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woods

woods

I probably did it wrong.
Joined
May 22, 2020
Member Number
1120
Messages
5,165
After working on the dad-wagon today, I need to refresh my toolkit. Its like 15 years old, mismatched, bits missing, wrenches skip a size, etc. I've got like six impact sockets left. Two 3/8 extensions. You get the idea.

Iunno, what companies for just home use? I'm all done build 4x4s on a daily basis. Dare I ask, is HF any good? I don't need Mac, Matco, or Snap-On. Also don't want Chinesium either.

Amazon has a bulky Dewalt set. Lowes sells Craftsman at a higher price point. HF has the Pittsburgh line; I have the Pittsburgh press and motorcycle jack that work fine. I see this Neiko set which is pretty complete.

Suggestions?
 
I have a Neiko set of impact drivers that are great.
I hear (from the mechanics at work) that the HF Icon tools are as good as their SnapOn and Matco tools and if they were starting out from scratch with their tools, they would get those vs "Tool truck" ones.

Aaron Z
 
Home Depot has some pretty decent kits, have a set in my wheeler. Are you looking for a complete set of wrenches and sockets? I have a couple sets of the HF sockets sets, they are pretty decent for what I do, not a mechanic, but do a fair amount of heavy duty repairs.
 
rdr99 said:
Home Depot has some pretty decent kits, have a set in my wheeler. Are you looking for a complete set of wrenches and sockets? I have a couple sets of the HF sockets sets, they are pretty decent for what I do, not a mechanic, but do a fair amount of heavy duty repairs.
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Looking to get a full set. 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, SAE and Metric. Same with wrenches. That Neiko set along with a Tekton, who makes the torque wrenches I have, is about $400 OTD. I may just rock that. I mean, I'm just repairing the car and motorcycles. Not full on professional engine work.
 
woods said:
Looking to get a full set. 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, SAE and Metric. Same with wrenches. That Neiko set along with a Tekton, who makes the torque wrenches I have, is about $400 OTD. I may just rock that. I mean, I'm just repairing the car and motorcycles. Not full on professional engine work.
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I really like my husky socket sets. So much so, I bought a large (3-drawer) complete set that I keep in the 4runner.

if I were starting from scratch, that’s probably all I would get... price point is good for the quality... quality is good for the price point...
 
I've been buying Gearwrench if I'm buying new lately. I snag used truck brand stuff off my Matco dealer when I can for home. I have some Tekton and other cheap Amazon brands and I'm not super impressed but I also constantly work on shit that hasn't been apart in decades which is asking a lot of a cheap wrench.
 
Look into the new milwaukee line.

Good quality and not too expensive.

Pittsburgh is missing sizes. Annoys me. But they are cheap.

I have been eyeing tekton on amazon, but haven't seen or used them myself yet.

I have snapon Saw that I bought 20 years ago and pittsburgh Metric that do me fine, other than the missing sizes.
 
TrikeKid said:
I've been buying Gearwrench if I'm buying new lately. I snag used truck brand stuff off my Matco dealer when I can for home. I have some Tekton and other cheap Amazon brands and I'm not super impressed but I also constantly work on shit that hasn't been apart in decades which is asking a lot of a cheap wrench.
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I have been very happy with my Gear wrench impact socket set. The only gripe I have is that the blow molded case is shitty and doesn't hold the sockets in one half so they fall out if you open it upside down... That was on me after not learning 1st time :homer: their ratcheting wrenches have been my favorite tool purchase so far. I bought one of the bigger kits that includes all the duplicates in stubby as well, and they don't get used as frequently but when you need them they are very helpful.


​​​​​​Also pretty content with my 1/2 drive SAE and Metric socket sets from HF. They have held up to a lot of abuse even on when used on the impact (I know).


As far as wrenches the Tekton set I have from Amazon is nicer than the HF set I rocked for years before it.
 
Really happy with impact sockets from Sunex. I waited and watched for a sale and CPO ran a deal buy the 43 piece inch set get the metric set free. They were having some other sale and free shipping that all stacked up and got both sets for $165. Not sad at all about getting duplicate impact extensions. Can’t really beat it for that price.

The plastic cases are shit. Snaps break if you look at them wrong. I didn’t care about that as long as the sockets are decent and so far they are.
 
I've always had good luck with craftsman tools. I use them way more than the average homeowner but less than a 40hr/week mechanic so probably similar to most guys here. Lowes has a few kits on sale for black Friday and that's already been going on for a while. Might be worth walking through the section next time you're near a store. There's been one of those blow molded 4 drawer kits in the barn for the last 20 years and it can do 90% of what we need to keep the farm fleet going
 
Does anyone make a set that has metric and SAE in both deep and shallow without skipping any sizes? Having just one case to sling around would be nice.
 
arse_sidewards said:
Does anyone make a set that has metric and SAE in both deep and shallow without skipping any sizes? Having just one case to sling around would be nice.
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Click image for larger version Name: 2AFA331F-A772-4E2F-ACF6-071D3B27413A.jpeg Views: 0 Size: 194.3 KB ID: 206486 Click image for larger version Name: 2AFA331F-A772-4E2F-ACF6-071D3B27413A.jpeg Views: 0 Size: 194.3 KB ID: 206486

6mm to 19mm standard and deep
1/4 to 1” standard
1/4 to 7/8 deep

sturdy case that doesn’t loose sockets. Square sockets so they don’t roll away on you.
 
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D Nelly said:
I've always had good luck with craftsman tools. I use them way more than the average homeowner but less than a 40hr/week mechanic so probably similar to most guys here. Lowes has a few kits on sale for black Friday and that's already been going on for a while. Might be worth walking through the section next time you're near a store. There's been one of those blow molded 4 drawer kits in the barn for the last 20 years and it can do 90% of what we need to keep the farm fleet going
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The last Craftsman set I bought on discount was on sale referred from another site. It seemed like a good deal until I opened it, everything looked like blems or seconds, Rough castings, rough edges on everything. Comparable sets at equal prices from Husky, Kobalt, even the Pittsburg line was better looking.



I just wasn't happy, and it wasn't the tools I grew up with.


I wouldn't pay extra for the Craftsman name.
 
the new "Craftsman" from Lowes is absolute garbage

I am pretty happy with the sockets from Tekton, they have a 10% back on all purchases an free shipping
 
ponylake said:
the new "Craftsman" from Lowes is absolute garbage

I am pretty happy with the sockets from Tekton, they have a 10% back on all purchases an free shipping
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Yea, that's what I'm probably going to go with. (Tekton)
 
I have HF for my travel box and HD Rigid stuff in my shop drawers. Some Lowes Kobalt stuff too. Happy with all of it. From what I gleaned from your post, you will not be a heavy user, more of a here and there usage thing. I wouldn't spend truck tool prices in your position. I am pretty hard on my tools and while I dont use them everyday, they get a fair amount of opportunity to show the limits. Tractors, backhoes, haying equipment, whatever. I tend to buy stuff I can replace easily, and Home Depot and HazardFrought cover it for me.

You will likely overspend trying to find that one set that has everything in it. Maybe buy a traditional full set and then add in the few missing parts that you know you will need? My HF set is pretty complete, so much so that it tends to be my go-to tool set when I am working on things.
 
Craftsman started to go to shit when they were still made in the USA. They went to complete shit when they started making everything in China. Supposedly they were tooling up a US factory and were going to start making hand tools here again but I don't think I've seen any in the stores.
 
I keep this set on the Jeep for Wheeling trips for use with the Milwaukee cordless ratchet:

3580-1.jpg

https://sunextools.com/products/80pc-38-dr-master-impact-socket-set/

I had to screw a piece of cardboard into the lid to keep the sockets from bouncing out of place after you lose the foam strip.

All impact rated, Metric and standard deep and regular Torx and female torx? Plus more than enough extensions. Sockets have sizes clearly printed and stamped on them. Finish seems to be holding up even after taking multiple trips down the concrete driveway racing circuit.

The only thing that I do not use as much as I thought I would is the swivel sockets. They are too fat to be useful in most places you need a swivel, the the old chrome cheapie swivel with some electrical tape wrapped around it to keep the cross pins from fucking off into low earth orbit works fine.

Add a cheap set of full size ratcheting wrenches in a roll and a set of stubby regular wrenches and you are pretty set short of screwdrivers and pliers and shit. I like the tekton stuff for those.
 
Not sure what your budget is, but there are some smoking deals at Sonic starting this week

https://sonictoolsusa.com/holi-deal...0ab8e57)&utm_medium=email&utm_source=omnisend


Not Snap On quality (is Snap On even snap on quality anymore?) and not Snap on prices either. Sonic has almost become standard in the IMSA and SRO paddocks because they offer complete sets at reasonable value. I have never had an issue getting a tool replaced (broken torx, 1/4" ratchet). The foam cut outs are vital for tool control in a race paddock.
 
rockota said:
I really like my husky socket sets. So much so, I bought a large (3-drawer) complete set that I keep in the 4runner.

if I were starting from scratch, that’s probably all I would get... price point is good for the quality... quality is good for the price point...
Click to expand...

Husky is a good value and puts together a decent set.
 
I keep an eye on the SK deals page, their regular prices are high as shit. It is all USA made so sometimes there is a price low enough there to motivate me to get off my wallet. Last score was a 1/2” drive x 15” flex head ratchet for like $45 shipped.

Nothing there right now other than a check back after thanksgiving message.
 
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