Please help me decide on a socket set

[archirelic]

The image of a 2 year old putting a square peg into a round hole comes to mind, this place is just too much...

 

[bigbarf48]

I guess you never had to work in the dark, on your back, under a car with more that one different size fastener.

its an inconvenience that no other socket in the world causes so I see them as an inferior design

I have, i just also am fully capable of seating a square into a hole without having to look. Your sense of 'feel' is a wonderful thing

 

[amolaver]

IMO, it isn't much of a comparison; the gearwrench stuff certainly has a MUCH nicer and more consistent finish than the CM, and i haven't heard of a single broken socket. mine certainly get used pretty hard (mostly impact sockets) and i haven't had a failure. the GW chrome pieces have both a 'brighter' and 'deeper' finish, and don't have any of the flaws that the craftsman pieces commonly do. my older CM sockets almost all have cosmetic flaws, although i will admit, i've had very few failures.

i do have a couple of sets of the 1/2" deep US-made craftsman impacts, and they've held up great, but i got them for 1/2 price (~$40 if i remember correctly). not sure if they've moved production offshore and if it has improved or worsened quality if so.

ahm

 

[gtlaw]

The image of a 2 year old putting a square peg into a round hole comes to mind, this place is just too much...

as funny as that sounds there are many times where you can't examine the socket while putting it on if you notice in my first post I stated it was blindly

you obviously aren't working in the situations I have, and must defend the brand you're invested in. I feel I have a legitimate complaint about the questionable design, and if it were a good design why hasn't any other brand copied it?

 

[gtlaw]

I have, i just also am fully capable of seating a square into a hole without having to look. Your sense of 'feel' is a wonderful thing

after hours of wrenching on my back, and I just want to finish the job the last thing I need in a socket it to be feeling for something except the size. I got rid of the couple sets I had, and won't experience this problem again

 

[redwrench60]

I can see how socket drives that line up eight different ways but only four are right could be a little annoying....just sayin'

 

[concealer404]

What is NAPA changing from or to? It seems like the NAPA's around here are franchised and have a different stock depending on location. My local one just has Evercraft, the one near work has a lot of SK stuff, and I was in one the other day 30 miles away that had a huge GearWrench display.

My answer on the OP question is to get CM if you can find a USA set, if not get the GW.

Changing from their in-house Napa Pro brand which is rebadged Gearwrench as far as i know, to a new brand they're launching called "Carlisle."

Sooo... for that matter, you can get the GW 1/4" and 3/8" drive sets for $61 + shipping.

http://www.cripedistributing.com/napa-56-pc-1-4-socket-set-deep-shallow-90927-ro.html

http://www.cripedistributing.com/napa-62-pc-3-8-socket-set-deep-shallow-nht90928-ro.html

 

[plinker]

Just about all the Danaher/Apex socket's that are US made have the twin detent feature. I dont find it that big an inconvience to turn the socket once in a while. I like the feature because they stay on the ratchet/extension better.

 

[franzdom]

I just don't get the point of the double detent, what is it possibly good for?

 

[gtlaw]

Just about all the Danaher/Apex socket's that are US made have the twin detent feature. I dont find it that big an inconvience to turn the socket once in a while. I like the feature because they stay on the ratchet/extension better.

except matco because pros wouldn't have that ****, and fortunately they didn't because their mids are my favorite set

I just don't get the point of the double detent, what is it possibly good for?

I never noticed any perceivable difference, but some people in this thread are saying they hold on better. I thought the socket was perfected with the lobular hex, and all four sides of the drive having detents obviously danaher thought that was incorrect, and decided to reinvent the wheel

 

[greasemonkey44]

I must admit I do a lot of work using a wobble so much so that they are my go to extensions its definitely a problem with them. I know recently using someones 1/4" allen socket set I had the problem without a wobble

why would anyone choose to use sockets that cause any hassle even one as small as putting them back on the rail?

its annoying as hell isnt it? not that its gonna end the world or be super inconvient.....its like a mosquito bite

i have a craftsman locking ext that has the double detent and you have to add that 1/8 turn to line it up

 

[er3456df]

I dont get it... it snags when you put the extension in in a manner in which to squares cannot fit together. What the hell did you think would happen

Nice attitude. Is this your first time using a ratchet? Congrats, but once the novelty wears off, you may find that it's nice to not have to look at it in order to stick the socket on the end.

gtlaw, I know what you're talking about, happens to me all the time. I didn't notice until you pointed it out, but it's just the wobbles that do it. The straight extensions work fine.

 

[gtlaw]

its annoying as hell isnt it? not that its gonna end the world or be super inconvient.....its like a mosquito bite

i have a craftsman locking ext that has the double detent and you have to add that 1/8 turn to line it up

well said thank you

Nice attitude. Is this your first time using a ratchet? Congrats, but once the novelty wears off, you may find that it's nice to not have to look at it in order to stick the socket on the end.

gtlaw, I know what you're talking about, happens to me all the time. I didn't notice until you pointed it out, but it's just the wobbles that do it. The straight extensions work fine.

its funny because I put up with it for so long knowing the problem existed, but accepting it like its supposed to be that way. now I changed its a relief I'll never have that inconvenience again.

I would only recommend these sockets to the most casual wrencher as I feel any other brand would be superior as long as they don't break

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

WTF, the CM set just went up $100 in less than 24hrs... **** it, at that price I will just get the GW sets.

 

[TwoInch]

WTF, the CM set just went up $100 in less than 24hrs... **** it, at that price I will just get the GW sets.

the prces change all the time. if you can wait, get them on the big sales. awesome deal. can not be beat for the money

 

[SMKS]

the prces change all the time. if you can wait, get them on the big sales. awesome deal. can not be beat for the money

+1

Getting a deal at Sears is all about waiting for a sale.

 

[TwoInch]

I guess you never had to work in the dark, on your back, under a car with more that one different size fastener.

its an inconvenience that no other socket in the world causes so I see them as an inferior design

certain wobble extensions can cause a slight snag, you are right. one of the wobbles i have do it, the rest dont. depends on the shape of drive.

i use my craftsman sockets practically every day of the week, and have only gotten very slightly agitated when putting them on socket rails, because the clip on the rail flexs and allows the socket to grab slightly in the wrong position. nowhere near a big enough agitation to allow me to spend a thousand dollars replacing all my sockets that work just fine though, it all adds maybe five seconds to my task of putting twenty sockets back to their rails.

taking a closer look at my sockets last night made me notice that some of my 1/4 drive deeps have a defect in the double detents, that will not allow the socket to lock onto the ball in the ratchet. never noticed this before. the inner detent is very small compared to the correct type.

 

[TwoInch]

+1

Getting a deal at Sears is all about waiting for a sale.

which usually doesnt take very long either...

 

[TwoInch]

next holiday will probably bring them down again

 

[NC-Fordguy]

The image of a 2 year old putting a square peg into a round hole comes to mind, this place is just too much...

Now that's funny

 

[ajchien]

well said thank you




its funny because I put up with it for so long knowing the problem existed, but accepting it like its supposed to be that way. now I changed its a relief I'll never have that inconvenience again.

I would only recommend these sockets to the most casual wrencher as I feel any other brand would be superior as long as they don't break

Interesting. I guess I've been dealing with too, moreso with wobble extensions than regular. I guess I've gotten used to it. Dosent fit in, wiggle a bit more and it goes. Never seemed to bother me as much as some others here, bu I can see how it could really get irritating.

 

[gtlaw]

here is 1/4" drive with normal extensions

that design really is flawed

 

[Slingshot Engage]

it seems to be worse on the 1/4 than the 1/2.

 

[Skin]

Garage Journal. Exposing flaws in tools you never new existed since Dec 2011.

 

[NC-Fordguy]

Isn't that an allen socket in the latest pic?

 

[ajchien]

Well, I'm really confused now. Gtlaw, my regular extensions (Proto, snap on, SK, craftsman, HF) don't fit into the craftsman (G2 version) double detent slots like yours do. The corners are too wide to accidentally fit. However, my wobble extensions do fall into the double detent slots. I tried it in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 drive.

 

[concealer404]

Isn't that an allen socket in the latest pic?

Allen makes the high visibility CM sockets.

 

[SMKS]

Allen makes the high visibility CM sockets.

Actually, "Allen" is just another name Danaher/Apex has stamped on tools. Frequently, the tools were identical or very similar to Craftsman, K-D and others.

 

[TwoInch]

Well, I'm really confused now. Gtlaw, my regular extensions (Proto, snap on, SK, craftsman, HF) don't fit into the craftsman (G2 version) double detent slots like yours do. The corners are too wide to accidentally fit. However, my wobble extensions do fall into the double detent slots. I tried it in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 drive.

i do not believe his normal extension is actual hung up on that socket in that last picture. its just sitting at 45* as if it was "in" the detent. i have measured with a caliper allens, and craftsman double detents, from a few different years, and the square drive of a ratchet or extension will not hang up on them. it is too precise of a fit, and the detents are considerably smaller corner to corner. a wobble is rounded enough to hang up just slightly, depending on brand and wobble end dimensions.

at the price i got the craftsman sockets for, the occasional wobble and rail woes are not a big enough deal to make me even consider dumping off the hundred plus double detent sockets i have.

 

[gtlaw]

the extension is a 6" S-K that measures .320 across the corners I returned the sockets so I can't measure them now, but I can assure you it was bottomed out in the detents how do you think its balancing on the socket in the first picture?

 

[TwoInch]

i can balance an extension on my sockets too. without it being in the detents. got one balancing in front of me now. maybe your sockets have larger double detents, i dont know. all i know is all the double detent sockets i have are unable to snag a square drive.

 

[TwoInch]

well, while messing with a few of the oddball sockets in my 1/4 drawer, i did find an early G2 series that will catch, like you say. so there are some that will snag in the 1/4 drive. i checked many in the other two drives, and all 1/4 from different later sets, all with doubles, and they dont. the one i found that did was the old bright chrome G2.

 

[gtlaw]

well, while messing with a few of the oddball sockets in my 1/4 drawer, i did find an early G2 series that will catch, like you say. so there are some that will snag in the 1/4 drive. i checked many in the other two drives, and all 1/4 from different later sets, all with doubles, and they dont. the one i found that did was the old bright chrome G2.

in all honesty I never owned a newer dual marked set so they may have corrected the problem on newer sets. I swear my 3/8" metric set used to do it too, but I don't think I ever had the problem with 1/2"

 

[NC-Fordguy]

I got intrigued by this thread and went and looked at my stuff. I've spent many hours on my back, r&r trannys and t-cases, regearing axles, building linked suspensions and never ever experienced the above mentioned issues.

Looking at my stuff, most of my crafty sockets are v and g stamped. I'm seeing the little notch outs in the newer stuff g1 and g2 sockets. It's also on their newer stuff as I replaced a split 14mm deep its coded g21. That socket is the newer etched with stamping near the base.

I tried wobble extensions on some of my newer sockets and could not get anything to catch. I have crafty, kobolt, hf and ampro wobble extensions. I wonder if the issue might be with the wobble extension itself??

I also looked at my bacho, snappy, hf, kobolt and duralast sockets and the do not have that little notch out

 

[Mr Ratchet]

Garage Journal. Exposing flaws in tools you never new existed since Dec 2011.

Good one Skin! I never payed any attention to the double dents until I saw this thread. I went downstairs tonight and tried some sockets and extensions to see for myself.

No issues with the 1/2" drive. The std extensions in CM and SO went right in and did not hang up. My newer Kobalt wobble did a little, but went with a slight twist. The 3 /8" were almost the same with the std in CM and Duralast. The wobbles from CM and newer Kolbalt did hang up some and neded a little more twisting and backing off the pressure. The 1/4" drive on the other hand can hang up with both wobble and std extensions both in CM and the newer Kolbalt.

I does not really bother me and like I said earlier, i never thought much about it. I could see how some would be bothered if you were doing a job where you could use three hands and you needed to fight a little with seating a socket on a drive tool or extension. I won't trade off any of my sockets that do have the double dents.

If I were buying all new sockets again, I would go with Blue Points and fill in any gaps with Armstrongs.

 

[vga]

Every single socket I own is a Craftsman and they have served me well for many years and no I have yet to break one.

 

[shoturtle]

GW is the prettier socket for sure. The craftsman is the better value. And are the same as the Armstrong sockets.

 

[gtlaw]

I got intrigued by this thread and went and looked at my stuff. I've spent many hours on my back, r&r trannys and t-cases, regearing axles, building linked suspensions and never ever experienced the above mentioned issues.

Looking at my stuff, most of my crafty sockets are v and g stamped. I'm seeing the little notch outs in the newer stuff g1 and g2 sockets. It's also on their newer stuff as I replaced a split 14mm deep its coded g21. That socket is the newer etched with stamping near the base.

I tried wobble extensions on some of my newer sockets and could not get anything to catch. I have crafty, kobolt, hf and ampro wobble extensions. I wonder if the issue might be with the wobble extension itself??

I also looked at my bacho, snappy, hf, kobolt and duralast sockets and the do not have that little notch out

the wobbles pictured are a proto in the first pic, and snap-on in the second socket is a newer dual marked.

 

[Carkid]

Go with the Craftsmans, they have the best value, can't wait to get the 413 peice tool set from craftsman!

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Go with the Craftsmans, they have the best value, can't wait to get the 413 peice tool set from craftsman!

I did and I regret it... The chrome is ****** and the tolerances are subpar on a few. I am either going GearWrench or Mac edge.