ACDelco 'tools'

I'm seeing these tools pop up - just curious - who makes them and if they are any good. What brands are they comparable too?

Reply to
foobar
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Check for the coveted "Made in China" markings. You know they must be good if they were brought all the way over from there! :-)

Reply to
Roger Blake

Seems to me the manufacturing quality in China has dropped as they are used by more and more cheapass outfits. I have an old Chinese made oil immersion microscope that is built much like a Soviet tank [or farmwoman] that I suspect could survive a freefall from orbit with no damage.

Reply to
Lon Stowell

I've seen AC Delco tools with toolbox... sold at Albertson's supermarket.. scary!

Reply to
Eric F

Hah hah - too funny! I had no idea!

I'm still curious - are they Chinese made or US made and do they carry any sort of warranty? acdelco.com says diddly and I only took a quick glance at them - just curious.

Reply to
foobar

When it comes to tools, here is a quick rule:

If they are cheap and are available at Albertsons, they are made in China. (Or equivalent) If acdelco says diddly or less about the warranty, they have no warranty. (Just my opinion, I haven't bought any of these)

I did see a flier about them here a few months ago and nothing was mentioned about the warranty. My advise is to buy at least a tool that mentions "lifetime warranty" even if you are only a casual mechanic.

Reply to
Kruse

lifetime warranties are nice... but think of it like this.. if a tool breaks.. how far away are you from having it replaced? I have a backup set of tools just in case, however, if something breaks, how fast can I find a Sears, or a snap-on truck? I'd say the Sears would be easier to find.. especially on weekends!

Reply to
Eric F

Well, unlike a few posters, I turn wrenches for a living. I guess what I meant to say was that there is a difference between a "lifetime warranty" wrench and something from Harbor Freight, even though Harbor Freight claims to have a lifetime warranty. Sears is actually a half hour away from where I live. My own open ended wrenches are Matco and they are over 20 years old. If you have a really good set of tools you don't always have to wonder if the tool is going to break when you use it. A casual user doesn't need a super high-end of tool. Ace Hardware is actually a lot closer to me than Sears and they have "lifetime warranty" wrenches. Are they adaquate for a weekend wrench turner? Sure. Do I recommend them for somebody who uses them to make a living? Probably not. But I bet they are better than the AC Delco wrenches that started this post.

Reply to
Kruse

Err, our local bakers/kroger supermarkets are selling craftsman tools now too. So you might as well lump them in the same boat.

BOB

Reply to
BOB URZ

What is interesting is how many of the big name companies are putting their name on things that are possibly shoddy. (Not to say that the AC Delco tools are shoddy until I actually see them for myself) I noticed some of the stores are selling "Mack" jacks and other "Mack" tools. These have the same name and bulldog logo as the Mack trucks. I'd bet anybody here a dollar that where they are made are nowhere near the same factory as where the Mack trucks are being assembled. I wonder how much royalty money they get paid to have their name put on this stuff? Me thinks AC Delco has done the same thing. How many people in this group actually think the AC Delco hand tools will be used by any Mr. Goodwrench technicians? I don't. I thinks Sears is also trying to get every last penny by selling their wrenches at Krogers/Albertsons.

Reply to
Kruse

IMHO, AC Delco tools are the same quality as their vehicles...

Reply to
Jim

All of it appears to be made-in-china crap. What I've seen of it anyway. No reason to pay extra for the name.

Reply to
Brent P

Perhaps it goes something like this...?

A) The best warranty is the one you never have to use B) The next best warranty is the one that is 'easy' to use C) and so on...

Reply to
foobar

A hand tool warranty is simply a marketing gimick vs. an accurate indicator of a tool's quality.

Buy quality and you don't need to worry about a warranty.

I'd rather have a tool complete the task then have it break and have to drive hours to find a Sears store.

Some of my SK tools are 25-30 years old and I don't recall a single failure, unlike Crapsman.

Reply to
davefr

| |> What is interesting is how many of the big name companies are | |IMHO, AC Delco tools are the same quality as their vehicles...

ACDelco has become the biggest ho in the automotive aftermarket. Not only do they sell their brand name to manufacturers of cheap goods, they also sell non-OE products in their parts boxes. When you buy an ACDelco shock chances are almost 100% you will not get the OE unit your car came with, but probably a Gabriel (good shock) at a premium price. Buy an AC plug and you will get either Champion (if plated shell) or NGK (if black). They don't make squat anymore, they buy from the lowest bidder. Rex in Fort Worth

Reply to
Rex B

A friend of mine use to fix 747s. Most of his tools were -- Craftsman.. And they worked fine.. Plus, since they are cheaper than say SnapOn or SK tools, you can easily afford an extra set of ratchets should one fail..

That being said, I think Mac/SnapOn/etc ratchets feel much better in my hand. But my wallet thinks otherwise..

__________________ Note: To reply, replace the word 'spam' embedded in return address with 'mail'. N38.6 W121.4

Reply to
Barry S.

AC Delco doesn't make vehicles.

Reply to
saeengineer

Bob- I once had a car with a lively hood. A '76 Trans Am with a Screaming Chicken in front of the scoop.

Sorry, couldn't resist ;-)

BTW 10 grand in tools or the 52" plasma on the wall? No contest. Pass the remote!

Dan

Reply to
Dan

He's doubtless alluding to the fact that they're a division of General Motors. See for instance

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My two cents' worth pre-tax... Haven't seen any AC-Delco tools, though it seems curious that their website doesn't seem to mention 'em. Having owned, driven, and fixed GM cars ranging all the way from execrable to excellent over the years (mostly toward the good part of the range lately, knock on wood), and having had or witnessed mixed luck with several marques, I don't have much enthusiasm for the my-make-can-beat-up-your-make arguments. I don't recall being displeased with AC Delco parts.

I *do* like and recommend top-quality hand tools. They tend to not only last longer but enable better and faster work through thoughtful design and careful manufacture. Tools I turn to a lot, with good results, include Craftsman, Snap-On, SK, and Proto. Oh, yeah, and Crescent for adjustable wrenches and Vise-Grip for locking pliers and Channellock for slip-joint pliers deserve the way their names have passed into the vernacular, disturbing though this may be to their lawyers. In electrical/electronics rather than automotive tools I cherish Klein and Xcelite. I've also been really pleased in my modest acquaintance with Performance Tool (love their ratcheting screwdriver with the flashlight built in and a telescoping magnetic pickup tool hidden in the barrel). And of course if I were only going to have one tool in the trunk, I'd probably make it one of the bigger Leatherman pocket multi-tools or maybe one of the best of its competitors.

Around the house, I haven't had any complaints with Rigid plumbing stuff; they seem to be branching out into other sorts of tools as well. Corona and also Fiskars (the gourmet-scissors company) are among the makers of premium garden stuff. And you can have my Estwing hammers when you pry them out of my hot, swollen fingers the next time I let my attention drift and whop my left thumb instead of the nail. :) But we digress from the subject of cars...

This list is not meant to be all-inclusive, especially when it comes to specialty tools. It's just a rundown of readily available tools of my experience that seem to be of higher quality than the run of the mill. I'm probably giving short shrift to a dozen or more good manufacturers.

For sure, though, the *low* end of the tool market is to be strenuously avoided. Even if you don't think you can appreciate truly professional-grade hand tools, or you can't afford them right now, get at least decent ones and stay out of the everything's-a-dollar bin. Your car and your knuckles will both be the better for it.

Cheers,

--Joe

Reply to
Ad absurdum per aspera

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