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to each his own, but it has nothing to do with being a snob. Better tools are better not because of the price. The material they use and the precision of their measure are vastly superior. Light duty stuff may not matter but if you have a stubborn fastener, you are going to want quality tools. It can be the difference between a massive headache or getting the job done. There is a reason you will never see a pro using cheap sockets
^Total BS^... for anybody doing work on a non 8 hour a day, 5 or 6 day a week schedule, Pittsburgh tools are mostly fine. Yes some of them are lousy quality, but it's pretty easy to pick those out and not but them. They also have a few different grades or price points to choose from - once again, it's pretty easy to differentiate the garbage from the decent stuff. For example, I've got a few sets of their impact sockets (SAE and Metric) that I've been using regularly for about 3 - 5 years without a broken or rounded socket. If they all broke tomorrow, I could buy them all new again and still have spent less than one set of Snap-on's or Mac's... just sayin😉
That's because pro's are using them day in and day out
for occasional use you don't need to spend $$$
BTW, I have a bunch of craftsman tools. Old ones and they are great. The new ones are no better than HF
they dont use them them because they wear out, they don't use them, because they don't use garbage when it counts. If it was just about the money every pro on the planet would be using HF tools. Its much more than that. Buy some quality tools and use them, there is a difference
That's because pro's are using them day in and day out
...and they can finance them straight off the truck. Ask your average mechanic (and I know quite a few) how much is on their "tab" with SnapOn...."owe my sole to the company store". Impulse marketing at its finest level. REALLY nice stuff though, in most cases.
to each his own, but it has nothing to do with being a snob. Better tools are better not because of the price. The material they use and the precision of their measure are vastly superior. Light duty stuff may not matter but if you have a stubborn fastener, you are going to want quality tools. It can be the difference between a massive headache or getting the job done. There is a reason you will never see a pro using cheap sockets
^total truth^..........craftsman is the lowest grade of tools i will buy. Harbor freight buyers work on things............snap-on buyers repair things . I have found HF a good source for little kits of e-clips,roll pins,cotter pins etc.....they sell kits that have different sizes /assortments but their jacks,tools etc are not imho heavy duty by any sense .
...and they can finance them straight off the truck. Ask your average mechanic (and I know quite a few) how much is on their "tab" with SnapOn...."owe my sole to the company store". Impulse marketing at its finest level. REALLY nice stuff though, in most cases.
Casio vs Rolex
i have 4 boxes macs/snaps/2 filled.......also a snap scan tool that turned white elephant in 07 that from day one till 07 has 14 grand in it [purchase/up dates] snap lab scope .........taken one tool at a time easily 45 grand new .had em all,sk,proto,williams etc........if i wanted to save a few bucks i bought mac
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is a set of plastic coated sockets for rim removal and replace. Saves the finish on the rims. And please use a torque wrench when tightening the wheel nuts. My '02 specs 96 ft lbs and one of the biggest problems is bad torque causing possible brake shake and often so tight you can't remove them if you get stuck on the road. FWIW I also like Kobalt tools from Lowes. Good quality, fair price and also a lifetime warranty.
Sears recently sold the Craftsman brand to Black and Decker: Sears sells Craftsman. So the brand will live on. In the home depot for home tools, it seems like some B&D products are not the highest quality. But they probably will maintain the high quality of the Craftsman labeled tools otherwise this purchase / plan would make no sense.
they dont use them them because they wear out, they don't use them, because they don't use garbage when it counts. If it was just about the money every pro on the planet would be using HF tools. Its much more than that. Buy some quality tools and use them, there is a difference
My point exactly. If you are a pro usuing them day in/day out, snapon makes sense.
For most normal people, HF and others are fine
Most HF tools are not garbage. A few, sure, but their sockets and wrenches are fine.
It all comes down use and cost. If I had unlimited funds like some here, I might consider snapon for all my tools
BTW., the old craftsman tools were made by Moore Drop Forge, the same as Snapon I believe
Same with the HF torque wrench. For most stuff, they are fine. Rebuilding an engine, well no.
BTW, I had my HF torque wrenches tested and they were within 1 %. I can buy at least 20 of them for the cost of 1 snapon one
Lots of talk about HF vs. Craftsman. For small/normal jobs with sockets you can probably use either and not notice much of a difference. BUT as soon as you start pushing extremes (IE using a 3/8" socket through an adapter to 1/2" on the end of a 24" breaker bar because you don't have a 1/2" socket in 6 point, or in deep well, or for whatever other reason) you're going to start snapping HF stuff quick. I just twisted a HF 3/8" extension apart replacing my engine mounts a couple months ago.
Of course, that is a rare case - but here is yet another example and a word of caution... When I installed my IMS Solution I needed to remove and later re-install a snap ring. Easy as cake, right? Well I didn't have snap ring pliers and since I just had to do this once I decided to get a $5 set from Harbor Freight. Big mistake. I spent 45 frustrating minutes under the car trying to get that snap ring out. I not only wasted time but I risked damaging the ring trying to get an absolute piece of crap flimsy set of pliers to work properly. I eventually got it out using a combination of the pliers and a screw driver, but it was not easy. Re-installing it was impossible. I eventually gave up, drove to Sears and bought a set of Craftsman pliers. The ring went in in 5 seconds. I just started laughing because it was so ridiculously easy with a quality tool.
03-04-2017, 11:56 PM
Ask your average mechanic (and I know quite a few) how much is on their "tab" with SnapOn...."owe my sole to the company store". Impulse marketing at its finest level. REALLY nice stuff though, in most cases. 
