craftsman tools - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

1stimer · #1 11-29-2002, 10:54 PM

Just picked up a 251 piece mechanics tool set from sears...145 bucks....Pretty good deal for any newbies like myself ready to get greasy. Not sure how long the sale runs for.

Stevo · #2 11-30-2002, 01:18 AM

1stimer

When I decided to get into these 240ds my assortment of tools was totally unexcitable, mostly an assortment of garage sale crap so I spent a few bucks and bought some good tools and " a new broom does sweep clean". Craftsman stuff is fine and will last forever. Being able to fix my own problems has more than paid for the the tools and what a pleasure to be able to have the right tool for the job. Fact is I am even going to buy the valve adjusting wrenches. Good luck

#3 11-30-2002, 02:53 AM

I collected most of my Craftsman hand tool collection after breaking up the crap I bought in high school on the first engine overhaul I tried. Stripped off bolts, rounded off nuts, and generaly made a wreck of an already rotted out 68 Dodge six.
Made the big choice to begin buying better, even if it meant spending for than a dollar. Worth every penny.

#4 11-30-2002, 11:26 AM

For the home DIY guy, Craftsman tools are hard to beat for the money. There are SOME problems with them though. The combination wrenches are too thick on the open end side to keep them from spreading, which was a complaint of Craftsman wrenches many years ago. To get around this, buy their "polished" combinations. These are more expensive, but WAY better than the standard ones. They are not near as good as Snap Ons, but Snap Ons are way out of the affordability of mortal man. A set of comination Snap Ons can set you back $1,000 or so now days.

I have Snap On combinations for English sizes that I bought in the seventies. They were expensive then, but nowhere near their cost of today.

The other tools in the Craftsman line that leave a lot to be desired are the ratchets. I have Snap On Ratchets and you wouldn't believe the difference.

Summation: If I were starting out collecting tools all over again today, I would buy lots of Craftsman including the polished combinations and buy Snap On ratchets. If I had a moderate amount of money to spend, I would forego the Craftsman polished combinations and buy Snap On combinations, Snap On ratchets, then get most everything else Craftsman.

Have a great day,

rdanz · #5 11-30-2002, 01:06 PM

S+K are another good brand with a lifetime warranty and reasonable in price and I prefer them over craftsman.

#6 11-30-2002, 02:19 PM

S&K are indeed a good value. There are many others that you will run across at Auto and hardware stores. The only problem is that you have to hunt for someone who carries them if you need to warranty one. The fact that you always know where to go to get a Craftsman warrantied is the only thing that makes them desirable. It is a big reason to buy Craftsman.

With Craftsman or Snap On you can always find "the man."

Have a great day,

psfred · #7 11-30-2002, 02:39 PM

Sears has started carrying lower grade tools, too, so make sure you get the ones with the lifetime warrently and not the cheap made-in-india crap. Sometimes called Master Mechanic tools, I think (been a while since I was in a Sears store).

Up to the late 80's, Snap-On made the Sears Craftsman line, except for the ratchets (Sears had a patent on the release button style, and contracted them separately). When I was in Canda, Sears Canda still got the Craftsman line from snap-on -- you cannot tell them apart when you hide the label. Too bad they dont' still make Sears tools!

Peter

Stevo · #8 11-30-2002, 03:29 PM

Could anyone recommend a good but not so costly torque wrench. I have been borrowing one for years so it might be time to make the investment.

Joe Blowe · #9 11-30-2002, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by psfred
Sears has started carrying lower grade tools, too, so make sure you get the ones with the lifetime warrently and not the cheap made-in-india crap. Sometimes called Master Mechanic tools, I think (been a while since I was in a Sears store).

YES! Avoid the Sears "Companion" series. Garbage.

Joe
100.

#10 11-30-2002, 03:59 PM

For a diy project i find no problem with craftsman tools. I work in a professional shop most of mine are Mac. ALL of my box and open end wrenches are craftsman though I prefer the feel of them compared to the polished wrenches, Also I've been using a craftsman 1/2" drive torque wrench for a lot of years .I dont bother to get it recalibrated just go buy a new one. In this area I can buy a new craftsman at about 30$ more than the certification fee and shipping.

BJ300SDL · #11 11-30-2002, 05:00 PM

I've been turning wrenches now for twenty years. Here is my two cents worth.

Craftsman tools are o.k. for the DIY. I think that new ratchets that they offer are junk,wrenches are good, sockets will break if you realy crank on them.

A Snap-on torque wrench is money well spent, especially if you are doing alot of engine work. We have a torque wrench tester at work and found that even a new craftsman torque wrench was pretty far off out of the box.

There is a brand of tools offered at LOWES called Williams they are realy nice for the DIY and pretty darn inexpensive. S&K,proto, and blackhawk are good too.

One last thing, I've found that cheap wrenches are great if you need a specialty tool. Heat it ,grind it and make your own specialty tools!!

1stimer · #12 11-30-2002, 06:57 PM

Well these are the lifetime warranty craftsman, and to me it's just nice to have a complete set.

3 different drives with sockets from 4-27mm, 20 piece metric hex set, and combination metric from 6-19mm, plus some extensions, are the things I thought would be the most used.

As I don't think I'll own an american car anytime soon, I was thinking of selling the standard stuff to help offset the cost. I probablly wouldn't make much money considering shipping from Hawaii, but could use the money I made to get some other useful tools.

What are the tools you guys end up using the most for beginner to intermediate DIY work? Is a torgue wrench really neccesary? I've got a decent jack and jack stands.

What would you suggest?

Aaron · #13 11-30-2002, 07:29 PM

Craftsman tools are great for the DIY'er, as when/if you break something while tinkering out in the garage on a Saturday afternoon, you can run right over to Sears and exchange the broken tool for a new one. For those of us who make our living with tools, Craftsman just won't cut it with most mechanics. I personally do not own one Craftsman tool, as I was always told by the best mechanics to buy the best there is, even if it means starving for a while to get it! So when I began working on cars, I saved and saved and the first tool I bought was a 3/8" Snap-on ratchet and I still have it to this very day and it hasn't been rebuilt once and I guarantee it's been used thousands of times over the years. My tool preferences (what I have in my box) are as follows:

SPANNERS: Stahlwille, Hazet, Snap-on, MAC and S-K

SCREWDRIVERS: S-K, Snap-on, Hazet

SOCKETS: S-K, Stahlwille, MAC, Snap-on, Hazet, Matco (very little)

RATCHETS: Snap-on, Cornwell, Hazet

TORQUE WRENCH: Stahlwille ONLY!! They make the BEST torque wrenches of ANYBODY. If you don't believe me, go check and see what brand BOEING uses to build their planes!

HAMMERS: Hazet, Blue-Point, MAC

COMPRESSION GAUGES: Snap-on

A/C GAUGES: MAC

ELECTRICAL: Fluke, Snap-on (dwell meter and ign. analyzer)

PLIERS: MAC, Hazet, Lumen, Matco, Bruder-Mannesman, Knipex

Obviously I've left out tons of things, but these are the basics which a home mechanic might consider having. Here is what I have found out through use of different brands of tools in each category, in my opinion...

SPANNERS: Stahlwille makes great combination wrenches, MAC makes the best long handle combinations, Snap-on makes the best thinwall wrenches and flare-nut wrenches. I have both Snap-on and Stahlwille flare-nuts and the Stahlwilles have a recess on the head of the wrench which can make it easy to strip a tightly seized fitting, while the heads of the Snap-ons are flat and therefore grip better.

SCREWDRIVERS: The heads on my S-Ks have worn down and don't bite particularly well anymore, but the Snap-on stuff still works like it was brand new. I am going to replace all my S-K with Snap-on shortly. The Hazet drivers I have are special MB tools for setting mixtures on injection and carbs.

SOCKETS: I have all S-K 3/8" sockets and they have held up wonderfully since I got them years ago. No complaints. My Stahlwille 1/2" are pretty beefy and my allen heads and torx are MAC and Hazet and both are also great. I have a few random Snap-on sockets and will admit they do seem to fit the best though. My 1/4" are Hazet and S-K and both are great. The Hazets are deep and the S-K are shallow. DON'T buy Cornwell universal extensions, they're junk!

RATCHETS: Snap-on is clearly the winner here. They're tough and withstand tons of use. My Hazet ratchet is also great, VERY smooth ratcheting action, even more so than the Snap-on. My 1/4" Cornwell is a flex head and the hinge is worn so the head doesn't hold up anymore. Should have bought Snap-on!

TORQUE WRENCH: Stahlwille is the best. They make all the MB factory torque tools. Nuff said.

HAMMERS: The Blue-Point hammers are great, nice finish and very well weighted and balanced. The Hazet is a little 400g machinist's hammer and has a very nice feel to it.

GAUGES: As for compression tools, I just prefer Snap-on. Very good accuracy and reliability.

A/C EQUIP: MAC makes a nice gauge set, and I think both MAC and Snap-on use Robinair to make their gauges, so there is some savings here by buying the MAC name rather than the Snap-on name.

ELECTRICAL: Well, Fluke is pretty much the leader in this kind of stuff. Very easy equipment to understand and use and the top range meters are packed with features.

PLIERS: Matco pliers are junk, I've broken a few pair and I am not one to use tools for other than their intended uses. MAC makes very nice needle nose pliers. Kinpex, made in Germany are great cutters (piano wire grade) and of course Vise Grips and Channel Locks are invaluable.

I guess I left out air tools. I have stuff from Cornwell, Snap-on, Matco and Hazet and all of them are all pretty equal. I think Chicago Pneumatic makes most of this stuff anyways.

My chest is a Snap-on KRL761 and is nice and roomy and of course sturdy. Only complaint here is that some of the drawers are not tall enough. My old Matco box was much better in this respect.

Of course all the MB tools I have are made by various companies such as: Hazet, Stahlwille, Lumen, Heyco, Verbus, Matador, etc..etc..and most are warranted the same as professional tools. I've only broken one MB tool and that was a special socket made for V8 cylinder head bolts and Stahlwille warrantied it with no problem.

Hope this post has been at least a little helpful!

billrok · #14 11-30-2002, 08:48 PM

Hey Aaron, when you retire can I just buy your whole box??

BJ300SDL · #15 11-30-2002, 08:49 PM

How many different styles of torque wrenches does Stahwille offer, dial, twist, etc.?

Where do you buy these at? How much does it cost to have them recalibrated?