Southend Trials Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 So, it turns out the snap on website is shite! pants! so confusing! im looking into getting a Snap On ratchet set, the general sizes (the sizes you'd find in a cheap ratchet set) wandering if any one knows of any sites that sell Snap On, or if Snap On only sell them to the public not shops? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigjames Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 Snap-On store Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si-man Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 (edited) Snap on stuff isnt all that good you know. Paying for the name. Had halfords professional at most places i worked and never killed anything, get the same lifetime guarantee too. Or, spot a snap on van when you are out, follow it till it stops or take the phone number and give the driver a ring. Most will be happy to set an account up. Edited May 22, 2011 by Si-man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirt jumper jake Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 Snap on is just expensive, like Si-man said your paying for the name. Britool/Mac tools/Halfords professional is much better value for money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Yoshi Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 Weve had a wee Halford set for coming up 10 years now. And it gets abused more than maddie. Also teng tools make some good sets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJI Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 As the others have said I'd just go for the Halfords 'advanced' stuff (used to be called professional), can't argue with a lifetime warranty, even if you do brake it it doesn't matter. I've had my 150 piece socket set longer than I've had my driving license, and I still haven't broken anything, really good stuff. Plus my 150 piece Halfords set cost less than a 17 piece snap on set 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 Try Teng, they have been awesome for me, and have some great deals on usually :)I found Britool were poor quality, i have cracked nearly all my Britool sockets now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew_Gibson Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 I have both snap on and halfords, more snap on now, and I prefer snap on. they don't slip as much, Yes there pricey. but I use them everyday. I was using a halfords spanner to get a lambda sensor off an exhaust, and I could see the spanner bending!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 having used both snap on and halfords kit i would say for the weekend mechanic go with halfords when i was mechanicing full time if anything broke the snap on van would be round the same say to replace it. however now im not full time i have loads of snap on stuff broken and just othad it replaced for years. halfords is much easier and accesable. similar quality too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigjames Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 The only thing I don't think about my Halfords Advance socket set, is the ratchets, they just don't seem very positive. Mine seem to lock up quite frequently and I'm sure the life time guarantee doesn't cover them. But value for money wise it's pretty damn good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southend Trials Posted May 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 (edited) Getting mixed reviews about the halfords set, i want these tools for life.. these are for my 18th, so not really enclined towards halfords :/ (how ever snobby that sounds...) Edited May 22, 2011 by Southend Trials Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Yoshi Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Getting mixed reviews about the halfords set, i want these tools for life.. these are for my 18th, so not really enclined towards halfords :/ (how ever snobby that sounds...) Are you paying for them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJI Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 I've had my set for about 4 years now, I use it a lot and I'm yet to brake anything. That said, I'm pretty sympathetic with tools. The only issues I've ever seen with halfords tools are: Stripped ratchets, 99% down to abuse and miss-use, (if it's really tight use a breaker bar...) re-build kits are avalible. The button thingy to release the sockets from the end of extensions get stuck in occasionally, which they seem to have stopped fitting now anyway. The spanners do flare over time, although the last few 'advanced' ratchet spanners to have appeared in the workshop have had much beefier ends, so it looks like they're realised there was an issue there. Ratchet spanners, the rotating ring things can brake after a while, but again, that's down to using a ratchet where a solid tool should have been used. This comes from being a cycle mechanic in halfords for the last 4 years. They're good tools, on the whole I'd have thought snap-on is better quality, but there's no where near enough of a difference to justify the extra cost. Oh yeah, snap-on allen-key multi-tools get pissed all over by park tools, all day long, every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Cant comment really on snap on specifically, my tool kit is mostly elora sockets, king dick, beta and britool spanners, a couple of cheap ones in there aswell but nothing that I use alot or with massive force. Most of it is inherited and at least 30 years old From what Ive seen and used of the halford professional, it all seems like very good stuff for the money. This is the modern equivalent of the socket set Ive got. http://www.holden.co.uk/displayProduct.asp?pcode=094.551# Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skoze Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 (edited) Most of it is inherited and at least 30 years old This is the way to go! My tool kit for the landy (and bike) is made up mostly of my dad's old socket set he was given when he got his first car at 17, he's now 52 and the quality of the kit is so much better than anything around at the moment. If you want gear to last go to old car/ plant shows and pick up a load of stuff in all the sizes you'll ever need for cheap. Buying new though i agree with everyone else, i've got a bunch of Halfords advanced spanners and stuff which are actually really nice to use and take a fair bit of abuse. There's a lifetime warranty on them too! Never used their ratchet sets but if these are anything to go by it'll be good. I've got a smaller Britool socket set as well which is really nice, could look into those? I know you want something a bit special, but why shell out that much more for something that isn't that much better? You could just get twice as much of something else. Edited May 23, 2011 by Skoze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish-Finger-er Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 (edited) as pretty much everyone else has said, i work in a garage environment, all my tools are generally lifetime guarantee stuff, so if stuff breaks, i get it replaced(the issue with buying snap on online is returning it) I have 1 snap-on tool, and thats a trim removal tool, id get an alternative make, but this was on offer so i got it. Other than that ive got taskmaster,beta, and a bit of sealey and facom stuff. really dont see the point in snap-on gear, i dont really break an awful lot, with the money ive saved i can afford to have a spare set, and also, my main issue, if i lose something, its still lost, no matter how good that lifetime guarantee is. in my own tool bag for home(work pay for all my gear for there, so price isnt an issue) my ratchet set is forge steel. the screwfix own brand, theyve had a fair bit of abuse, and they havent broken yet. I keep meaning to get some halfords tools, but there completely the other side of town and my beta dealer is 100m from work. Edited May 23, 2011 by Fish-Finger-er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 I'll always stick to Britool. My mate has a full Snapon kit and I was very unimpressed. Spanners did seem stiff at all, and the ratchets had all kinds of funny looseness and movement in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southend Trials Posted May 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 A bloke i know works in a garrage and he can pick up a snap on starter set for £100 which i beleive is the socket set priced at £200.. its not me thats paying for it, i was told to get something that would last a life time i.e. a watch, but im not a keen fan of watches i.e. a tool kit yeah the halfords tools apparently the ratchets go often? oh yeah! Blue Point - i've been told to look at this company, owned by Snap On and a hell of a lot cheaper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJI Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Friends have broken some halfords ratchets, and yeah, the ratchet mechanism's not covered by the warranty, but they sell re-build kits for about £5 so it's not the end of the world. I stripped one just after getting my set, getting out a seized spark plug, but I was abusing the ratchet rather a lot before it went, and I'm yet to break another 4 years down the line, plus at the end of the day, I shouldn't have been using a 3/8th ratchet to get out a seized spark plug, it's not the tools fault, it's the users, as with 99% of broken ratchets I've seen, they've gone when the user should have been using a breaker bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRISTY Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Yer i broke a halfords rachet spanner a couple of months ago and took it back to claim on there 'lifetime warranty' and the bloke said it is not covered and offered me the repair set so i though screw you. And i work in a garage and snap-on sets are amazing our dealer is quality always giving us the best deals soo i would highly recommend them and also blue point is a part of the snap-on company and exsactly the same quality but cheaper and still get te snap-on lifetime warrnty so highly recommend both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigjames Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 To be fair to Halfords it does state that ratchets aren't covered by the warranty, so he was only doing what he was supposed. And as has been said the price point between the Halfords set and a Snap-On set of the same size is a bit different. You as a business might get good discounts, but a member of Joe public I can't imagine receiving the same benefits. Also as Blue point are the 'budget' part of the Snap-On company I company, I really don't seem them being exactly the same quality; seems slightly counter productive from a business point of view don't you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRISTY Posted May 24, 2011 Report Share Posted May 24, 2011 Yer i understand where your comming from about the price and but he said a mate in a garage will get them for him at the discount price and blue-point is the same quality but at a lower price and snap-on own blue-point so they wouldnt lower the quality. And remember back to the rachets all snap-on is covered by life time warranty no matter what (other than some hammers for some reason) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJI Posted May 24, 2011 Report Share Posted May 24, 2011 .... and blue-point is the same quality but at a lower price and snap-on own blue-point so they wouldnt lower the quality... That's exactly why they would lower the quality, if they made it just as good no-one would buy snap-on. Blue point's kinda average, no better than halfords pro/advanced or any of the other competitors, we've got loads of it at college, it's good, but really nothing that special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirt jumper jake Posted May 24, 2011 Report Share Posted May 24, 2011 I'll always stick to Britool. My mate has a full Snapon kit and I was very unimpressed. Spanners did seem stiff at all, and the ratchets had all kinds of funny looseness and movement in there. Another thing with snap on stuff is that i know of several people whove had there ratchets repaired after they broke them (two of them people being my dad and a fitter at work) and theyve never been right since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRISTY Posted May 24, 2011 Report Share Posted May 24, 2011 All our blue-point stuff at work is all fine and our rachets we have all broken them (by hitting stuff with them ) and there always fine after never had a problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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