im in the market for my first decent socket/wrench set and was wondering if theres a particular brand that tends to be of good build quality. i was considering sidchrome. by the way i have to be able to get it in australia. grr, hard to type, cut my finger to the bone. thanks in advance

 

Man, I dont know about over there, but here in the states Craftsman is king (In My opinion!)

 

Tools with lifetime warrenty are you friend, here in Canada I buy mastercraft wrenches, ratchets and sockets, then for specialty stuff, or stuff I REALLY need to last (like a impact) I purchase through Mac tools or Snap-on. The thing is Snap-on and Mac look at why the tool was damaged and then determine if they are going to warrenty it...

With mastercraft (here they are sold at Canadian tire...), you walk in and put the tool down at the customer service desk and you get a new one for free, no questions asked... I have heard some crazy stories about people abusing tools and taking them back no questions asked. But like I said for things that need to be of high quality or precision expect to pay alot more money.

 

i buy Craftsman also.

 

SK makes nice stuff also, i really like their wrenches. superchrome mmmmmmm www.thetoolwarehouse.net

 

There are a lot of good brands that offer lifetime guarantees...MAC, Snap-On, Craftsman, etc. Personally, I could wander around Sears for hours checking out their tools. They make great tools, are cheaper than Snap-on, and are guaranteed for life.

Rich

 

when it comes to sockets, go with a socket set that has the lowest amount of points. It makes it more difficult to get them on, but less likely to strip or round the head of a bolt off! Especially dealing with 20+ year old bolts with plenty of rust, and oxidation going on. If you ever have rounded a bolt off, you know how big of a pain it is to remove it. Then after a dozen attempts your ready to take the old to the car! Dont quote me on this, but I believe sockets come in 6, 8, and 12 point. Most impact sockets are only 6 points, and for good reason, you dont want any slippage using an air driver. As for brands there are tons out there, I dunno much about australia, but hey there has to be a good set over there thats lifetime warranty, But do expect to pay $100-$500 for a good set. It may sound like a lot, but you can never invest too much money into tools. I would personally reccomend craftsman, I had a stuck bolt on the 7, and I used a 3 foot cheater bar, attached to an impact socket, and a 6 foot Iron pipe extension to finally brake the bolt loose, I bent the cheater bar, but the craftsmen socket held on strong! Thats my testiment...............

 

snap-on makes some bad *** tools, but i don't know much about their company. Whatever you buy, try not to support slave labor (unless your selfish and don't care). No walmart, sears, etc. idk what is in austrailia for tools, but yea lifetime warranty is important. then there is 12point(twice the range of motion when putting the socket on the bolt or nut) or 6point sockets (holds bolts+nuts tighter).

 

you can quote the old "you get what you pay for" . but i have this cheap *** popular mechanics mm/inches socket set that ive had for years, never stripped a bolt or didnt have any problems even with my 20 year old exhaust. i think the set cost me like $13.

 

I just got some Husky sockets...

They are black and the size is laser etched

Lifetime warr

Jay
1984 FB

 

I personally have craftsman pro series and snap-on, about a fifty fifty mix, and I can say for a fact that the snap-ons have a better "fit" to the bolt, and or nut than the craftsmans. they also have a finer ratchet mechanism which makes life easy in tight situations the craftsman needs to turn almost an 1/8 of a turn to get to the next tooth, while the snap-on takes much less to get ot the next tooth of the ratchet......very handy.

when I was younger I abused a lot of the cheaper craftsmans, master mechanics, s.k.'s and other brands, and while they may never break on You, I have had several break, and its quite painful in 3 degree celcius weather when you smack your knuckels due to a broken ratchet, socket, or hand wrench.

kenn

 

I have to agree with kenn on that. One time I was using a Craftsman wrench and it kept sliping off and striping the bolt. I had this dinky little kids toy wrench, that was the only one that fit it. That was the best fit! But that was the only time I have had a problem with my Craftsman.

 

Look at Sidchrome, they've been around for a long time in Australia, they have the lifetime warranty and are good prices due to them trying to break into the US market.

 

I have both Snap-on and Craftsman. Both do the job, however when I bust a Craftsman all I have to do is go down the street to Sears and they give me a new one.

~Chris

 

I bought all the tools I needed a few days before Christmas from Sears and it only cost me 50 bucks.

The only thing I don't have is a torque wrench. But I can always borrow one of those.

Lifetime warrenty = teh winnar

 

My mm sockets are *45* years old; SK and still champs. I used to get crapsman wrenches for the guarantee, but in the last few decades I've learned how to use tools without warping them. My inch size sockets are WW2 surplus cad-plated snapons. I like snapon: when you gotta fish a box wrench down thru a nest of wires, hoses and tubes to lay it on the nether end of a blind retainer nut nothing works better: they seem to have eyes.

 

ive decided on sidchrome, ~30 piece sets are around 150 AUS with lifetime warranty. and ive heard lots of good things about them. apart from that theirs kinchrome which are quite a bit more expensive. my dads got a sidchrome set from back in the early 80s that used to get used every single day (he was a mechanic) and they still work fine, even the ratchet mechanism still feels pretty much new. mmm cant wait to get the new toys :P

 

1) Snap-on
2) Craftsman
3) Mac/ Huskie tie

Here is the mechanics secret! I shouldn't let this out, but this thread will die soon. Garage sales. Find sales where someone has recently passes away for the bestbuys and likeli hood of tools. Get all the craftsman and snapon you can broken or not, and you can turn them in for new ones. Best tip ever!

 

My opinion on the basic socket sets (I've only owned and/or used 3/8" drives):

Craftman: good, if you live near Sears or catalog orders don't bother you. Sometimes, on high stress areas, they break.

Snap On: Maybe the best out there, but expensive. I hear rumors the new ones will be made in China, instead of USA.... makes me wonder. The writing on the sockets are easy to read.

Husky: Basically, i'm sorta promoting this brand as my favorite so far. Good price, nice feel, but the wrench is bulky. However, they're really tough (it took out bolts where my Craftsman wrench broke and cracked the walls of the socket). Plus, Home Depot is opened until 12:00 midnight around where I live.

Matco: Seems like a descent price with strong components. I haven't used them long enough to judge.

I hope this helps somebody one day.