Craftsman.... My 151 piece mechanics tool set and 3 ton jack have definitely made the grade.. thank you craftsman, thank you...

pat

Craftsman, because if your tool breaks, who wants to wait for a truck to come around and get u your replacement when u can take a 10 minute ride to sears and pick up a brand new one and finish ur job that night!

That's what you think. I don't think they ever truly live up to their advertised torque. Also what kind of air lines, fittings and air compressor are you using? Mine is advertised at 600 ft/lbs. in reverse and 400 ft/lbs. in forward. With our restrictive air fittings (with a massive screw-type air compressor) it only reaches about 400 ft/lbs. in reverse and about 215 ft/lbs. in forward. If I had high flow fittings on it, it would be closer to advertised torques.

As far as the breaker bars, you can get much more torque out of a large enough breaker bar (and pipe sometimes) than an air gun but like you said, they do break. I've gone through two 1/2" drive Snap-On ones while trying to break loose bolts on a wheel motor (I do hydraulics). This was after heating the housing to loosen them up. Everything has it's breaking point.

right now I sport craftsman and 'other', but that will change to snap-on and matco soon.
I've broken to many 'other' tools as well as craftsman to return them anymore. But I guess im hell on tools.

;) I can't imagine why

;) I can't imagine why [/b][/quote]
2'+ breakover bars :)

I broke my second menards 3" extension last night. I was using my 4 foot breaker bar (pipe) while trying to remove a wheel. Lugnut didn't budge while the extension twisted and ripped. At first I thought it was my craftsman one as it was with my craftsman tools but it wasn't. Next I grabbed my Ace one to see if it would hold up as I work there and we warranty our tools. I am dissapointed to say that it didn't break and did all four wheels fine while the menards one broke before removing one lugnut. That is why I dont buy menards or cheap shit unless I have to. I think the brand on extension was menards Tool Shop??? Not sure, very shitty quality. The reason I buy craftsman. Haven't broken anything in two years of abuse.

I twisted an extension when I was taking off the T-case on my old 1g. I had a big breaker bar on it, and I couldn't see the bolt, but all of a sudden it started moving, but it didn't *snap* and break free like when you loosen most bolts. I moved it about a quarter turn, and I swore that I was going to break the bolt. Then I pulled the ratchet and extension out, and the thing was all twisted and distorted. I found a good craftsman extension, and the bolt came out without too much fuss. The twisted one was from one of those $1.99 3 pack Northern Hydraulics extension kits. I guess you get what you pay for.

Yeah, mine was from a 3 year old soccet set I had laying around. I kept the extensions and threw the rest away. The set only cost ~$10 for 52 shitty pieces. I dont shop at northern for the same reason. I bought the best da sander they had there last year and bought the extended warranty (2 years). This year I went to use it and it was broken and they had no file of the warranty I paid for. That pissed me off because the person was typing it in the computer when I bought it.

The only one I use is a 4 foot pole. Has done everything I have asked it to so far.

The only one I use is a 4 foot pole. Has done everything I have asked it to so far. [/b][/quote]
I own a 18" and 24" break-over bar. I use to use a 5' cheater :)
ask john/ryan about that one.
us 3 vs. crank pully end nut, we won.

Matco... Better customer service than Crap-On tools

I use snap on and other mixed tools. My dad used to be a mechanic so we have some nice snap ons and other tools.

ingersal air tools, snap on wrenches, fluke multimeters, snap on box, and assorted everything else. i haven't found a company that has the best of everything.

most of the time if i don't have it, then i end up with the brand whose truck is there that day. i try to avoid that if posssible. usually end up paying more and not getting exactly what you want.

if you don't wrench for a living, there's nothing wrong with craftsman.

Like a lot others mentioned, no one company is perfect in all respects but other than price, Snap on is by far the closest IMO. I do own MAC and Matco as well and have been happy with all of them, there is still a difference in quality even among those 3. The Snap-On stuff is better just by design if nothing else, stop in some time and I will show you what I am talking about.

I don't have a very high opinion of any of the other lifetime guarantee tools out there for professional use. They work fine for home use, but tools break when you need them the most and it isn't saving money to have to run in the middle of a job to buy another tool. In one shop in Brainerd in less than 2 years, the garage collectively broke an entire roll-away full of craftsman stuff. The Sears was across the parking lot and we quickly found out that their warrantee does not cover professional use as they denied every attempt we made at getting any of them replaced. About the only exception to this rule has been S-K, I have had a set of their standard combo wrenches for 20 years and used them heavily with not one problem. They still look almost new and not one has failed. I do think they are the best of the more affordable options.

Brian, I am surprised you are getting better CS from Matco, we have had exactly the opposite. A couple of the Matco guys even hung up on us cussing when we asked who was the distibutor for our area. Still can't locate a local MAC guy to stop out.

Jake, Cornwell stuff is okay from what I have seen, but I don't remember being too impressed by it either. Reminded me of the tools you get from Fleet Farm.

I definately agree with Rhino on the Fluke and for the most part the Ingersol Rand stuff. The SnapOn 6500 impact ownz all however, even the IR Titanium.

craftsman because we don't have a shop or anything and can take them back no questions asked. I probably wouldn't use them if I used my tool box for a living. Will snap on and mac even come to replace a tool if you don't buy a certain amount or own a shop?

If it breaks, they will replace it, no matter who or what you are.

The Snap on guy we go through has routes he runs all week long, if we need something on a day he is on a different route, we can call and meet him wherever works best. He is pretty willing to go out of his way. If someone wants to buy something from him, he comes by the shop on Monday evening, it wouldn't matter if you worked at the shop as long as it was paid for at the time. He will give truck accounts to the people working at a shop because he sees them every week, you of course can always apply for credit through Snapon as well. Most of the tool trucks operate like this and they don't have to be the one to sell you the tool to warrantee it.

Shouldnt Matter as long as it has a life time warranty.
Your just paying more for the name. i look for a warranty not a name brand and whatever tool is needed for the job.
my .02

I have a big black Snap-on roll cab. at work, it has Snap-on screw drivers, nut drivers, pliers and the such, my Snap-on Tech wrench electronic torque wrench. All of my sockets are Chraftsman, just because I dont feel like spending 3 grand on sockets when a 400$ set works fine.
Mac impact gun, with Craftsman Impact sockets.

Sometimes I wonder why my tool box cost more then peoples cars...... but then i go back to I started with a $300 Craftsman box, traded it in on a $3700 Snap-on Box, but got $1200 for my Craftsman, then traded that $3700 red box for a $4200 box with a bunch o free stuff! So ya I paid alot, but I have to keep tellin my self I got more on the trade ins then what I paid for them........ then I dont feel so bad.