Hf Pittsburg brand has a lifetime warranty. At my age, lifetime is not as long as it used to be. I stopped buying the expensive stuff at age 55. I'd rather leave my wife with more money and cheap tools than less money and expensive tools.

 

The Craftsman ratchets they been selling for about the last ten years are crap the gears are so loose they are almost useless I've bought some HF that are a lot tighter so far I'm happy with them

 

I use HF impact 1/2 socket set for just about everything bigger than 1/2 inch. they are 6 point (less likely to strip) and tough. i use my craftsman set for the smaller sizes.

 

I have HF, craftsman, husky,kobalt, a few snapon. I would buy the HF impact sockets, adjustable wrenches, wrenches. Buy the best ratchet and screw drivers you can afford because cheap screw drivers will strip heads and fall apart, the ratchets have been discussed. Sockets are consumables and the only ones Ive replaced I hammered on or lost. They never broke. Buy allen wrenches with a warranty, craftsman, because they were out fast and sears will replace them. If you need t hammer on a s rew driver get a cheap set for that.

 

go to HF and walk around, with your coupon's, I bet you walk out with something, not just tools

 

The real issue with the "you get what you pay for" argument when it comes to tools is precision. The more expensive the tool, the greater the precision. Cheap tools stand out when you are fitting a wrench or socket to a nut. The cheap stuff that I'v used just doesn't have a very good fit. If you get a socket or wrench early in the die's life, it will be a little too snug. Later in its life, a little too loose. They just don't pay very close attention to tool-to-tool precision in cheap tools. Materials are very secondary as most tools use the same or nearly the same alloys. A lifetime warranty is more for marketing than a real expression of a tool's quality.

But what works depends upon who's using the tool. Mechanic's whose livelihood depends upon their tools will nearly always use quality tools. Most of the Craftsman stuff wouldn't qualify as pro tools, but it's just fine for serious hobbyists. The cheap stuff has a market too but I certainly wouldn't start my tool collection with them as my foundation.

 

How does that Ben Franklin saying go?

“The Bitterness of Poor Quality Remains Long After the Sweetness of Low Price is Forgotten”

Buy the best tools you can afford. If that is Harbor Freight Tools, my condolences.

 

I purchased all of my Craftsman in the 1970's. Every wrench/ratchet has "Forged in USA" on them. Recently, a 1/2" drive ratchet broke internally and I took it back. Putting the new one next to the old one really showed how far down they have gone. Even the kid in the store was amazed.

 

IMHO, nothing wrong with HF tools, I have had good luck with most all of their stuff, cheap and I have bought more tools and a larger variety of stuff than I likely could have ever afforded otherwise. All subsidized by the Chinese government, I suspect.

And been buying tools since 1965 starting with paper route money, LOL's, still use some of those first tools, Kraeuter pliers/wire cutters plus a "made in Japan" socket set. Over the years, have got a large collection of some of most everything, Snap on, Craftsman, Rockwell, ect, ect.

If you look at where most tools (and everything else) are made these days, plus the cost advantage of HF, I think HF is generally hard to beat.

 

I have purchased a lot of tools at HF and for the most part have had no problems. I would not buy anything like saw blades or cordless tools. Of course if I were using the tools to make a living I might buy better grades however they are fine for my needs.

 

ya i don't need my tools that pretty, if the car looks good, no one knows how it got there with what tools

my hf cordless 3/8 drill is still going strong after dropping it 5 times off of a ladder at 12 feet, it held up well cosmetically, but after a year of a lot of use the battery died( i got my money's worth) 25 bucks on sale 19 bucks this weekend, 15 without the flashlight ( i was there last night bought an infared temp reader, $19 cordless screwdriver, ~7 bucks and a VOM for $3 , the last one stop reading ohms, i got that one for free.)

 

If you are younger, buy the very best you can get. I bought my Snap-On sockets and wrenches 30+ years ago and only had one failure with a ratchet which they repaired and it is still going. Never a problem with a socket or wrench. Mid-life I started buying Craftsman, and have never had a problem that didn't get resolved with no question. The good thing about Craftsman it is pretty easy to find a Sears most anywhere. They are really hard to beat. I have a few HF tools - screwdrivers, dremel tool and a parts washer bought used. They all seem to work fine and will be buying s few starter wrenches from HF for my youngest.

 

As a professional mechanic I always buy the crasftsman professional ratchets and wrenches and the run of the mill craftsman sockets, they've never let me down. I have a couple of snap-on ratchets and wrenches but still prefer the craftsman professional ones. The only sockets I buy the good stuff of(typically Matco, mostly because my Matco dealer shows up every week on the dot) are chrome wobblies, impact wobblies and Torx/Allen sockets. In my opinion Snap-on is way overpriced so there are very few things Ill buy exclusively Snap-on, their power steering pulley puller/installer comes to mind.

I've tried the HF stuff but since I use my 3/8" or 1/2" impact on the vast majority of fasteners I remove/install they simply don't hold up, the 12 points strip and the 6 points split. I use the HF stuff at home and they work but they tend to be a bit bulky and material they're made of is really soft.

Truthfully, for the non pro you really cant go wrong with craftsman, especially the craftsman professional stuff, great tools for the money.

 

I think in general, the older the better for nearly all the tool makers. Look at garage sales, make sure it's not worn out, wallowed out, and it will be better than anything new.

Carter

 

I love my Snap-On tools. Bought this torque wrench today to update my 30 year old one. I do however wrench for a living. There is a big difference, the angle of open end and the clocking of the box end of their wrenches. This torque wrench was 400 and change. I will never have to buy another though.

 

I see that bottle of Toyota motor oil...I work at a Toyota dealer as well.

I have a selection of Mac and Snap-on. I used to wrench but not anymore.

 

I figured someone would figure it out. Not by the oil bottle but by the Toyota emblem on the workorder sitting beside the torque wrench. Good eye. I had been in another field and a good friend had been harassing me to come to work for him for over a year(hes the service manager ). After getting layed off muiltiple times I took the job. Im payed very well and its a layed back easy place to work. I do enjoy what I do.

 

No, I wouldnt touch Harbor freight hand tools. I know there are a lot of good tools out there. As a mechanic who uses tools every day, I have quite a mixture. Most of my tools in my box at work are snap on. Many of them are what I bought 33 yrs ago. Yes, they are that good. And the warranty is for life.
I have no craftsman tools at work, although at home I do have some. As mentioned, buy the better ratchets with the fine teeth. I use those ratchets all the time at home on my cars, motorcycles etc.
At home I have all of my old 6 pt snap on sockets, excellent quality. All my metric is craftsman. Its fine for garage use, although if you have an exceptionally difficult bolt to remove, the craftsman socket does not have the bite that a snap on will. I know some of you may disagree with me, but it has been proven time and time again.
Wrenches, I actually have been using gear wrenches at work, yes all of my 30/60 wrenches are snap on, but the combination wrenches are all gear wrench. Its proven to be good quality. And guaranteed too. At home I have all of snap on long and short combos. And my metric is craftsman, although recently I picked up a gear wrench set that included all standard from 1/4 to 3/4" and metric from 6mm-18mm all for only $50! Thats a deal. So, if you want junk, buy harbor freight, if you want quality, there is a lot out there. Just stay away from HF.

 

there are disposable stuff like brushes, sandpaper, etc, in HF that can save money and since i don't make a living with tools, sometimes HF leaves a little more money left over for a project

 

it's good to know any Toyota owner having you touch their cars is done properly, not by some hack bubba, who torque by feel cause a 400 is a large investment