soulstryke
Well-known member
Hello, im looking to upgrade from my mastercraft sockets. Mainly because my mastercraft set ends at 7/8" and i need up to 1 1/4", so its a good time to upgrade.......any suggestions?
Who makes the best 1/2" impact Sockets
- Thread starter soulstryke
- Start date
Subyroo651
Well-known member
My best suggestion is use the search function. Maybe for titles containing Impact 
TheGrooveking
Well-known member
IMO Wright would be the one to go with.
TheGrooveking
TheGrooveking
Murphy4570
Well-known member
The best? Snap-On. Their impact sockets are bad ***.
However....
Pretty much anybody's impact sockets will work. They are designed with more metal in them to begin with, and even the chinese HF stuff will hold up.
However....
Pretty much anybody's impact sockets will work. They are designed with more metal in them to begin with, and even the chinese HF stuff will hold up.
HMCFab9
Well-known member
Sunex. I have a set & they work great.
dirtydogintex
Well-known member
Best warranty all things considered?
CM then SO
Best sockets?
AFAICT a chicom socket is a chicom socket.... and SO sockets don't wear that well/are bailed out by their warranty....
CM then SO
Best sockets?
AFAICT a chicom socket is a chicom socket.... and SO sockets don't wear that well/are bailed out by their warranty....
Papa Cosmos
Member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2013
- Messages
- 10
Everyone will have an opinion. I have Mac impact sockets that I bought back in the mid 90's, I have never had to replace any of them. I also have some Snap On, Sk, Proto, Cm etc and they all have held up just fine.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Some manufactures make both both regular and thin wall impact sockets. I have some thin-wall Proto impacts sockets that have 'no warranty' stamped in them. They are great for me because they fit anywhere I want them to go and I'm just a home hack so I'll probably never break or warranty one. If I was taking lug nuts off farm equipment all day I would want their standard-wall impact sockets.
So, it just depends on what you need. The standard wall impacts seems to work well for all brands. I would stick with a premium brand for thin wall impacts.
So, it just depends on what you need. The standard wall impacts seems to work well for all brands. I would stick with a premium brand for thin wall impacts.
TheGrooveking
Well-known member
I have Proto, Wright, Matco, Cornwell, SK, HF, MAC, Grey Pneumatic and Snap On and will agree that they are all decent but have found that the Proto's have too much flank drive. I've had many a time where I've had to remove the socket off of the impact to then have to use a punch and a hammer to drive the bolt or nut out of the socket.
TheGrooveking
TheGrooveking
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woody 73
Well-known member
I have used many different impact sockets over the years and if I ever had to start over the sunex would be the way to go.
dirtydogintex
Well-known member
Speaking of thin wall impact sockets, CM thin wall chrome std depths will stand up to impact service surprisingly well if one doesn't sit there and hammer the _______ out of 'em.
Goodness knows how far the shrapnel'd go it one gave it up though....
Goodness knows how far the shrapnel'd go it one gave it up though....
SKAutomotive
Well-known member
If your current set is working just fine, why not just buy the ones you need?
wise
Well-known member
I've broken every thin walled impact socket I've ever used... I guess thats a compliment for my Impact Gun.
I was looking for 1/2" drive impact sockets recently too. Same reason as yours, I wanted a set that went higher than what I had.
Two best brands I found were Grey Pneumatic and SK Hand Tools.
I ended up purchasing Standard set from Grey Pneumatic. And I picked up the metric set from SK Hand Tools. I think it went from 10mm to 46mm
Anyways I'm happy with my purchase. The quality seems to be very high for both of these sets.
I did consider Proto/Snap-On/Mac/Mastercraft/Wright. But for quality and price I found GP and SKT to be the best. The total for both sets came to about the same price as one set from Snap-On.
Also I could get these online and easily shipped to Canada.
Two best brands I found were Grey Pneumatic and SK Hand Tools.
I ended up purchasing Standard set from Grey Pneumatic. And I picked up the metric set from SK Hand Tools. I think it went from 10mm to 46mm
Anyways I'm happy with my purchase. The quality seems to be very high for both of these sets.
I did consider Proto/Snap-On/Mac/Mastercraft/Wright. But for quality and price I found GP and SKT to be the best. The total for both sets came to about the same price as one set from Snap-On.
Also I could get these online and easily shipped to Canada.
Sorry for being off topic..... J.SAN, which website did you buy from? What about duty charges? I'm also in the market for tools and have decided to go SK for most hand tools as oppose to Asia made GP... However I haven't pull the trigger yet...
I buy most of the stuff from Amazon.com. Remember though not everything is available to Canada from .Com you gotta find retailers that ship to outside of USA. I mainly go with stuff that Amazon.com stocks at their warehouse. I choose their global shipping option and they take care of the duties and taxis.
The Last SK socket set I bought was around $150 plus $25 shipping from Amazon.com.
Best way to check if the item is available for International shipping is to go to the link where it says "** available from $**.**" then look for retailers that have International & domestic shipping rates They ship to outside of USA.
Last time I ordered a bunch of stuff from Tooltopia.com the total was around $1,500 and I had it all shipped to New York because I had a trip planned there anyways so I thought might as well get some stuff.
OP
soulstryke
Well-known member
Sk Automotive- Because i wouldn't mind using that $50 for home use. Plus i bought cheap brands for my starter kit and and upgrading the tools i use "very often" like my 1/2 impact set.
J.SAN - tooltopia.com has great prices too but they don't ship to Canada as you know.... I have been leaning toward www.tooldiscounter.com for about 4K worth of tools but haven't pull the trigger... Thanks for the tip on Amazon though...
Fireball027
Well-known member
I went with the sets from Sunex. For the prices I could not be happier with them.
Soulstryke, where abouts in Canada are you?
Soulstryke, where abouts in Canada are you?
ChevyEFI
Well-known member
Have you broken any? Do you use them every day? Have you had any use failures (i.e. poor sizing that rounds off lug nuts or anything like that?) If you're just filling out a range of sizes and not "upgrading" anything tangible and don't need specialty fitment or sizing, the HF ones seem like a good option. If they're mission-critical, a second set in case of breaks makes sense.
I bet not.
kybluesnbass
Member
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2012
- Messages
- 14
Conductor562
Well-known member
I'm sure someone will tell me I'm crazy, but I've never seen a whole lot of difference in expensive versus cheap when it comes to impacts. I don't use them everyday, but between the Proto's, Stanley's, and HF specials, they've all held up equally well.
Armstrong1720
Well-known member
Me im proto. But i have a close uncle that always had snappy and mac. But after he got robbed twice he went harbor freight and he swears by them.
Have to disagree completely. My newer Snap-On shows the most deformation over the shortest amount of time of any brand I've owned or tried. After a couple hundred fasteners they begin to fit quite sloppy compared to other brands. Considering the crack head price they want that's a joke.
Regarding impact sockets theres Sunex/GP, then a small step up get you USA like Armstrong, Proto, SK etc.., then theres burning money for the sake of it which would be buying them off the truck. They all do the job.
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OP
soulstryke
Well-known member
Northern Alberta
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sberry
Banned
No one breaks in to steal HF tools is right.
kiatech
Well-known member
My Walmart impact sockets have been holding up for 5 years and counting
Automatic Slim
Well-known member
I've got an older set of napa usa impact sockets and still work like a champ. Got some mac that are beyond tough, proto, matco that are solid as hell and others. So agree w/ posters here in that most are more than adequate. Only paid 5 dollars for napa set back in the day.
I'll add one thing that i think is importent: get a set that comes in a case - i put a silcone pack in my metal case and reduce any rust and nice to just grab the set when your getting busy too. great for organization and transport, imo.
My mac impact sockets are on a hang tray and require periodic maintenance - for some reason the dirt dobbers love 'em and surface rust. But the older mac stuff will see several lifetimes.
i've heard great things about GP, but do not have any
I'll add one thing that i think is importent: get a set that comes in a case - i put a silcone pack in my metal case and reduce any rust and nice to just grab the set when your getting busy too. great for organization and transport, imo.
My mac impact sockets are on a hang tray and require periodic maintenance - for some reason the dirt dobbers love 'em and surface rust. But the older mac stuff will see several lifetimes.
i've heard great things about GP, but do not have any
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wafrederick
Well-known member
I have Mac,GP,K Tool and Matco at work,they all seem to hold right up.My Mac Impact sockets,I bought used on the second hand market and only replaced 5 of them so far.Had to replace the 19mm,18mm,17mm,15mm and 13mm so far.Were wore out,the 15mm would slip off the fastner including the 13mm and 17mm.The 19 and 18mm,a bad fit called sloppy.
thatonedude
Well-known member
proto its all i use
dirtmister16
Banned
my opinion based on experiance is WRIGHT. we also have sunex and SK. i have never experianced a failure in any of these yet.
the wrights and sunex are a bit thinner then my SK set. i would say if you want USA go wright or sk, but i would think on sunex if you don't mind taiwan.
the wrights and sunex are a bit thinner then my SK set. i would say if you want USA go wright or sk, but i would think on sunex if you don't mind taiwan.
Spudland_Dave
Well-known member
So what would happen if you stuffed a US General Box full of Snappy/MAC/Matco tools
All kidding aside...go with whatever brand you can afford and get great service on. They'll all work....isnt there a wise greek philosopher who once said "A nut doesnt know what kind of socket you use"...
Personally, I've got my eyes on a set of the MAC Edge ones...
kiatech
Well-known member
Fwiw my Walmart sockets are cr-v
Conductor562
Well-known member
By "Wal-Mart" do you mean Stanley? I bought a set of Stanley's there several years ago and they've been good.
Edm? Fort Mac?
bcradio
Well-known member
My Proto impacts are actually doing pretty bad. Getting some serious deformation around the drive end. The Cman's I have are still all looking flawless. Others experiences may vary.
chris142
Well-known member
Not impressed with my Cornwell ones. I bought them in 06 and the more used ones like the 13mm and 15mm are worn to the point of blowing off the bolt instead of spinning it.