Tools

[Thumpin455]

Have you ever tried to work on something with cheap tools? Im not talking inexpensive quality stuff like pro grade Craftsman, I mean the Taiwan or China stuff. The type of junk the box stores sell. I did a wheel bearing on the mother in law's 05 Buick today, and the cheap 13mm socket rounded off one of the bolts holding the bearing assembly to the spindle. I got around it by removing the entire spindle and driving a 1/2" impact socket on it. Twice as much work as I needed to do.

I have lots of older Craftsman, and some of it works ok, some of it just rounds things off. I have yet to find a line wrench of that brand that actually works. I use SnapOn Flankdrive wrenches instead of line wrenches now. Cant afford all SnapOn or other truck brands, so I have a relative mix of tools, but I try not to buy junk. The better grade Craftsman works ok, when I can find it. Sears here has very little in stock, they would rather sell washing machines and other appliances.

So I am in the parts store about a month ago, looking for 3/8 drive six point metric sockets, both deep and short. Nobody had them, not even the NAPA I would rather not shop at. Who the hell has tools but has to order six point 3/8 drive sockets? Why do I need metric sockets in the first place when I used to owwn and operate a shop? Well the damn things walk off. One of the worst was a kid, who worked for the guy was sharing shop space, that was pawning my tools. Unbeknownst to him all of my stuff was marked, but he still made off with most of my sockets, and quite a bit of it was the expensive truck stuff.

So now I am at the point where I dont need the best quality, but damn it I want tools that work and dont round things off just because the bolt has been stuck in a spindle for 6 years or more. I havent found a decent floor jack in the last ten years, Lincoln went out of business or went China, and if you want one that lasts you had to spend a bit for one. ViseGrips are now made in China, instead of Dewitt Nebraska, and everything made by them after Irwin bought them is not good for anything other than a half ass welding clamp, which is what they were designed to do, but they even suck at that.

Where can a guy go to get decent tools and not pay through the nose for them from a guy in a red or black shirt in a panel van who lives off credit payments?

[squirrel]

I haven't bought many tools for about 20 years. back then craftsman stuff was decent quality.

Lately I like used old tools, takes some work to find them.

[Stich496]

buy craftmen the sockets and wrenches in 6 point.. and you'll not have an issue..
12 point are nice but the suck for real work

[SuperBuickGuy]

Lowes

I have mostly Craftsman, but my wife's toolset came (mostly) from Lowes (did I mention she's a mechanical engineer who likes tools and cars? - if I did, yes, I'm bragging) but the Lowes tools are decent quality and lifetime warranty. Don't know if that's available to you on the UP, but it's a possibility if it is.

[Beagle]

I have to do the Keith thing here - move somewhere that the rust monster doesn't live.

Sears is on / off with their suppliers. Sometimes they have a great vendor, sometimes they make good fishing weights.

Sadly, I will admit to finding a bunch of Chinese crap in my travel box, but the HF "Pittsburg" stuff has been treating me pretty decent. The sockets are six point, and fairly strong. I've loaded a couple of them up (18mm for instance) with a breaker bar / pipe extension and not had one break yet.

I like some of the Stanley stuff from Walmart for cheap usable tools if I need something and didn't bring tools with me. Oreilly usually has some "Goodwrench" stuff that I've had good luck with in the past.

I bought some Blackhawk stuff off of ebay a couple of years ago and was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Nice stuff for cheap. I believe it was forged here.

I've used some of the Kobalt / Costco stuff from Lowes (Taskbastard? Something like that...) and not been too disappointed.

Line wrench? I have some old 7" vise grip wire cutter type (7wr I think). They say Petersen, iirc. I bought them in the 70's. I go straight for them. I use the line wrenchs to tighten things, but over the years, I guess I've been trained to just go straight for the vise grips when I take them off the first time. They do less damage than the line wrenches rounding stuff off.

Snap-On makes some nice crows foot wrenches, I still have the 18mm I bought for GM air conditioner work and that bad boy is right nice. I think it cost more than every other wrench set I just mentioned combined though.

[truckpuller]

I have bought alot of stuff off ebay in the last couple months, you can usually find snap on, mac matco etc for less than half price of new.

[DanStokes]

I don't know if you have access up there, but I often find Snap-On at pawn shops. Also Milwaukee. I'll buy Snap-On in any condition as the truck guy has to make them right if they're not (or at least they have for me so far). But I bought a box full of Snap-On many years ago and I'm pretty much set for life. I'll find the truck and take worn sockets to him for replacement.

I had S&K at work back in my working days. Pretty good but I got a bunch of fragile sockets at one point. They'd crack, especially in smaller sizes. The vendor made it right with me but I don't know if they've fixed that. At that time S&K was US made but I'm not sure about now.

Dan

[Barry Donovan]

Lowes

I have mostly Craftsman, but my wife's toolset came (mostly) from Lowes (did I mention she's a mechanical engineer who likes tools and cars? - if I did, yes, I'm bragging) but the Lowes tools are decent quality and lifetime warranty. Don't know if that's available to you on the UP, but it's a possibility if it is.

\\interesting.
lowes is a fresh build here.

I found a way to check valve the cars heater core with stuff found at lowes too.

tools are a sad subject...will try lowes. Although even carquest local is a no bullshitter.
a few years in the woods with no big box stores at all does have a heard earned optimism.
do what you can with the bad tools.

I made my own breaker bar out of a half inch socket wrench (high grade but the guts, I kill them- simply welded the hell out of it)

I then used an old breaker bar as a "pitch stop" for a subaru engine.

sockets broken are trash bound.. can't even think of what to do with those once useless.

sized it up, hacked both ends. This pitch stop is long enough to only leave about 4 inches of the breaker bar left. I may make a gear shift extension out of it.



I left the end open to do something fancy in appearance, as well as grab the bigger end of the pitch top in more area than oems coat hanger (just kidding, it is really silly thin however)


this allowed me to offcenter the weld to ends to gain more height off of bellhousing, and gain a straighter geometry once installed


looking shiny under there. With tire in, it is not seen.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I like snap-on, s&k, and matco.... problem is getting replacements (although the UPS guy is pretty sure I run a mechanic shop out of my office, I can't convince the tool guys I do) - and they all break, granted they don't break as often - but in the end they all end up as control arms on Subarus

[Barry Donovan]

I like snap-on, s&k, and matco.... problem is getting replacements (although the UPS guy is pretty sure I run a mechanic shop out of my office, I can't convince the tool guys I do) - and they all break, granted they don't break as often - but in the end they all end up as control arms on Subarus

if the handle stayed good.

my dads rig and simple chores reveals the bad tool phenomena.

even hardware..bolts is the other end of the tools.

I replaced that fly by wire snsor where there used to be a throttle cable. Even at 38, I am wondering where the throttle cable went. Dad reminds me..it has been ten years in the trucking world without one at least. I left off with a 1981 cabover apparently.

literally a chisel to get old stuff out and replacement of bolts to hold the new sensor and pedal down. 5 year old truck.

680k miles..but hey. some things have got to stop being a an EGR'd asian.

[Bamfster]

My Craftsman set is like 25 - 30 years old and pretty much original.....they take a beating and keep on going. I keep the HD/Lowes stuff in my bag that I take to the track. If it gets horked its no big deal .... those are replaceable.

Everytime I need something for a 1 time deal and hit up Harbor Freight, that tool never makes it thru the task at hand.

[squirrel]

I bought one tool at harbor freight in recent history (this millenium), a crappy sandblaster. It almost works, after I fixed the broken stuff. Wasn't much more than $100 so it doesn't bother me too much.

[milner351]

I have mostly craftsman from '88, and a lot of mismatched stuff since then. Pawn shops and ebay can be good for getting high quality stuff at low costs - I'm still hoping to find a bearing splitter for my press like that.

I've had good luck with some of the tools i've gotten from Napa - some of those stores carry Lisle, SK, etc.

Cornwell is another brand that is good but you don't hear much about.

In the UP - I'm not sure if you have lowes, depot, or menards up there, if not - i'd be tempted to get stuff mail order, lots of googling required!

[Bob Holmes]

Yard sales, estate sales and used tool stores. Consignment shops, auctions for failed businesses.

Today's Craftsman is crap compared to the Craftsman tools that my dad purchased back in the day.

[milner351]

Just got an email from Northern auto parts - having a sale on Lisle:

http://www.northernautoparts.com/Manufacturer.cfm?ManufacturerId=66&CategoryId=0&DisplayPerPage=78&SortOrder=DEFAULT&utm_source=Northern+Auto+Parts+Newsletter&utm_campaign=83157c4629-20_Off_All_Lisle_Tools10_27_2011&utm_medium=email