Look for impact sockets
- Thread starter Shazaam80
- Start date
66Caprice
Well-known member
You go to the local store and buy a set! It's not like they are only available
at the tool truck......
Welcome to the boards!!!
at the tool truck......
Welcome to the boards!!!
RWorth
Well-known member
Personally I have never had a set of Name Brand impacts. All the sets I have are cheapy's, and I have never broken one.
I have 3/8,1/2,3/4 and 1". I bought most of them before the Harbor Freights were around, but non of them are name brand. If I remember correctly they all came from the parts store tool flyers. So probably HF quality.
The 1/2" you can just goto harbor freight and get a kit, and they will last you years.
For the 3/4" set, it looks like the Hf kit doesn't have 1 5/16, so it's kind of ******. The Capri tools kit looks like it is well reviewed on YouTube and is $100, and has the most important size.
For the 3/4" set, it looks like the Hf kit doesn't have 1 5/16, so it's kind of ******. The Capri tools kit looks like it is well reviewed on YouTube and is $100, and has the most important size.
I'd recommend sunex on amazon for both the 1/2 and 3/4 set. They have good sockets that fit nicely and don't wear out and they come packaged in really complete socket sets. The 1/2 drive set goes from 3/8 to 1-1/2 shallow and deep with no skipped sizes.
I can honestly say I have beat the **** out of my cheap Harbor Freight impact sockets for roughly 4 years now as a fleet mechanic and I have zero complaints. Really can't go wrong with them. Also had some of the older US made Craftsmans they were good as well. Can't speak for the new Craftsman socket though. Best of luck.
pilotmotor
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2018
- Messages
- 88
Welcome
search the classifieds here , craigslist ,& e bay. i have snap on ,mac ,cornwell ,sk craftsman and proto. bought them all used except sk. all at very reasonable prices .
I have all drive sizes up to 3/4 flex deep semi deep ect. mostly 25-30 years old.
I never broke a 1/2 drive impact except a snap on 15mm pin type swivel .Oddly enough i work mostly on japanese cars and they dont have many 15mm fasteners.
I have no experience with the imports.
search the classifieds here , craigslist ,& e bay. i have snap on ,mac ,cornwell ,sk craftsman and proto. bought them all used except sk. all at very reasonable prices .
I have all drive sizes up to 3/4 flex deep semi deep ect. mostly 25-30 years old.
I never broke a 1/2 drive impact except a snap on 15mm pin type swivel .Oddly enough i work mostly on japanese cars and they dont have many 15mm fasteners.
I have no experience with the imports.
xin
Well-known member
Get a COMPLETE set - if they are missin like certain sizes it is a pain in the rear as you will need that size (the set is missin).
Pontiac787
Well-known member
Another vote for Sunex. I got both SAE and Metric master sets for under $200 with a 15% off eBay coupon. The sets are very complete and the boxes are solid and keep everything organized. The sockets themselves have a lifetime warranty and are double stamped with the size.
ken w.
Well-known member
I see you are in Vermont. There is a store in Rutland , Vt. that sells used tools. The ad I saw on CL said 50 % off tool truck price ?? I agree with the other posters as I have never broke an impact socket. I have SO , Mac , Matco , Cornwell and Sunex and all have held up well. I would also look at CL and Ebay. Estate and farm sales are a good place to check out too.
If you are still going to school , I would look into the student discount from the truck tool dealers. I thought it was a 50 % off on new tools. Someone correct me if it's different. That's a deal that's not worth missing out on. That's also a good way to build a good relationship with your local dealer. Just my opinion.
If you are still going to school , I would look into the student discount from the truck tool dealers. I thought it was a 50 % off on new tools. Someone correct me if it's different. That's a deal that's not worth missing out on. That's also a good way to build a good relationship with your local dealer. Just my opinion.
Buckgnarly
Well-known member
FYI, that place in Rutvegas has mediocre prices at best
He has a ton of junk, but its not worth going out of your way.I have HF, USA Williams, USA Craftsman, and Sunex. My least favorite are the HF. I never use the Craftsman sockets because they are in my home box, but I really like them. I use Williams at work and am super happy with them. The 21 and 3/4 are my most used. The Sunex are in my truck as part of my mobile tool kit, and I’m super pleased with them, too.
JuliusPepperwood
Well-known member
Tekton impact sockets don’t skip sizes. They are affordable and you can beat the **** out of them. and their 3/4 set comes with a ratchet.
Good advice here
Fleet mechanic for heavy stuff or Sprinter vans? That makes a difference between biasing your initial set to fractional or metric.
Complete sets (Murphy's law dictates that you will need the one you don't have)
1)Tekton for 1/2" shallow and deep (3/8 to 1-1/4 missing 1-3/16, they have a completer set that goes to 1-1/2 that includes it but only in deep) and 3/4" shallow and deep (complete to 2")
(Buy from the Tekton.com website for free shipping and rewards points)
Use your VA benefits to go to school and they will pay for the student kit that the school offers. If you like a particular brand pick a school that is partnered with that brand. That will get you a very good set of tools and a box without so much out of pocket.
Fleet mechanic for heavy stuff or Sprinter vans? That makes a difference between biasing your initial set to fractional or metric.
Complete sets (Murphy's law dictates that you will need the one you don't have)
1)Tekton for 1/2" shallow and deep (3/8 to 1-1/4 missing 1-3/16, they have a completer set that goes to 1-1/2 that includes it but only in deep) and 3/4" shallow and deep (complete to 2")
(Buy from the Tekton.com website for free shipping and rewards points)
Use your VA benefits to go to school and they will pay for the student kit that the school offers. If you like a particular brand pick a school that is partnered with that brand. That will get you a very good set of tools and a box without so much out of pocket.
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Mohawk Dave
Well-known member
Sunex from Amazon. Tekton from Amazon.
I have all excellent condition used Snap-on from Craigslist and eBay. I did not spend very much money but I had time to invest in finding them. I also drive around Southern California for work so that made it very possible to catch all the good deals.
If I lost them all to theft or a fire I would probably just buy full Sunex sets on Amazon and call it a day.
I can't in good conscience recommend truck brands for three quarter inch. I have all snap on but those things are so beefcake that even Sunex or similar would take forever to wear out. I think my snap on three-quarter impact SAE socket set MSRP is something like $1,400. I got it off Craigslist for 200.
Edit: like others have said in this thread, buy complete sets. It is not worth the money trying to supplement later or the headache. Buy once cry once
Edit 2. My snap on 1/2" impacts go to 1-9/16", so I've been supplementing that set up to 2 inch with Sunex singles off of Amazon. I work on a lot of machinery doing refurbs and oftentimes my fuel impact in 1/2 inch will crank off a 2in nut or Bolt and I don't have to get out the big 3/4 stuff.
Edit 3. Keep your eyes peeled for torque multipliers and maybe a swench wrench set. In fact you can usually hunt and find a swench wrench set used on eBay that comes with all the three quarter inch impact sockets for cheaper than you can just buy the sockets for. My swench wrench came with all Williams USA. It is military surplus from the 2000s. I paid 200 for that on Craigslist as well
I have all excellent condition used Snap-on from Craigslist and eBay. I did not spend very much money but I had time to invest in finding them. I also drive around Southern California for work so that made it very possible to catch all the good deals.
If I lost them all to theft or a fire I would probably just buy full Sunex sets on Amazon and call it a day.
I can't in good conscience recommend truck brands for three quarter inch. I have all snap on but those things are so beefcake that even Sunex or similar would take forever to wear out. I think my snap on three-quarter impact SAE socket set MSRP is something like $1,400. I got it off Craigslist for 200.
Edit: like others have said in this thread, buy complete sets. It is not worth the money trying to supplement later or the headache. Buy once cry once
Edit 2. My snap on 1/2" impacts go to 1-9/16", so I've been supplementing that set up to 2 inch with Sunex singles off of Amazon. I work on a lot of machinery doing refurbs and oftentimes my fuel impact in 1/2 inch will crank off a 2in nut or Bolt and I don't have to get out the big 3/4 stuff.
Edit 3. Keep your eyes peeled for torque multipliers and maybe a swench wrench set. In fact you can usually hunt and find a swench wrench set used on eBay that comes with all the three quarter inch impact sockets for cheaper than you can just buy the sockets for. My swench wrench came with all Williams USA. It is military surplus from the 2000s. I paid 200 for that on Craigslist as well
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Snakebyt
Well-known member
i use grey pneumatic on a daily basis and never had a problem, problem with HF and some other places is that they do not sell complete sets, and harder to get ones to fill the gaps, and after filling the gaps if its available, that puts you in a price range to get a set that is complete
If you go with Tekton, buying directly from them can be your best bet. There are sales and free shipping offers sometimes. Check their site. Amazon has not been the lowest price on many items for a long time. The
"free" shipping is usually in the price. Most tool dealers are cheaper and will ship free for a minimum that is usually not that high. Amazon is also collecting tax in some states, where smaller sellers are not.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
"free" shipping is usually in the price. Most tool dealers are cheaper and will ship free for a minimum that is usually not that high. Amazon is also collecting tax in some states, where smaller sellers are not.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
MrElectric03
Well-known member
Matco had a line called adv for a while. They were identical to my grey pneumatic sockets and lifetime warranty. In 10 years as a heavy mining equipment mechanic I only broke the most used sockets in my GP set and would then replace them with the matcos and would never again have an issue. I'd buy them again anytime.
SuitorsGarage
Well-known member
If you are near Wells River or Saint Johnsbury go to Dad's 4X if you want Tekton.
Harbor freights are good quality regardless of what you may heard. Otherwise tekton is always a good affordable option or I actually recommend Capri tools. The trend here is that these are all made in Taiwan and offer good balance between price and quality. If you wanted to upgrade to tooltruck quality later you can because you didn’t really break the bank with these.
Parrothead
Well-known member
Sensing a theme yet? Full sets and not truck brands.
Tekton would be my #1 choice, or Sunnex or Grey Pneumatic. Performance Tool also makes a set but can’t verify their impacts. I have their chrome and they’re good too.
Snakebyt
Well-known member
i will clarify, on my 1/2 grey pneumatic sets, it came with 10-27, but did skip 23,24,25.
Dont know why on earth they wouldnt include a 24, but it was easy enough to just buy a matching 24 shallow and deep. And i have never had the use for a 23 or a 25. So not a 100% complete set, its complete enough for 99% of jobs
http://www.gpsocket.com/products/product.phtml/1412M/?popup=1
http://www.gpsocket.com/products/product.phtml/1412MD/?popup=1
Dont know why on earth they wouldnt include a 24, but it was easy enough to just buy a matching 24 shallow and deep. And i have never had the use for a 23 or a 25. So not a 100% complete set, its complete enough for 99% of jobs
http://www.gpsocket.com/products/product.phtml/1412M/?popup=1
http://www.gpsocket.com/products/product.phtml/1412MD/?popup=1
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ken w.
Well-known member
FYI, that place in Rutvegas has mediocre prices at best
Thanks for that update. I haven't personally been to this shop. I have only seen his ad on CL. Most used tool stores are stuck with a lot of junk. They should be smart enough to clean house once in a while.
bert1913
Well-known member
make sure you buy cro-mo not cro-v impact sockets: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-297389.html
Buckgnarly
Well-known member
Dad's is a great place, just stopped in last week and was surprised and happy to see all the Tekton stuff
I have mostly HF impact sockets but I did buy a Tekton metric set off Amazon. It goes from 11 to 32 but skips a few. Not a big deal. I mostly bought it for my Jeep when I have to do wheel bearings. These are a 12 point set (wheel bearing bolts require a 12 point 14mm). I was worried I would break my regular sockets and for $33 they are worth a try. So far I'm happy with them and the case they come in is nice.
This doesn’t seem to be a settled issue despite how many times it is discussed. I think the beginnings of this idea is that most chrome hand sockets are made from a chromium vanadium alloy. Some poor quality impact sockets were also sold at Harbor Freight (probably other places) which also happened to be vanadium and they often broke creating this recurring folklore that vanadium equals broken impact sockets.
Impact rated sockets are commonly made with molybdenum alloys and hardened less than hand sockets to prevent shattering but similar properties could be imbued in a vanadium alloy with a different hardening process than that used for hand sockets. Steel, like concrete, is a very complex material and very small changes to the composition of the constituent elements and/or the production and finishing processes can dramatically change its properties. You can’t judge it by feel.
I am a fan of Tekton impacts because they are a bit harder than some of my other sockets and hold up better under the punishment from the big Milwaukee impact. The softer ones I have are getting the drive end wallowed out. This will happen to any impact socket eventually (the alternative would be wearing out the anvil on the gun which would be more expensive and inconvenient to replace) but it shouldn’t be noticeable after only a few uses.
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Honda guy
Well-known member
I have SnapOn and Grey Pneumatic. Nothing against SO, but I recommend GP, because they hold up better, have slightly thinner walls and are about 1/3 the price.
Oh yeah, welcome to Garage Journal
Oh yeah, welcome to Garage Journal
Well said
I think just saying CM is better than CV or vice versa shows a lack of understanding and simplistic view. I have tool truck impacts that are too soft and are wearing too fast at the drive end which are CM. I now look at the design of the socket and make sure short cuts have not been made. Things like proper necked down ends, no tapered socket ends that show cost cutting. If the company makes short cuts everywhere making them, they most likely do the same with heat treatment and metal composition quality. I prefer well designed CV sockets that don't necessarily come off a tool truck or cost top dollar but are designed properly without cost cutting production designs. Most tools price is an indication of quality, but I've found with impacts this is far from the case.
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absolutely not true .
cr-v been used for decades in impact sockets, good quality base alloy and correct tempering is what important in an impact grade tool
Lot of current cr-mo almost useless as soft and wallows easily .
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=385552
Sunex master nice in coverage but socket design is not great, I prefer cr-v taiwan made japan style, HF pitts pro cr-mo are good and also cheap/easy warranty but size range ***** plus not roll stamped .