Good budget priced sockets

[Dub11]

I'm 100% through with Craftsman, although to be fair they were circling the drain long before the Chicom tools showed up. I worked for Sears back in the 90's and don't think I have ever seen a firm work so hard to keep both employees and customers disappointed.

Unfortunate isn't. The few craftsman things I have are left over from my Grandpa.

 

[FergusonTO35]

The few Craftsmans I have were made by firms that I know make quality stuff such as Wilde.

 

[Gravedigger]

Most of my stuff is snap on but recently I've gotten Pittsburgh Pro and they seem pretty good. The regular Pittsburgh not so much. Craftsman are good too.

 

[cus_deluxe]

Ive beat the absolute piss out of the pittsburgh 1/2" drive socket sets i bought 5 or 6 years ago. Im talkin 230# of cus on the end of a 3' bar getting lugnuts off installed by enthusiastic tire guys...ive cut one in half to make a special 1 1/8" 6" deep socket i needed for a mower i was working on. Ground the bevel off the end of the 3/4" one for removing clutches. The whole 13 piece set cost $20 so it doesnt hurt my feelings a bit to modify 1 or 2 of em. No brainer to me. And no i dont think im a "*f-word tard" either lol

 

[woodtool89]

And no i dont think im a "*f-word tard" either lol

the actual ones never do...

 

[JMoney]

I've got some Stanley impact sockets, they're OK. Definitely seem heavy duty, but it's annoying that instead a of a detent for the retaining ball on every side, you have to line the detent up on one side with the ball. They are fine for my needs with a lithium impact wrench and breaker bar.

I recently got sick of stripping old threads and purchased a set of 6 points by Tekton from Amazon. I really like the sockets themselves, and the case is nice (at first I thought every socket was actually secured into the case, but it's actually just the ones in the "lid". Still nicer than a lot of cases. I guess it has a more limited selection of SAE options. The ratchet itself is kind of crappy, fit and finish is fine but I seem to always bump the selector while I'm working. I have a cheepo ratchet from the local hardware store with horrid fit and finish, but it has a knurled ring around the back of the ratchet that you can spin with your thumb once the bolt is loose enough to not disengage the ratchet pawls. I really enjoy using it actually

 

[cus_deluxe]

the actual ones never do...

Anything useful to add or are you just trollin?

 

[woodtool89]

Anything useful to add or are you just trollin?

I would never limit myself to just one option...

 

[CR500]

I can not say anything bad about myself Sunex sockets... have a few and wish I went this route before I became a tech


Always thought I needed USA made impact sockets, I've beaten the snot out of my Sunex collection at home and for the price and quality I would buy again no questions asked

 

[Lone Wolf]

Have not seen that brand around here ,they pretty good ?

Harbor freight I think.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Nowadays, I think Wright is the best mechanic's tool maker under the sun. Nearly all their product line is made in their own factory in the USA and the quality is the same or really close to the truck brands costing 2-3x as much. I'm sure you have noticed, but all the truck brands sneak imported tools into their line including Snappy. I don't have a problem with imported tools, except when they are from a brand that should be made in the USA and are priced like it!

 

[woodtool89]

I can not say anything bad about myself Sunex sockets

their swivel impact sockets aren't all that great...

 

[jakethesnake]

their swivel impact sockets aren't all that great...

What you use?

 

[exSW]

Sunex impact in 3/8 "and 1/2" drive. Have yet to break one in all these many years.

 

[czar800]

I'm another fan of Sunex. I've had good luck with the ones I have.

 

[woodtool89]

What you use?

use em at work, the pin breaks in them then theyre just a paper weight... ive used others that you can replace the pin in them, but the sunex has the collar crimped on so you cant replace the pin easily...
I have Armstrong ones that are a 4 "flute" design like the ones in this pic...theyre a lot stronger...



sunex








Armstrong

 

[flying pig]

I like the sunex sockets lots too. I have a set of 1/2 drive 12 points and they seem of really good quality and for $85 you get what would cost $400 with Snap-on. I've only been a heavy duty for five years, but I've tried a lot of tools and here's my opinions:

Matco is extremely overpriced. If you look at Princess Auto or HF tools you'll notice a lot of similarities to the matco stuff. There's 10 guys in our shop and none of us bought any matco stuff after the first few weeks after our dealer started up. Lots of warranty claims and huge prices. Their breaker bars and ratchets have too much flex and break to boot. Their impacts are like two pounds heavier than a comparable CP impact powerwise, and four times the price. So I'm not a fan of matco.

Snap-on has by far the best dealer support for me. I try to buy as much as I can afford through him. But I don't buy consumable tooling like impact sockets there, only buy once cry once items. Like ratchets, pry bars, tool boxes etc.

I'm loving pro point brand impact sockets from princess auto. They are light walled, sized better than matco adv line, extremely durable and cheap like borsche. I use pro point impact sockets up to 3/4 drive and will use their 1" stuff too here soon. It's unfortunate that they don't make their 1" line into the bigger sizes or cover all the 1/16ths.

For wrenches I really like mastercraft's polished line. They are cheap, tough, and feel decent in your hands. And at $30 a set on sale you can afford to mess em up.

Gear wrench ratchet wrenches rock.

I run a lot of CP air tools. Their impacts are a really good value IMO. I have a composite 1/2", 3/4", and an industrial 1" that is crazy powerful and makes really short work of undercarriage and tracks. I like Aircat too and have one of their compact 3/8 guns. For an air hammer I feel that Snap-on has that one in the bag, their long barrelled hammer has huge power for its size and has been an irreplaceable tool. It's value far outweighs its cost.

Anyway, that's my take on tools.

 

[usmcbuckwild]

Another vote for Sunnex sockets, i have a set that is almost 20 years old and never had a problem with them.

I have a mix of tools, most of which were picked up randomly at yard sales and off the side of the road. Mac, Matco, S-K, Snap-On, GearWrench, Armstrong, Proto and my very old Craftsmen set I got as a kid. I too worked at Sears as a teen and have been highly trained in the rebuilding of ratchets; the old-old ratchets were very well made, new ones (post 1990s) are JUNK! They are not built like they used to be!

I will admit I picked up a set of the Harbor Freight 6pt impact sockets as “throw-aways” and they have held up. I cut up one of the 3/8 drive impacts to make a clutch removal tool and it has yet to break.

I picked up a Matco “Nascar Anniversary” rollaway box off of Craigslist for $100. Guy boogered up the lock somehow and bent the locking bars all to hell. I just took the lock and lock bars out. When I needed to move it to the new house I just put 1x4s against the drawer fronts and wrapped a ratchet strap around them. (Had to use a comealong to get it onto the trailer even with the casters on it). It sits in my garage and doesn’t get rolled around.

 

[USMC615]

Another vote for Sunnex sockets, i have a set that is almost 20 years old and never had a problem with them.

I have a mix of tools, most of which were picked up randomly at yard sales and off the side of the road. Mac, Matco, S-K, Snap-On, GearWrench, Armstrong, Proto and my very old Craftsmen set I got as a kid. I too worked at Sears as a teen and have been highly trained in the rebuilding of ratchets; the old-old ratchets were very well made, new ones (post 1990s) are JUNK! They are not built like they used to be!

I will admit I picked up a set of the Harbor Freight 6pt impact sockets as “throw-aways” and they have held up. I cut up one of the 3/8 drive impacts to make a clutch removal tool and it has yet to break.

I picked up a Matco “Nascar Anniversary” rollaway box off of Craigslist for $100. Guy boogered up the lock somehow and bent the locking bars all to hell. I just took the lock and lock bars out. When I needed to move it to the new house I just put 1x4s against the drawer fronts and wrapped a ratchet strap around them. (Had to use a comealong to get it onto the trailer even with the casters on it). It sits in my garage and doesn’t get rolled around.

Do I sense another damn Jarhead on-site?

 

[usmcbuckwild]

Do I sense another damn Jarhead on-site?

Yup. 13.5 years so far, been on East Coast the entire time (other than deployments).