Most overlooked tool brand for ratchets & wrenches?

[ssentt]

I know a lot of people love the truck brands for their superior strength, the ease of replacement, durability, overall quality. For those of us that can't afford the truck brands or have access to them.....

What do you think are some of the brands that fly under the radar so to speak that have truck brand qualities that are a little cheaper but still reasonably close in quality and strength.

I have some older sk that has held up for years.

 

[Hiball]

Wright, Sk, Proto, Blackhawk, Armstrong, Williams and my Favorite.. 2nd Hand Truck tools bought via the Bay or here in the Classifieds, Tons of Good brands out there.

 

[kiatech]

gearwrench

 

[ssentt]

Wright, Sk, Proto, Blackhawk, Armstrong, Williams and my Favorite.. 2nd Hand Truck tools bought via the Bay or here in the Classifieds, Tons of Good brands out there.

I wonder how the newer protos rate? Facom design/rebadge?

 

[Hiball]

I wonder how the newer protos rate? Facom design/rebadge?

I don't recall hearing anything bad about them...

 

[CWP1616L]

Facom ratchets are really sweet, but they're probably up there close to the price of truck brands. At least you'd be the only guy in the shop that has one.

 

[Davefr]

What do you think are some of the brands that fly under the radar so to speak that have truck brand qualities that are a little cheaper but still reasonably close in quality and strength.

I have some older sk that has held up for years.

If COO is not a factor, then I'd make the case that a lot of brands are reasonably close in strength/quality to truck brands. There have been many ratchet/wrench strength tests/evaluations posted here and the results have not been dramatic in favor of tool truck ratchets/wrenches. Here's one example but there are many more:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75220&highlight=holeshot+ratchet+comparison)

In addition I haven't seen widespread reports of broken ratchets/wrenches from Duralast, Kobalt, Husky, Gearwrench, CM Professional or even Pittsburg Pro.

The truck brands stand out more for features, breadth of offering, fit and finish, and full dealer service. There's simply not a huge void between them and truck brands for strength/quality.

If COO is a factory then SK and the industrial brands are tool truck quality at prices that don't reflect the value added services from a tool truck dealer.

 

[jmm]

Facom ratchets are really sweet, but they're probably up there close to the price of truck brands. At least you'd be the only guy in the shop that has one.

Garagejournal turned me into that guy. The satisfaction is indescribable.

 

[ssentt]

I see some of the new protos are made in Italy. Are the facoms coming from Italy now too?

 

[Armstrong1720]

Old prots. I buy them all the time off ebay cheap

 

[blackz26]

Duralast is really good quality, especially for the price. Plus buy (5) $20+ items, you get $20. How can you beat that?

 

[Dave455]

If you don't mind buying Japanese then Ko Ken is a good choice. Probably one of the few firms to offer a range os sockets as great as, if not bigger than the likes of Snap On. They only make socket wrenches and handles though!

From Germany, I'd put Stahlwille up their with Snap On for most of their range, and Probably Hazet as well. Finally there's Saltus, a small German firm nobody seems to have heard of! They only make a small range, but very nice stuff, fully polished (which a lot of European products are not) and probably the best ratcheting combination wrenches available anywhere!

 

[e30bradley]

this has been asked so many times here.. Proto, williams, SK, etc... Older american stuff. Buy used for the price of CM.

 

[gtlaw]

Armstrong for ratchets and williams for supercombo wrenches and flex head ratchets

 

[bobemmerich]

I really like K-D or Allen brand, but the US made of both brands getting harder to find. I also have an older set of NAPA sockets that I like, too (although they are Taiwan).
I understand the Masterforce brand from Menards is good and made here, too.
S-K, Proto, Armstrong, Wright and Blackhawk are also good choices and awesome tools, but a bit on the pricey side for someone on a budget.
If COO isn't important, then Stanley, Husky or Kobalt are also a good bang for the buck. Only problem with Stanley is you have to warranty it through them-meaning you have to call and send the tool back-and that's kinda sucky

 

[blackz26]

I really like K-D or Allen brand, but the US made of both brands getting harder to find. I also have an older set of NAPA sockets that I like, too (although they are Taiwan).
I understand the Masterforce brand from Menards is good and made here, too.
S-K, Proto, Armstrong, Wright and Blackhawk are also good choices and awesome tools, but a bit on the pricey side for someone on a budget.
If COO isn't important, then Stanley, Husky or Kobalt are also a good bang for the buck. Only problem with Stanley is you have to warranty it through them-meaning you have to call and send the tool back-and that's kinda sucky

Stanley and husky ratchets are horrible. Skip past these. The replacement you get though "professional" are pretty good though.

 

[ssentt]

Everyone has put up some great brands. What brand/make do you think is undervalued though? I see alot of the brands on ebay everyone has listed but I don't see too many of those going for what I would call reasonable. Some of the sk tuff1 and older proto I think is priced fairly but not much eles.

 

[zkling]

Depends if we are talking new or used.

New I would have to say SK, williams, wright, proto.

On the used market, outside of ebay so garage sales and the like... Anything not Craftsman, but usa made.

I think if you polled the general population about tool brands the most mentioned name by a long shot would be craftsman. I have been to a few garage sales where the craftsman stuff was priced higher because of the common name, then to find a "junk box" of SK, snap on, willimas, cornwell, mac, matco, etc. I remember one garage sale the folks said all the craftsman loose items were $2 each. All other brands were $0.25 each!!! I just said, OK, craftsman is a bit out of my budget, but really nice. Ended up with a complete 1/4, 3/8, 1/2" drive socket set of snap on, sk, proto for under $10 for my younger brother. They acted like I was doing them a favor!!!!

 

[bobemmerich]

An often overlooked brand is Duralast from Autozone. I have a ratchet that has taken abuse after abuse. I also have a set of ACE Hardware branded tools. They feel good and are fairly well made.
I say shop around on websites to find what you need and price shop.

 

[Hiball]

Everyone has put up some great brands. What brand/make do you think is undervalued though? I see alot of the brands on ebay everyone has listed but I don't see too many of those going for what I would call reasonable. Some of the sk tuff1 and older proto I think is priced fairly but not much eles.

Everyone has different ideas of "Value".. What do you think a Quality ratchet should cost? Wrench set? What Price point are you looking for? New? Used? Round Head? Pear Head? Coarse Tooth? Fine? Long Wrenches? Standard Length? Is a Modified Open end important?

 

[woody 73]

Hiball hit the nail on the head in post #2.
The only thing I could add would be impact sockets from either grey or sunex.

 

[ssentt]

Everyone has different ideas of "Value".. What do you think a Quality ratchet should cost? Wrench set? What Price point are you looking for? New? Used? Round Head? Pear Head? Coarse Tooth? Fine? Long Wrenches? Standard Length? Is a Modified Open end important?

So true....I perfer new if prices are within reason. Maybe its just an ebay thing but usually prices are cheaper for new on amazon, tooltopia, fox run tools, etc.... Sometimes I can find new for the same price of used on ebay. Proto, wright, sk tuff1, gearwrench, all seem to be within my budget but I have to scour the interenet to find the best deals. I have to agree the classifieds here seem to have some decent deals too. I'm really wondering about the stanly protos and how they compare to the facom at this point. Thinking maybe I might try one...see if I like it.

 

[mrborohachi]

can't say enough good things about the Autozone Duralast. Had friends that worked at my local Autozone and when they said there was a lifetime guarantee over the counter warranty like Sears I was sold.
They were one the first to come out stating COO Taiwan. I have a full set of 3/8 sockets short and deep standard chrome and have yet to crack one. I've used them on 1/2 impact guns. I even bought a 1/2 22mm socket and have been using it on Toyota macpherson strut bolts.
The ratcheting wrenches have also held up with out a hitch.

Not to knock Gearwrench ratcheting wrenches, but as far as i know there aren't any stores where you can over the counter warranty one of their ratcheting wrenches. I have heard of tool truck's warrantying them but that's a once a week visit.

 

[gtlaw]

Everyone has put up some great brands. What brand/make do you think is undervalued though? I see alot of the brands on ebay everyone has listed but I don't see too many of those going for what I would call reasonable. Some of the sk tuff1 and older proto I think is priced fairly but not much eles.

in many cases ebay prices **** especially for williams stuff though it sounds like the price point you're looking for is going to be taiwan made which can be great but its nearly all the same just different names

 

[newchris]

i think that bahco makes some ratchets for snap on and amazon has them pretty cheap, sk gets my vote other than that. armstrong is basically matco just more industrial, so lower tooth counts. proto and blackhawk are great as well. everyone touched on the big ones, i just wanted to throw in bahco

 

[newchris]

http://www.mltools.com/bahco-tools-1-2-dr-comfort-grip-ratchet-8150-1-2

yea these

 

[dieselmike]

gray canada tools. i use their sockets daily. impact and chrome. same quality as snap on. cant comment on their german pliers or canadian wrenches. i used CM pro and SO wrenches. SO wrenches are stronger. CM pro spread more easily.

 

[blackz26]

can't say enough good things about the Autozone Duralast. Had friends that worked at my local Autozone and when they said there was a lifetime guarantee over the counter warranty like Sears I was sold.
They were one the first to come out stating COO Taiwan. I have a full set of 3/8 sockets short and deep standard chrome and have yet to crack one. I've used them on 1/2 impact guns. I even bought a 1/2 22mm socket and have been using it on Toyota macpherson strut bolts.
The ratcheting wrenches have also held up with out a hitch.

Not to knock Gearwrench ratcheting wrenches, but as far as i know there aren't any stores where you can over the counter warranty one of their ratcheting wrenches. I have heard of tool truck's warrantying them but that's a once a week visit.

Advanced auto, and Napa.

 

[NC-Fordguy]

Not to knock Gearwrench ratcheting wrenches, but as far as i know there aren't any stores where you can over the counter warranty one of their ratcheting wrenches. I have heard of tool truck's warrantying them but that's a once a week visit.

Sears provided they sell the particular wrench

 

[oldtools]

Toptul, Genius, Titan, KTC, Koken,

 

[ssentt]

I think everyone has posted great alternatives to truck brands. I wonder how easy warranty replacement is for some of these brands. I hear gearwrench is pretty good about replacement and duralast is just like craftsman.

 

[Armstrong1720]

How about old john deere wrenches and sockets ? Our shop has piles of older john deere super quality 20 -30 yrs ago. ugh i just realized im old now

 

[ATC]

Kobalt and Gearwrench

 

[Southern]

Most overlooked tool brand

overlooked tool brand

overlooked

Gearwrench

...the hell are you guys smoking? This place should change its name to gearwrenchjournal.com the way everyone here eats up that cheap taiwanese junk.

 

[blackz26]

...the hell are you guys smoking? This place should change its name to gearwrenchjournal.com the way everyone here eats up that cheap taiwanese junk.

There was a lot of duralast in there's too. Myself included. A lot of people get work done with both brands. If you don't like them don't buy them. Simple. Move on.

 

[ssentt]

...the hell are you guys smoking? This place should change its name to gearwrenchjournal.com the way everyone here eats up that cheap taiwanese junk.

I haven't pulled the trigger on gearwrench ratchets...just a couple ratcheting wrench sets. I perfer to buy NOS made in the USA or used USA...thats what I can afford anyway.

 

[Conductor562]

I'm hooked on Proto and Blackhawk. Proto gets some love, maybe not what I feel it deserves, but it gets some nonetheless. Blackhawk on the other hand, it is a mix of COO but it's all quality stuff and presents an excellent value for the money. It rarely gets mentioned, but if you don't mind the occasional Taiwanese item, it's good stuff.

Though not in production anymore, New Britain was good stuff as well. It can typically be found on eBay for reasonable prices as well.

 

[Southern]

There was a lot of duralast in there's too. Myself included. A lot of people get work done with both brands.

You missed the point so hard; like, woah, I'm not even mad. I'm half impressed.

If you don't like them don't buy them. Simple. Move on.

Enlightening. Really. Whatever would I have done without that gem of wisdom?

Come on, kid, reread my post and see if you can gather what I was actually saying. I don't want to just tell you, because I'm not sure I could put it in plainer English than I already did.

As for contributing to the discussion, I don't think enough people give a look over to Wright tools for wrenches, but maybe because they cost a damn fortune most of the time.

 

[Nocturnal-G]

Not one mention of any German brands...

Now you guys know which brands are most overlooked...

 

[newchris]

fine, hazet