Snap-On doesn't always cost the most.

This won't be terribly important to most of you SK / craftsman types, but for those of you that own the really good stuff:

I did this mostly for myself out of curiosity on my break, and decided to post the results. I already have each of these from one of the big two tool companies. These prices were pulled off of either snapon.com or matcotools.com today.

PRICE COMPARISONS: SNAPON VS MATCO

* 1/2" DRIVE SHALLOW IMPACT SOCKETS, 6pt, 10-19MM:

Snap on: $121 // 310IMMLYM // Page 135
Matco: $119 // SCPM106TA // Page 119


* 3/8" DRIVE DEEP SOCKETS, 12pt, CHROME, 10-19MM:

Snap on: $189 // 212SFMY
Matco: $186 // SBDM122TA


* 1/4" , 3/8" , and 1/2" RATCHETS, 3-PIECE SET:

Snap on: $232 // RAT936 // Page 86
Matco: $216 // SRTD3T // Page 216


* STUBBY RATCHETING COMBINATION WRENCHES, 10-19MM

Snap on: $286 // OXIRM707 & OXIRM705 // Page 151
Matco: $222 // SGRBSM10T // Page 129

* STANDARD LENGTH COMBINATION WRENCHES, 10-19MM

Snapon: $263 // OEXM710B // page 153
Matco: $301 // MC19M2 // Page 138

* HALF-MOON BOX WRENCH SET, 10-19MM
Snapon: $196 // CXM605 // page 162
Matco: $145 // SMHM5T // Page 144


What do I find interesting about this list? Well, although snap-on had the higher price on all but one item - it usually wasn't by much. Most of those are within $5 or so of each other... yet most pro wrenches operate under the idea that Snap-On is much more expensive than the Matco or Mac truck, when oftentimes there isn't much difference.

Is it still overkill for the weekend wrencher no matter which you choose? Absolutely. SK is fine. But among the big tool truck companies there's this stigma about Snap-On's prices when, in reality, the other guys charge just as much nowdays.

I posted this up after I did a little checking. I almost bought something from Matco assuming it'd be the better deal, and ended up very surprised to find out that the equivalent SnapOn was almost $35 cheaper...

Thought you all might like to see it.

Oh, and I bought a set of Snap-On wrenches off of eBay two weeks ago for $93 shipped. So Snappy doesn't always HAVE to cost a fortune. A new set of SK's was more than that.

On ebay, snap on stuff is definitely affordable

while I attended wyotech, snap on offered all students 50% off all tools (air included) and 55% off all boxes. I ordered $5000.00 worth of stuff with a grand total of $2640.00!!!!!!! you can only buy when your enrolled with wyotech.....and the day after you graduate...the deal is done.....so I ordered on my graduation day! I wish I woulda ordered more and resold on ebay..could of made some extra $$$$!!

colt zantop said:

while I attended wyotech, snap on offered all students 50% off all tools (air included) and 55% off all boxes. I ordered $5000.00 worth of stuff with a grand total of $2640.00!!!!!!! you can only buy when your enrolled with wyotech.....and the day after you graduate...the deal is done.....so I ordered on my graduation day! I wish I woulda ordered more and resold on ebay..could of made some extra $$$$!!

Click to expand...

Most of the technical schools have multiple days where the different manufacturers (I saw Mac, Matco, Cornwell and Snap-On) come in and do a little song and dance to get you on board. They figure if they can hook you early they'll have fish for life. Ask me how I know.

I have come to the conclusion that all of the tool truck stuff is roughly equal in quality and service. For me, it comes down to the driver. I like my Mac driver much better than the Snappy man, so I patronize the Mac dude. He's much easier to deal with and more friendly to boot. I don't buy a lot, but he treats me just the same as the guys in the shop that spend hundreds of dollars a month.

wythors said:

I have come to the conclusion that all of the tool truck stuff is roughly equal in quality and service. For me, it comes down to the driver. I like my Mac driver much better than the Snappy man, so I patronize the Mac dude. He's much easier to deal with and more friendly to boot. I don't buy a lot, but he treats me just the same as the guys in the shop that spend hundreds of dollars a month.

Click to expand...

Matco guy > snap on guy

My bosses hardly do buisness with the Snap On guy. I really like the Matco stuff the one mechanic uses at work too. Screwdrivers are rebadged witte (or Wiha? Cant remember) And I have yet to see a broken Matco chrome socket, which get used on the 3/8 impacts on a regular basis. Ive got alot of respect for matco stuff, plus being cheaper than snap on isnt all that bad either hahaha

Jim

wythors said:

I have come to the conclusion that all of the tool truck stuff is roughly equal in quality and service. For me, it comes down to the driver. I like my Mac driver much better than the Snappy man, so I patronize the Mac dude. He's much easier to deal with and more friendly to boot. I don't buy a lot, but he treats me just the same as the guys in the shop that spend hundreds of dollars a month.

Click to expand...

There are things I question, whether they are as good as one another (Mac, since the Stanley FTC truth in advertising lawsuit, has changed it's labeling). However, overall, I would agree. I have a mix of Mac, Matco, Craftsman, SK, and lot's of others, including a little Snap. However, for us, Snap is DRAMITCALLY more expensive. They can't keep a driver in our area, so when a tool breaks, you tend to not have anyone to honor the warranty. The Matco guy flipped (no longer a Matco guy) and threatened to shoot people. Word got around, and 2/3rds of his route, went to the trouble to ban him and told Matco to stay off their properties.
So in my local, it's still been Mac and Craftsman. Sorry Snap~On, maybe you should extract your head (regional manager, won't let route driver, go one street over to honor their warranty).

That's interesting. It's a very regional thing from what I've seen.

We haven't had any reliable Mac men in over 10 years around here. At least 5-7 years since I saw a Mac truck. Two weeks ago people from their corporate office stopped by to see us, and ask if we had any tools to warranty. Half the guys about dropped dead on the spot.

My box is full of Matco, Snappy, and a little bit of Cornwell.

We have 12 Snap-on, 12 Matco, and 2 Cornwell trucks in our area. Cornwell is the small fish, and the other two are the big ones. If I were horribly worried about being able to warrantly things I'd buy all snap-on. Stanley is our Snap-On rep, and has been driving a truck in the Memphis area for almost 30 years. Here's not going anywhere.

I think I'm licky in that I don't think I could pick any one of 'em because he's the only non-jackass. Ron, David, and Stanley are all great guys. I hop on each truck every week even if I don't need anything, just because they're pretty cool to talk to.

Yeah, around here snap on is who is big..there has never been a matco truck come to our shop, a matco rep came one day to talk to us..but no truck to come around. There are a few mac guys, but I don't see them around as often. Snap on is where its at, around here at least. Plus, most of my snap on tools came from a votech program I was in that gave me 50% off

I believe this honestly... here lately all the tool guys are geting this new lower control arm pull down tool. Mac , Cornwell, and Matco all have it on sale for 199.99. But my tursty snap-on man has it coming in for $149.99 because they got a buyying deal on them or something like that!!!

Gearhead559 said:

I believe this honestly... here lately all the tool guys are geting this new lower control arm pull down tool. Mac , Cornwell, and Matco all have it on sale for 199.99. But my tursty snap-on man has it coming in for $149.99 because they got a buyying deal on them or something like that!!!

Click to expand...

I haven't seen one of those that I know of. Got a part number? Right now I'm ratchet-strapping 'em to the foot of my 2-post to get enough clearance for the balljoint stud...

no i dont have a part number(it just came out) but i have one at work, i'll get the part number..the handle even has a hook hole at the end of the handle, i was thinking of using a ******** it!

TNToy said:

I haven't seen one of those that I know of. Got a part number? Right now I'm ratchet-strapping 'em to the foot of my 2-post to get enough clearance for the balljoint stud...

Click to expand...

I believe this is the same tool...

Matco part # is LCAT680

A recent Mac flyer had a photo,it looked like the person was holding this tool between his legs

thats it! same one we got last week.

I bought most of my Snap On tools from E Bay and got a little bit new from Snap On. Don't mind used hand tools just as long as there are no engravings on them

EdNJ said:

A recent Mac flyer had a photo,it looked like the person was holding this tool between his legs

Click to expand...

He was. I talked to our Matco guy about this thing on Friday, and he just happened to have an instructonal DVD on it. They show about five different guys using one to seperate/reinstall the lower control arm onto the lower balljoint stud. Three of the five lower the vehicle to waist height, and sit on the thing so both hands are free to line up the suspension parts. Two of those guys just kinda put their knee/shin on it, and the other one squatted down on it like he was TRYING to rack himself...

Anyway, you two seem to like the thing, so I built myself one today while I was out in the garage. I just used the steel I had lying around, but steel and welding supplies together probably put me out about $15 on it.

I was going to spell out "MATCO" down the side of the handle with weld beads, but I forgot until after I'd put the welder away...

We'll see how mine holds up. I have a feeling the little tab that hooks over the control arm will bend if anything does, but I was out of angle iron, or i would have used some for the hook. There's a reason that the real thing has a U-shaped piece of steel forming this tab - I have a feeling mine will eventually straighten out. Who knows. Anyway, here's the pics...

I was wondering if you would be better off to weld a piece of half inch round stock for the tab rather the flat piece that you welded to make the 90

Round... that's not a bad idea.

But 1/2" round would probably be on par with what's currently there. I think I'm going to leave it as-is, and if it bends I'll use something like a grade-8 7/8" bolt. That should take care of any bending issues.

When I fabbed it, I was just using what I had lying around to see if the thing will even work on our vehicles - the square tube is only .060" wall since that's the only thing I had enough of to make a 3 foot handle. I was thinking the design might need altered anyways since some of our SUV's cast A-arms are at least an inch thick.

As it stands... I've only got 30 minutes, a cutoff wheel, and some leftover scrap steel in it. It won't hurt my feelings if it turns out to be a bad idea.

$15 and half an hour of work,pretty good job IMO. Most times I just use a big-ole prybar to pull an A-arm down while someone else aligns the balljoint to it.

Thanks, Ed. I agree with you: The tool co's have been selling control arm tools for years - it's the four foot long prybar that's about an inch thick.

I figured I'd like to give this a try and see if it worked any different. None of our control arms let you wedge a prybar in there anywhere except way in by the sub-frame. So it might just help.

I had more free time today after mulching the constant stream of leaves raining on the back lawn... again. So I decided to reinforce the hook that goes over the control arm, and to toss a "MATCO" logo onto the handle.

My wife has our good camera. So here's some out-of-focus pics.