what socket set?

[tom td5]

halfords pro all the way for me, cheapish and lifetime gaurentee, never had any problems changing any tools, great stuff

[JeffR]

I've got a selection of old King Dick sockets which are simple unbreakable, couldn't tell you how old they are as I bought the set from the Beaulie autojumble about a decade ago. One major word of warning, DO NOT ever, ever, put the words King Dick into a search engine to find a retailer, honest you may think you are broadminded, but |I can assure you when you see the the results, you are not!!!

[Vit rich]

How can you say snap on impact wrenches are a bit crappy? Ive always found them superb and better value than the spanners etc.

Guessing by your other post where you mention IR, im guessing your talking about there air stuff, which i carnt comment on.

Im talking about there electric stuff. And i can tell you than my dewalt 18v impact will torque up more and release more than my mates snap on gun, which he paid about the same price for and has already killed one battery on. Having said that, i normally hate dewalt, makita all the way, but there impact gun was all i could find at the time and i needed it in a hurry for a job, and i have been very impressed with it considering the other experiences with dewalt stuff.

Another brand i forgot about and saw referenced is kennedy, sold by cromwell, ive got a 3/8 socket set from them, and despite the heads of some of the snaller sockets mushrooming from misuse, its been a good reliable set for the money thats really handy to just keep in the car.

[longlandy]

Must be a bad gun,the old 18v snappy guns I cant comment on, but the 18v ho version is very very powerful with a ultimate torque of 600ftlbs, Ive heard of the battery problems, mine are 2yrs old but I might have been lucky so far.

[gti-90]

well... after looking through the hundreds of choices posted up here.

i decided to go with a teng tools one. though not from this website.

http://www.teng.co.uk/mr1239-teng-tools-39-pce-1-or-2-inches-drive-regular-metric-or-af-engineers-set_790_pd.asp

i got it for less than there reduced price plus the vat, so cant complain.

(quote from vit rich) just something about putting quality and halfords in the same words. i couldnt do it. lol

thanks alot again jack.

[Effortless]

I have a Series 2 from 1960, so I find my Kamasa set very useful... AF, metric and Whitworth all in one box.

Quality is fine for me, not managed to break anything in 15 years.

Cheers,

Effortless.

[Andrew Cleland]

Rather than buy a socket set why not get a decent ratchet and then by decent sockets as and when you need them, building up over time? That's the way I did it, buying a Beta 1/2" ratchet (the push-through to reverse type) for about £30 about 15 years ago, probably would be double that now, but it's stood-up to years of (ab)use and apart from the occasional night with the head sitting in a jar of oil, hasn't needed any attention. Sockets are about £5 a pop for Britool from the local engineering supplies. Over the years I've built-up a set of metric from 8mm to about 25mm in the useful sizes, along with a couple of bigger ones for things like radius arms and hub locknuts & a few imperial ones for the engines (all V8s, so a mix of imperial on the block and metric on the induction/ancillaries). You don't actually need a whole load of sizes - 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19mm, the odd big ones and 1/2", 5/8" & 3/4" AF on the engine.

You'll probably end-up paying more than buying a set but doing it over-time spreads the cost and lets you buy better than you'd otherwise be able to afford. At the end of the day there's little more satisfying than decent tools!

[godzilla84]

For what it's worth, the halfords 150 piece set is replicated in B&Q for £90 under the "torq" brand. Halfords advertise it for "half price" at £100 almost all year round. I have the B&Q set and my mate has the halfords one.

The only difference is the rubber grips on the ratchets and some of the Allen key bits are different in the B&Q set.

[ballcock]

For what it's worth, the halfords 150 piece set is replicated in B&Q for £90 under the "torq" brand. Halfords advertise it for "half price" at £100 almost all year round. I have the B&Q set and my mate has the halfords one.

The only difference is the rubber grips on the ratchets and some of the Allen key bits are different in the B&Q set.

I think I would pay the extra and have the Halfords guarantee. I snapped the pin in my Halfords 10" 1/2" drive bar, went to Halfords expecting a bit of hassle and the guy replaced it without question. I would have been happy if they sent it for repair or supplied a new pin.

[MrKev]

I have that Halford 150 piece set. Good quality tools, but they keep falling out of place when then case is closed and this really bugs me. I also wish the 19mm sizes, and maybe the 17 were on the 1/2" drive rather than the 3/4" drive, for that extra leverage on stubborn bolts.

Good set though, and lives in the truck permanently.

Kev

[Eightpot]

I have a big Teng Mecca Rosso kit which I've been abusing for 21 years - I finaly managed to strip a couple of teeth on the 3/8 ratchet by smashing it with a lump hammer trying to get a seized solid nut undone, other than that everything is still as I bought it. You can buy a ratchet repair kit as well, so I'm not to bothered about that. They are pricey but damn fine kit.

i've also got a Britool imperial kit handed down from my grandfather with has a half inch drive ratchet that I use for really beefy stuff and that's been indestructable so far - the sockets have taken breaker bars with scaffold extensions to shift ancient rust welded monster nuts, and all thats bent has been the scaffold.

Haven't tried the halfords pro stuff, had one of the small cheapy 6-13mm sockets sets and the ratchet sprang apart after a week, but it was only a cheap set.

[MrKev]

.....smashing it with a lump hammer trying to get a seized solid nut ....and all thats bent has been the scaffold.......

Haven't tried the halfords pro stuff, had one of the small cheapy 6-13mm sockets sets and the ratchet sprang apart after a week, but it was only a cheap set.

Did the 6-13 set have an extra help in the matter

[discomikey]

ill reccomend the Halfords advanced. i would say 3/4 of all my tools at the moment are halfords advanced. theyve taken some serious work too working on land rover and tractors etc. had a 2 foot pole on my 1/4 drive ratchet before!!!!!!!!! (don't ask) its still got a perfect click.

my other tools are sealey premium which ill also reccomend

a draper expert 1/2" drive socket set that stays in my truck. never broke anything on it after 5 years, but the ratchet doesent feel nice. its not worn and its really strong but it just feels like its had enough as it was really nice for the first 3 years.

i also have some clarke stuff which i cant moan at at all (impact wrench and air tools)

then i have all sorts of random tools of all different makes, which are usually the ones to get modified to reach around something etc.

and a teng tools torque wrench. which is really nice and is calibrated with a certificate. however im told that the ratchet gears in Teng ratchets dont last as well as some.

[rambo19]

Halfords for me to!

My dad, a confirmed britool user, even rates the halfords stuff!

[discomikey]

the only downside to the halfords stuff is the association with the rest of halfords' carp. just gotta remember that its actually made by bluepoint

[muddy]

I too dont mind the halfords stuff, the ratchet spanners are up there with sliced bread IMHO. However i wouldnt buy there 1/2" breaker bar- i'm on my 5th or 6th now and whilst they have always swapped them its a farce.

No matter what sockets you have try a few ratchets (a good grope and fondle) and get a decent one this makes a big difference i reckon, a push release is handy i often struggle to pull sub 10mm sockets off one of my snap on ratchets that doesnt have this.

Will.

[landroversforever]

I have that Halford 150 piece set. Good quality tools, but they keep falling out of place when then case is closed and this really bugs me. I also wish the 19mm sizes, and maybe the 17 were on the 1/2" drive rather than the 3/4" drive, for that extra leverage on stubborn bolts.

Good set though, and lives in the truck permanently.

Kev

Have you still got the foam in there? Mine don't move with the foam. Unless I open it upside down XD.

I too dont mind the halfords stuff, the ratchet spanners are up there with sliced bread IMHO. However i wouldnt buy there 1/2" breaker bar- i'm on my 5th or 6th now and whilst they have always swapped them its a farce.

No matter what sockets you have try a few ratchets (a good grope and fondle) and get a decent one this makes a big difference i reckon, a push release is handy i often struggle to pull sub 10mm sockets off one of my snap on ratchets that doesnt have this.

Will.

Push release is great, especially when hands are greasy!!

[CwazyWabbit]

Push release is great, especially when hands are greasy!!

Push release is great ..... when you know what it is....

First push release ratchet I had was bought from a boot sale, I'd never seen one before and just assumed it was a normal ratchet. Of course working under the car and put a 13mm socket on realised I needed a 14 and then proceeded to spend an hour trying to get the 13mm socket off the ratchet. I can confirm the socket will come off without pressing the button if you use a bench vice and a crow bar.... N.B some damage may occur!

Still you live and learn, that was many years ago and now I know about push release ratchets I love them

[muddy]

Just to add i have found cheaper push release ratchets to need pushing to put the sockets on but will allow the socket to drop off without pushing when they get on in life, this becomes rather tedious as i'm sure you can imagine.

Will.

[yalan]

just gotta remember that its actually made by bluepoint

No its not.

Its made by Danaher.

..... And to be honest - if it was made by BluePoint it probably wouldn't be very good. The only Bluepoint things I've ever bought have had to go back because of poor quality / reliability.

[LEAFERS RULE!!!]

Ive been a mechanic since i left school 15 years ago at the time it was snap on or britool, then a tool bloke started up selling all sorts of stuff but for me it was signet or ko-ken both lifetime warranty half the price of britool or snaps! signet very good thin walled socketry and spanners but for hardcore abuse (plant hgv four foot scaffy bar on the end!) ko-ken all the way very thick impact socketry and large sockets. Same old thing though you get what u pay for ive bought cheap and regreted it especially at all hours of the day trying to get somebody away and the only spanner you have breaks! just my opinion its up to you to decide

[muddy]

Do you have a kokon supplier? i beleive they make the prop tool and some ****ing awsome double ended locking wheel nut removers that i'm after.

Will.

[fozsug]

Do you have a kokon supplier? i beleive they make the prop tool and some ****ing awsome double ended locking wheel nut removers that i'm after.

Will.

Uk Tools

http://www.uktools.com/koken-m-57.html

[muddy]

Thanks, These are the things bloomin fantastic.

http://www.uktools.com/locking-wheel-nut-sockets-c-147_533.html

[dazcapri]

the only thing I don't like about the Halford's set is that they're 12 point, I've got a set of Draper Expert 6 points sockets that have been excellent so far.I used a mate's Halfords set a couple of weeks back and they slipped my Draper ones didn't. Any body using tools to work on rusty old cars one thing I'd say to buy is a set of Irwin bolt grips they're worth their weight in gold.