Outlawmws
Well-known member
If you simply look at the time frames listed, G over laps completely G1, G2, G2D and GD...
Not "just" a date code, regardless of what you were told.
Are Craftsman Sockets Worth Keeping?
- Thread starter liliceman13300
- Start date
If you simply look at the time frames listed, G over laps completely G1, G2, G2D and GD...
Not "just" a date code, regardless of what you were told.
TDLMOMOWERS
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2012
- Messages
- 175
I worked as an Industrial Truck Mechanic for 32 years. Most of my tools were Craftsman, because I could find a Warranty Replacement easy at my local Sears store. I have no complaints about the quality of my Craftsman tools. They served me very well, with very few issues with breakage. The only Craftsman tool that I had even a small problem with was their Hex Key sockets. I broke afew of these over the years. I used my tools hard and sometimes even abused them, but they never let me down. Most of my Craftsman tools are over 25 years old, but maybe the newer stuff is not as good.
Every single socket I own now or have in the past for my car repairs is made by Craftsman. I have never broken a single one over all of these yrs. last week and weekend I completed a oil seal replacment on my 944, and as as has always happened each and every time, each tool I own including the craftsman sockets preformed as req'd without a single failure. Keep youe sockets and if you want to spend money on somthing look into quality rachets to use with these sockets. I do not like the feel of operation with any Craftsman ratchets. That does not mean they are bad tools , I just prefer my SO, Matco and my go to Williams ratchets.
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The longer I am here on Gj the more I like my craftsman tools, I have much preferred the higher end brands until recently, craftsman is easy to come by and hasn't let me down either, I am slowly dumping the stuff I paid to much for and buying alot more craftsman stuff for the money. I wont buy anything other than usa tools Wich will **** if I end up wanting to warranty a tool, but in the same breath, they are easy to come by through other means.
Good luck in Your decision making, my vote is keep your craftsman, buy alot of it, use the hell out if it.
Good luck in Your decision making, my vote is keep your craftsman, buy alot of it, use the hell out if it.
NC-Fordguy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2012
- Messages
- 1,391
Crafty sockets are good tools. In 30 plus years of wrenching I've only broken a few deep well sockets. Never a standard length socket. I have both newer and older sockets.
Warranty is easy if you have a Sears nearby. A whole lot easier than chasing down the tool truck or mailing broken tools in, finding a receipt and that whole rigamadoo with tool truck brand tools
Warranty is easy if you have a Sears nearby. A whole lot easier than chasing down the tool truck or mailing broken tools in, finding a receipt and that whole rigamadoo with tool truck brand tools
There aren't any "G" sockets out there currently. I think it's a generic Gx code on there - I've shopped a lot at Sears and the old just "G" code was on pre-nickel-only plating sockets.
Regardless those are still all Danaher produced, which was my point, all Danaher which basically means they are just date codes. Basically all the sockets produced after 2000 have all been the same. Eventually they will be Chinese or Taiwanese (Craftsman sockets in Canada are from Taiwan) but probably still Danaher produced. I'll have to look if the impacts are still marked GK even being Chinese, I would hope not but they might.
Outlawmws
Well-known member
Really? All 79 codes Danahar used over the years Danaher has been a tool provider are "just date codes'? What about the several times D sucked up another company and continued using the code as they have done several times? All within the 22 years since they bought the first Craftsman supplier? Do you see the discrepancy?
Even for just the G class code, why the need? and why for a random number of years? Far more likely a shift from one plant to another.
If you think about it, I rather doubt Danaher is the deciding factor here; these are made under contract to Sears. Part of the contract will include things like marking the tool to indicate origin, just as they assign a three digit model number to power and other serialized tools for individual companies. Several other major suppliers did the same for the tool codes, such as Western Forge, and again with significant overlaps.
Up until about the mid sixties, individual markings were used for each maker. Why the change to multiple markings for some makers? The mid sixties marked a major move to conglomerates like Danaher sucking up the competition, and the need for Sears to keep track of different plants.
Why? Consider the warranty. Sears would want to know who made what where, and may have even required the supplier to eat part of the warranty costs. If all Danaher wanted was to mark tools as coming from them, one makers mark would have sufficed. no need for 79... If a date code it would have made some sense to the patterns. It does not.
Maybe a picture will help you see what it really is; and note the several times they continued the prior contract companies markings, and also the couple of times they were clearly imported tools...:
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Outlaw you are intentionally ignoring that we are talking specifically sockets in a particular series here. Danaher has been making Craftsman sockets since what? The 80's or early 90's? Plus you think they are imported now anyway so I am inclined to believe someone at Apex over someone on the internet any day.
Outlawmws
Well-known member
Did you bother looking at the charts for the G codes at all?
I'm not ignoring anything. I'm looking at the all the evidence, and making logical conclusions. Far better than listening to a quote of someone on the internet that talked to what was probably a minimum wage phone helpdesk person answering to get rid of another annoying caller interrupting their game time on the company computer
.Belive whatever you want to, but the evidence does not support your conclusion IMO...
Jarhead0408
Well-known member
The only beef I've got with it is that your getting them for .60 each, if they're not complete jerks I would try to buy double handfuls, I get them cheaper that way. Went to a pawn shop last week and got 108 sockets, all drives ranging from 4mm C-Man to a huge 36mm Thorsen, Most were Craftsman, but also had some older S-K, older Kobalt, some Fleet, Proto, Bluepoint, few Husky's, Thorsens and a couple of real old Snap-On's. Only paid $20 bucks. Came out with almost a complete set of Hex and Torq sockets as well.