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Cheap tools

7K views 33 replies 27 participants last post by  unlblkrubi 
#1 ·
Wasn't sure where to put this, but figured the Cheap Tricks section applied the best.

Do y'all use cheap tools on your Jeep? I have an old socket set that I've used around the house from time to time, but I broke my 5/8 socket trying to remove an old crusty step bar mount the other day. I think it is a Sharper Image set. That's my first problem. The second is that the socket handle is pretty short, and I couldn't get any leverage. Probably wouldn't have mattered since the actual socket was crap.

But I went and bought a longer socket handle, and a deepwell 5/8 socket, and it popped the bolt right off last night. I had been straining with the old one, putting everything I had into it, and it just wouldn't budge. A good pull with this one and it loosened right up.

Which leads me to my question. The longer socket driver I bought was a 13 inch handle. It was $16 at Napa. I asked if they had anything longer, thinking something beefier and longer would come in handy in the future. He had a 15 inch handled version. The price was $79. Now I know we'd all like to add 2 inches but not at 5X the cost. So at what point do you sacrifice quality for price?

And I was buying a Torx bit to remove my bumpers, and figured I'd buy a set. It was like $180. I just bought the bit I needed for the bumper, and one of those swiss army torx sets that was $10 and has all the smaller sizes in it.
 
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#3 ·
Yeah, if I had one already I would have done that, but I figured I was going to need a nicer socket wrench anyways. The one I had was cheap crap. This one is a good 5 inches longer than the old one, and I think it will handle most anything I need to do with it. If not, at least I have a "good" one to put a piece of pipe on in the future.
 
#5 ·
Being in college, my first choice was obviously the cheaper tools. I found out very quickly that they were not going to work.

For my first experience, I tried to replace the headlights with a bit that came on one of those big multitools that has a lot of sizes. Over an hour and some bloody knuckles later, I had them in. Just recently I changed the headlights on my friend's jeep while I was home, with a quality tool. 10 painless minutes.
I have also had the torx screw completely strip out the bit I was using on several occasions. I now have a hardened titanium torx bit set.
From broken handles, to cracked and stripped sockets, I toiled over crap tools for far too long.

Honestly, if you are a jeep owner - invest in quality tools. Yes, they are pricey. But when you get the job done in 5 minutes or less with no arm cramping, you will thank yourself.
 
#6 ·
Wasn't sure where to put this, but figured the Cheap Tricks section applied the best.

Do y'all use cheap tools on your Jeep? I have an old socket set that I've used around the house from time to time, but I broke my 5/8 socket trying to remove an old crusty step bar mount the other day. I think it is a Sharper Image set. That's my first problem. The second is that the socket handle is pretty short, and I couldn't get any leverage. Probably wouldn't have mattered since the actual socket was crap.

But I went and bought a longer socket handle, and a deepwell 5/8 socket, and it popped the bolt right off last night. I had been straining with the old one, putting everything I had into it, and it just wouldn't budge. A good pull with this one and it loosened right up.

Which leads me to my question. The longer socket driver I bought was a 13 inch handle. It was $16 at Napa. I asked if they had anything longer, thinking something beefier and longer would come in handy in the future. He had a 15 inch handled version. The price was $79. Now I know we'd all like to add 2 inches but not at 5X the cost. So at what point do you sacrifice quality for price?

And I was buying a Torx bit to remove my bumpers, and figured I'd buy a set. It was like $180. I just bought the bit I needed for the bumper, and one of those swiss army torx sets that was $10 and has all the smaller sizes in it.
Just go buy craftsman tools. Ya there expensive, but they are made great and have a lifetime warranty
 
#12 ·
:laugh::laugh::laugh: CRAPsmen is expensive?:laugh::laugh::laugh:

You guys clearly dont work on cars for a living. When it comes to tools you get what you pay for. Craftsmen is a good back of a backup.

1300 bucks....
 
#7 ·
if it is a tool i use often, such as a socket set or wrenchs i get something decent. usually craftsman due to the lifetime warranty.

if it is something i buy to use only once, or very rarely then i will buy the cheap one. I figure why risk something breaking when with a cheap tool on something i use every weekend.
 
#8 ·
Craftsman is the best bang for your buck. My father in law uses Snapon and Matco and I really wish I could afford them too, but he suggested Craftsman for decent enough tools on a budget.

I used to have this garbage chinese socket (actually 2 of them) that we've had for general household use in the family. All it took was one fender removal on my TJ to eat through both of them. Nothing more frustrating than having a half disassembled (nondriveable) car and broken tools. So I got on my bicycle and finally gave in to something a little better. The Craftsman socket was only about $20 but its a lot better. It's taken some beatings and has seen about 20 rusty stubborn bolts and has been whacked that many times with a hammer and a pipe over it. No problems yet.
 
#10 ·
That reminds me of what my wife's grandpa told me. We were asking him his opinions on a home renovation we did, and specifically about a Sawzall and nail guns. He said go to Harbor Freight, get the cheapest Sawzall knockoff brand they have, run it until it dies, then go buy another one. He said he uses them quite a bit and usually gets a couple of years out of one. And the little bit of new framing we were doing, he suggested a big *** hammer. Both worked out quite well.
 
#11 ·
Sears has started replacing broken tools with rebuilt tools, the last 3 times I returned broken ratchets they gave me obviously used rebuilt ones, when I showed the manager my split knuckles from their last replacement ratchet I was given a new one off the wall instead of a rebuilt model from under the counter. I still have a few Snap-ons but I started buying Kobalt after using a couple different wrenches and sockets, if you register them you get theft replacement also. But yes carry quality tools in your jeep.
 
#15 ·
Bhamshooter said:
The second is that the socket handle is pretty short, and I couldn't get any leverage... I had been straining with the old one, putting everything I had into it, and it just wouldn't budge. A good pull with this one and it loosened right up. Which leads me to my question. The longer socket driver I bought was a 13 inch handle. It was $16 at Napa. I asked if they had anything longer, thinking something beefier and longer would come in handy in the future. He had a 15 inch handled version. The price was $79. Now I know we'd all like to add 2 inches but not at 5X the cost. So at what point do you sacrifice quality for price? And I was buying a Torx bit to remove my bumpers, and figured I'd buy a set. It was like $180. I just bought the bit I needed for the bumper, and one of those swiss army torx sets that was $10 and has all the smaller sizes in it.
I bought the 25" breaker bar (1/2" drive) from Harbor freight for $12, and it has been one of my best purchases ever. It's not a ratchet type, but works great for that initial bolt seize break. Once loose, switch to your regular ratchet driver and you're good to go.

I'll echo the comment about good sockets too though and would HIGHLY suggest you try to buy only 6 point sockets. Much less likely to tear up bolts.

Right now, my socket set weak points are the step-up / step-down adapters used to switch from 1/2" drive down to 3/8" or 1/4" drive sockets. I tend to buy only what I need when I need it though to keep short term costs down.
 
#16 ·
Found that the Stanley brand stuff is between HF and Kobalt/Husky. Plus, you can find Stanley stuff on the clearance racks at Wal-Mart all the time.

I actually bought a bunch of it when KMart bought Sears and started selling Craftsman there. They cleared out all their other tools dirt cheap.

The Kobalt 72 tooth ratchets are nice though. Think they're around $25 each. So smooth...
 
#18 ·
I recently needed a replacement ratchet, but they were out. They gave me a rebuild kit to do it myself.

Craftsman doesn't make quality tools anymore, but they're ok for the backyard mechanic. I would not go any cheaper. Stay away from Harbor Freight, Husky, or any of the auto parts store tools.
 
#21 ·
Best way I have found to save money on tools is to properly organize them. I have repeatedly purchased duplicate sockets, feeler gauges, combo wrenches, drill bits, you name it because I have a bad habit of tossing everything into a drawer in my tool boxes. I bought one of those monster 1000 piece tool kits from Sears fifteen years ago but nothing came in a case or holder, so it all ended up haphazardly in one of my two six drawer boxes. I have gotten better, having bought the 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 socket holders for both SAE and metric, even separating the 6 and 12 points, making drill bit holders and using magnetic strips on the back wall on my work bench to give everything else a place to hang. Plus I keep a separate set of tools in my Jeep so that I don't rob the toolbox for a common sized socket and never put it back. I do the same for my bikes, they each have their own toolkit (not the factory junk ones) just in case.
As for brand, my big tool kit was obviously craftsman but since they stopped their famous no questions asked replacement policy I have been slowly replacing broken stuff with either Matco or Snap on, although the craftsman has held up well enough that I doubt I'll live long enough to have to replace everything.
 
#22 ·
Never put a cheater pipe on your socket wrench to get more leverage! The internal workings in the wrench head are designed for a certain amount of force to be put on them. By increasing those forces due to the lengthening of the torque arm (cheater pipe) you may damage the gears and such or the wrench will fail prematurely. Use the right tool for the job regardless of the price and they will last a life time.
 
#24 ·
I have had enough cuts, bruises and scars over the years from using cheap tools that my hands look and feel like crap. My addition to this thread will be this:

Go and buy the BEST tools that you can AFFORD. Get some quality stuff in your toolbox, and as mentioned, keep them organized and you will end up being much happier in the end. Having said that, I do own some very inexpensive tools but even those are now fewer and fewer. A couple issues with cheap tools that I see is that they don't feel good when you pick them up, there is something not ergonomically right to them. The other, they will let you down when you need them the most!

I am not saying you need to go and buy the whole truck from XXX (Snap-On, Mac, etc), but a few quality pieces of what you use the most is a good place to start. If you want to go the "less expensive route", look at Craigs List for some used quality tools. They may still be more money but in the end, a quality piece will last you a lifetime.

It is tough to justify the expense on tools sometimes, but trust me, your body will thank you in the end.
 
#25 ·
There are very few harbor freight tools that I trust. My tool box at work is made up of some craftman but a lot of it is snap on/blue point a few of my cressent wrenches are cressent brand. You get what you pay for. I say buy the best you can afford and only get the more expensive tools as you need them.
By the way I work at a auto parts manufacturing plant working on very larg machinery for a living so I put my tools to the test. Trust me cheap tools hurt.
 
#30 ·
I'm a college student and I don't make much money at my part time job. I have a descent socket wrench and like 8 craftsmen sockets, and the rest are mix and match of different cheaper brands. When I need a tool I'm only gonna use once or not very often, I will go to harbor freight and get it for 9.99. They usually get the job done and when they break you just go buy another if you need to. But main tools like sockets and wrenches I would recommend descent quality for sure.
 
#32 ·
Another trick that my father/brother/mechanic friends use:

Buy up broken Craftsman tools from automotive flea markets, and then trade them in. About a month ago I bought a 3/8" drive Craftman impact gun for $10 from a guy at the Thompson Speedway flea market. He said it "was very tired". I gave the gun to my brother who sees the Craftsman tool guy on a regular basis and had the gun rebuilt for nothing. Boom. $500 tool for $10. :tea:
 
#33 ·
Check out your local Sears Outlet store. Large quantity of American made tools being sold off at great prices.

Ron
 
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