I have snap-on, cornwell and craftsman in my box and the snap-on wrenches and sockets break just as easy as the craftsman brand. I have been buying all of my tools as of late from Sears because I can walk in any day of the week hand them the broken socket or what ever and walk out with a new one. Lifetime warranty as well. On th eother hand, I cannot find a local Snap-on or Cornwell dealer and I have a box of sockets and ratchets to be fixed or replaced.

 

QUALITY, of the tools, thers just about the best outthere other than craftsman.

 

We buy Craftsman, but I agree they have some coating issues on some things like sockets, they just cant take the abuse like some other brands can.

 

Don't buy Craftsman ratchets. If you break one they give you a "remanufactured" one with a plastic lever to change direction. The ratchet I gave them had a metal lever instead and had a much smoother action until it broke.

 

I'm active duty AF and am in charge of our tool crib at work. I finally convinced supervision to let me buy what I want last year when I took it over, and now all I buy is Craftsman whenever I can. Snap-on takes too long for a replacement, and I can hop in a work truck and run down to Sears real quick and swap a tool out myself. A lot easier, no paperwork, no phone calls, or coordination with the Snap-on guy.

 

Do you want tools that you'll be replacing due to breaking? want the store you take the broken tools to, to get mad at you for tons of warranty? or do you want a Tool that you'll have for the rest of your life and hand down the line?, I bought a Snap-On Metric wrench set (10-19mm) about 8 years ago and iv'e yet to break or even chip the finish off, of even the most common sizes I used (10-12 & 14mm) same goes for sockets, The day you'll buy any Snap-On tool from the truck you'll want more whether it be your Mac,Cornwell,MatCo tool guy's, It'll suck you in lol, I love Snap-On, Screwdrivers/Torx screwdrivers on the other hand...Snap-On doesn't come to the table on those,

Conclusion, I love Snap-On i'd trust my life with the tools by them,

 

this is a 10 year old thread..i think most have moved on

 

That and pay CASH.

 

The Snap On dealer I had at work got kicked out from the auto body/auto repair shop I work at which I will take over in November got kicked out 4 years ago.One was his attitude and he would not warranty my friend's broken tools I handed him saying not purchased from me.Boss had enough and told him not to come back.Have a new one,a no show every other week although he does have a positive attitude.I am waiting on a 21mm wrench he ordered for me.

 

Don't know if we get the same gear here (Australia) that you guys do, but for the last few years, snap-on has really gone down hill. It used to carry a certain prestige, but after far too many failures and warranty rejects after paying double the price of other tools, that are arguably better, snap-on is no longer 'on the list'. If they do honour a warranty, its a case of taking it for a repair and you'll get it back in a few weeks.

That said, it's been mostly air tools and ratchet spanners, no ratchets or sockets which seem to win the most praise.

 

This thread is 10 ****** years old LMFAO

 

snap on is the best

 

They're so expensive because of all the dead beats in the profession that think the more tools they have the better mechanic they are, then they duck the tool man when he comes in to get paid. That's the truth of it. Those pay for those that won't.

 

Lol, I'll partially agree especially with the tool box prices! Blows my mind when I see guys on facebook constantly trying to sell their $10-20,000 tool boxes & can't get nowhere near their asking price. They're a good box, highly inflated prices though. What the hell are these guys thinking? I wouldn't buy a new one ever!

The quality of their tools is much better than most, but there's so many more options of good quality tools these days. Gearwrench is hard to beat. Snap ons diagnostic equipment is still the best! There's still some good specialty tools that noone else sells on the truck.

 

Their torque wrench reliability has gone down the toilet over the past 5 years. The springs and internal parts do not hold their temper. Running a military calibration lab and having over 30 years experience in calibration, I see most wrenches last about 2 years of use then we condemn them. The become non-linear and don't hold accuracy at all. I would never buy a snap on torque wrench except the electronic versions. BTW, we calibrate over 2000 wrenches annually and se the good and bad in all brands. That's just my experience. Other tools like sockets and ratchets may be ok but I believe they have transferred all manufacturing over seas to slave labor.

 

So what torque wrenches are the best............in your 30 yrs of experience?

 

Let me get some model numbers from my technicians. I sign the condemnation paperwork as I am a supervisor now. I started calibrating in the Air Force in 1983, retired from active duty in 2006 and been in civil service calibration for the air national guard ever since.

 

10 year old threads are good. aknovaman is going to answer the lifelong question thanks to a 10 year old thread

 

I realize some of these are Snap-On but can be obtained used and adjusted for years of use.

Recommended for long term reliability and holding accuracy over time
750 inch pounds - 7502M Series
1200 inch pounds - QT2R1000 Series
1600 inch pounds - 16003 Series
2500 inch pounds - 16003 Series
2500 inch pounds - 25003 MRMH
250 Ft LBS -QC3R250
Dial indicator style 250 Ft LBS - CDI 2503LDFN
Dial wrenches have much better reliability but take longer to adjust during calibration. But once good they retain accuracy longer with use and a bit of abuse.


AVOID like the plague
These wrenches are usually out of tolerance for linearity and accuracy and cannot be adjusted to within specs even when brand new from the distributor.
Any wrenches from the following manufactures.
ARMSTRONG
WESTWARD - available from Grainger
Specifically models: 4AD94, 4AD95 and 4D96

This is just my experience; yours may differ.

 

I have a lot of tools, the craftsman stuff I have form 12 years ago is good and strong, and the professional grade ratchets they sell are proving to be pretty damn tough as I haven't been able to kill one yet, the standard ones with the plastic selector those are trash.

I have a craftsman box, it's been good for 10 years, bought a big 44 inch wide top and bottom from harbor freight, and after putting a good grease in the slides, it is a very nice box for the money and can't be touched by anything else cost wise, a 44 top and bottom and I have less than 600 bucks into it, really can't go wrong, even if it lasts 2/3 what the snapon one does I can buy another for still 1/10th the price, that's smart math.

Some of the nicest stuff I have used were cornwell, those tools are really nice and are solid in your hand, but big $$.

I have a full set of bolt-thru gear wrench sockets as well, I like those a lot and they have proven to be pretty tough.

Buddy's box next to mine is full of snapon stuff. Is it nice, absolutely, is it worth spending the extra money on vs some of the other stuff that's out there, gear wrench, craftsman professional series stuff... I don't really think so.

Fwiw my tools are under constant use. I do a lot, and I mean ALOT of side work and build all my own crap, as well as a few buddies cars and I can honestly say that my tool failure rate, other than the standard plastic selector craftsman ratchets has been zero.

HF jacks and jack stands, mix of kobalt, and HF air tools, all my craftsman stuff, really have not given me bad experiences.

I wouldn't go buying HF stuff and expect the quality of a tool you can use every day, and if you think a standard sears ratchet will last don't be fooled.