Starting over again

[64C10]

Hello all, new guy here. Found this site while researching tool companies and looks to be a wealth of information.

I was hit by tweakers, and 30 years worth of mechanics tools and my rollaway are now gone. So now I’m starting to rebuild (on basically a shoestring budget) and looking for advice on getting the best bang for the buck and getting reasonably good quality at the same time.

I live in a small town, with pretty much nothing except Autozone and Oreilly, and neither of their tool lines seem to be of any real value.

Right now I’m pretty much focused on the basics - wrenches, screwdrivers, 1/4 and 3/8 drive stuff.

 

[mervyn]

Pawn shops used to be a good place to look. Haven’t been in one in a long time.

eBay has some deals but you gotta dig through all the china junk. Good luck

 

[Mytoolsupply]

Sorry to hear about that, your at the right place though lots of valuable info here.
I'm sure others will chime in but Wright Tools is defiantly worth looking into

 

[64C10]

Only pawn shop around here marks stuff up well over retail, haven’t had much luck at the local swap meet either.

Thankfully they couldn’t get into my gang box, so I’ve got my combo wrench sets, 1/2 drive and big stuff still, which can keep me more or less functioning, but not very convenient using a 1/2 drive ratchet to tighten a valve cover.

 

[Johnny Generic]

Try estate sales, auctions, flea markets.

 

[corn chip]

tweekers would need fast cash. you might put a call in to every pawn shop within 200mi. to be on the lookout. throw a stolen property ad in the newspaper as well. unloading 30yr of tools and not drawing suspicion wont be easy

 

[64C10]

I’ve been doing some hunting - pickings have been pretty slim in this market/area. Most of what’s been around has been import stuff from the late 80’s/early 90’s (lots of Great Neck), with a few odds and ends of good stuff.

I’ve pretty much accepted that I’m going to have to buy new for most things, but not having any feel for the myriad brands on Amazon and whatnot, I’m hoping to get some firsthand knowledge.

 

[Fly YX]

Sorry about your stuff. You will probably find it at the pawnshop though. No good now that prices on tools are all going up. I would probably go the Harbor Freight route for now till prices go down. Love Wright tool stuff if you can find it cheap from HJE Circle C supply or Amazon.

 

[unslow1]

A lot of times I just use one of the many plastic boxed kits. They have them in many brands. I have them in Kobalt, Crescent, Craftsman, Gearwrench, Husky and Stanley. The Craftsman one got me by nearly on it's own for more than a decade.

Do you need both SAE and metric?

 

[64C10]

tweekers would need fast cash. you might put a call in to every pawn shop within 200mi. to be on the lookout. throw a stolen property ad in the newspaper as well. unloading 30yr of tools and not drawing suspicion wont be easy

Our local pawn shop hasn’t seen anything, and none nearby claim to have either. Cops said they like to go out on the reservation and sell/trade their acquisitions and had me notify the tribal police as well. It’s been 3 months now, and nobody has seen anything turn up. The box alone likely should have caught someone’s eye (I’m sure there aren’t many Craftsman rollaway combos painted Terex green out there).

 

[64C10]

A lot of times I just use one of the many plastic boxed kits. They have them in many brands. I have them in Kobalt, Crescent, Craftsman, Gearwrench, Husky and Stanley. The Craftsman one got me by nearly on it's own for more than a decade.

Do you need both SAE and metric?

Really I don’t need metric for much - I pretty much don’t tinker with anything newer than my ‘64 Chevy at this point. I let the dealership handle the new stuff.

The little bit of metric I interface with is in crescent wrench territory (kids’ bikes and lawn equipment)

 

[unslow1]

Buying sets always get the best price per piece. You just have to find one that doesn't have a bunch of pieces you don't need. Maybe something with just 1/4 and 3/8 would be more what you need. The Gearwrench 83000 is like that.

Edit Too bad you don't have an Advance Auto near you. They were clearancing that set as well as the Teq Correct version TP 83000.
The Stanley STMT71651 is another 1/4 and 3/8 set that Home Depot carries.

 

[nadogail]

Watch local swap meets and internet sites, Craigs List is one; for people who don't want to work, tools are useless things to be sold or swapped for Booze and Drugs.

 

[64C10]

People that don’t want to work pretty much sums it up around here……usually have to hire 5 to get one that sticks around past the first check.

 

[Professional Tool User]

It depends on how urgently you need the tools. If you have the luxury of being able to wait, buying used high end tools off classifieds may make sense. Otherwise, tools from Harbor Freight and the big box store house brands should be good enough for light use. If you have a bit of extra money, I'd go with Tekton tools.

 

[sparky 1971]

If I were in the same situation, I would be taking a good, long, hard look at Tekton.

 

[ste6168]

Honestly… If I were starting over today, majority of my hand tools would be coming from harbor freight. People hate on the store, but you get an incredible value there, IMO.

Screwdrivers probably wouldn’t, multimeter wouldn’t, and power tools wouldn’t.

I hate to even think about having to start over though. Not even sure what i’d if I woke up tomorrow and everything was gone. Sorry OP, hope you get back on your feet asap.

 

[Indexmill]

What's a tweaker?

 

[64C10]

It was an ugly feeling to come home and see the shed door torn off. On the plus side, they did help themselves to some junk I’d been putting off hauling to the dump.

Ordered a Tekton 3/8 drive set from Amazon tonight….looks like a good starting point to get me back on getting the truck finished.

 

[64C10]

What's a tweaker?

Meth addict

 

[sparky 1971]

It was an ugly feeling to come home and see the shed door torn off. On the plus side, they did help themselves to some junk I’d been putting off hauling to the dump.

Ordered a Tekton 3/8 drive set from Amazon tonight….looks like a good starting point to get me back on getting the truck finished.

You should consider making an account and buying directly from Tekton. They ship for free, faster than Amazon and for the same price, and every order will earn 10% towards your next purchase. If it were me, I'd cancel the Amazon order and go straight to Tekton.

 

[qqzj]

Hello all, new guy here. Found this site while researching tool companies and looks to be a wealth of information.

I was hit by tweakers, and 30 years worth of mechanics tools and my rollaway are now gone. So now I’m starting to rebuild (on basically a shoestring budget) and looking for advice on getting the best bang for the buck and getting reasonably good quality at the same time.

I live in a small town, with pretty much nothing except Autozone and Oreilly, and neither of their tool lines seem to be of any real value.

Right now I’m pretty much focused on the basics - wrenches, screwdrivers, 1/4 and 3/8 drive stuff.

Don't know what you are talking about Duralast and Power Torque are both decent.

According to the recent wisdom, the popular way to get good coverage is to buy socket sets from Tekton and pliers etc from ChannelLock. But I think Irwin is pretty decent.

 

[qqzj]

You should consider making an account and buying directly from Tekton. They ship for free, faster than Amazon and for the same price, and every order will earn 10% towards your next purchase. If it were me, I'd cancel the Amazon order and go straight to Tekton.

Actually, buying Tekton from Zoro.com or Lows.com is cheaper if proper giftcards or coupon codes are used. The best bang for the buck is to buy them from Craigslist.

 

[bonneyman]

Shoot, give us a a description of the majority of work you do and the basic tools you need to do that job. Many of us could chip in and get you a decent starter set of old American chrome. We've done it before as a forum for others who lost their tools to crooks or fires. I've gotten so much knowledge and free stuff off of GJ that I'd be willing to donate to the cause.

 

[sparky 1971]

.

 

[sparky 1971]

Actually, buying Tekton from Zoro.com or Lows.com is cheaper if proper giftcards or coupon codes are used. The best bang for the buck is to buy them from Craigslist.

Buying from Craigslist is fine if the buyer is willing to wait an indefinite amount of time trying to find a deal.

Zoro is ok, but every single time I had one of their coupons, the item I wanted could be purchased somewhere else for less money after the coupon was figured in. Lowes will never get a nickel from me. And, where do the gift cards come from?

 

[mrb1]

Ebay. Aside from buying tools you need, you might end up seeing yours on there. Watch the "local pickup only" within a 50 or so mile radius. Was anything engraved, or distinct about the box? Guessing no type of renters or homeowners insurance? Sorry about the whole deal. Hope everything works out for ya.

 

[qqzj]

Buying from Craigslist is fine if the buyer is willing to wait an indefinite amount of time trying to find a deal.

Zoro is ok, but every single time I had one of their coupons, the item I wanted could be purchased somewhere else for less money after the coupon was figured in. Lowes will never get a nickel from me. And, where do the gift cards come from?

Tekton 3/8 Inch Drive 6-Point Socket and Ratchet Set, 73-Piece (1/4-1 in., 6-24 mm) SKT15311 | Zoro

Order Tekton 3/8 Inch Drive 6-Point Socket and Ratchet Set, 73-Piece (1/4-1 in., 6-24 mm), SKT15311 at Zoro.com. Great prices & free shipping on orders over $50 when you sign in or sign up for an account.

www.zoro.com

With 20% coupon, this is the best deal online. It would be a mistake to buy the smaller set.

For gift cards, I get lowe's coupon from discovercard. 20% when the promotion is on.

 

[64C10]

Shoot, give us a a description of the majority of work you do and the basic tools you need to do that job. Many of us could chip in and get you a decent starter set of old American chrome. We've done it before as a forum for others who lost their tools to crooks or fires. I've gotten so much knowledge and free stuff off of GJ that I'd be willing to donate to the cause.

That’s amazing! I couldn’t ask though. Better for everyone to keep their surplus set aside for some kid that needs a hand up to get started.

Thankfully my predilection for old iron keeps my tooling needs pretty basic.

 

[64C10]

Ebay. Aside from buying tools you need, you might end up seeing yours on there. Watch the "local pickup only" within a 50 or so mile radius. Was anything engraved, or distinct about the box? Guessing no type of renters or homeowners insurance? Sorry about the whole deal. Hope everything works out for ya.

Insurance only covered damage to the structure - nothing on contents.

Box is an early 90’s Craftsman 26”
setup - painted Euclid/Terex green, with an “Apache 20” emblem off a ‘61 Chevy attached to the bottom drawer of the top box and a old style rectangular Peterbilt badge attached to the left side of the top box……should be pretty obvious if/when it shows up.

I never engraved any of the tools, since they never left the house.

 

[username2]

I don't see many deals on eBay, especially when shipping is added on. Craigslist has nothing. Local thrift/used tool stores usually have plenty of sockets (not in sets) and not much else.

What would I buy on the cheap? Maybe check on Amazon for stuff with lower prices. Sometimes Stahlwille wrenches are a deal (but none of their other stuff).

My strong temptation would be to buy a big honkin' impact socket set from Taiwan, some name brand screwdrivers, Channellock pliers (all from Amazon) and look for a decent couple of ratchets on eBay. That seems like the best price-performance.

Alternately, it might be fun to just waltz into Harbor Freight and do the HF Boogie. Personally, I'd probably be fine with that except for screwdrivers. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/my-harbor-freight-investment.67850/

There's something tempting about breaking free from the Monkey Shiney name-brand world and going whole-hog with Chinesium.

 

[64C10]

I went and dug through my old “work” boxes, and I’m in a little better shape than I thought I was…..got 1/2” impact sets from 3/8-1 1/2, combo wrenches from 1/4-1 5/8”, ratcheting combos from 1/4-1 1/4”, and some misc hammers, prybars, pliers and whatnot. Not to mention some of those 9.99 Craftsman 1/4 and 3/8 drive sets.

Looks like all the specialty/diagnostic stuff and a new box are going to be the big headaches now

 

[bonneyman]

That’s amazing! I couldn’t ask though. Better for everyone to keep their surplus set aside for some kid that needs a hand up to get started.

Thankfully my predilection for old iron keeps my tooling needs pretty basic.

Your humility is commendable.

Let me know if you could use some stuff. You're a fellow Arizonan - not that far away. The shipping would be acceptable.

 

[64C10]

Thanks again! I’m still taking inventory of what I had scattered around, I’ll let you know what deficiencies I find.

 

[Snapped-off]

Alternately, it might be fun to just waltz into Harbor Freight and do the HF Boogie. Personally, I'd probably be fine with that except for screwdrivers. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/my-harbor-freight-investment.67850/

I wonder what ever happened to him... I remember following along with his story, and he eventually upgraded to a huge Macsimizer full of MAC.. He would warranty his HF tools just for being dirty.

 

[zktk01]

Keep an eye out in the classified section alot of nice tools at nice price.

 

[Iridium rand]

Unfortunately chasing stolen goods is usually a fools errand, every time I’ve tried or seen anyone else, even if it was caught on camera ends in failure to recover anything and usually cops either don’t care of have something better to do unless you know who it was already.

Personally I’d make do with what you have where possible and get some ebay/HF to fill in any urgent blanks, then gradually replace it with nicer stuff since you’re on a tight budget right now

 

[64C10]

Unfortunately chasing stolen goods is usually a fools errand, every time I’ve tried or seen anyone else, even if it was caught on camera ends in failure to recover anything and usually cops either don’t care of have something better to do unless you know who it was already.

Personally I’d make do with what you have where possible and get some ebay/HF to fill in any urgent blanks, then gradually replace it with nicer stuff since you’re on a tight budget right now

That’s pretty much the plan. I am supposed to get my Tekton set today, and that blended with the stuff I’ve got I can at least get back to work on my projects.

The stuff that really gripes me about trying to replace is my little box of ignition and carburetor goodies. Many times that little oddball stuff was a lifesaver.

 

[Mr. D]

Don't discount Harbor Freight for getting back in the game on a tight budget. As a DIY'er their tools will last under normal use.

 

[64C10]

I’m going to head down to HF after work today - see what kind of damage I can do with 50 bucks or so.