Hmm, my takes on this...

I have the 81 piece set of 3/8 and 1/4 ratchets and socket set, from home depot, make by husky, in black chrome, on sale for 30 bucks. has a lifetime warrenty.

Its gotten me through engine swaps, fiddling around, abuse, ect.

All ive done is break the 3/8 ratchet at the male end that goes into the socket.... Using a 4 foot cheater pole on a lug nut that wouldnt budge... And it wasnt the first time ive done stupid shaZam! like that and its survived ex. impact driving the sockets and stuff

Brought the broken ratchet into the depot 4 years after I bought it w/ the receipt, and they grabbed a matching ratchet off the shelf and I was on my way.

BTW its the set that looks like snapon clones, has the same shape and ergos.

go cheap.

Quote from: Shaddow on October 19, 2011, 03:30:53 AM
Hmm I think prefer air tools most of the time or hand tools with massive breaker bar
I've always used a 1/2 inch rattle gun, 1/4 and 3/8 drive ratchet in air as well. Its just quick and easy when working on the car, swap tools, quick disconnect jam in the next and keep going.

Snapped a shot of my impact guns today.  The 1/2" Ingersoll Rand Titanium is what my coworkers referred to as my Playskool Gun, it was the first composite gun in the shop.  Now a lot of guys have them.  The 3/8" is one of those surprisingly good things I've gotten from Harbor Freight.  It is an excellent knock off of an Ingersoll design.  It must have been copyright infringement or something because it is no longer available.  That gun has survived 8 years of everyday use!  I wish I would have bought a second one when they were available in case this one ever breaks.

-Jessie

That IR 2135ti is the most popular gun that I sell.  Aircat seems to be gaining with their line though.  CP is always behind IR no matter what they do.

Harbor freight is my Mecca.  I always DIY, and always get what I need there.  I have gotten some real crap which lasted really only once, but have gotten some really nice stuff there that i have gotten years of service out of.

I moved this out of tard farm because there are some interesting comments here.

Quote from: john on January 24, 2012, 12:51:39 PM
Harbor freight is my Mecca.  I always DIY, and always get what I need there.  I have gotten some real crap which lasted really only once, but have gotten some really nice stuff there that i have gotten years of service out of.

I love harbor freight. I'm picky about what I buy there, no wrenches, screwdrivers, or any of that stuff, but I did grab one of these for $20 last time I was there thinking it might be convenient to have around.... http://www.harborfreight.com/21-piece-saemetric-go-thru-socket-set-67974.html


Turns out I love it! It feels like a really nice ratchet for the money. Who knows how long it'll last, but for right now I'm really impressed with how nice it feels when I use it. That's store is in the same guilty pleasure section as cycle gear.

Quote from: cbrfxr67 on November 04, 2011, 12:30:36 PM
That IR 2135ti is the most popular gun that I sell.  Aircat seems to be gaining with their line though.  CP is always behind IR no matter what they do.

I had a crank pulley bolt that my 2135 wouldn't take off (I think it's lost some umph with age) but I borrowed another guys Aircat and it took it right off.  Nice gun for the money   

-Jessie

I liked this thread. Glad to see it back from the dead.

",...Aircat and it took it right off."
I've had really good luck with Aircat.  At first I was skeptical but I've seen only one come back for warranty in the past year.  The ti series in IR still outsells them and the new 3/4 2145quimax (replaced the always popular 2141) is a hot seller.  No real feedback other than sales on it though.  Fixing to have an ACdelco cordless 3/8 lithium ratchet to offer.  I'm not too optimistic but maybe it'll be worthwhile.  We picked up their inspection camera/scope and have had decent feedback and sales on it. (arz604)  Myself I'm not crazy about the alkaline batteries.


Has anyone tried a knucklehead?  I'm tempted to pick one of these up.  The light output, magnet, and recharge ability make it so tempting.  Seems like I can never get enough light when I'm working on stuff.

Two things you cannot be without especially on a bike. A magnetic pickup tool, and a flexible grapple claw retrieval tool

Quote from: The Buddha on September 13, 2011, 09:29:34 AM
The thing is casual mech - a crastsman around $1 a tool works just fine IMHO.
Its the repeated hammering that makes that next level neccesary.
For example, my 3/8 10mm hasn't got even close to being replaced from use.
I can honestly say most mechanics, even professional mechanics ... dont need more than 4-5 sockets that are the snap on quality. The 10mm and maybe 8mm in the 1/4" ,a 12 and maybe 14mm in the 3/8" and maybe 14 in the 1/2" drive, and maybe a few crescent wrenches.
Its the sizes that get used a lot and are structurally @ their outer stress limit that I can see need to be the high quality.

BTW I have got some very nice Northern tool ones - are they made in china ? probably, but they work great and stand up to a decent beating. Allen sockets come to mind. Though I have sheared off a few ... maybe time to consider snap on for those ?
Cool.
Buddha.

ive got a decent size set of both craftsman and snapon. when i was at MMI. got my snapon stuff for crapsman prices. ( and funny thign is the discount still works lol a decade later. ) snapon i LOVE becausea tad more refined. not worth full price however. now both crapsman and snapon have lifetiem warranties. snapon is anal about abuse. if they even think youve abused it. good luck Eh?, sears is like , " meh go grab another" snapon has relaxed recently but still FWIW. ill buy sears or matco. i have 2 snapon stubby ratchets. err HAd. a friend of mine his father passed away 5 years ago. i bought the stubbies from a phoenix pawn shop. he tried for ages to talk me out of one of them. well, at his funeral service. i placed one, into his suit pocket. and gave his son. my best friend the other one. i have a wooden handle snapon pipe wrench looking thing. grabbed for a buck at a yard sale

$2.50 at Wally World after Christmas!



Mary

Great find! Those will serve you well

Quote from: cbrfxr67 on January 25, 2012, 08:00:18 AM
Has anyone tried a knucklehead?  I'm tempted to pick one of these up. 
The light output, magnet, and recharge ability make it so tempting.  Seems like I can never get enough light when I'm working on stuff.

I just ordered two of em'.
I should have them in about a week.
I'll let you know how they hold up.

BTW: I got my Son a Streamlight PolyStinger DS for xmas, (same company as the knucklehead).
Stupid expensive at about $250.00 for the kit but the damn thing is amazing for such a little hand-held light.
Hope the Knucklehed is that good.
-Ej-

Well I got my valve shim tool in the mail today it's a lot smaller than I thought lol.

Hope it only cost that 50cents you got there

Suzuki wanted 234 for it. Got it for 24 landed from the USA

Quote from: slipperymongoose on May 31, 2012, 02:33:17 AM
Suzuki wanted 234 for it. Got it for 24 landed from the USA

What Dollars? FARK

It's fuckibg stupid what they wanna charge

Craftsman Max Access ratchet set.




Picked this up on sale last weekend.  I've been wanting to try out both the pass-through design and the multi-use splined sockets for a while now.  Getting both in one set at a good price was too nice to pass up.   

I haven't used it yet, so can't report on how it works in a real world situation.

Ratchet itself is pretty heavy.  The 5 degree movement is nice and feels solid.  The sockets themselves are a little larger than a typical Craftsman socket is, so they're not going to be the choice for very tight spaces.

a good thread so im bringing it back from the dead  and adding my own to it.
having aquired the majority of my tools from age 14-18 (i'm 18 now) i've bought alot of so-so tools, usually upper -end tools from harbor freight (so home grade quality, but not profesional by any means) and they have served me well, one of the most important things i learned is that those adjustable wrenches are terrible, if they are supposed to be more than 1 size combo wrenches, its going to break something. no idea about gator grips though, i may buy one just for the sake of testing it.

Allen wrenches - dont ever get cheap allen wrenches. either A. they are soft and you not only strip the wrench, but began stripping the screw as well. or B. they are tempered steel and strip the screw  because they have no "play"

Screw drivers: i prefer the hardened tipped / magnetic ones as i tend to have them where i cant reach with my fingers, ive got some with cool contraptions too that are very helpful.