Tool brands! Recommendations please..

mercutio · Post by **mercutio** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 5:04 pm

I have some aldi autozone ratchet spanners and they are holding up really well as well as the Halfords pro ones I also have

prelude_h22 · Post by **prelude_h22** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 6:11 pm

I have this set - although it looks slightly different now in the pics.

Good value and an excellent tool set. We did my brothers engine conversion with it and never let us down

I continue to use it today and has fulfiled all my jobs so far

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_255215

Post by **paul bristol uk** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:39 pm

I buy snap on when money allows. Bloody expensive but a lifetime guarantee. Might stop buying them now at my age though!

Post by **Doggo** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:56 pm

prelude_h22 wrote:I have this set - although it looks slightly different now in the pics.

Good value and an excellent tool set. We did my brothers engine conversion with it and never let us down

I continue to use it today and has fulfiled all my jobs so far

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_255215

Mine is the slightly smaller version of this. Not used it much but have used Halfords Pro in the past and always thought pretty good.

NB: As Confused said, wait for the sales! They are pretty frequent and you'll pay half the price.

LewisH · Post by **LewisH** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:58 pm

Ive only got snapon / bluepoint tools. Wouldnt really touch anything else. Personal choice mind

Ted · Post by **Ted** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 11:23 pm

Halfords professional was fecking good stuff but now its halfords advanced I dont really think the quality is the same. Some of the spanner sizes seem slightly out. as in you want a 10 mm spanner to be 10mm and not 10.3 as thats going to round off a stubborn and rusty .nut. I think they have changed the manufacturer and the quality has gone down hill as a result but its still damn good value for money.

Post by **Lude-dude** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:05 am

Halfords torque wrench I wasn't impressed with

didn't seem that accurate

bb1boy · Post by **bb1boy** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:28 am

Thanks guys. That Blue Point stuff looks good, but it is a little out of my price range at the mo.

Those Halfords sets are pretty nice but I totally get what Tramroad is saying about sizing not being spot on and I think that is very important, especially on a 20yr old car with some nuts and bolts that have never moved.

I also think ratchet spanners make good supplementary spanners, but I think I would want solid ones to free up stubborn nuts firsthand. Certainly if they're gonna need a whack or 4 with a lump hammer to get them moving.

I think the best advice is get an expensive set in a sale somewhere.

If someone was going to piece together their own toolkit, what would we say are 'essential tools'?

Spanners from 8mm to 19/22/32mm? Open end, closed end and ratchet.
Sockets from 8mm to 32mm? With various length extension bars and different size ratchet handles..
Full set of screwdrivers, hex and torx bits.
Impact driver (impact gun would be great)
Stilsons and Mole grips.
Hammer
Pliers, snips, cir-clip pliers.
Angle grinder
Hydraulic jack
Axle stands
and a 5ft scaffold tube for leverage

Anything else?

Confused · Post by **Confused** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:43 am

I've got a set of ratchet spanners, and I have used them about 3 times - my BluePoint socket set gets the most use, followed by the breaker bar + 1/2" impact sockets, then followed by cheap solid spanners, and waaaaay down the list are the ratchet spanners.

That BluePoint set will likely last me for the rest of my life - buy cheap, buy twice.

bb1boy · Post by **bb1boy** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:54 am

Confused wrote:buy cheap, buy twice.

..true