visited tool truck

[KEH]

Went to Snap On truck today to make a minor purchase(3 3/8 drive metric sockets). Did not see any ratchet with made in USA on it. Told dealer, a real fine guy, that i was still unhappy about no USA on ratchets. He said I wasn't by myself and that he had been to a meeting and that subject was brought up. SO says they sell a lot overseas, a lot of countries don't want USA on tools, the SO market is growing world wide and decreasing here.

All the ratchets have the new style with the screws coming in from the bottom, the top of the ratchet is smooth. Dealer said they were stronger.

Glanced at some Blue Point picks, they were made in China.

Re the used tool box market, he had a used box and roller cabinet, looked to be about 40 inches wide, already sold, was going to deliver it. Top box still had the shrink wrap on the sides and top. Didn't bother asking about price.

He said he sold about twice as many 3/8 drive as 1/4 and 1/2 combined.

My 3 little sockets had USA on them, so I bought them. I'm wondering why those foreigners don't want USA on ratchets, but don't care about sockets with USA on them .

He was parked at a Cheverolet dealership and the tool business seemed to be good there.

KEH

 

[GoBlue]

If they were worried about offending people in other countrys they would strip U.S.A from everything...i dont buy that for a second. I believe they are foreign made. Still great ratchets but not made here. The thought of a far east imported ratchet doesn't bother as much as paying tool truck prices for far eastern imports. If your going to use the slave labor at least pass on the savings! I have no false notions that manufacturing will ever come back...though i wish it would.

 

[twincam00]

this has been discussed extensively before. Snap-On's explanation makes no sense, they're clearly not making all of the parts in the US or they are taking the stamping off then slowly moving production overseas so we don't notice

 

[GoBlue]

I think your second point is spot on

 

[pipsters]

I noticed today on my Craftsman roll punches the made in USA is even gone from the front of the package. It used to be prominent, then it was in a small obscure corner, now it's on the back tucked into a small corner. I'm buying up all the US stuff I can while I still can.

Sounds like Snap-On is following the same MO. I believe Matco still stamps their stuff USA as they are a Danaher brand correct?

 

[jjjrmx5]

this has been discussed extensively before. Snap-On's explanation makes no sense, they're clearly not making all of the parts in the US or they are taking the stamping off then slowly moving production overseas so we don't notice

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I agree 100%.

I would be more than reluctant to believe your Snap_on dealer KEH, and rather really do come to grips with the fact that in many circumstances, items are being or will be in the future made overseas or being the other case only assembled here in the USA or North America.

Striping the stamping off of the tools allows several options for mfng. or assembly that could not be a path taken if the tool is stamped USA.

Many folks including myself may not like or approve of the tactic, but saying buyers overseas do not like the USA stamp is far far down the list if it is even plausible at all.

The more Snap-On moves production overseas, adds overseas replacements for known tools or lets quality slip the more they will see sales decline. No mater how strong the current sales are, their customers are not baffoons nor il-informed one-time buyers. Please don't pee on my head adn tell me it's raining.

 

[GoBlue]

I noticed today on my Craftsman roll punches the made in USA is even gone from the front of the package. It used to be prominent, then it was in a small obscure corner, now it's on the back tucked into a small corner. I'm buying up all the US stuff I can while I still can.

Sounds like Snap-On is following the same MO. I believe Matco still stamps their stuff USA as they are a Danaher brand correct?

A ton of Matco tools are made overseas and have been for sometime. Mac and Cornwell as well.

 

[billymade]

I suppose we can still debate where the guts of the ratchets are made/sourced but if you look at this video; the bodies are made in usa....

 

[GoBlue]

For now maybe...but to think they stopped stamping U.S.A because other countrys didn't like it is nuts. Its obvious that either parts are foreign or they soon will be. A good strategy really. Get everyone believing that non U.S stamped tools are really made here then under cover of darkness move them to the far east...no one will pick up on it as they haven't been marked U.S for years...at least that's my conspiracy theory.

 

[D9H 90V]

First off let me say I love Snap on tools and I wont buy anything else,

someone is not telling the whole story here, something in the ratchets aint made in the USA I dont care what anyone says, heres my point, take this for example: http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...group_ID=17480&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog these flank drive plus ratcheting wrenches dont have USA on the front panel like every other regular FDP wrench and USA aint on the back panel like the regular flank drive wrenches, then you take these:http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...8&group_ID=516&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog the regular Flank drive plus wrenches they have USA on the front panel, I know the pics arent too clear but if you can look at the 2 wrenches side by side in person you will see
Why would they take basically the same wrenches and make one with USA and the other without USA, its because something in the ratcheting mechinism isnt made in the US, now this is just a theory but it makes you wonder

 

[twincam00]

It has been rumored that the gear and pawls on the dual-80 ratchets are made in japan

 

[K5blazer83]

I the video billymade posted proves a point. The body's are still made here, but the guts are to be decided on. As long as the body and the grip are made here I could care less about the ratcheting mechanism because us as consumers...we're gonna change anything within the Snap On Corporation.

 

[thetreshon]

Yeah, the bodies are made here...according to the youtube video that was uploaded in Feb. 2010, more than a year and a half ago...and do we know when that episode was actually shot?

I'm still hoping the bodies ARE made here...but innerds, are most likely elsewhere...


And doesn't Snap On realize that lot of Snap On buyers will end up paying 2-3 times the original price for a vintage/used USA made ratchet, once the new ones are fully made overseas? If they can't do it for the price they used to in the USA, then slightly raise the price whenever you have to! They're already expensive, what's a little more to Snap On buyers?

 

[FergusonTO35]

Snap-On used to be flag waving/made in USA/super patriotic to the point that of gross overkill. I still have t-shirts the dealers gave out in the mid 2000's festooned with American flags and slogans like "strong and proud". Even at the time I figured that Snappy, like other large multinational companies, would be patriotic when the business plan calls for it. Evidentally that time has passed.

Matco, Cornwell, and Mac have done the same thing over the years. The Matco logo is an eagle inside a six point socket hex and there is an older Matco truck running around town with the liftgate emblazoned with an eagle with its wings spread over an American flag and "Matco: The only way to fly" superimposed over it. Mac has used Americana themed sales flyers around the 4th of July quite often. Cornwell enjoys boasting about their core hand tool line being made in Ohio with American steel, and the fact that they are an employee owned company.

Bottom line: tool companies sell tools and they will do what they deem necessary to sell more tools. They will adopt and discard behaviors and business models as is necessary to make and sell tools at a profit. I don't like it anymore than anyone else and won't buy a product when I suspect the maker is not being candid about its origin but thats reality.

 

[K5blazer83]

I wouldn't mind so much if Snap On was honest about where the non-USA badged stuff was made. When you take something like the Dual 80 and remove the "USA" and then not have an official explanation when Snap On full well knows that it will offend some of their clientele is bad business in my opinion.

I just realized something...if you look at Matco's tools the tools with the logo with the star removed DO NOT have the country of origin on them. The ones with the star on the logo are marked "USA". Deductive reasoning leads me to think this. I'll do some more analysis when I see my Matco guy here soon.

 

[woody 73]

A nice story from your dealer, but these times are a changing and today everything is going global.

 

[powertrip]

It has been rumored that the gear and pawls on the dual-80 ratchets are made in japan

I believe they are made in spain. There was a bahco ratchet thread that gave alot of good information.

 

[Skin]

If they were worried about offending people in other countrys they would strip U.S.A from everything...

They are. Check any new tools and anything that used etching [pliers] and you'll find its been removed. The package/info clearly states Made In USA. If they still have this "mission" during the next letter scipt change i'm sure we'll see it wiped off all the hand tools that currently get it stamped in as well. Obviously they arent going to get new stamping dies just to remove it.

If they were going to be so picky i think they could of at least started with a smaller stamp. Look at MAC wrench and you'll find USA only on one side and tucked at one end of the wrench in small font.

 

[Creditor]

I heard from my cousins girlfriends uncles babysitters mothers ex-husbands gardener that he overheard two guys talking in an airport how they knew someone who knows that the ratchet internals are made in Santas workshop on the North Pole.

BTW, aren't there 4,756,231,950 other threads on this forum about this?

 

[fvfvsix]

I believe they are made in spain. There was a bahco ratchet thread that gave alot of good information.

If I had to guess, I'd say they are made in both places. The Spanish line may be a second source for the SO ratchets, and primary for the Bahco ones (and vice versa). This would be a logical explanation for SO's insistence that the D80's are US made, yet have no markings to support the assertion.

 

[treasureseeker]

First off let me say I love Snap on tools and I wont buy anything else,

someone is not telling the whole story here, something in the ratchets aint made in the USA I dont care what anyone says, heres my point, take this for example: http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...group_ID=17480&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog these flank drive plus ratcheting wrenches dont have USA on the front panel like every other regular FDP wrench and USA aint on the back panel like the regular flank drive wrenches, then you take these:http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...8&group_ID=516&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog the regular Flank drive plus wrenches they have USA on the front panel, I know the pics arent too clear but if you can look at the 2 wrenches side by side in person you will see
Why would they take basically the same wrenches and make one with USA and the other without USA, its because something in the ratcheting mechinism isnt made in the US, now this is just a theory but it makes you wonder

I came to the same Conclusion after comparing Snap on flank drive wrenches to their ratcheting flank drive wrenches which just happen to not have USA on them

I ordered a Snap on EPC160 made in Sweden and got a Bahco made in Spain on the cutter end with Snap-On on the handles

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...group_ID=19714&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

 

[boostedgt]

just say no to undocumented ratchets.

 

[RhodesSpeedShop]

Promised myself i wouldn't post in a "Snap-On China?" type thread but it wouldn't suprise me if that was the reason to cut the "USA" logos. I have no doubt their made in America despite the lack of stamping but it's no secret we're not liked much. Down right hated by more than a few.....

....i used to wonder why until i saw an episode of Jersey Shore

 

[powertrip]

Promised myself i wouldn't post in a "Snap-On China?" type thread but it wouldn't suprise me if that was the reason to cut the "USA" logos. I have no doubt their made in America despite the lack of stamping but it's no secret we're not liked much. Down right hated by more than a few.....

....i used to wonder why until i saw an episode of Jersey Shore

You need to search for that bahco ratchet thread from a week or so ago.

 

[RhodesSpeedShop]

You need to search for that bahco ratchet thread from a week or so ago.

What's the CliffsNotes on it?