OT: Where can I get good comparison of wrenches by brand/model?

By the way, after looking at

and seeing their 1/4 and 3/8 in drive sets for $216 and $413 for the general service sets (to make a fairly complete set of shallow sockets) I can safely say that my two sons' current college tuition takes precidence... not to mention my daughter who will be starting college in two years... So I am looking for something better than you basic auto parts store but far less than the prices noted above. (sockets, box wrenches mainly) TIA

Kirk,

The next time there is a swap meet in the area (and there's always one soon!:~) plan to attend. You can pick up good, high quality, used tools there. You end up paying higher prices than you would if you went to Harbor Freight, but you pay far less than you wold if you'd purchased them off the Snap-On, Mac, or Matco truck or even if you'd bought them at Sears.

I'll say it again. The next big meet in the area (and I'll try to remember to post a reminder before it comes along) go to it. You can get good tools, spend less money than you would if you'd bought them new, and you can continue to send the kids their pizza money at the University!:~)

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

Home Depot? Most of their tools are made in *china*, & are some of the

*worst* on the market! Now if you can find brand name tools there... I think you'll find S-K are the best *value* tools. Not *near* as expensive as Snap-on or Mac, but near the same quality. The swap meet is a good idea, as well as some pawn shops. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"

Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!

My current set of tools are Stanley. Most were purchased with a Stanley roll-around toolbox from WalMart (around 100 pieces of tools and a nifty, if not flimsy, roll around toolbox) for less than $100. I haven't broken anything yet except for stripping the guts out of the 3/8" drive ratchet. To its credit, however, I was using it with a cheater bar to tighten up lug nuts (I've since purchased a proper lug wrench).

I'm with you on the Craftsman stuff. No telling how many Craftsman flat blade screwdrivers I have with broken off tips. My last set of screwdrivers came from Harbor Freight (something like 12 screwdrivers for about $7). I consider screwdrivers essentially expendible items at that price point.

What I usually do when I need a single specialized tool is drop by Sears and price it there, then run across the street (literally) to Harbor Freight and see how much I'm going to have to spend to get a set of tools that contains the one I want, since HF usually doesn't carry onesies. The last time I did this was when I needed a 3/4" drop-end box wrench to loosen the top nuts on the struts on the '71. Sears had a single wrench for $18, HF had a set of six for $11. I bought the HF's since I knew it was going to be a pretty low impact application (no real fear of breakage), even though I knew I'd probably rarely, if ever, need another drop-end wrench, especially in SAE sizes.

When I was trying to get the rear axle nuts off the '69 recently when the brake cylinder gave, I went to AutoZone and bought a 3/8" breaker bar there for $17. It managed to get one nut loose and sheared off on the second nut. I ended up at Sears and purchased one there for $30, but not before getting the tool manager to agree that if I broke it off, he'd replace it for free. I explained to him exactly what I was doing and what had already happened to another non-Craftsman breaker bar. He thought about it for a minute, then gave me the thumbs-up and his personal guarantee to replace it (or refund it) if I broke it off. It got the nut loose.

I guess I'm fortunate that HF and Sears are so close together here. Plus, they both open fairly early on Saturday mornings. :-)

I still buy open/box end wrenches from WalMart when I need them, by the way.

If i was going for longevity of wrenches and sockets i would pony up the cash for snap on, mac or proto.leave the husky(home slimebo) and craftsman,and harbor china to other people.husky and crafts man are made by the same company(i can here a drunken redneck voice saying bullshit!!)but its true.My granpa was a heavy equiptment mechanic for 50 years and swore by snap on, mack ect.i personly just use craftsman because i can't afford to buy snap on.You can now flame all you want.

Kasoma Duplantis

I think Craftsman can be okay. They used to be quite reputable but over the last couple of decades as Sears has gone downhill, cancelled their catalog, etc. I think they have taken to stamping the Craftsman label on some stuff that is cheap imported crap. You just have to be careful picking them out now.

Home Depot or Lowes (they're right across the street from each other and I forget which one...) has some Craftsman screw drivers right now that are so flimsy I picked one up to look at it, tried to bend the shaft a little with my hands to see if it would flex. The damn thing

*broke* in half. There was another customer standing next to me when it happened. Made a loud snapping sound. I said "Man, I'm not paying for that junk!" as I dropped it back in the box. He said something about getting what you pay for and nodded in agreement. What crap.

screwdrivers,

Craftsman is made by different manufacturers for duration of contract - for some time they are thick and bulky, other years slim and solid... Anyway, if you want to extend your tool collection inexpensively with good stuff don't overlook pawn shops. We have one close by that I use for hand tools and they have hundreds of everything to select from. Up to 17mm are $1 each for combination wrenches - some new, some old, some bulky, etc. I needed a 17mm extra thin with very little offset to the box end. I looked through their collection of 17mm's and found the perfect match - to fit the 091 tranny front mount adjustment top nut with everything in place! Shop around 'til you find a good store. -BaH

An Excellent suggestion too!!!!

I can't say as I spend a lot of time in Pawn Shops anymore, but have , in the past, had pretty good luck with that approach

Good Call!

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply MUADIB®

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs. -- Oxford University Press, Edpress News

Not A Flame at all, In agreement to a point, then they all work ok.

When I worked on Aircraft, some tools were just not available from Craftsman,.............even through the catalog. However, Some of the tools that *were* available, were of a substandard build for Aircraft applications. One such tool , at that time, was a 1/4" 12 point wrenches and sockets, would not turn a 12 point bolt on a PT6.............I tore up a bunch of them before the boss made me either go buy tools or get someone else to do the job.

Anyone ever take the hot section of a PT6 turbo prop down for inspection/repair/replacement????

there's a whole damn bunch of little 1/4" head 12 point bolts,.................

Did I say there's a damn bunch of 1/4" 12 point bolts????

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply MUADIB®

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs. -- Oxford University Press, Edpress News

I didn't go into alot of detail/history before, but I've used Snap-on, Mac, Craftsman, Cornwell (does that tell you how long I've been working on cars?), & just about every other brand name tool made. Other than buying used at a swap meet, from an individual (check your want-ads), or a pawn shop, I still think you won't get better tools at anywhere near the price than with S-K. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"

Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!

Thanks guys! I will try looking at pawn shops and swap meets. The brand name suggestions that I should look for are helpful too. It appears that if I find pawn shop tools by: Snap-On, Mack, Matco, S-K, (Cornwell?), and old old craftsman tools that I will be "safe". Apparently I should stay away from Huskey, Stanley, Pittsburg (HF), etc.

Any other additions to one or the other lists will be appreciated.

Since I work on older cars (used '93 Honda, '65 Beetle, etc...) I end up working with some stubborn bolts/nuts. (and I am a stubborn nut myself ;) Thanks again!

...ya know...the latest generation of chinese wrenches and ratchets put out by advanced auto under their Great Neck line aren't that bad...really. Definitely not snap-on...but they are cheap and comfortable with a half decent fit. I tend to use them more than my craftsman toold, because they are more comfy. I use the ccraftsman when I think I might break the tool ;) I bought them so I'd have a cheap set for work...but really I do grab them first now regardless. ;-/

..Gareth

Where can I buy Proto tools? Someone walked off with my long flat blade screwdriver and I want to replace it. Thanks!

"KWW" wrote in news:Gt7Jc.74058$a24.23305@attbi_s03:

If you invest in only one Snap-on tool, go for S-5902. It's got a 12 point 21 mm box at one end (for the oil drain plug and turning the generator pulley) and a 17 mm hex key at the other end (for the tranny plugs).

My box-open end combo wrenches are S-K. Real tough and worth every penny. For the smaller sizes (up to 13 mm), I use Craftsman box-box. Bought 'em in the 70s, and they don't have the flex you spoke of.

I do have a set of Sears brand (not Craftsman) open ends that suck.

Sears has never questioned me when I've gone in to replace a guaranteed screwdriver, no matter how obvious it was that I broke it by using it as a crowbar.

Proto was Purchased by Stanley years ago, around 90 or so..........maybe earlier................I have not seen a "PROTO" dealer in a long time..............who knows, they may still use the name, but not very boldly.

My first set of wrenches I purchased with my own money was a set of Proto combination SAE wrenches. I still have some and they are still very good for use on the Merkin cars................

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply MUADIB®

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs. -- Oxford University Press, Edpress News

were i live(Bellingham Wa) we have a proto dealer in a old auto parts store down town. i have a breaker bar which i broke by standing on it to loosen the

36mm nuts on the rear axel.almost broke my ass too...but that was a couple of years ago.if you live near by i can check.

Kasoma Duplantis

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 09:44:00 -0400, Gary Tateosian ran around screaming and yelling:

i'm with gary here....i have a few that i have bought a few at a time, and they work great....i have even had them swapped out when i "thought" they were worn(open end wrenches when using them when i should have been using box end...) JT