Cr-v VS. Cr-mo : Comparing the two for a Harry Homeowner.

[mroneeyedboh]

So Im looking for impacts to be used at home only. I have always used Snap-on, Williams etc at work but at home I dont need to spend that kind of money. I wont be using these but here and there and on my vehicles. What Im wondering is Im torn between Tekton and Sunex ( like many ) but I dont know if I can justify the cost of Sunex vs. Tekton. Both are good with warranty and have good track records here, but what about the use that it'll see here at home? Ive read that people have split Cr-v HF sockets but not the Tektons. I know the are difference manufacturers but maybe one had a thinner wall?

All in all Im just looking to see what ya'll think about impacts for home use that are Cr-v or Cr-mo.

 

[anndel]

I recently bought Sunex because I have a bunch of Tektons and wanted to share the sales of these 2 fine companies. I've used Tekton CR-V impact sockets when parting vehicles at the junkyard and they seem fine.

 

[lightning02]

i also have tekten, not a single issue.

 

[ADSR]

Harry homeowners shouldn't have any problems with crv.

 

[zcbauer89]

You're not going to have an issue with either. I've used both in an industrial environment and have never broken either a Cr-v or a Cr-mo impact.

 

[Adam.C]

Forget the alloy. Its a red herring. Alloys alone provide virtually no usable information indicating/predicting the performance of the tool. Steel, and its processing is too complicated for internet discussion groups. That's coming from a guy with 2 engineering degrees and 25 years of design/manufacturing experience.

Rest assured, if the tool is manufactured in China, whatever alloy specified is undoubtedly a lie anyway.

I wouldn't buy HF impacts, because unlike chrome sockets or wrenches or screwdrivers, when they come unglued, they can hurt you bad. I assume that all HF products have gone thru no QA. Chinese QA is literally a joke. If a tool failure has a reasonable chance of maiming me, I buy elsewhere.

I have no direct experience with Sunnex vs Tekton. I've heard what you have heard- both are decent. My advice is to not go cheap on a tool you spin with a motor. If you want to cheap out, buy a high quality full face shield (which we all should probably wear regardless).

 

[cbacres]

I bought a set of the 1/2" drive metric from HF over ten years ago and between my major front end repairs and my son using to dismantle ATV's, we have never had a problem.

 

[thegroundpounder99]

I use Sunex which are CR-MO. Based on what I've heard, CR-MO will split when they fail vs shattering. Sunex is a good product at a good price point and the sets are pretty complete. I've never had a issue with mine.

Sent from my LG-H634 using Tapatalk

 

[patchap]

I have princess auto cr-v impacts that I've had for at least ten years and have completely wailed on. The 19 and 22mm's cracked and split open just like they were supposed to. Before I had a good impact I used to smack the sockets with a ball peen hammer to get the nut moving if the gun couldn't do it, this is where they cracked.
The tektons should serve you fine.

 

[gdocktor3]

I have many different brands of impacts, but no Tekton or gp. Proto, Blackhawk USA, Husky, Cman USA, Wright, one Autocraft, Snap On and Sunex. I also have some HF, but rarely use them because of horror stories. To be honest, all mentioned above work equally the same. I like the Sunex a lot. They're very affordable and have an outstanding track record. The dealer I bought from stopped carrying SK impacts because everyone bought Sunex. The Sunex sets are very complete and come in nice plastic cases. Perfect for taking on the road with my cordless impact. Here's a picture of a Sunex and Snap On. They're identical. For this reason, I recommend Sunex. In the pic Snap on is on top and Sunex on bottom.

Also, keep your eye out on cl and eBay. I scored an amazing deal on a 4 month old mg725 impact, with a set of shallow metric and shallow sae for $200. I already had the Sunex, but couldn't say no to that deal.

 

[hoye0017]

Forget the alloy. Its a red herring. Alloys alone provide virtually no usable information indicating/predicting the performance of the tool. Steel, and its processing is too complicated for internet discussion groups. That's coming from a guy with 2 engineering degrees and 25 years of design/manufacturing experience.

Rest assured, if the tool is manufactured in China, whatever alloy specified is undoubtedly a lie anyway.

I wouldn't buy HF impacts, because unlike chrome sockets or wrenches or screwdrivers, when they come unglued, they can hurt you bad. I assume that all HF products have gone thru no QA. Chinese QA is literally a joke. If a tool failure has a reasonable chance of maiming me, I buy elsewhere.

I have no direct experience with Sunnex vs Tekton. I've heard what you have heard- both are decent. My advice is to not go cheap on a tool you spin with a motor. If you want to cheap out, buy a high quality full face shield (which we all should probably wear regardless).

That's a lot of assumption and not a lot of direct experience with these brands.

I agree with you on the concept of metallurgy being more than just a V or Mo stamp. I'm sure there's way more to it. So I would agree to not make the decision based solely on that.

But unless you work in their forge, I wouldn't assume anything about how these are being made. I do have experience with Tekton, not Sunex but I chose the HF set yesterday for myself.

I just compared the 2 HF impact 1/2" sets (regular vs pro) and found that they are both made in Taiwan, not China. Just like the Tekton and Sunex are. I chose the pro set. They are cr-mo vs the regular ones being cr-v. That didn't seem important so the main decider for me was the fit and finish, and the thinner walls of the pro set.

I would say these visually appear to be the same or better quality as any Tekton I've seen. Time will tell but so far these seem to be working well for lots of people with no complaints of failures.

 

[gdocktor3]

The cr-mo have a lot better track record than the cr-v. I'm not sure I would trust a 3/4" drive HF impact socket on my 3/4" Aircat or something comparable. I feel, in my opinion, the HF brand of impact socket, cr-v or cr-mo, are spec'd to work with the HF brand of impact wrenches. Not saying they won't work with other brand air tools, but I've heard more horror stories of HF impact sockets failing than I have all other professional brands combined.

 

[winlinmac]

You need Pittsburgh "Pro" Cr-Mo Sockets, forget the regular Pittsburgh Cr-V Impact Sockets.

Or, Tekton's Cr-V are actually pretty good and that too for a complete set.
Sunex, expect to pay a tad bit more.

Otherwise, you can't go wrong with any of these sockets.

 

[camd64]

I would go either Sunex or HF Pro (cr-mo), GP is another one but some have voiced concerns over the ease of warranty. Sunex offers a much better/broader selection of styles and sizes vs. HF just selling the most common sets, but for home use this may not even be an issue. HF ones are very inexpensive, especially when you add a coupon to the mix but Sunex does give a significant discount on occasion. I don't think in your situation you could go wrong either way.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I would go either Sunex or HF Pro (cr-mo), ...

Concur. CR-Mo for impact. Period.

Some HF impacts are CR-V. They are much more likely to break.

 

[rick carpenter]

If your not driving sockets with a compressor or electric gun, cr-v's will suffice. For hand use I have cheap-o Evolv & Klutch(?) 1/2" cr-v impact sets, and I buy single 1/2" cr-v chromes when I need thinner walls.

 

[bcradio]

Forget the alloy. Its a red herring. Alloys alone provide virtually no usable information indicating/predicting the performance of the tool. Steel, and its processing is too complicated for internet discussion groups. That's coming from a guy with 2 engineering degrees and 25 years of design/manufacturing experience.

Rest assured, if the tool is manufactured in China, whatever alloy specified is undoubtedly a lie anyway.

I wouldn't buy HF impacts, because unlike chrome sockets or wrenches or screwdrivers, when they come unglued, they can hurt you bad. I assume that all HF products have gone thru no QA. Chinese QA is literally a joke. If a tool failure has a reasonable chance of maiming me, I buy elsewhere.

I have no direct experience with Sunnex vs Tekton. I've heard what you have heard- both are decent. My advice is to not go cheap on a tool you spin with a motor. If you want to cheap out, buy a high quality full face shield (which we all should probably wear regardless).

Spoken from true inexperience.

 

[pozidriv]

^

Yeah, I usually get a chuckle out of Adam's posts. So knowledgeable.

 

[gdocktor3]

If your not driving sockets with a compressor or electric gun, cr-v's will suffice. For hand use I have cheap-o Evolv & Klutch(?) 1/2" cr-v impact sets, and I buy single 1/2" cr-v chromes when I need thinner walls.

That's been my way of thinking as well. The HF impacts I own are the large 3/4" metric deep sockets for hand use only, and a smaller set of 6 point sae that I use with my 6" Bondhus pro hold Allen bits. The bits are impact grade and can be removed and reused if I ever break the socket. I figure those are probably stronger than the sockets themselves, but have yet to use them in an impact wrench anyways.

 

[mroneeyedboh]

Thanks guys. I see the HF Pitts. Pro. sockets are cheap but the miss a lot,of sizes. And you can't buy them solo from HF neither.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

If your not driving sockets with a compressor or electric gun, cr-v's will suffice. For hand use I have cheap-o Evolv & Klutch(?) 1/2" cr-v impact sets, and I buy single 1/2" cr-v chromes when I need thinner walls.

Pretty sure the OP is asking about impact sockets... if you aren't using them with an impact, then why bother

 

[Adam.C]

Spoken from true inexperience.

That's pretty rude and inaccurate. The OP asked specifically about steel alloys:

All in all I'm just looking to see what ya'll think about impacts for home use that are Cr-v or Cr-mo.

 

[T45]

Impact sockets you don't need high dollar items, but you are saving very small dollars by cheaping out. Much better to buy a less complete set of higher quality tools, specifically tailored to your use cases than to try to justify complete bottom of the barrel quality in "complete" sets. If you cannot afford 8x (ie, shallow+deep in Sae+metric, in 3/8 + 1/2) then either buy them in only a single drive, a single depthe, or a single specification tailored to your 80% use case scenario. The only time I'd even consider buying absolute lowest spec tools is for that small portion of tools that is not covered above. Even then when it comes time to actually use it I would consider an upgrade if the application turns out to be critically important or something where safety would benefit spending a couple dollars more.

 

[mroneeyedboh]

That was my mindset previously. Buy once cry once, but those tekton impacts have all killer reviews. Both amazon and here... I looked up sunex and tekton impact sets and there is a 175$ difference. That's quiet a bit of difference in price. So the cost between the two alloys here significant

 

[rick carpenter]

If your not driving sockets with a compressor or electric gun, cr-v's will suffice. For hand use I have cheap-o Evolv & Klutch(?) 1/2" cr-v impact sets, and I buy single 1/2" cr-v chromes when I need thinner walls.

Pretty sure the OP is asking about impact sockets... if you aren't using them with an impact, then why bother

I answered about 1/2" impact sockets for use with hand ratchets... which works for me, at a good price, and aside from buying three regular sockets for specific needs no downside so far.

Turns out I have not Klutch but a Pittsburg Pro cr-m SAE 1/2" deep impact set for the garage, $26 shipped. I don't have a gun but they're gun-worthy according to people here. For my road and worksite bags, I have an Evolv cr-v SAE 1/2" deep impact set, $17 in store.

 

[T45]

That was my mindset previously. Buy once cry once, but those tekton impacts have all killer reviews. Both amazon and here... I looked up sunex and tekton impact sets and there is a 175$ difference. That's quiet a bit of difference in price. So the cost between the two alloys here significant

what part numbers?

Master 3/8 set in sunex is $120 from amazon do you really need more than that? Has short, long, and wobbles up to 22mm.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JO1BO1K/?tag=atomicindus08-20

You can buy some axel sockets for $50 to cover 24-36mm and be done with it (and how likely do you need a whole set even of those?)? If you need to use wheel sockets, same thing...just buy the sizes you need or a special kit of thinwalls/sleeved sockest you would need to but anyway, no?

This gets into the earlier question about how heavy duty and comprehensive you really need to be before you have specific applications; once you have specific applications you tend to be able to avoid needing every single socket made and can then spend your $$$ on what you actually need day to day or major use case to major use case.

I see no reason to buy crv sockets at all for impact use.

Anyways just playing devils advocate becaise its usefule and will save you a lot of money and wasted space to pre-visualize your actual use cases. If you need 8x sets of impact sockets legitimately, I still would unlikely buy a single brand unless I could afford minimal reliable quality.

eg, williams taiwan 1/2 drive sae deep set for $25

http://www.toolsdelivered.com/Willi...-1-2-Inch-Drive-Impact-SAE-Impact-Socket-Sets

Metric $38

http://www.toolsdelivered.com/Willi...2-Inch-Drive-Impact-Metric-Impact-Socket-Sets

 

[mroneeyedboh]

what part numbers?

Master 3/8 set in sunex is $120 from amazon do you really need more than that? Has short, long, and wobbles up to 22mm.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JO1BO1K/?tag=atomicindus08-20

You can buy some axel sockets for $50 to cover 24-36mm and be done with it (and how likely do you need a whole set even of those?)? If you need to use wheel sockets, same thing...just buy the sizes you need or a special kit of thinwalls/sleeved sockest you would need to but anyway, no?

This gets into the earlier question about how heavy duty and comprehensive you really need to be before you have specific applications; once you have specific applications you tend to be able to avoid needing every single socket made and can then spend your $$$ on what you actually need day to day or major use case to major use case.

I see no reason to buy crv sockets at all for impact use.

Anyways just playing devils advocate becaise its usefule and will save you a lot of money and wasted space to pre-visualize your actual use cases. If you need 8x sets of impact sockets legitimately, I still would unlikely buy a single brand unless I could afford minimal reliable quality.

eg, williams taiwan 1/2 drive sae deep set for $25

http://www.toolsdelivered.com/Willi...-1-2-Inch-Drive-Impact-SAE-Impact-Socket-Sets

Metric $38

http://www.toolsdelivered.com/Willi...2-Inch-Drive-Impact-Metric-Impact-Socket-Sets

You're right. I just can't visualizewe what all I would need. Can I get by with a 3/8 set? Minus the 1/2 impact set

 

[gdocktor3]

You're right. I just can't visualizewe what all I would need. Can I get by with a 3/8 set? Minus the 1/2 impact set

We need more info. Bottom line. We can't give you accurate advice if we don't know what you're working on and working with. Are you doing occasional tire changes on the wife's car and swapping out mower blades once a year? Or do you have a 1984 k10 with a 10 year old 6" lift kit and a John Deere backhoe in the back yard? What do you have for power tools?
Chicago Electric/Pneumatic = Pitt pro
snap on 18v/mg725 or like = Sunex or better imo

If you only own a 3/8" impact, no need for 1/2" sockets. Only own 1/2" impact, then no point buying 3/8" sockets first. Sunex has screamin deals on super complete impact socket sets and rebates all the time. I cannot believe for one second the price difference is $175 for similar sets.

This entire situation depends on your needs.

 

[mroneeyedboh]

I have all of the impacts and they are snap-one. MG series... I'm working passenger cars and a diesel. Sometimes lawn mowers etc.

 

[gdocktor3]

I have all of the impacts and they are snap-one. MG series... I'm working passenger cars and a diesel. Sometimes lawn mowers etc.

Well, I personally would go with 1/2" drive Sunex because of my experiences with them. I'd rather have more than enough, then not enough. Especially working on diesels and such. A 3/8" impact will only push so hard until you need 1/2" drive. And using a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter will cost you immense amount of torque.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

I would start with 1/2" impacts…. assuming you have a 1/2" impact gun. 3/8" are a convenience and not necessity IMHO. That's assuming you already own a chrome 3/8" set.

 

[mroneeyedboh]

Thanks guys.

 

[AmishFury]

Forget the alloy. Its a red herring. Alloys alone provide virtually no usable information indicating/predicting the performance of the tool. Steel, and its processing is too complicated for internet discussion groups.

this is where you should have stopped typing... the rest of your post was laughable but this is on point

just something for everyone to remember... the expensive truck brand sockets don't have Cr-V or Cr-Mo stamped on them, their advertising doesn't mention either, it's really just import sockets that end up with the alloy being waved in your face

and for 'harry homeowner' either will be fine... i've used tekton, pittsburgh (both pro and no), sunex, sk, steelman (at work), blackhawk... of all these the only ones i've personally seen crack are the steelman (cr-mo) and all but one have been thin wall (mostly flip sockets)

 

[DemoFly]

this is where you should have stopped typing... the rest of your post was laughable but this is on point

just something for everyone to remember... the expensive truck brand sockets don't have Cr-V or Cr-Mo stamped on them, their advertising doesn't mention either, it's really just import sockets that end up with the alloy being waved in your face

That's because the name alone is enough. I assure you they are chrome-molybdenum.

 

[grandeyota]

That was my mindset previously. Buy once cry once, but those tekton impacts have all killer reviews. Both amazon and here... I looked up sunex and tekton impact sets and there is a 175$ difference. That's quiet a bit of difference in price. So the cost between the two alloys here significant

Unless you are getting that Tekton set for under $20, there is a pretty complete Sunex collection for around $190. Buy the SAE kit, they throw in the metric.

CPO outlet

 

[Mechanical Noise]

I have the HF Cr-V impacts. Biggest drawback is they're thickwalled, which has forced me to get the ratchet and chrome sockets out. And the set skips some of the larger sizes. But I haven't hurt any of them is three years of admittedly easy use. I can't speak to the issue of quality control of the Chinese steel but the sockets do fit the bolt heads nicely.

The Cr-Mo set looks like a good deal. The socket walls are certainly thinner.

 

[gdocktor3]

This is another point I forgot to mention when it comes to the 3/8" or 1/2" decision. In most cases you can get away with using chrome sockets with the 3/8" impact wrench. For starters I'd definitely go with 1/2" drive, then fill in 3/8" if and when needed. I personally own 10 or so 3/8" impact sockets and never use them. I also own an older 3/8" impact wrench I never use. When it comes to small stuff like assembly or what not, I just use my 20v Dewalt 1/4" impact driver with a socket adapter. Then I use a torque wrench to sock it down.

 

[Fedwrench]

You ever notice that's it's only the foreign made tools that stamp cr-v or cr-mo on them? I've never seen a MAC, Snap on, SK, Proto, or Armstrong impact socket with the steel type stamped on it.

 

[winlinmac]

Same goes with Williams, as well as Kobalt-Williams Impact Sockets. They are usually Chrome Vanadium as far as what I was informed. May even be Cr-Mo. These companies are confident in their products and I like that.

You ever notice that's it's only the foreign made tools that stamp cr-v or cr-mo on them? I've never seen a MAC, Snap on, SK, Proto, or Armstrong impact socket with the steel type stamped on it.

 

[dnschmidt]

This is not really that significant. What is typical is that the CrV impact sockets will have thicker walls that the CrM. This is particularly true of Harbor Freight's sockets which frankly have been shown to be virtually bulletproof. Their CrV look ugly compared to their CrM and have much thicker socket walls but I've never seen anybody break one that wasn't using them at 175 PSIG. The basic theory is that the CrM is more flexible than CrV and better suited for impact use. Probably true, for example TOPTUL exclusively uses CrM for it's impacts, but it actually doesn't seem to matter much.