Im looking to buy a nice tool set, its looking like husky for me. What do you prefer?
husky sucks because you can no longer return them at home depot, you have to mail them in which sucks. Kobalt (from lowes) look pretty nice and craftsmen are always good minus their wratchets. Snap-on is the best hands down.
I have two sets of Craftsman ratchets, one to use and one waiting to be returned.
Although I have an o.k. arrangement in my tool box, I find that 90% of the work I do is out of a cheap $100 plastic Craftsman box set. But it’s nice to have the larger sets to fall back on to finish up that last 10%.
Specialty tools such as Torx and Allen key sockets I recommend Harbor Freight because they won’t get a ton of use and are 80% cheaper than Craftsman counterparts.
:word: i have a $100 craftsman box set. it’s worked for 95% of the stuff. i’ve had to buy a couple sockets bigger than 22m though :shrug:
This place is sweet i was in there the other day :tup:
X2 plus an extra set of metric wrenches and some random larger sockets. The rest of the shit I run into I just invent ways to deal with them.
Yeah, I started with the a couple of the Craftsman :plastic" box kits…I have one still, and another tool box full of misc. stuff. Its nice to be able to replace them when they break (sockets cracking, ratchets stripped).
Another thing…the Craftsman ratchets do tend to pussy out sooner than other brands, and their “click” ratio is a lil bit wider than I like
When I worked as a mech. I used to use a co-workers Strap-On tools…some things like the ratchets are a BIG diff., same with their air tools…but, I’ve worked on cars for 12yrs now and done EVERYTHING without Snap-On so…
i bought a breaker bar from harbor freight, it was 22" and the handle was the same as a snapon. I know that if i put a crapload of stress on the thing it would probably not hold up as well as a snapon but for the price it can’t be beat.
and Craftsman makes a really nice screwdriver set (which i also have):
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Hand+Tools%2C+General+Purpose&pid=00941462000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Screwdrivers&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes
those plus a good set of various pliers, vice grips, needle nose pliers, Craftsman Robo-Grip pliers are a must, wire strippers, and a 3/8" and 1/2" drive breaker bars, and thats all u really need. i spent a decent ammount of money on a set of pry bars and nut drivers too, but i NEVER use them.
o and a good torque wrench is always a plus too:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Mechanics+Tools&pid=00944594000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Torque+Wrenches&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes
i think it was like $80 when i bought it, but it was the best $80 i’ve ever spent on tools :tup:
and they make a set of stripped nut/bolt extractors thats good to have too. a nice set of screw extractors is nice to have as well.
but yeah, i pulled out and tore down my engine and transmission and put it all back in using just that stuff. i started out with a small starter set and jsut bought stuff as i needed it. i have a decent ammount invested in my toolbox too just because i like to have everything laid out and organized. im sure most people could fit all the tools i have into a box thats 1/4 of the size lol.
IRWIN for all the cutting, clamping, and drilling needs. 
X…
P.S. Hi Jagermeister
I just bought some of those Irwin quick clamps or whatever they are called.:tup:
Irwin easy outs :tup::tup::tup::tup:
Screwdrivers: Klein or the Craftsman professional ones that are ripoffs of the Kleins with fat rubber grips. I hate the shape of a Snap-on screwdriver handle.
Ratchets: Craftsman pro, but Snap-on are quite nice.
Pliers: I tend to use the brand that specializes: ie, I use real Vise-Grips, Channel-Locks, etc rather than the copies.
Wrenches: Craftsman Pro, but Snap-on is also good.
i have a little bit of everything. snap-on,MAC, matco, craftsman, companion (cheapy craftsman)…i agree with everyone on ratchets as craftsman do tend to pussy out more than others also the mac ones do. snap-on rachets and air tools are where it’s at. but if this is siply for personal use in a garage you can use craftsman all day long and not have many issues.
Craftsman + Snapon ftw.
Whatever brand i’ve got laying around.
Might be stanley,craftsman,no-name.
This is the one you seen in my garage.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=45951
Craftsman, Snap on and Blue point. You’ll find other random crap in my toolbox because I’ll go buy one or two random tools at the local hardware store rather than driving to Sears (and because if I call snap on I’ll end up ordering a bunch of stuff I dont really need).
my room mate used to work for goodyear and has a million craftsman and snap-on tools. i love them and i can’t beat the price i paid. :lol: