Starting over on hand tools

[bawood]

So about 3 years ago all my hand tools were stolen. I didn't have a ton of stuff, but a ~32" rolling cart mostly full of 90s era craftsman. Mostly focused on basic automotive hand tools.

I've made do with some odds and ends, but I recently got a new/old 4wd, and I'm sick of that and have some money set aside to rebuild. I was thinking about basically, if you had 7-800 for just hand tools, how would you build a decent set. Basically need the ability to take apart a car, but not rebuild engine/trans.


It seems like there's 100s of "sets" which give you 5 dozen bits and a few wrenches in the normal sizes, but leave off a ton of the useful sizes and have sloppy ratchets, etc.

 

[buckwheat_la]

Gearwrench full socket sets.....1/4 3/8 1/2 120xp for about $250. Sunnex impact sockets. Williams super combo metric (and standard). Milwaukee or Makita power tools. Probably still have money left

 

[Tonellin]

HF sockets and ratchets are damn near impossible to beat for the weekend warrior

 

[crewchief888]

if i was starting over with hand tools for home use,

i think i'd be looking at SK...


just my $0.02

 

[bawood]

I'm HF gun shy after I sheared a breaker bar on an axle nut a decade ago, switched to CM ratchet and it did the job. When a ratchet is stronger than solid steel that tells me what I need to know.

(I do plan to involve HF's bargain of a toolbox though)

 

[firworks]

For Metric sockets I'd go grab the complete Toptul noskip smorgasboard off eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOPTUL-GAAQ...191069?hash=item1c76801a1d:g:9RYAAOSwHoFXsGWw

I have SK and Wright and GearWrench and I almost always grab the Toptuls.

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Hell of a deal I feel for 70$.

For SAE sockets I'd go for GearWrench or Williams Taiwan. They used to show up all the time in the Amazon Warehouse Deals thread on crazy deals but I'm not sure if that's true anymore.

Impact sockets = Sunex

They are synonymous.

For combination wrenches I love my WrightGrips, but you really don't need to spend that much unless you just love tools. I've honestly been surprisingly happy with the DeWalt wrenches I have picked up when I'm out somewhere trying to help someone and they're missing a size. If you can snag them on sale at your local Sears or Farm and Fleet they'd probably be a good option.

GearWrench ratcheting combination wrenches are on sale all the time at Advanced Auto Parts. They're a good deal but watch for skips, most of their sets are very skippy.

Wera, Felo and Wiha are all top end screwdrivers, and you can get them all with striking caps which can come in handy working on cars. Surprisingly though, I picked up some of the Kobalt striking cap screwdrivers at Lowes when they were clearanced earlier this year and I end up grabbing them a lot. I really like the big square handles. They were not expensive at all (3-5$ a piece).

Beyond that telling us what gaps you're looking to fill would probably help. Also do you have the non hand tool garage essentials? Compressor, floor jack, jack stands, impacts, that kind of stuff?

Also do you live near a Harbor Freight? As long as you stick to the "gems" people around here can recommend you can fill in a lot of the holes with quality shizzle wizzle. For example, I splurged on a 1/2" 30" SK XXL breaker bar. It's beautiful and awesome, but I don't feel like it's stronger than my 1/2" HF Professional breaker bar. All of my breaker bars have been replaced now though by the ultra beast 1/2" Wright flex-head ratchet I recently got. It's preposterously beefy.

Edit: I just saw your post that was made while I was making mine about shearing the breaker bar. I think HF quality has improved quite a bit on some of the hand tools over the years. Their Pittsburgh Pro ratchets are very nice now.

 

[bert1913]

i replaced my usa craftsman with long reach gearwrench

 

[bawood]

compressor/impact=no
Floor jacks/stands=yes

Screw drivers were a hodge-podge of crafstmans, some stanleys(which I should toss given the phillips don't bite) and some odds and ends.


The comment about gearwrench ratcheting wrench skipping gives me some pause(I was about to pull the tigger on those since they're never in sets).

 

[firworks]

compressor/impact=no
Floor jacks/stands=yes

Screw drivers were a hodge-podge of crafstmans, some stanleys(which I should toss given the phillips don't bite) and some odds and ends.


The comment about gearwrench ratcheting wrench skipping gives me some pause(I was about to pull the tigger on those since they're never in sets).

Oh shoot, I didn't think of the fact that that was ambiguous. I meant they skip sizes a lot. Not that the mechanism skips. I've had no issues with my GW mechanically just going into my box to grab one and coming back empty handed because it was a skip in the set I got.

If you don't have a compressor and impact, give a thought to going cordless. Milwaukee 2763-20, Makita XWT08Z, or the DeWilt DCF899HB are all very beastly and so convenient. They'll knock the pants off of a consumer grade impact and crappy home compressor.

 

[Wamsutta]

To answer your question, I'd spend the money on everything that goes into my hand. Anything that doesn't go into my hand (like sockets and extensions) I'd cheap out on. The tool set would be comprised of multiple brands too.