Who loves their tools and out of your set what is your favorite tool. Also what brand do you think is the best.

Me, I love snap-on. How ever I realy can't afford them so I have basic set of craftsman. which I seem to loose constantly so glad I don't buy snap-on

I own a bunch of brands but always go back to Craftsman, they are not the best but the warranty is second to none and they NEVER give me a hassle swapping out a broken or well used tool.

MAC and Snap On are great but pricey, some sellers will also do everything in their power not to replace a broken piece blaming the user for the problem.

Never had a problem with Sears Craftsman, way cheaper than Snapon, and if it EVER breaks, walk into your local Sears, they'll give you the parts to fix it or they will exchange it, if it's not made anymore or out of stock, they'll upgrade you to the next level - no waiting on shipping, no forms to fill out.
I got my Sears ratchet set at age 14 - (crap, I just figured out that was 26 years ago!!!), to this day, they have replaced and exchanged everything I've busted no questions asked, at this point, the set is the next level up or more from what I bought originally since using a 3 foot persuader on these sometimes doesn't work out well for the ratchet.

Pr1malR8gw said:

I have one Snap On tool and I like it. But too prices. Love Craftsman:awww: Hey what about Torque wrenches? I have a 3/8th drive from 5-80 lbs and a 1/2 drive from 25-250. Craftsman. I need to get them calibrated. How often do you calibrate your torque wrench?

im like mikek .. have a few differnt brands in the box. id say my fav brand is S/K. i do agree with the return of craftsman tools. i have only had to replace a couple .. but never any problems. my fav tool ... ummmm id say whichever one im using at the time ... :thumbsup:

For "regular, every day" tools, I too, am a Craftsman whore. While they ain't as pretty and don't feel quite as good in your hand as Snap On, they are somewhat affordable (and I have more tools than Emelda Marcos has shoes, so price is important). For bike specific tools, it's hard to beat Motion Pro. For bicycles it's either Park (for the box) or Cruz Tools (for on the bike). For power tools, it's DeWalt or Craftsman as well. I have a 60 year old DeWalt table saw out in the garage that still works great.

As far as my favorite tool, it has to be the Motion Pro forged aluminum "T6" tire levers with the axle wrench built into the end...man, those things just feel sexy.

I love using ratchets. We have mostly craftsman.

1 snap on
2 mac
3 sk
4 matco, craftsman, proto, etc...

My tool essentials (wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers and ratchets) are Wright Tool. Wright makes professional grade tools that are, in my opinion, the best professional tools for the dollar. Excellent quality, good prices (at least less than Snap-On, Mac, Matco, Cornwell and others), and perhaps the greatest benefit is I purchase them from a local distributor so I don't have to rely on a tool truck. I contacted some of the "better known" professional grade tool manufacturers inquiring into purchasing their tools and didn't even get a response. So, unless you work for a shop where the tool truck stops I wouldn't be confident you could get their attention when you need it.

For other tools I have Craftsman and others. I’ve got to mention Motion Pro and Park Tool since they make motorcycle specific tools. Motion Pro may not be the best tools I own but it sure is nice having tools well suited for particular jobs.

I am just replacing my cheap kits I got as a college student who never used tools (stanley) , with stuff I actually use. For christmas my step bought me some ratchets and he bought Kobalt. I think kobalt is starting to step up alot from where they used to be, plus it's Lowes brand and that is the closest place I have to buy tools. I have a nice Dewalt Miter saw and will buy higher end items like that. But when it comes to disposable liek screw drivers, sockets, I'll stick with kobalt and/or craftsman.
I am looking to get a Torque wrench. Need to put bike back together when I finish going through it all. WHat torque specification would you recomend for my dirtbike. I can really only afford to buy 1 right now. Would like one that I could use on Bike and my cars. Don't know if that's possible with one wrench. Don't know what kinda torque ranges cars and bikes use if they are similar or way off.

I have mostly Craftsman,just bought a torque wrench and broke another bolt.
What are the Bikemaster torque wrenches like I need one that goes less than 25ft pounds.

canuckwr250 said:

I love the 3/8ths click style wrench. It goes to 5 lbs

Irregular Pulse said:

all the bolts have different torques. The fork clamps on my bike are something like 35 foot pounds I think, the rear axle nut is like 90 foot pounds, and all the other stuff varies. 20 here, 12.2 there, 1.2 there, you get it.

Working with tools all day, every workday... Snap-On hand tools are the best hands down... wrenches, ratchets, extensions. I use Mac and Matco air tools, for the most part... have a Snap-On 3/8 impact and 1/4 air ratchet have held up well also. Favorite tool-Mac AH-600 air hammer, just don't get to use it enough. Most used favorite tool- Matco MT-1832 3/8 mini wobble ratchet, gets in tight spots, never overtorques, and you don't need to be straight on fastener. Also love, and use daily, Snap-On 3/8 flex head 5-75 ftlb torque wrench. Matco tool boxes - best in the buisness. Makita or Dewalt cordless drills and flashlights... maybe not the best, but I've got no beef with them, seem to work OK.

For fasteners being torqued to less than than 25 lbft, get a inch lbs torque wrench and convert.

Recommended interval for calibration is about once a year for proffesional use.

I would hate to have to go anywhere for tool replacement, I've never had any problem with any tool dealer trying to call tool damage "abuse" and try to deny warrenty. I have had them tell me "That's not broken." half-joking, so I walked out to the truck 3 minutes later with it broken in half... new tool, no questions.

As a non-proffesional, they are definitely not worth the money you would pay for them, but in my case- worth every penny.

Most dealers would not want to deal with the general public unless you were paying cash for all purchases. Most carry an account for techs, and they want to be able to get their money or their tools back. But any Joe could get on a truck parked somewhere with a broken tool and have it replaced, if the tool is in-stock.

I personally don't use any Craftsman, S&K, Taiwan, Husky, or other because... it costs me time=money to fix the fasteners that just got rounded off or damaged by poor tool fit. And my knuckles take enough abuse as-is.

Irregular Pulse said:

I would recommend reading the owner's or service manual to be sure. Get a 5-75 ftlb torque wrench for most applications. All rear axles that I've torqued were between 63-75 ftlbs. Most fasteners on a dirtbike are between 8-25 ftlbs., everything is made of light metals... don't overtorque severely... a little extra never hurt.

I would also state that if you have something to torque that's 80 lbs don't use a torque that's rated to 90lbs. use one that will go to 250. I don't like to exceed 75% of the wrenches value. Just personal preference. It seems to get the wrenches out of calibration quicker.

Well at school we use Macto tools, i like them there not bad at all and i havent had any issues with them. I think thats the tool of choice im going to go with because i get %55 percent of all tools. But if i had to pick another brand besides Macto it would be Snap-On in a heart beat.

Wes Woodin said:

Most torque wrench's tolorance +/-5% with the higher margin in the low and high end of the scale. That is the 'clicker' style, 'needle' type are actually a little better but not as conveniant.