need advice on cheap tools
 

ok wrenchheads, i am sick of yanking on my 1/2 inch ratchet/socket to change my triple axle tires. I want to buy some cheap tools form harbor freight.

any luck/experience with any of their cheap air tools.
what max torque should i look at for trailer studs

i'm seriously looking to spend less that $80.
will i be happy

keep in mind. i need the rest of my money for a pole building heater, water heater, air compressor, and right angle air ratchet

any one have any of those used for sale? I judt don't hsve the time to spend literally all day with the retirees at the local auctions waiting to get to the good stuff.

I can't say I'm familier with the tools maker in question, but am willing to bet that just about everyone will agree, "Don't buy cheap tools". Not worth the trouble.

Les

yes...everday use,,,,not the best....but every so often...they are fine....DON'T expect to get the torque they spec by any means....

Spend the bucks on Snap On's half inch battery impact. You won't be dissapointed. It will break loose any trailer lugs.

Buy used first,, DONT BUY CHEAP TOOLS !!!!!!!!

Pay Now or Pay Later......Bite the bullet and save yourself the aggrivation !!! In other words, "Do you want to buy three or four sets of the same tool, or just buy one good set?". I have Snap On's and Craftsmans and I like them both.

I try to stick with Matco, MAC or Snap On. Check Ebay. I've gotten a lot of tools from there (mostly new) and usually 1/2 of the truck retail.

There are certain situations where cheap tools are appropriate. Some of the cheap stuff that I've bought has been air tools. I've really limited my purchases to the tools that will be used once a year at best. For tools that are used more frequently, it's just not worth the hassel. Murphy's law dictates that it will break at the worst possible time. That said, if the wrench will be used only for the trailer nuts, you can get away with a cheapie. But I don't believe it. Before long you'll be using it for other projects. I'm thinking that in the end, you'll be happier with a mid quality tool. Take a look at the torque ratings. I'm sure that some manufacturers have some creative ways of measuring the torque, but it's a guidline that will guide you in your purchase. Have you tried looking at ebay? Perhaps you can get into a used quality impact for less than a cheepie.

Don't forget that you'll want to score a set of impact sockets and an extension. Anything bigger than a 3/8" impact will eat regular chrome sockets. Also when shopping for a air compressor, look at the air flow rating at 120psi. The cheapie compressors are rated off the hp of the motor and they are creative when rating them. There is no way a motor will make a true 6hp on 110v. And no, a pancake compressor won't have enough storage for a impact.

cheap tools suck!!!!

granted you might be abel to break those lugs loose a few tiems BUT the first time you crack a socket or your ratchet pops you'll be kicking yourself for buying crap.

You get what ya pay for :p Tools are not the place to skimp on quailty :)

I've got a Harbor Freight (Central Pneumatic) 3/8" Air Impact, one of their 3/8" Air ratchets, and an Air Chisel - all from Harbor Freight. They work great with occasional use. They are cheaply made and skimp on the material the airvanes are made of, the quality of the internal bearings, and they use cast and stamped gears (as opposed to cut or hobbed gears). They certainly do NOT compare in torque to a similarly specc'ed Ingersoll or other namebrand unit. I also run an auto drain on my compressor and a water separator on the outgoing air line. (I would not want to run water through these babies - I'd reckon storing them with moisture in them would do them in).

I have a CP 746 1/2" impact - the highest torque rating of any mediumweight professional impact available. I paid around $100 for it and it has never let me down. It takes abuse, dirty air, wet air, and keeps on smiling. Rated at 450 ft*lbs and I believe it.

I use the cheap stuff cause it is ligtweight and can reach into places better than the 746. If I need it, though, the 746 is only a few yards away...

By the way, all of my airtools have a 12" long pigtail hose on them. I use blue Goodyear gorilla hose cause it is flexible and won't mark stuff it drags across. At the end, next to the male disconnect I have a mini-lube on all of them. This is a small aluminum barrel with a screw-in plug on the side. It is filled with a cottony substance and you pour airtool lube into it and it lubes the air as it passes thru (only need to relube every hour of use).

I also have several sets of Harbor Freight wrenches and such. As they break or bend, I always replace them with Blackhawk or Mac. I've also got a lot of Craftsman, but the sockets and wrenches no longer fit well these days - they have obviously cheapened them up.

exactly!!
agree ( not about spell checking)
:D :D :D

Just by a four way tire iron. You can carry it in the truck and it can be spun quickly for on or off. That and a small floor jack. I would never leave home without either.

Check out the Huskey stuff from Home Depot. Good stuff with a life time warrantee and it is CHEAP!!!!

Jon

life time warranty is what sells, torquing a set of heads i cracked a craftsman 1/2 socket, no prob, replaced as advertised.

thanks for the advice. Mccollinst, thanks for the personal first hand of what i am looking at.

i guess i will compare the husky tools, and look on ebay, then get the best i can with the money i decide to allocate to this one of many purchases.

oh, thanks mitch, you are a bright boy:rolleyes:

wanna meet at Taco Fiesta today Friday??

i'm talking about bringing in 4 out of 7 tires this year because of slow leaks. i just pulled another one off, pulled the spare off the trailer, put it on the axle, dropped the jack to find the SPARE was flat too. like i said, tired of wrenching lug nuts this year.

glad I found that out in the pole barn, and not on the highway after spinnin a tire iron:)

I agree with Mcolliston craftsman may be better than some but nto what they were yrs ago...and when returning broken tools for replacement be sure you ask for NEW not RECONDITIONED ....they tried to pawn off a recon'd ratchet on me a couple times ....I told them .."I DON'T THINK SO "....they coughed up a new one. that was a couple yrs ago...I try to stay away from craftsman now..

a coupel guys I know use the 1/2 " drive huskies for work they are on the cheap side but they have not failed as of yet..and these guys beat in thier tools...literarly. might not be bad for a budget set..

as far as breaking lug nuts loose..just slip a $2.00 piece of 3/4 " pipe over your ratchet..and give it hell..:D

Instead of spending the big bucks on Snap On's battery powered impact, spend less on the Craftsman Pro.
$299.00
18 volt 1/2" battery powered impact.
180 ft-lbs ultimate torque
250 lug nuts in one battery charge.



Husky Wrenches??!!
Pay attention, they have replaced their "Made in America" logo with "Gauranteed Forever"
By the way,where are those Husky wrenches made?
Produced in Taiwan, packaged in China!

Where are Craftsman wrenches and sockets made?
That's right

Made in the USA!

That is a good piont Zanie...

Hey Rob, I have paid for those two items 100 times over just helping others (for free) with their failures:D Try to use the ones supplied with the truck and watch it fold. Thats if you can get the nuts off with the wrong size wrench:eek: Sorry about lunch today, I have 4 closings that need hand holding. Next week will work so lets pick a day and plan on it. I need another colon blow lunch :eek: :eek: :eek: :D (yuk):rolleyes:

"air tools" only way to go . two letters IR; ingersoll rand make best $200.00 for the last half inch impact your ever buy. chit even the new 3/8 inch IR impact has 625ft/lbs of torque in reverse. "never buy cheap tools, they will break at the absolute worst time possible."
used is a good idea if you want top save money though.:D

I Can't Tell You How Many Cheap Tools I Bought... No More.... If You Figure It Out The Cheap Tools Always Cost 2-3 Times More: Hammer : Cheap, 2.99 Used The Hammer 4-5 Times The Wood Handle Breaks, Now Go Out And Buy The Good Hammer With Fiberglass Handle, 20.00, This Hammer Will Last Forever....... Air Tools Also I've Tryed The Harbor Freigt Route And It Just Is Not Worth The Trouble....

Jeff

I'm told all the time that the lifetime warranty from Craftsman, Husky, etc. comapred to Snap-On makes them all equal.

Don't believe it.

I've broken Carftsman sockets in the middle of a job and not been able to continue until I crawled down off the boat, cleaned up my stuff, cleaned up my self, got in the truck, driven to Sears, exchanged the tool, got back in my truck, driven home, gotten my stuff out crawled back up in the boat and resumed work.

I've never broken a Snap-On tool.

What's all that less than fun, less than enjoyable running around worth when I work on my boat for fun and enjoyment?

johnjan: I have broken snap on tools, but very rerely and you are exactly right. I don't care what kind of warranty the put on junk. the warrenty never covers your time to replace it.
time is money buy the best and forget it.:D

Get the good stuff. The big 3 manufacturers are you're best bet. If you do buy the cheaper stuff make sure you pick up a good first aid kit to patch up you're knuckles:eek: . Been there done that, as they say.:D

You can also buy quality tools at Pawn shops...... you just have to bargain!!

I am still using an impact wrench bought from Builders square 12 years ago. It does trailer wheels with no problem most of the time. Otherwise, I just get out the 1/2' breaker bar for the really tuff stuff. Quality does reign, but too much can be way out of line with the need at hand.:)

:D :D

Cheap?
You want cheap?
How about $150 for 251 piece CRAFTSMAN tool kit this weekend at Sears.
You'd pay that for just the 1/4" 3/8" and 1/2" ratchets from Snap-On.

Buy American!!!!

Until you break one at 9:00pm or 5:00 on Sunday or even a Saturday afternoon when you have to spend 2 or 3 hours fighting traffic to get to Sears. Warranty or not, it's not worth spending the time to replace them. As they break I've been replacing all my Craftsman sockets with Snap-on. Sure some of the cheap tool warranties are great provided the failure doesn't occur when you need the tool most.

100% right. All my air tools are IR, 1/4, 2 3/8 drives, 1/2 drive, air saw, angle grinders, everything. Never had a problem with any of them and some are going on 15 years.

My set was originally all Craftsman, although the first Snap-on tools added to the set were ratchets. If you haven't tried a Snap-on ratchet you need to, they are much smoother than the Craftsman and also have a better feel to them. Best investment I ever made to my cheap set.

No doubt if you're just using tools at home Craftsman is the way to go. But if you're working every day with them, Snap On, Mac is the only way. Lifetime warranty is great, but the better tools don't break in the first place unless misused. I've broken several Chraftsman 3/8 drive sockets while using only a 3/8 ratchet. That just doesn't happen with Snap On. And on the battery impacts we have 2 Snap Ons and 1 Craftsman in the shop and the Snap on's out perform the Craftsman and the Snap On's are only 14.4 volts.

I thought this post was about cheap tools?
My point was that if you watch the sales you can buy quality Craftsman tools for the price of imported crap.

BTW, I was talking about the new Craftsman Pro Battery powered impact.
18 volts and all the power of the Snap-on.

I bought a cheap impact at Farm Fleet about 10 years ago use it often never let me down yet!!!cost me like $25 if your building apole barn I have a bunch of 3/4 Black pipe that came out of one of the buildings I used to work at you could hard line it !!!let me know I'll trade you for a case of beer!!!

i do have an old off name 3/8 impact. small body and pretty strong but stupid things like the sprign retainer that holds the socket always pops off cause the ridge isn't deep enough, you guys know how much of a pain in the a$$ it is when your sockets keep falling off. "one set of tools in the box one in the bilge":D :D

Cheap tools are not the way to go.
The first time a wrench or socket breaks and you bust your knuckles open you'll understand.
Impact and air powered ratchets are good if you do repeated disassemby work or change tires on a daily basis. If you only need it to remove lug nuts it's a waist of money in my opinion. All you need in that case is a good four way lug wrench. It may not be as easy or cool looking/sounding, but it works.
I'll bet I can jack up two axles and pull two tires off with a lug wrench before you have a home shop compressor up to full pressure.;)

dyno. yes i am interested in the air pipe!!!!!Definitely

bud light, michelob? you name it.
how long are the lengths, i have a 10' sled trailer, and a 24' car hauler trailer.

I should have bought a twin cylinder, 110V 30 gallon compressor at an auction 3 weeks ago. said $100 max to myself, it went for $120. it was really quiet!!

I'll probably break down and get a Campell Hausfeld 60 gallon upright 220 like my buddies.

i looked at the Devilbiss air tool package at Sams per suggestion..
for $69 i am tempted. 250 ft/lbs at 90psi 1/2in impact and 24 ft-lbs ratchet with 65 other pieces . The kit comes with all the junk that will nickel and dime me in the end. so it seems worth the risk. I dont' use them everyday. and will take car of them with water separator and oiler. if i procrastinate any longer, i can put them on my christmas list.

I know......Iggy, for $69 and some beer with Dyno, how many times will you change my boat trailer tires. i have a triple axle:D

I need them for other things too. our towlight assembly, and my other cars, snowmobile, etc..just never had the barn to work on my stuff and finally do. kinda like buying your first house, it's bare empty and every time you go to Lowes, you need to bring the pickup just to get home with the stuff you (need, and jsut bought)

How many times in season do you change tires?
You must do a lot of long distance towing to wear out tires quickly.
Unless you've been talking about a commercial hauling trailer. Now those need an impact gun to bust'em loose.

Except for working in a service station, I never owned air tools. I've always done it by hand.
Removing bolts, nuts, etc. :rolleyes:

Tire tread is fine, but this year, since i now have a dry place to do so. repacked all 6 bearing sets, checked pad wear and adjusted two axles of brakes, (after brake line blew out) and had 4 tires repaired or tubes inserted because of slow leakdown.

all on different occasions

just tired of jumping on the 1/2 "craftsman" socket wrench.
just don't have the funds to buy all the good stuff NOW along with the above mentioned equipment, oh.. and insulation and steel liner for the building.
I still feel decent?/cheap airtools, if taken care of, will be better than none. and if they break, get the sockets out....

so...I'm narrowing my search.....Chicago Pneumatics....or Devilbiss