Opinions on Summit tools and equipment?

[Predator86]

Just wondering because i frequent the summit site quite often and they have some good tool deals on there... i been steppin it up at work and im gonna need some new tools. Now i do have accounts with snap-on and matco but that gets expensive (especially snap-on) so i think i might pick up some slack with summit...

any opinions? are they good, do they last , anybody here use them?

thanks

[NJSPEEDER]

if you have accounts with snap-on and matco, that is really the best stuff to buy. if you are looking to fill in a few holes in the tool collection, try places like Re-Tool. they buy and sell used hand and power tools.
i have always had good luck finding what i needed and the prices are way better than off the truck. they have all brands too, so you can get discounted snap-on, matco, whatever brand or the cheapies.

[Predator86]

that sounds good but the closest re-tool store i could find is in PA and it dosent look like they deliver

[johnjzjz]

all the cheap stuff is just that cheap stuff use it once and throw it away - e bay snap on is 40 to 65 percent value and you can exchange it for a new one from your dealer if you kind of bend it al little hahahhahahah - jz

[Rich189]

I've always used snap on and craftsman tools and always had good luck with both

[Fast92RS]

Try Eppy's http://www.eppys.com/they have good prices. They sell SK and many other brands cheaper than those big truck guys. Belevie it or not some of that stuff those big truck guys sell is just relabled and charge double the price for.

[bubba428]

I like craftsman. you break it they replace it, and for somebody like me, that comes in handy

[camaro2you]

I agree I love craftsman tools, only things I have broken is one cracked socket(ok that 3ft pipe helped do that lol) some bent screw drivers(hey there good pry parts to) and some ratchets with stripped gears mostly the small 1/4 drive ones.

[SteveR]

The only tools Ive gotten through Jegs/Summit were specialty tools like AN fitting wrenches. For most of my regular tools I go to Sears.

[Tru2Chevy]

Craftsman tools are great for the shadetree mechanic, I have a good sized set of them myself. In a professional shop environment they won't last though, and you'll soon dread running to Sears with your collection of broken tools every so often.

When you do happen to break a Snap-On, Mac, Matco, etc. tool, the truck will be around in a week or less and you exchange it right on the spot for a new one (not used/rebuilt like most craftsman exchanges).

- Justin

[Ian]

Craftsman tools are great for the shadetree mechanic, I have a good sized set of them myself. In a professional shop environment they won't last though, and you'll soon dread running to Sears with your collection of broken tools every so often.

When you do happen to break a Snap-On, Mac, Matco, etc. tool, the truck will be around in a week or less and you exchange it right on the spot for a new one (not used/rebuilt like most craftsman exchanges).

- Justin

:werd:

I started out with craftsman tools because they were cheaper, but I have been replacing them with snap-on as fast as I can afford to :lol:

[bad64chevelle]

Snap on/Matco are definitely the way to go if you can afford them, ive been taking back alot of my craftsman tools over the years that I have broken. The best was the phillips head screw driver I cut, and welded to in the correct angle to put door hinges on my dads car with. The guy behind the counter asked me what happened, and I told him I broke it and tried to fix it, but it wasnt working out. On the average year, I break between 2-3 socket wrenches, countless extensions, many screwdrivers, and lots of other things. If I could go with the better stuff, I would, but for now craftsman is working out ok.

[Fast92RS]

I used mostly craftman tools when I started out and they were great and still are great. When I was working as a tech full time I did by snap on Mac and matco. There prices were not to bad back then. Now I would never pay $500 for a wrench set when I can get a set from sears thats is just about the same quality or better for under 100. F... that. You buy the tools you like best, but to this day working part time as a tech I would never spend that kind of money and I look at these kids that come in to it today and owe the snap on guy like 10k or more just for the stupid tool box. Screw that I can get the job done with crafstman or sk any day.

[Blacdout96]

Harbor Freight FTW!!!! haha j/k, I do havea few tools from them and you cant complain they get teh job done and if they break eh, it was 5 bucks. I had accounts with snap-on and matco, but they are rediculous, prefer craftsman over them all.

[69BirdX]

Id just start with Craftsman you can get good deals through sears............i bought alot of craftsman even with my 50% discounts through snap on and matco from school. You cant beat lifetime warranty for the craftsman price
________
KRYSTAL STEAL POV (http://www.****tube.com/video/11743/krystal-steal-s-pov-blow****)

[Predator86]

I used mostly craftman tools when I started out and they were great and still are great. When I was working as a tech full time I did by snap on Mac and matco. There prices were not to bad back then. Now I would never pay $500 for a wrench set when I can get a set from sears thats is just about the same quality or better for under 100. F... that. You buy the tools you like best, but to this day working part time as a tech I would never spend that kind of money and I look at these kids that come in to it today and owe the snap on guy like 10k or more just for the stupid tool box. Screw that I can get the job done with crafstman or sk any day.

my thoughts exactly....my dads been a backyard mechanic for many years and has a garage full of craftsman with no complaints....and now i have been buying my own and i think theyre great....and the ONLY problem i have with them is that they dont have vendors so i have to go get them myself...

and my buddy whose been working at STS for awhile has about 20 grand worth of snap-on tools and has been paying it off for years but still has 8 to go when he could of got 2 or 3 times the tools from craftsman haha

as for impact guns i use ingersol rand....although mine just crapped out so i might get a craftsman one but i dunno how good they are compared to IR

[Tru2Chevy]

I would go with the IR Ti impact guns. We bought my dad one several years ago and it's still going strong. Nice and light, and very powerful.

- Justin

[camaro2you]

I would go with the IR Ti impact guns. We bought my dad one several years ago and it's still going strong. Nice and light, and very powerful.

- Justin

I agree I have one thats about 20 years old and its still going great.

[johnjzjz]

as was said as a hobbyist craftsman are great and inexpensive - most of mine have been machined down into bushing removers and installers - but if you use tools every day they don't do the job, they don't fit in the places the snap ons do and hand fatigue is much greater with the cheaper wrenches and ratchets, as well as breakage and hand crashing into the fan or radiator will make you see the difference in cost is cheap next to not doing that again - but if its a some time fix this or that sure don't forget SK tools and home depot has nice polished finished wrenches that are sweet 5/16 to 1- 1/4 set is worth the money i use tools ever day ad have almost forever hahahahahahah look at how much you Will use and buy that in mind - jz

[Predator86]

I would go with the IR Ti impact guns. We bought my dad one several years ago and it's still going strong. Nice and light, and very powerful.

- Justin

i just bought one off the snap-on truck today at work....its the latest one out to date...its alot smaller and lighter than the old IR i was using.....it was a promotion package so with the gloves and 5 SAE impact sockets it ran me about $360

[1972LT1]

Sears has some really good sales on their tools. In 10 years of use, I've only broken 1 wrench,and Sears replaced it no questions asked. Yeah, if you break a wrench,you have to go to Sears to exchange it, or you can wait days for the Snap-On truck to come around.

[Ian]

Sears has some really good sales on their tools. In 10 years of use, I've only broken 1 wrench,and Sears replaced it no questions asked. Yeah, if you break a wrench,you have to go to Sears to exchange it, or you can wait days for the Snap-On truck to come around.

thats not entirely true. If I break something, I can call my snap on rep and he'll stop by the dealership that day. I know its not the case with every snap on rep, but if get in good with them, they'll bend over backwards to help you out.

another thing I have to question, in that 10 years it took you to break a wrench, how many days a week and how many weeks per year did you use that wrench? I'm not knocking Craftsman, far from it. Craftsman is a great company with very good prices. But to me, their tools feel cheap in my hands compared to snap on, matco or even mac. a lot of it is personal preference I guess. And you are paying for the name when you buy snap on stuff, but then again nothing else is better IMO.

[Fast92RS]

thats not entirely true. If I break something, I can call my snap on rep and he'll stop by the dealership that day. I know its not the case with every snap on rep, but if get in good with them, they'll bend over backwards to help you out.

another thing I have to question, in that 10 years it took you to break a wrench, how many days a week and how many weeks per year did you use that wrench? I'm not knocking Craftsman, far from it. Craftsman is a great company with very good prices. But to me, their tools feel cheap in my hands compared to snap on, matco or even mac. a lot of it is personal preference I guess. And you are paying for the name when you buy snap on stuff, but then again nothing else is better IMO.

I agree its all personal preference, but all the snap on dealers I ever had were d***ks. When I worked at the ford dealer my snap on dealer decided to stop showing up and sent everyone nasty letters on whet they owed him. Now the place I work at now, we have a mac, snap on, matco and a sk guy. No one buys from the snap on guy and he also decided to stop showing up because he got pissed that he lost a sale of a tool box to the sk guy. Many of the guys have plenty of snap on tools that need to warranted but no dealer to warranty them. So we called the district manger to complain. So guess what the guy shows up for a couple weeks then stops coming. The mac guy we have is a d**k as well. He says that he only warranties tools to guys that buy from him... F that.

[Ian]

yeah, it really depends on the dealer. ours is a great guy. we had a mac man for a little bit, but he stopped showing up.

[SamhainZ28]

mac is where its at

[Predator86]

yeah, it really depends on the dealer. ours is a great guy. we had a mac man for a little bit, but he stopped showing up.

our snap-on dealer is a great guy but the matco dealer is a bit of a jerk....and if craftsman had vendors i would stick with them for sure but thats not really the case....snap-on is cool but there prices just insult me....there stuff is not worth that much and i can buy the same tool from craftsman for roughly half the price and it works out great....of course this is IMO

[BonzoHansen]

Problem with tool trucks is they don't show up at my house, LOL. Getting stuff warrantied can be a PITA.

[Ian]

our snap-on dealer is a great guy but the matco dealer is a bit of a jerk....and if craftsman had vendors i would stick with them for sure but thats not really the case....snap-on is cool but there prices just insult me....there stuff is not worth that much and i can buy the same tool from craftsman for roughly half the price and it works out great....of course this is IMO

thats not really the case. while it is the same type of tool and it is cheaper, its not made from the same grade of metal and the finish isn't as nice.

I've broken at least 3 craftsman ratchets, I have yet to break any of my snap on ones. I've only broken one snap on socket, and that was because I abused the ever loving crap out of it. I've broken more craftsman impact sockets (3) than I have snap on non impact sockets. and I do sometimes use non impact sockets on the gun. in my experience, craftsman just doesn't work out for me. if it works for you, great. I'm sure you'll save a ton of money on tools over what I spend. but after three years of doing this I cant tell you how many times I've been grateful to be rid of a lot of my craftsman stuff.

[Ian]

Problem with tool trucks is they don't show up at my house, LOL. Getting stuff warrantied can be a PITA.

yeah, no doubt about that :lol:

again, if your dealer is a nice guy, he will stop by your house if you want him to. but for working at home, craftsman will get it done. its once you start using the stuff every day for years at a time that the difference is noticeable.

[Fast92RS]

thats not really the case. while it is the same type of tool and it is cheaper, its not made from the same grade of metal and the finish isn't as nice.

I've broken at least 3 craftsman ratchets, I have yet to break any of my snap on ones. I've only broken one snap on socket, and that was because I abused the ever loving crap out of it. I've broken more craftsman impact sockets (3) than I have snap on non impact sockets. and I do sometimes use non impact sockets on the gun. in my experience, craftsman just doesn't work out for me. if it works for you, great. I'm sure you'll save a ton of money on tools over what I spend. but after three years of doing this I cant tell you how many times I've been grateful to be rid of a lot of my craftsman stuff.

The Craftsman pro series with the higly polished wrenches and a few other pro series items i think are on par with snap on.

[heavy_chevy29]

you should give S&K a try. i think that they have the best bang for the buck. i have a mix of alot of different tools in my box. i have everything from mac to S&K to craftsman to sunex. generally you want to stay away from the really cheap tools when you are buying impact tools and sockets(ever see a cheep impact socket explode. not fun), torque wreches and stuff like that.

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/
http://www.eppys.com/

[Predator86]

thats not really the case. while it is the same type of tool and it is cheaper, its not made from the same grade of metal and the finish isn't as nice.

I've broken at least 3 craftsman ratchets, I have yet to break any of my snap on ones. I've only broken one snap on socket, and that was because I abused the ever loving crap out of it. I've broken more craftsman impact sockets (3) than I have snap on non impact sockets. and I do sometimes use non impact sockets on the gun. in my experience, craftsman just doesn't work out for me. if it works for you, great. I'm sure you'll save a ton of money on tools over what I spend. but after three years of doing this I cant tell you how many times I've been grateful to be rid of a lot of my craftsman stuff.

Well you do have me there in the fact that i have not been doing this for as long as you have so maybe i will see the durability issues...so who knows maybe my perceptions will change after a few years but as for now i am content with my set...

that truck is convenient though so im sure i'll have a nice snap-on bill in no time:-P

The Craftsman pro series with the higly polished wrenches and a few other pro series items i think are on par with snap on.

also a point i was gonna bring up..

[Predator86]

generally you want to stay away from the really cheap tools when you are buying impact tools and sockets(ever see a cheep impact socket explode. not fun), torque wreches and stuff like that.

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/
http://www.eppys.com/

ya i just bought the new ingersol rand TI max (awesome gun) and used a stanley socket (not so good) and ya that was shocking...

and another thing people dont think about is the air line....make sure there secure...the one i was using had a band clamp holding it, the damn thing broke as i was impacting and hit me right in my you know what...still havent heard the end of that one

[Ian]

ya i just bought the new ingersol rand TI max (awesome gun) and used a stanley socket (not so good) and ya that was shocking...

and another thing people dont think about is the air line....make sure there secure...the one i was using had a band clamp holding it, the damn thing broke as i was impacting and hit me right in my you know what...still havent heard the end of that one

blame someone else when something goes wrong, thats what I do :lol:

and as far as impact guns go, IR is the best out there. dont bother buying snap on or mac or matco, they're not as good.

[Predator86]

and as far as impact guns go, IR is the best out there. dont bother buying snap on or mac or matco, they're not as good.

i agree with that:nod:

with proper care they will last