MAC tools suck IMO and here's why.

dauphinc · February 22, 2010, 06:59:03 PM

I have been a snap on guy since i started working in a shop. I'm 23 now..so I have been buying off the truck since I was about 20. LOL. anyway, I bought some mac tools zero degree ratchets off of ebay (they have no gears, just a sprag-clutch style head) and one of them was screwed up. I also have some other MAC stuff I need to warranty.
I call up MAC's hotline and ask them for a local dealer. They tell me there are none in a 50 (!) mile radius and I can't mail my stuff in for warranty.( I live 10 miles outside of Macon, GA, and it's a rather populated area)..so whats going on here..WTF?!? I asked them what I was supposed to do..I got an "i don't know sir". I then told them it was no wonder I buy SNAP-ON And hung up.
Screw MAC,,a bunch of their stuff is made overseas as well. Granted, I buy blue point by snap on every now and then because it's cheaper and yes it is foreign, but the flagship name snap on is not made overseas.
Don't even get me started on Crapsman. I threw those all away in my first week I started.
:2guns:MAC tools

BaltimoreGS · February 22, 2010, 07:15:54 PM

My tool rant from a few months ago:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=51030.msg578318#msg578318

I'm with you on that one, Snap On combo wrenches and Matco fine tooth ratchets are tops in my book

Everything I've bought from MAC tools has sucked. The sockets explode, the wrenches have poor ergonomics and their ratchets are sub par. Ver4 got a nice introduction to MAC tools when he borrowed one of my flex head ratchets a few weeks ago and it exploded on him while breaking a nut loose. Still trying to track down my local MAC distributor for a warranty replacement. He's "semi-retired" and shows up randomly at my old job which makes it really hard to catch him now that I am no longer turning wrenches.

-Jessie

ver4 · February 22, 2010, 07:48:28 PM

Yep, MAC tools do indeed suck.

Physics sucks too....just putting that out there.

dauphinc · February 22, 2010, 09:00:37 PM

i understand that. my snap on guy will show up that day if not the next. i was just using my mac 3/8 zero degree when it decided to crap on me. i had to resort to a crapman in the garage (my snap on stuff is at the shop). that's bad when you resort to crapsman from a tool that comes off the truck.

they suck. the end.

The Buddha · February 23, 2010, 08:53:51 AM

Whaaaa craftsman ... buddha is all about craftsman ... OK not quite ... but the often beat on wrenches like the 10mm, 8mm, 12, etc etc I got snap on's cos craftsman died 3-4 years in. But the rest is all crapsman. Fine fine they're crap, just be gentle with them and they last OK.

Of course I have a inside line on wiha and some other high quality stuff that I dont have to chase the truck for.

I am having an ongoing argument wiht a Idiot who thinks crapsman is the best cos its used by nascrap. I am having a hard time telling that clown ... race cars use thin and chintzy stuff cos its light. Sheite is also torn down every weekend and rebuilt and you dont have years worth of crud, rust and crap in bolts that are hell on wrenches. You can get by with harborfreight crap on nascrap I tell him but he gets all mad and starts yelling and screaming.

Cool.
Buddha.

Jughead · February 23, 2010, 09:49:09 AM

I stick with KD.

I have a lot of Snap on Screwdrivers though.

bill14224 · February 23, 2010, 07:54:18 PM

When you're a professional mechanic only the best will do. For the rest of us Crapsman does just fine. I have a Crapsman socket set and in 15 years I've yet to break one and both ratchets still work fine.

jeremy_nash · February 23, 2010, 09:53:19 PM

I like craftsman, cuz I can be at sears in like 15 minutes, and its reasonably cheap. just sucks that Im breaking their ratchets all the time!

dauphinc · February 23, 2010, 10:06:41 PM

Buddha- I believe anyone will think that something is awesome because nascrap endorses it. I work on cub cadets every now and then, and nascar endorses them, and they are crapola, belt burning, china sourced, pot metal junk at a high price. But if nascar label is thrown in, then everything is great. Stupid rednecks.

I agree about the ease of craftsman to replace, but for me it's the opposite, the tool truck is easier to get than the store to drive to. My ratchets broke within the first month of working with them 5+ days a week full time (during the summer when I am out of school) and then I bought snap on's dual 80 technology ratchets..I must say these are truly awesome.

Crap man wrenches are fat enough that they are comfortable; yet, they are brittle and shatter like glass. they are either in perfect shape or blown up looking. And try getting down with all your strength on a ratchet and it breaks. It pisses you off, and you throw that brand in the garbage. Hence why I still use a 1979 snap-on ratchet every now and then that hasn't been rebuilt yet that my grandpa used when he was a tech as well. My 2 year old crap man ratchets are chillin at the local landfill. haha.

dauphinc · February 23, 2010, 10:09:44 PM

and as far as screwdrivers, i don't like snap on's phillips heads. they screw up easier than other brands. I had a set of tamper proof torx drivers as well by snap on, and they don't last long, I don't know why. I traded the tamper proofs in and just bought a junk set of them that works fine when I tinker with the Volkswagen. The torx drivers without the tamper resistant tip are awesome as well by snap on, rather beefy. There are some snap on things that aren't what they try to pump them up to be

The Buddha · February 25, 2010, 11:24:16 AM

Oh that reminds me, I broke a mac allen head ball tip long stem in the most awkward of places. Center valve cover bolt on a xs1100 ... I told the guy that I was working on it for, I am really sorry, I think you're screwed, and it was his tools, ... I told him I worked here for an hour, and I'd skip payment for that I am very sorry, you're screwed. I've never had a tool shear its head off without twisting - twisting = warning and you get it out of there before a hardened steel head gets in the center of your bolt. Worse yet it wouldn't come out by magnet or prying.
Cool.
Buddha.

ohgood · February 25, 2010, 06:23:09 PM

Quote from: jeremy_nash on February 23, 2010, 09:53:19 PM
I like craftsman, cuz I can be at sears in like 15 minutes, and its reasonably cheap. just sucks that Im breaking their ratchets all the time!

+1 about sears and craftsman availability. i've learned that if they (sears) stays in business, i'll have a place to replace my broken bits. no questions, just "go get a new one".

ratchets shouldn't be used for torquing in my opinion. they're handy for hard to read places, but torquing is for wrenches. (yes, i abuse ratchets just likeeveryone else)

dauphinc · February 25, 2010, 06:51:33 PM

Torquing is used with ratchets but they have to be a good ratchet or else you're looking at a hospital visit. Torque wrenches are a good example.

dauphinc · February 25, 2010, 11:00:49 PM

I read earlier that most mac stuff is made overseas now..sad they do that to their own brand, but I guess that the owner of mac, (stanley tools) decided it would be cheaper. At least snap on labels their stuff "blue point" that's made elsewhere.
I saw a set of craftsman full chrome wrenches, they look to be a newer style..anyone used these yet? They looked nice, but looks are deceiving.

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MAC tools suck IMO and here's why.