little things...eg, you can get wrenches with little grooves in the open end, very handy for slightly stripped bolts, stuff like that. they do hold up better than most others like craftsman and such. you would be surprised who deals with certain tools. up here Acme Electric which used to own tool crib of the north which is now owned by amazon.com....anyway they are a full line craftsman hand tool dealer, who would have guessed. just do a little poking around.

 

Having been a mechanic, Yeah, I liked that the Snap On truck would come to the shop once a week. He always razzed me about the amount of Craftsman tools I had mixed in my boxes. I don't like a lot of Snap On tools that are polished brite. Too damn hard to keep ahold of. I like the older Craftsman rough finish tools. They're not as pretty, but they're easier to work with.

Now, not a mechanic any more, my home shop boxes are full of Craftsman tools. Great warrantee, fair prices. And I don't have to wait for the truck to come around. I don't buy full kit sets. I buy things in small sets, NOT singles. Watch for sales and join the Craftsman tool club. Believe it or not, there's quite often good Craftsman deals on Ebay.

I don't believe there's a better screw driver than those put out by Stanley. The tips don't seem to wear.

DeWalt, Portor Cable, Delta, and Makita for electric tools.

Ingersol Rand for air tools.

Just my oppinion, and you know what those are like.

 

I bought a long shaft flex-head 3/8" ratchet in an emergency, and it has held up great. The underside has the exact same (interchangeable) plate and markings.

So, who makes Duralast?

 

Craftsman tools have served me well. Granted, I am only a weekend mechanic, so take my words with a grain of salt.

The only issues I have had with Craftsman are that if you need a replacement ratchet, you are likely to end up with a rebuilt one. Although if you break something they don't have in the "rebuild drawer"-like my 1/2 drive ratchet, they will replace it with a new one off the shelf.

 

Good old Wal-Mart sells Stanley. They are inexpensive and I have not had any problems yet except for the 3/8 ratchet. I was trying to losen a cab mount with the impact and the nut was spinning so I used a socket and ratchet on the nut to hold it. Since then the ratchet sucks but still works.
Between Craftsman and Snap-On...I talked to a professional mechanic who has been wrenching for 20+ yrs and he said he has used all the name brand tools, and out of all of them he said Snap-On fits the best. Some day I will have a set of Snap-On tools...

 

Snapon does fit the best and I think its well worth it to have a set of endwrenches and sockets in the small sizes, 6 point. Stuff like brake bleeders and other rusted nuts or bolts up to about 9/16, maybe even 5/8 or so the snappys make a difference at times. As you get bigger fit isnt as crucial and there is room to build enough strength in to a cheaper wrench. Some kinds of tools cheap works as well as expensive. A Hammer is a good example. Even though there is considerable technology in the steel in many, if not most cases a modest quality hammer will work to drive a punch just as well as a very pricey hammer. Take a 10 dollar sledge hammer from Home Depot vs a 40 dollar one from Snapon, is the snappy 4 times better? Even if I had to buy another one from HD it still doesnt seem to pay to buy up. And if I buy the second one 20 yrs from now I have had the use of 30 dollars for 20 yrs. You get something like an impact it pays to spend up, is a 200$ impact better than a 50$ one, no doubt. The stress, the technology and the power it will handle will easily outlast a cheap one in a hurry and it works better. Hardened tip screwdrivers, many times worth it. Welding machines,, yes, a cheap one just doesnt work as well.

 

craftsman and huskey is made by stanley. yes, this is true. i work at home depot and the stanley rep takes care of the huskey handtools too. i have most huskey tools and they seem to hold up. granted i dont work at a shop and abuse my handtools alot. but i do use them more then the typical diy'er. i just love the fact that huskey tools have a good lifetime warrenty like craftsman. and there seems to be a home depot in every town. so definatley consider huskey tools when you want to save a buck. only drawback is that at least my orange teapot, they dont have a good selection most of the time. you have to go there often to see when the stock comes in.

 

I'll probably get some snide remarks for this but I have never broken any of the Wal Mart Popular Mechanic tools I have, lost a few but not broken.

I have broken several Craftsman and other sockets and years ago I broke TWO Craftsman breaker bars within an hour. Did you know that some of the lug nuts on those old Ford 1 ton trucks won't loosen no matter how big of a cheater pipe you use and follow the old 'righty tighty, lefty loosy' rule? After the second bar broke I finally figured out why the lugs have L's and R's stamped into them.