Hate to bring up impact sockets again but

[soulstryke]

I am really torn ....between grey pneumatic and proto....the thing bothering me is i can spend the extra coin and get a 19 piece shallow proto set or i can get a GP 19 piece shallow set and 13 piece deep set for the same cost as the proto shallow set.

So my question is, Does quality make a difference with impact sockets??? Or being softer sockets, are they both destined to deform fairly quickly?

 

[MattPersman]

How much are you going to be using them? What are your warranty avenues if you do need a replacement? These are things to consider

 

[Steevo]

I just ordered a few Grey Pneumatic 1/2" drive impact sockets to fill voids in my set, and they are very nice quality.

 

[mattygee]

I loves me my Grey Pneumatic sockets.

M

 

[oilfieldtrash4]

In all honesty I bet you give the proto and the gp to a guy and let him hammer on those impact sockets for 8 hours a day I'd bet the proto ends up lasting at minimum twice as long. I really think American steel is that much better. I personally won't cheap out on **** that turns bolts (wrenches, impact sockets, chrome sockets, etc..). I had HF impact sockets to get me by but I replaced as many as I could with USA made asap. I still need a few more to replace but I'm getting there.

 

[foreverfalcon40]

Craftsman! Got a nice 85 or 95 piece set for around $200. I abUSE them everyday!

 

[volvo92906]

GP sockets are great. I know a lot of guys that use them... I hammer on them daily with all size impacts on heavy machines. Proto.. The only Proto tools I have ever seen have been old handmedown ones. Honestly. I dont even know where to buy them and I have never searched the internet.

 

[bcradio]

In all honesty I bet you give the proto and the gp to a guy and let him hammer on those impact sockets for 8 hours a day I'd bet the proto ends up lasting at minimum twice as long. I really think American steel is that much better. I personally won't cheap out on **** that turns bolts (wrenches, impact sockets, chrome sockets, etc..). I had HF impact sockets to get me by but I replaced as many as I could with USA made asap. I still need a few more to replace but I'm getting there.

Actually quite the opposite has been my experience with Proto. They have by far been the softest impact sockets I have and have already started to deform heavily on the drive end. My Sunex impacts (basically same as gray) still look brand new and have no issues with deformation of the drive end. In fact, my HF, Cman US, and Gearwrench impacts all look perfect. It's the Proto that are having a hard time.

Get the gray for sure!

 

[Puckett_k]

Grey pneumatic all the way!

 

[sberry]

You can see the difference of opinion, that is vastly greater than the difference in the tool.

There are exceptions to this but not everyonne has a forge, even tool compaines. A couple major companies in Asia, a couple in US a couple in Europe make the most of it with lots of different brands, not as many sold as one might think except for a few. A lot of the cheap stuff is the same anymore, the cost to make it cheaper would br huge, in some cases there is A and B, like a channel, a light weight a heavy one. Tape measures come to mind. Bet money some of the HF sockets and second tier brand name are the same one from the same line. A lot of the same tool can be found at 3 different price levels, 3 different boxes.

Impact sockets are so good that you could take a HF socket and put a snapon stamp on it, no one would know the difference.

Only place this could be proved is on assembly line, no one else here "uses it 8 hours a day" even a tire man 8 minutes tops.

 

[sberry]

Impacts are not super cheap even impost, not as cheap as chrome, I am with the Sears onthis one too, as good as any. If I am not mistaken Menards has them Lowes too. I understand ita a hobby and mail order is great but those stores ar super too, if I needed it wouldnt have one fukkin opunce of regret buying a hard line tool from there. I noticed the Kobalt tool more than ever, great idea for Nascar to feature the tool over the store.

Some of these tools are so good Snappy would have no problem rebadging the HF breaker bar and I bet you could fool guys like they do the coffee tate test with some of the ratchets too, a guys opinion of his tools differ when he has a brand fave.

 

[DirtRoad]

You can see the difference of opinion, that is vastly greater than the difference in the tool.

There are exceptions to this but not everyonne has a forge, even tool compaines. A couple major companies in Asia, a couple in US a couple in Europe make the most of it with lots of different brands, not as many sold as one might think except for a few. A lot of the cheap stuff is the same anymore, the cost to make it cheaper would br huge, in some cases there is A and B, like a channel, a light weight a heavy one. Tape measures come to mind. Bet money some of the HF sockets and second tier brand name are the same one from the same line. A lot of the same tool can be found at 3 different price levels, 3 different boxes.

Impact sockets are so good that you could take a HF socket and put a snapon stamp on it, no one would know the difference.

Only place this could be proved is on assembly line, no one else here "uses it 8 hours a day" even a tire man 8 minutes tops.

So true. I have broke enough name brands that i started using HF impacts, they last just as long at 1/4 the price.

 

[Armstrong1720]

I use PROTO. My opinion is there the very best industerial brand there is . they will last many years I know other mechanics that only use PROTO. And its AMERICAN !! You can return them to grainger

 

[Automatic Slim]

just got through purusing harry epstein's site and saw an 1/2 inch drive SK metric shallow set for $35. sk makes some solid impact sockets and imo that's a damn good price.


....but given the topic, I have a large collection of proto professional and grainger has great exchange and local for me. rarely let me down and stanley has been making tools the longest.

 

[sberry]

I am not about finding the cheapest tool but about picking the best one at the price or cheap price, as we said,, lots of them the same deal but once a tool is proved, at a same standard or known value then there is a HUGE ASSET to a low price,,, so much easier to make the investment. A lot of this discussion seems to let that slip away,, yes if a tool you may need to replace once was 1/2 the cost of a good one (not considering engineering and quality improvements) then it might be one thing but there isnt much risk when you can buy it functioning for a nickle on the dollar.

How many guys figure to have a real problem with a HF tool box? 400$ makes a no brainer, its disposable in 5 years,,, lots of them still sitting there longer than that and lots doing real work a good long time without a huge initial investment. Seen a couple heavy suckers ride in trucks.

People think they are ruff tuff and busy wayyyy beyond what they are, even professionals in busy shops. I have seen some places brutal on tools and most of you dont compare. I was at an auction of an Amish welding shop, a stove plant. They has 20 wrenches a shot on a 9 wire or welding rod, couldnt believe those people went ape ****.

You want to see some beat hand tools the whole place was manned by teenagers, bit burly kids full of piss. They had a few truck things but some Cman and a zillion polish wrenches, MIT or HF, I didnt look real close but to see the condition, well hammered to saw the least,,,, no way,,, now how a Bull type or any other weekender Joe six pack can even compare to this from the occasional Saturday morn, used twice3 put back in the drawer.

This has got so much better that while I consider some of my old stuff, (especially where they branded it, ACE etc) very good and well proved the quality has shot up. You really got to look to find a bad adjustable, used to be common but they really took a leap with the brand war, it drove the bottom way up. Sears is about the only place that really tanked the quality in a rush to the bottom.

 

[pipsters]

You can see the difference between SK and Craftsman in this post (3rd pics on right), I know you didn't ask about them but they are also readily available.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=192714

I actually think the SK sockets are some really nice impact sockets, they have an excellent finish on them and haven't rusted while even some of my CHROMED sockets have rusted. Impressive! You might want to look at a set of SKs, they are nice. Tool Warehouse and Tool Topia both have decent prices, I would avoid eBay it tends to be overpriced unless buying used.

Truth be told anything will work fine, I agree 100% with sberry, but sometimes we want nice things. Any of the Taiwan producers or US made products will certainly be really nice, China will work fine but don't have the nice extra finishing that the nicer ones have.

 

[sberry]

I would have no problem with SK at 35$, great deal.

 

[dsmnickk90]

I have Cman and Armstrong in deep and shallow 3/8" and 1/2" drive including pinless swivels. I almost went with GP but I'm glad I didn't. I'm looking into SK deep swivels. I try to buy American made unless theirs no other option.

 

[sberry]

I buy and provide the tools and have had a chance to look over the long term use and advances. The cheap steel has only got better, that doesnt mean they didnt reduce design but to create a whole cheaper product line to save 20 a ton for some wrenches isnt worth it anymore.

I dont remember the brands but in Richmond,, same tobacco shoved in to a different sleeve, people swear camel and winston had a diffrent flavor but I seen them change nothing but the package. Its not a new secret but being more widely used, the effort has been in marketing brands. I bet that HF china breaker bar is also sold under more than a couple brands, a trucki brand could grind off and restamp and not embarrass themselves too bad,,, its that good. Even if they had to give up a warranty gladly on occasion it makes their customer service look good and Mac or even Snappy could buy it off the shelf for 10$.

 

[sberry]

Just out of curiosity wonder how many brand names that Stanly socket and wrench is sold under worldwide? I have seen that same Sears forging, Allen is some of the same and maybe the old sears dies? Same with that pathetic ratchet head, NAPA used a polish version and from a replacement or 2 we got looks to still be the same. There looks to be 3 or maybe 4 blanks all these brand USA tools are made from, some change the finish. The Easco blank some sears and some generic matte finish seem similar, a Thoreson maybe are now the Allen and that raised cman.

They are all good, there might be personal preference but in reality ain't but a pinch of **** difference in real use between them. I am all for finding where I can buy that same tool the most economical.

 

[dsmnickk90]

Just out of curiosity wonder how many brand names that Stanly socket and wrench is sold under worldwide? I have seen that same Sears forging, Allen is some of the same and maybe the old sears dies? Same with that pathetic ratchet head, NAPA used a polish version and from a replacement or 2 we got looks to still be the same. There looks to be 3 or maybe 4 blanks all these brand USA tools are made from, some change the finish. The Easco blank some sears and some generic matte finish seem similar, a Thoreson maybe are now the Allen and that raised cman.

They are all good, there might be personal preference but in reality ain't but a pinch of **** difference in real use between them. I am all for finding where I can buy that same tool the most economical.

Your post are so hard to follow. Not trying to be ignorant and I know my grammar isn't always perfect and I make mistakes but, your grammar makes it nearly impossible to follow at times.
But judging by what I think you are asking, Sears has always re branded tools they have never made their own. Easco used to make their sockets, Then SK made some of their stuff and now Dahner makes it and they also make Allen KD Gearwrench Armstrong Matco and many more.
As far as Stanly I'd say its branded as Proto Blackhawk or Stanly and not sure about this but maybe Mac.

 

[Badasssapper67]

I dont turn wrenches full time any more, but when I did it was on big stuff with big nuts (just like me). Proto and Snappy, top two way back when Ronny was pres., Back then Sony made the best tv's and steros by far. They had lots of extra aluminum heat sinks and all kinds of high quality stuff. Now they're an also ran.
Times change companies change leadership and business strategies who knows what product quality will be in five years. My advice is take into consideration your work enviroment. If you go out to saw mills, grain mills, or stranded trucks on the side of the road, dont fool around get Protos, Snappys, or Cornwell even. If you go to a shop by a Sears, that might be an option. If you turn wrench in your garage, check out ebay for quality used big names at mere mortal prices. One thing about used Snappy and Mac impact sockets....they're very well could be the rejects that get turned in for the lifetime warrenty replacement.

 

[wise]

I absolutly love my USA Williams Sets. Affordable and really good quality. I find that even cheaper Taiwan sets like Grey Pnumatic, Sunex, and Taiwan Williams are absolutly fine to use in anything 1/2" and under.

 

[devoncoolman]

Its all in how you use them, how often, and warrenty availibility. I wrench full time. I use my impact sockets everyday. In my opinion the big 4 (snap-on,matco,mac,cornwell) are only way to go warrenty is no issue no question and normally quick turn around typically i get a new socket when truck shows up. U gotta remember u pay for the convinence and the service. Thats two big reasons why a snap-on socket set costs $700 when u can buy the same set in gp or sunnex for $250. But i will give you a warning I honestly saw this happen myself. A guy i worked with a while back had a sunnex 1/2 dr deep impact socket set and was hammering on a axle nut on a bmw and the socket exploded and struck him about 3/4 inch from his eye. Could have easily taken his eye out. After that point i swore i would never buy cheap impact sockets. I will only buy matco or snappy.

 

[devoncoolman]

The construction between a snap-on or matco socket are completly different compared to a sunnex/gp/kobalt/stanly. You honestly cant say they are the same. If you do you have obviously never seen a snapon socket. The problem with the cheaper sockets is they are to hard and the crack easily. Ive cracked plenty of them. Where ive had my matco and snappy impacts for years and i can honestly say never broken one. Only my swivels and that was me using small sockets on big impacts.

 

[wise]

I didn't say they're the same, I just think they hold up fine in the shop. I personally only own Taiwan Williams 3/8 deep and havent had an issue. A whole bunch of other guys in the shop have 1/2 inch sets of Sunex and other cheaper brands and I havent heard a thing. I work at a John Deere Construction Equipment Dealer that services all brands. We have rusty old C6's along side brand spakin' new 870G's.

My biggest qualm with the Taiwan ones is I don't like the powdery finish and they're to thick to fit on the hanson socket racks. I only have the 3/8 deep metric so I don't know if thats true with other drive sizes and brands.

 

[sberry]

What I meant to say is all this shopping for this brand and that may be futile, most of them are made by the same 2 companies. Maybe 3. You might buy a top brand and get the same socket as an HF.