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I finally get Craftsman tools...

sled_dog

sled_dog

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They make their ratchets so you break the ratchet before the socket nowadays :mad: It must be cheaper to make plastic internals for ratchets than it is to forge sockets. The 2 1/2" drive ratchets I posted about a week or two ago, well both of them SUCK. They replaced one with a rebuilt and one with a brand new one. Both of them are junk. They already slip every couple times you go to apply torque to them. Have to ratchet back and try again, hope it catches. ****ing junk I tell you. I wish I had a job so I could just get a damn loan and buy some Snap On tools now :mad::mad::mad: Sure is a change from 6 months to a year ago when I hates Snap On...
 
When Blackhawk made Craftsman, they were great! I have 1 30 year old 1/2 drive ratchet that I have put a 5 ft cheater bar on, and it still works like new. I also have some less than 2 years old that the lever flops around when you are using it. I also have an ancient Proto and an Indestro that work and feel better than any new Craftsman ratchet. I have gone and exchanged ratchets at Sears and spent 10-15 minutes going through the wrenches they try to give me till I find one that works correctly. Don't let them pawn a piece of crap off on you. Do your exchange on a busy day, and if you don't like what they offer you-JUST GET LOUD,so other customers can hear what's going on. They WILL make it right, just to shut you up!
 
You can also take your cheap-azz Craftsman ratchet back to Sears and ask the manager to order you the fine-tooth ratchet. All you have to do is pay the difference in price...free shipping. They used to carry them in the store but now they are a catalog only order item. They have them in 3/8 and 1/2".
 
what bout the 40% discount on snap on tools. do they still do that at tech?
 
craftsman tools

i used to work at the hardware dept in sears and the tech that would refurbish the ratchets told me it was way cheaper to put the new plastic kits inside them....but the secret is to get to know the salesman, and eventually they will hook you up with new upgrades for no charge...thats what i would do, but if i had a guy being a ass i would just give him the refurbished one, and send him on his merry way
 
PeteH said:
what bout the 40% discount on snap on tools. do they still do that at tech?
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Has the service from Snap On gone for a **** in the states too. Other than my house, my tool box and what's in it is the most expensive thing I own. In the past 5 years there has been no service. Ive got a drawer of broken tools and I can't get anyone to the shop to warrenty them and when they have the dealer questions how they broke. The reason they cost so much and why I spent that much is for the service. You used to get a tool warrentied an delivered within a couple of hours to finish the job. I don't think I'll ever spend another cent in one of those trucks. I really want to know. How is it south of the border?
 
I finally went to SK for basic combos and rachet/sockets. Even they can't take a cheater bar either, but you already know you might brake it if you put a bar on it.:D
 
The older crafstman tools that I liberated from my dad's box are much, much better quality than the new stuff. Pi$$es me off because I really don't wrench enough to justify snap-on.
 
I made the mistake of trading some of my old craftsman for the newer stuff and your right ,,,it isnt what it used to be,,, that being said I have zero heartache at my local Sears about a full replacement,,, they tried giving me the repair kit once and I laughed,,,, and yes Ive done the wrench searching to,,, even had some new ones that slipped
Ive tried all the brands and even the expensive guys stuff feels cheap anymore,,, I do use the craftsman pro series which has a better feel
 
I have a broken Craftsman ratchet in the shop that I need to take in for repair. I bought it as part of a big tool set over 20 years ago, and I don't want to trade it. I want it repaired, but expect a hassle when I take it in.

The best ratchet I have is one I got in a bucket of misc. tools at an auction. It's a old Wright Superatchet, 1/2". It has a long handle and fine teeth. Seems tough so far.

I don't have much Snap-on stuff, but have a set of Blue Point gear wrenches that are really nice, and tough so far.
 
sled_dog said:
They make their ratchets so you break the ratchet before the socket nowadays :mad: It must be cheaper to make plastic internals for ratchets than it is to forge sockets. The 2 1/2" drive ratchets I posted about a week or two ago, well both of them SUCK. They replaced one with a rebuilt and one with a brand new one. Both of them are junk. They already slip every couple times you go to apply torque to them. Have to ratchet back and try again, hope it catches. ****ing junk I tell you. I wish I had a job so I could just get a damn loan and buy some Snap On tools now :mad::mad::mad: Sure is a change from 6 months to a year ago when I hates Snap On...
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I felt the same way as you......


SOLUTION:

Keep the Craftsman sockets (throw away the ratchets)
Suck it up and pay the $50 for a nice Snap-On ratchet

Snap-On "feels" much nicer in my hands and the quality of the mechanism and reversing lever is obvious the very first time you use it.
 
ive found snap on tools in 2nd hand stores and even found a broken one somewhere...well i just took it to one of the guys with the trucks and swapped it. i still use craftsman though..cheap enough that if it breaks then i'll just buy another, still cheaper then my moolah going to snapon.
 
try kobalt at lowes. I worked in their tool department for a while and I was told by the vendor rep. that kobalt was made by the same company that makes snapon. the wrenches do feel the same. I don't know about the ratches though.
 
Agreed, the new ratchets blow. My dad and I finally managed to break one he bought while he was in high school. We took it back, got a replacement, and broke the new one within an hour.
 
mikey_d05 said:
Agreed, the new ratchets blow. My dad and I finally managed to break one he bought while he was in high school. We took it back, got a replacement, and broke the new one within an hour.
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How it has been for me. In the last few years when Dad and I both started heavily wrenching, we broke a few of the ratchets he had had for YEARS. That was with heavy abuse(couple foot breaker bar on a 3/8" ratchet type of stuff). I can't count on my fingers how many Craftsman Ratchets I have broken since then. I treated the Snap On tool sat school the sameway I treat my own at home(use a ratchet as a hammer, big breaker bars, etc), and never broke one. And those are tools handed from student to student all day long. I missed out on the Snap On deals at school(just couldn't afford it at the time), but when I start making money I'm gonna hunt down some old tech that has retired or someone getting out of it and buy their used Snap On stuff.
 
just picked up a snap-on 3/8" ratchet at a pawn shop yesterday. Feels soo much better then my brand new craftsman.
 
:haha: I can see it now, this big old red SnapOn roll away and chest from the '50s, being rolled up the ramp; "lot number 206, SnapOn tools, '50s vintage, what are my bids?" Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, AZ.
 
PeteH said:
i still use craftsman though..cheap enough that if it breaks then i'll just buy another
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Please don't tell me you actually buy another crapsman. You can exchange your broken one for a new one, no questions asked. :doah:
 
i happened across a lot of craftsman at an auction, $80 got me 4 1/4, 6 3/8", 3 1/2", 1 3/4" rachets, plus over 300 sockets all brand new and a set of speeder bars,
i now just have a milk crate, fill it up, take it back. It's pretty sad when you spend an hour at the cash register, and dont actually spend any money.
The asshat manager tried to give me shiot about how many i bring back, i just started in on how small foreign children were the means to his pay raise, and he laid off
sometimes you do have to persuade the 16yo female cashier that tools are more important than bitching about her newly ex-boyfriend

i only exchange the crap ratchets(plastic switch lever) i try not to use the old, all metal ones.

The 24k plated 3/8 set is pretty spiffy though, but i only use it on "Dem 'lacs wif da 22's" makes the getto rats think i'm special...
 
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