What is the best brand name from your experience when it comes down to tools? Sockets, wrenches, nuts, screwdrivers, hex keys, ratchets, corded drills, cordless drills, drive saws, etc.

Lookin' for brand names that don't break! Also give your opinions on pricing.
(craftsmen, black&decker, bosch, dremel, skil, etc.)
Obviously I'm giving my GF suggestions on what to get me and I figured I might start off with a good tool kit and just build on from there.

 

I have Craftsman, they are alright.

At the shop we use Husky, Snap On, Craftsman, and a number of others.

For basic work on cars Craftsman is alright and Sears usually has good specials on them.

 

If you make a living with your tools or if you have lots of money: Snap-On, Mac, or Matco

If you tinker with stuff on the weekend as a hobby: Craftsman, Husky, or Kobalt

If you want one-time use tools or tools to abuse: Harbor Freight

 

Flea Market Craftsmen.

When it rusts and breaks, bring that ish back to Sears

 

Snap on

 

What flea market do you go to that has Craftsman tools? I must never have any luck. Most flea markets I've been to have vendors that sell Harbor Freight and other made in China knockoffs.

 

whatever you can afford

 

+Infinity. Thread done.

 

my dad did this once.. he went to a garage sale and there was a full huge box full of rusted out craftsmen. He bought them for like 5 bucks for the box and went to sears and they replaced all of them.

 

I've had a craftsman socket snap on me when I was swapping out my suspension, which let the breaker bar slip and dent my fender . However, other than that, I haven't had any problem with them. If it's just tools for your garage, I'd look into those. It's nice to have a lifetime warranty on tools that can wear. Also, I prefer 6 point sockets over 12, so you should let your gf know your preference since many kits come with 12 point sockets.

 

6's are better on bolts that have access, however, sometimes you need those 12pointers for those bolts in difficult places where you can only get a fraction of a turn on a socket (like it always seems about half of them when I'm working on my car.)

 

great list.

 

Tools forged in America that come with a warranty.

 

Snap-on's quality has gone down as of late. This is where it stands in my opinion as of now.

Ratchets: Matco

I have a ratchet fetish and between Snap-on and Matco. The Snap-on ones require more "warranty" work.

Sockets: Snap-on quality is still rather high on these.

I have a full set of Matco and Snap-on sockets. The Matco just dont feel as good as the Snap-on sockets.

Tools boxes: Matco

The Matco 4s, 5s, and 6s series boxes are built Much better than the equivalent Snap-on KRL boxes. You even get more real estate for the price. Once a year Matco also has a buy a box and get a hutch or side locker for free!

I don't just buy one brand, because you'd be an idiot if you bought an inferior tool due to the name. I don't have a lot of Mac for the simple fact that the tool guy doesn't come around.


Also if you are just using these tools at home. BUY craftsman, its lifetime warranty so it doesn't matter what you do to the tools. You can probably go a day or two with a broken 3/8 ratchet.

 

This, as well as the short list above are great and spot on. Also, when I bought my Craftsman ratchets around 17 years ago in Hilo, HI, people told me they would fail so I bought two of each 1/2, 3/8s and 1 3/8s floppy head longer-reach. I took them apart and greased them when I got them and still have all of them, except one 1/2 drive, to this day. That 1/2 drive ratchet had a broken switch (fwd/rev) and I lost it before I could return it.

I have two professional shops in my family and both of them have their "Great Walls of Snap-On" and it's really a joy to work at both. One shop, where I did some work on a Pantera and some other neato cars has so many tools that I could almost every time find a specific - sometimes something I had not seen before - tool for the job. They are pretty amazing and take "tools" to another level.

I have pretty much mostly Craftsman tools and they have never let me down. Done loads of work on 40 something different cars of my own plus I have no idea how many other cars over the years (yesterday finished a timing belt/water pump/oil pump/head gasket/etc job on a friend's car). I used to work on cars in my dad's shop every day after school from about 1993 till 1997, then worked in a shop here in the Bay for a while until 1998. I have put far too much torque through loads of sockets with my "Torque Multiplier" aka 3-ton jack handle and still have not broken any.

And yes, Harbor Freight for big heavy things that you don't mind if they break spectacularly...