Please direct me to the great tool debate

Just started doing some of my own mechanical work in the past 6 months or so. I needed a few tools and, seeing as Craftsman is dead to me, I've gone with Tekton. Suspect there are some strong opinions on the subject. Would love to hear folks' experiences.

Thanks

 

Tekton is a good American tool company whose tools are generally good quality and moderately priced (comparatively speaking).

Want to go nuts on tools? Koken from Japan

 

I have an assortment of automotive tool brands, lots of 60's and 70's Craftsman, Mac, and Snap On. I have some I bought when Craftsman were still a good quality tool in the 80's, some of my dad's Craftsman from the 50's and 60's. I just snag good tools when I see them. Swap meets are a good place to get good hand tools. I've found if a quality tool hasn't been abused it's better than a new tool sometimes. I have 4 or 5 torque wrenches and 2 of them are Tekton brand. I like them better than my Snap On for what it's worth. Super easy to set and read the scale. I also have a 3/8" Harbor Freight that works well too, a real mish mash of tools, but they serve me well. It's better to buy a few quality tools, new or used than a big junky set just because it's new and shiny. FWIW, I'm pretty sure that Tekton is made in Taiwan.

 

IMO, this is the best way to accumulate tools, just what you can, when you can. Brand loyalty is too expensive. I buy USA tools from garage sales, pawn shops and ebay. Sometimes I have to buy Harbor Freight junk. Sometimes it's good.
Nowadays the main criteria for tools is whether I can read the size that's stamped on it. None of us are getting younger.

 

And there’s a lot of YouTube reviews out there on stuff. Project Farm covers a lot of tool shootouts, like torque wrenches etc.

for single- or occasional-use tools, it’s ok to hit up Harbor Freight, buy your cheap shit tools from there before scAmazon and keep a folder with the receipts and/or sign up for their membership/club thingy so you get digital receipts. That way if the tool ever breaks you can walk in with it, many times years later, and trade it. So not only will you pay less for a semi-vetted brand, but the return polish is way better than scAmazon on most things I’ve bought there.

 

I have quite the varied collection myself - 80s Craftsman, a few Kleins, channellock. Oddly enough, had almost no metric tools, despite owning a Toyota. Hence, the Tekton as of late - sockets primarily plus a torque wrench, and a few screwdrivers so far. Pleased with em so far and not made in China. I know, Taiwan is right across the sea, but......

 

It's funny you posted this and I just saw this video today.

https://youtu.be/49sSSyubqVw?si=dhYhbFyVtF0FLryG

and I will say (I own snap-on, craftsman, flea market randoms, and a few HF sockets)

It's pretty damn hard to tell which one is better. But the snap on and HF sockets are my go to's.

my craftsman wrench's have never failed me. But I have a stragglers snap on 14mm (and I think 17mm) and they hold WAYYYY better


what I'm trying to say is. Go to HF and save some fucking $$$ (or whatever brand you're using right now if it's cheaper) and use that $$ to parts and that will lead to learning. Which is the most important part.


Annnddd you can buy cool specialty tools too.

 

I'm thinking Tekton and Icon are about equal in price? My buddy loves HF and is a big Icon fan. Likely they come out of the same Taiwanese factory...,

Have to hand it to HF on the marketing and "branding" - Pittsburgh, Daytona, Bauer, Hercules, so on so forth.

oh, almost forgot, have to love the Pittsburgh sockets in the rainbow color pack

 

The thing about Chinese tools and other metal products is that they cheat on metallurgy. Sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn't. I like my HFT impact sockets. But for something thin or compact, I would be cautious. If you need thin wall swivel sockets for example, you go cheap and they won't handle the torque.

 

Stealing our technology isn't enough, they have to steal Western names too.

 

The multi-pack 10mm is the best Christmas gift. Lol

I don't even know how many of those fucks (and for some reason 14's) I've lost, bought, then found.

 

I've got a mix of stahlwille, knipex, wiha, snap on, plus some cheap capri stuff. All seems to work fine. I got sick of cheap ratchets. I bought a really cool Hazet 1/2 drive extendable ratchet for extra leverage and mostly replaces my breaker bars. kctool is a fun place to window shop.

 

Fun to learn about some of these...my ignorant self has never even heard of stahlwill and wiha.

 

I bought a Precision Instruments torque wrench from Amazon that had thousands of stellar reviews. After breaking several bolts from over-torquing because occasionally it either doesn't click or faintly clicks, I can confidently say it's the absolute worst torque wrench I've ever used.

When buying tools, my two best tips for you: 1. Make sure you go with good reputable torque tools, and 2) It's good to have both, but always reach for/buy the 6 point sockets before 12 point sockets.

 

Something like this might be a good starting point.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Mechanics-Tool-Set-270-Piece-H270MTSQ223/323565221

 

I actually do have quite a few 80s Craftsman from when I used to work on my old 350. Took a break for twenty years and let others do it. Now back to it. Part of the fun of doing it myself is it gives me an excuse to buy tools Never owned a legendary snap on. Probably buy one or two of those for the helluvit. Probably a Koken or two out of curiosity. For the "core" of my metric tools, I do like Tekton so far. Seems like they are at least trying to not completely sell out to the lowest Chinese bidder.

 

As others have said, brand loyalty is expensive. Buy the tool that will get the job done, Harbor Freight is good for that, especially if it's a random tool that you'll only use a few times. I have old Craftsman stuff that I bought from Sears back in the day that still works fine, if a little beat up. I've got new Craftsman stuff that I've bought because either I was traveling and needed something or it was on sale and figured I'd give it a try. Bunch of Kobol tools as well and haven't broken any of them yet. For awhile I was buying all Wera stuff from Germany, love their screw drivers, Allen wrenches, and some of their smaller socket sets, bought their "Joker" wrenches expecting the same, and absolutely fucking hated them. The open end is a 12 point and I had them slip multiple times working on my old SUV and motorcycles. Basically useless when trying to get stuck bolts free.

I will say that those "mechanic tool sets" can be a good deal, especially with black Friday sales going on, but look and see how much of the included tools you'll actually need. If you don't own any American vehicles that you're going to be wrenching on, buying a set that's half SAE is a waste of money. Also keep an eye out for how much filler crap that include to drive up the tool count. Those 20+ 1/4" bits and the crappy Allen wrenches can be thrown in the trash the first time you open it.

Oh, and get a decent quality Torx set. I like having both sockets and Allen style wrenches. Allen heads and Torx heads can be a bitch to get out if you strip them with cheap or ill fitting tools.

Finally, when reassembling stuff, use only the biggest wrench that you need to get the job done. I use a 1/4" socket wrench more than anything else, especially on motorcycles. Bigger wrenches just make it easier to over tighten, strip, and snap bolts.

 

Great tool debate? The VP debate is over.

I use old school Craftman, Tektron and some Harbor Freight (for the tools I don’t care about over abusing).

I will be going SK Tools for when and if I decide to get wobble impact sockets though.

 

Once your basic set is put together. And you're feeling, oh, shall we say "frisky" with your tool collection........................

then go here and look around. You will find that there come times when you want to treat yourself. So here's a gate way to treats. But you've been warned: the Krauts make wonderful stuffs. >>>> https://www.kctool.com/

 

This is a great starter set and they haven't had this deal for a few years
I'm buying Leo one as his first tool set
He's only 12 but this is a great beginner set to learn how to take care of and obviously use

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/first-gen-tools-needed.144229/#post-3625272

 

My attitude on tools is anything that measures in any way (except tape measures) or stands between me and death, I will buy quality stuff. I will also buy quality stuff like power tools unless it's a specialized tool for rare use. Basic hand tools, mechanical components, consumables, I will use HF stuff without issue. I have never had a tool actually break on me and I do all my own home and auto repair for the most part.

 

Look up Mr. Subaru. He tells all the nitty gritty on tools. You will be amazed at who copies who, where they are really made, who rebrands other manufs stuff, etc.

 

I've stuck with the old Craftsman stuff myself, actually just this past year I went through & rebuilt every Craftsman ratchet I have. So they should out last me now.

 

Funny you mentioned Precision. I too bought one to torque my wheel lug nuts, that's all. More interesting is the fact that PI makes the split beam TW for Snap-On. So making sure you buy a good reputable tool, unfortunately has gone out the window nowadays, for the most part. Just like Sanp-On, that people consider good and reputable, dont make ALL their tools and they are not ALL made in the USA, like torque wrenches for one.

 

They all kinda suck. Get the one with the best warranty. I like harbor freight and the "just grab one off the shelf" exchange policy.

 

Nice set of Allen wrenches A bit light on actual tools, though.

I have tons on tools, from various brands, including specialty tools for engine/transmission rebuild, but usually no big names. Expensive tools, like OTC, are only for jobs where tool matters.

Recently bought this tool box for Tundra to be always onboard. It is metric and has a large variety of sockets, up to 32 mm.

$200 LLNDEI 160-Piece Mechanics Tool Set, Metric Socket Set 1/2 1/4 3/8" Drive Professional Tool Kit, CR-V Deep & Shallow Kit with Quick Release Ratchet

www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3F2DXMZ

 

That's an example of made in China FOR China lol