I know that the quality has gone down, I got some old ratchets and 2 new ones--I broke the 2 new ones already! the ratchets are now junk ,IMO. I have about had it with sears just about all their tools are cheap&junk now. don't think I'll be buying much from sears anymore.

 

I'am pretty sure what ever is left in stock with the raised panel wrenches is about it. I know the heavy duty mechanic friend of mine wanted a another set of them Sears says they stopped making the raised panel.

The old ratchets and sockets you want to look for is Gray Tools they are hard to find but they were very good tools.

 

I would not buy craftsman sockets I would look at SK,Snap on, Mac, Matco over craftsman. I went in recently to warranty a broken craftsman impact socket and found that they discontinued the line of impact sockets which carried a lifetime warranty and they would not reimburse me for the socket they could no longer warranty.

 

We have Craftsman and SK sockts...everything from 4mm all the way up to 2-3/4". My dad used to own an Auto Shop, and all he would use is Craftsman. They held up just fine. Took a beating and asked for more.

The only Craftsman socket I've broke in my life of wrenching (7 years) was a 8mm deep well used with a 10" extension. You mechanics know that putting a lot of pressure on a long extension causes it to bend down a bread the sidewall of the socket.

 

I think the quality of craftsman tools across the board has gone down hill. Even their electric power tools are junk now, Home depot's Ridgid line is made by the company that USED to build for sears. Greg

 

All my tools in my garage are snap-on. I haven't had a problem with them yet.

 

if you put a big enough cheater bar on any ratchet eventually it will let you down.thats why breaker bars are made.
breakers are designed to "break" it loose.then you use the ratchet.i have never used a ratchet to break loose a big nut or bolt.i have a 3/8 breaker and a 3/4 breaker. imho

 

There are dozens of brand of sockets on the market that are perfectly good. If they are forged steel they are unlikely to break if used reasonably. If you can find any made in the USA or Germany, buy them. Japanese next. Taiwan used to be terrible but the new stuff is good. Don't buy anything of any description from China.

There are design issues to consider. My favorite sockets are twelve point Snap-On. The reasons are, accurate consistant fit, resistance to wear and a nice thin wall.
The thin wall is the main thing. Compare one of those to most other brands and you will see the difference. It is important to a mechanic (especially a flat rate mechanic,) because with a fat old Craftsman, and many other brands, you end up taking things apart just so that you can get those clubby sockets on the bolt you are trying to reach. The thinner wall can often save you a lot of work. The trick is to choose the right tool for the job and use it as it is designed to be used. If you don't have the right tool and you have to do the job, go get one.

I've been using mechanic's tools since the fifties and the only time I've broken sockets was when I modified them to do a certain task, or when I have sacrificed them. A few times I have broken sockets by using them on an impact. Bad idea, always use impact sockets because when the chrome ones explode the schrapnel is very dangerous. Especially to the eyes.

But what it always comes down to is a guy buys only what he's willing to pay for.

 

Craftsmen sockets along with the wrenches seem to work fine for me, but I did go down to Home Depot and bought a set of SAE deep sockets and man let me tell you I love them things. I got just about every type of socker you could think off and all from snap-on,craftsmen,proto. and the Huskey brand I use the most. They don thave the fancy etched markings and they dont shine like they used to, but they work just as good as they day I bought them.

I would just recommend you stay away from any China brands or Harbour Freight tools. You can tell the quality by just looking at them.

But then again it all depends on how much you are going to use them and how much $$$ you got in your pocket.


Matt

 

Most of mine for work are Craftsman, at home, it's a conglomeration of ones from the twice gramps was a mechanic (several companies that are out of business) and Craftsman. At work, I buy the specialty ones from elsewhere (Snap~on, Lisle, etc). On another board, one of the guys who owns the same set in Snap~on, S&K, and Craftsman, measured the differences:
Snap On - .71
SK - .709
Craftsman .725
When I noticed the difference when doing something, was when I would purchase that socket (example, 12pt, 12mm, impact). I also keep my eye out at garage sales and pawn shops for the loose sockets, that are a lot less then off the truck. I have had to use chrome on impacts a couple of times, while they will last on air ratchets, Impacts beat them to a pulp (till they crack or shatter). I've never understood, why you still see this on all those building shows and all the auto magazines (you'd think legal would be on it).
As to the what you will pay for, that is two ways. Due to the amount of tools Sears sells, they had to enlarge their quality control percentages, to keep up with demand. Snap~on and S&K have a smaller customer base, and can afford to have tighter quality control, that is one of the reasons they are higher! If they decided, tommorrow, to open up tool stores to directly compete with Sears, they would have to lower their quality control, to mass produce, what they make now. A good reason to have niche markets.

 

Ya I broke very few of them because all they would do is round off the fastner same with open end wrenches never broke one because the jaws would just spread. And the boxend would do the same thing as the sockets. So after I smashed my hands enough they all disappeared for better quailty tools.

 

As to the measurements Cheapranger mentions:

Snap On - .71
SK - .709
Craftsman .725

That represents one size of socket.

Across the entire range of sizes, (I admit I have not measured,) I think you will find Snap-on to be thinner.