I saw something at Target today that I was interested in. They had the ratcheting wrenches for 9.99 for a set of 5! I was like, ok, wait, that doesn't seem right. The brand was durabuilt. I haven't really heard much about durabuilt. It said lifetime warranty on it, and I went to the company's policy regarding that and am a little confused on it. Does anyone know anything about these tools? Is their warranty anything like Craftsman's? Thanks for your help.

 

I saw the exact same ones the other night! Looks like a good buy, but I was curious about the warranty myself. I looked up the website (http://www.durabuilt.info/index.pl?p...ts=warranty_en) and it's nothing like Sears or Husky or the like. Pretty crappy warranty IMO. I don't break tools that often, so for 10 bucks, I'm probably gonna buy em.

 

Don't have any durabilt tools so can't speak on that, but...

I have had a few "lifetime warranty" el cheapo tools fail on me. And others are a PITA to use since they don't work right. Sometimes the hardest part of getting a replacement is finding the company. Several of the ones I have bought have gone out of business. A lot of times the tools are warrantied by some local jobber working out of his garage, when he is gone, so is your warranty.

Secondarily, my experience is that the el cheapo brands are either not as durable or just plain don't work like they should right out of the box. What use is a warranty if you spend all your time returning the tool? I don't want three or four replacements, I want just one that works all the time.

Now a days if I have the bucks I buy at least the store brand or a name brand, no 99 cent sets of open end wrenches for me anymore.

Tools will outlive you if you get good ones. Even cheap simple ones will last a long time if you don't abuse them. Complex cheap tools are a loosing proposition in my opinion. By complex, I mean things like ratchets, those funky self adjusting pliers etc, sometimes even something simple as needle nose pliers. The cheap tools are just garbage, spend 3 or 4 times more and have a tool that actually works more than once.

I still own tools I bought when I was 14 or 15 and they are still with me at least 30 years later and show every sign of being passed down to grandchildren at least. And I am not gentle with my tools nor do I wipe them after every use like they should be. I just throw them in the tool box, grease and all, shame.

Just my experience,

Jim Henderson

 

This is a trend that I've noticed recently:

Products that try to tell you how high quality, strong, long lasting, etc in the name of the product itself are generally the lowest quality, weakest, fastest to break, etc.

We all have a pretty good idea of whose products in a field are better than others. I would never buy anything called durabuilt, because it sounds like a piece of junk. Look at the quality tool manufacturer names: snap-on, Mac, bluepoint, Matco, etc. They're good tools. They don't need the name to sell them, they have the reputation for being quality. Junk tools don't have the reputation, so they have to sell themselves with their names.

I know we can think of LOTS of examples of this.

 

yeah, i'm not sure if i am gonna get them or not, it looks like the warranty is only for tools that are made with defects etc. so yeah, $10, i dunno, it's a nice thing, but I think i'll save up for the craftsman set. I mean, gears wear out, break, etc. and i know under mine and my dad's abuse, those probably wouldn't last long. We have broken tools before. last year i got a 151 pcs craftsman tool set for christmas, a week later, broke a socket, split it down the side replacing a water pump, and had to go get it replaced, that was nice to go in, hand them the broken one and get a new one. haven't broken one since, we broke a craftsman screwdriver of my dads and they replaced it. If durabuilt doesn't do that, then i dunno, I don't wanna risk it. Thanks for ya'lls opinion.

 

I've taken craftsman tools in that my grandfathers dad bought him in the 50's and they replaced them no questions asked. They might not be as cool as snap-on, but they stand behind them. Besides, it's a good excuse to go look at more tools.

 

Agree 100%.

A token tail regarding cheap tools:

A few years ago I bought a bicycle frame of the web. It was new and had never been built up so a boss on the frame had not been tapped for threads. No big deal... I pulled out my $10 Harbor Freight tap & die set and went to work. It is a titanium frame and I fought with that tap for an hour and it just wouldn't catch... finally, I gave up, went to Sears and bought a small metric tap set. In less than 30 seconds the threads were cut. It cut them with no drama whatsoever... The HFT sets (metric and SAE) went straight into the trash and I went back to Sears and bought a full metric set for $70 (the small set stays in my cycling tool box). Recently, I got around to picking up a matching standard set.

I realize that when you're young and don't have a lot of money, less expensive tools look like "they'll do...", but remember you often get what you pay for. When I first got a Harbor Freight catalog many years ago, my mouth watered and I bought a bunch of stuff from them. Sadly, only a fraction of those tools I bought then do I still have and use. The rest failed me in one way or another and were tossed. Yes, I'll still buy stuff from them, but fortunately I have a store within a reasonable distance now and can go look at and fondle them before spending my money.