Snap on or Craftsman tools?

[stumiister]

I started wrenching when I was in the Marine Corps so I had a mixed bag of tools from Snap-on to Craftsman, then I came to work in the real world and had to buy my own tools, and I still have a box full of different tools from Snap-on to Craftsman, the way I see it I buy what I need and who is available to me at the time I need the tool that I dont have to complete the job, I have a 3/4 drive impact from Harbor Freight that hasnt failed me yet, I have wrenches from Snap-on they are thin and hurt your hands of you need to put alot of pressure to tighten or loosen a fastener.
While your in school take advantage of getting tools on the cheap, get as much knowldge as you can, there is more demand in the auto repair industry for a good tech that can computer diagnos problems than there parts changers.

 

[94f450sd]

I use a mix of name brands.I will not use a craftsman ratchet! Busted way too many knuckles with them.have never broken a craftsman wrench,.rarely break a craftsman socket.s/k are nice sockets, dont care for they're ratchets or wrenches.give me a craftsman ratchet and I guarantee ill break it in 10 minutes

Dont be scared of autozones duralast tools.they're pretty good.I have the 1/4 set and beat the **** outta them.

My air tools are mostly IR.have a craftsman 1/2 impact now that ive been putting through hell for a few years.yes I use it to pull wheels off big rigs if I dont have my 3/4 gun.

 

[lilredtdi]

Forgot to add.................Carefully look at socket and wrench sets before buying. There are ALOT of very incomplete sets out there and buying individual sockets here and there to fill in what was not included is a pain.

Equally a pain, is going to you box and finding you are missing a size you need.

I would buy all of the 6 point sockets first and the 12 point second.

Most people don't know this but SEARS sells MANY brands of sockets. Nearly everything talked about here can be bought on SEARS website.

I did find somewhere on the web a COMPLETE metric socket set. It was $300 I believe. If you google complete metric socket set you will find it. I did not buy it because I had mostly everything already so I used SEARS web site to fill in the sizes I was missing.

 

[junk]

I own mainly craftsman, stanley, and Harbor freight. I don't know what these guys are doing to break tools, but I've never broken a ratchet or wrench. I've broken a couple sockets, but that was a 3/8" socket on a 1/2" impact gun. Not a big surprise. I own a set of HF wrenches and dearly love them. I grab them just as quick as my Craftsman. I've never owned tool truck tools because 300 bucks for a set of wrenches seems ridiculous to me. And how the heck does a person justify a $10,000 tool box to put the tools in? I can see a 2,000 toolbox that's big and sturdy to hold everything, but 10K? Hell go buy a 4wheeler or something. Or a couple IDI pickups.

I would say that swap meets are an excellent way to get name brand tools reasonable. Bought a bluepoint air ratchet for 10 bucks at one and it works awesome.

My biggest suggestion would be buy what you can afford. If you can't pay cash you can't afford it. I see too many adds on craigslist about some poor kid that bought 10-15K in tools so he could go to school for diesel mechanics or autobody and is now trying to sell them because he didn't finish the classes and needs to pay off his "tool bill". Most of the time he's asking 50% of what he'd payed and I would only give him 50% of that at best for the little pile of stuff he has.

 

[91idi]

On tool boxes, my theory was buy one and not afraid it in to buy a bigger one.I bought my royal blue 3 bay snap-on brand new $6000. My snap-on guy sellers the most boxes in Indiana, in return every few years he get great deals. I had the box picked out since I was 14. I'm not married or have kids and figured get it now BC I won't be able to in the future. But retail on my box was $12000. No way would I pay that! So moral of the story wait till a deal comes along and like others said Craigslist is a great place to tool up.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

If you cannot pay cash, you cannot afford it.

That statement right there is the best advice in this entire thread and holds true, whether the purchase be a 9/16 wrench, a washing-machine, house, car, truck, or whatever.

 

[riotwarrior]

That statement right there is the best advice in this entire thread and holds true, whether the purchase be a 9/16 wrench, a washing-machine, house, car, truck, or whatever.

OMG....now how many can plunk down 100,000 plus CASH for a USED house....or 30,000 for a new car....OMG...

There are times, unfortunately some statements here are a little ridiculous.....I don't know many people if any that can buy a used or new house with CASH!

Tools and toys...ya cash...Cars n trucks...may require bank loans...

Buying a business....may require a loan...rofl

But to the point for the OP

Cash is king...Wallet sized portraits of the Queen...or Presidents in your case are king! Paper with a signature on it...SUCK!

All my tools ...EVERY SINGLE ONE! including my IR 1" impact and transmission jack and all my equipment has been bought cash in hand...and will remain that way!

I previously learned a very hard lesson about Truck Credit!

 

[Agnem]

I have all Craftsman at home and a few Snap On pieces. Here at Conestoga Diesel Injection, the Snap On truck stops every week. When I buy Snap On, I'm not just buying a tool. I'm buying a partner. My Snap On rep is first rate, and I don't have to make getting a certain tool my problem. I can make it his. I bought a $2900 Snap On Solus diagnostic tool, because I needed something that someone would stand behind. If I ever run into a vehicle I can't use it on, he will make it right. I don't buy many tools from Snap On that would come in a set per say. I like them more for specific point solutions. What I won't buy however, is Chinese made hand tools. No matter who's name is on it. My tools are my hands, and this man is all American made.

 

[icanfixall]

My lifes goal is to know what I am buying. Research information is what makes power. Then you know what your buying. Its still possible to get something you don't want but... when that happens just return it if possible.. Amazon just billed our joint account $86.11.. I asked the wifey about that. She had bought nothing from amazon. So I called our bank. Told them I did not authorize this fee. they would not help me other than to give me amazons phone number.. Well thanks for that much wells fartgo.... So the nice lady at amazon, who I could barely understand because of her accent told me this was a 1 year subscription for a kindle my wife has... Yes... She has a kindle that her mother gave her back in dec 2011 at christmas.. So now we have to paya fee to have it... Nope.. It was a gift... We did not buy it and how the hell did they get our joint checking account numbers to charge us a fee... Well they sure weren't telling me that.. So they sadly took back the fee and its now back in our checking account. I watch what gets taken out of our checking account. This was a fraudlant charge not authorized by us. So they reluctanly gave it back.. But how many people are ripped off like this that don't know it. I believe in America but not our goverment. I buy american as much as I humanly possibley can.... I think this forum needs a smiley face waving the US flag with a smile... We have the BS flag... Why not a US flag face guy too...

 

[ah1988ford]

I like sk, craftsman and the older USA made Kobalt.
Go to your local flea market or swap meet type place and you can pick up the craftsman,sk,snap on and cornwell
stuff for pretty cheap !

 

[SparkandFire]

Fresh outta high school I landed a "almost" minimum wage job turning wrenches at a tire shop. I made probably 50 cents over minimum wage, and lived at the California central coast (almost as high cost of living as SF bay area) I was dirt poor, barely getting by renting a room from a friend.

Anyway, the first day on the job the Matco tools guy happened to stop by. His regular day was Wednesdays every week, but this Monday he made a special stop just to visit the "new guy" (me) He had all the beautiful goodies stuffed in the van, posters of supermodels sitting on Matco red tool boxes... The works.

Boy did he have a deal for me... Matco (through Chase Financial) would GLADLY set me up with a brand new side by side rollaway tool box filled with all the essentials for an aspiring young auto mechanic such as myself. I was giddy as a schoolgirl to get my hands on that Matco red rollaway (and the supermodel would've been great too) The whole shooting match wouldn't cost me but $145 a week directly deducted from my paycheck... For seven years...

Well. That was awesome. Six months after signing my life away the shop I worked at closed up and I got laid off. My friend met a woman and got married and wanted me out of the house. So there I was, me, the Matco red rollaway, and my Ford ranger pickup all alone in the world. The nice Matco man wanted nothing to do with me, no one on craigslist would pay me what I owed on the box, I had no job so Chase financial started to sue me.

In the end my dad saved my skin. he took over and made the payments and took the box. All I was left with was a tie rod separator, destroyed credit, and the dreams of a failed venture and my first experience with debt...

Buy what you can pay cash for. Today it may very well be Harbor Freight, tomorrow may be craftsman or snap on. My toolbox is a mix of everything from Husky to Craftsman to Harbor Freight. I've bought a few snap-on tools over the years for specialty stuff.

 

[jaluhn83]

Sorry to hear that, but it makes for a good object lesson...

Moral is, be very careful with debt. Sure sometimes you have to take out a loan, and and many times it's highly beneficial. But, at the end of the day as long as you have that hanging over your head, someone else owns your life.

 

[towcat]

I have all Craftsman at home and a few Snap On pieces. Here at Conestoga Diesel Injection, the Snap On truck stops every week. When I buy Snap On, I'm not just buying a tool. I'm buying a partner. My Snap On rep is first rate, and I don't have to make getting a certain tool my problem. I can make it his. I bought a $2900 Snap On Solus diagnostic tool, because I needed something that someone would stand behind. If I ever run into a vehicle I can't use it on, he will make it right. I don't buy many tools from Snap On that would come in a set per say. I like them more for specific point solutions. What I won't buy however, is Chinese made hand tools. No matter who's name is on it. My tools are my hands, and this man is all American made.

mel-
it's getting harder to stay "buy american". I thought I was "buying american" a couple of weeks ago until I opened the package.
one more thing, before you get too deeply buried in the solus, check to see if it is CAN system compatible. I would up getting stuffed into a Modus system due to CAN communications issues.

 

[fordf350man]

wow lots of opinions on here, just remember about tool boxes, get a good quality box but dont spend allot of money, a tool box makes you no money, its only there to hold your tools thats it, from my experience the guys with the 15,000 dollar tool boxes are not the best techs, the guys that have the rusted falling apart tool boxes are the ones you will learn the most from, not saying that they are bad techs, but just because you have a big box doesnt mean your a good tech, i have a kobalt tool box that came with a fridge and a radio and its plenty big enough for my tools and only paid 1300 for it, couldnt be happier with the box

 

[GOOSE]

I got my 3 piece Craftsman chest for under $500 on sale and have stocked it with Craftsman tools. Some of my Craftsman tools are 27 years old by now and still get the job done. I have stripped ratchets, split mostly deep well sockets and worn out 12 point sockets with 18 volt impact guns. Most all of them got replaced at Sears 14 minutes away from me. The wrenches and sockets are ok by me. The ratchets, screw drivers and pliers are junk. I really need a better screw driver set. I like the Kliens for electrician work but am not sure about the auto end of things. I either use Klein or Knipex, even though they're German, for my pliers and am happy. There is a stray Snap On and Mac tool around but really can not afford them. Williams, Allen, old Husky, they are all welcome and are used to fill my 2nd and 3rd sets of tools. I have one for the shop, one set for work and one for the truck.

I am on the same page as Mel and avoid imported tools as much as I can. I think I have willingly purchased a made in China 15/16 wrench and socket from Ace Hardware in the middle of a snow storm for plow repairs. Other than that, if Craftsman is the best Made in USA quality I can afford, than so be it. The biggest problem is that Craftsman and SNAP ON from what I have heard are giving to the trend of selling foreign tools.

What kind of pride is "Designed and engineered in the USA, assembled in China" supposed to instill in a person?