Decent Cheap Tools

Last night one of the boys broke down. Alternator . He had zero tools in his car. What would be a decent cheap set of tools for me to set him up with. I’m not pretending that he will keep up with them long term so I’m not going to make a big investment. Figuring a full set in a case.

For Cheap tools, my go to is always Harbor Freight.

Harbor freight

Budget set





Nicer set, has deep wells, good to have for car stuff. Maybe not much more useful unless your mechanically inclined

I have no idea why I put this here instead of the OT. I’ll report myself.

If you're going to drop $139, might as well spend a touch more

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-...IbEX_DioExoCdd0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

There are cheap tools and decent tools….there are no cheap decent tools.

I’d rather have a minimal set of good tools than a large set of cheap tools

The craftsman and the second Pittsburgh set look like what I’m looking for. I have to be careful about the “for a few dollars more” thinking. If it’s mine and I set it on fire I don’t care. When I spend money and someone else does, I tend to not be as pleasant.

I can't bring myself to buy Harbor Freight tools.

Husky at Home Depot are real decent for the price

I bought the Harbor Freight 39.99 set for my son to put in his trunk. It is not bad for a get by set.
You need to add a set of channel lock pliars and 1/4 inch ratchet.

Quality is better than I expected.

Also if any of the Pittsburgh stuff breaks it's a no questions exchange at any harbor freight. Some goes for craftsman at Lowe's, but I think harbor freight is starting to have more locations. I have 4 harbor freight within 45min of me, only 1 lowes

agree, I'd go with Harbor Freight ... I have many tool boxes for different things, several in the garage, in the shop, my truck, my RTVs, my Tractors, etc. That would be literally thousands of dollars worth of the higher quality/name brand tools or lots of walking ... As stated, the HF has a great no-questions-asked policy on breakage, just adds cheap insurance to have multiple sets around.

most of mine are the old school Craftsman from the old Sears stores. But with the closure of the physical stores in my area, HF has been my more recent go-to

I’ve been buying Tekton tools from Amazon to build up my garage set for a few years. They’ve been great for home use. Can’t speak to long-term quality in a heavy-use shop environment.

Harbor Freight is ok for about 90% of the things I do. When I started using tools, about 100 years ago, there was only Sears Craftsman and Monkey Wards. I still have some of them so I guess they are OK. I’ve also bought from hardware stores and flea markets. Quite a few are for heavy machinery and tractors.

I have tools scattered everywhere between 4 or 5 tool chests in 2 different places. Grandsons and son in law borrow them whenever needed.

Craftsman or Kobalt from Lowe’s would be my answer.

That $40 kit looks pretty nice and would probably slide right under the seat in a car. It seems like every time I try to build something similar for the kids car or apartment, I end up spending mid 100's for similar stuff. What I really miss are the kids tool bags that Lowes/Home Depot used to sell. They were like $20 and had pretty much everything but a socket set. We had those guys all over the place and they were great for the car/boat.

I have the $40 kit from harbor freight, it's alright. Wrenches are kind of thin, sockets fit most fasteners good except if you have a stuck one, I would not be surprised if the socket stripped out or it stripped put the fastener.
I' stick with kobalt for most tools, good quality and easier on the wallet.
At harbor freight you get what you pay for.
I did buy a 1/2" breaker bar from HF, extendable, I've put some good force on it and it doesn't flex.

My brother uses alot of tekton tools on his service truck, mainly ratchets,sockets, pliers. He says he's happy with them on the long term

HF is selling a tool line called Icon. They are supposed to be really good quality, they are priced accordingly.
We used to use their cheap tools on tear down jobs. sockets broke & cracked pretty often. The boss took em back every month & they replaced them with no issues.

Supposedly icon is identical to snap on...

That is false. Broke one in 3 uses. Look similar but it usually takes 10 uses to break the snap on ones. I’m talking impact swivel sockets. Neither are worth it.

Worked in the garages for years using husky and easier to take care of warrant than craftsman was

Bought my son a small set for his first tools

I just bought a new Weather Guard toolbox for my oldest Son's new truck for an early birthday present, we met up and put it on the truck together in the parking lot of TSC. Now comes the fun part, putting tools in it. He has tools, some that he's bought/few I've bought, but most he is using for work so I'm looking and thinking about truck tools. The way I see it, whatever I buy him now he may have long after I'm dead and pass down so buy some quality stuff. He's a responsible hard working young man that got married and gave me two Grandsons..... the other part of me says dude buy him some Harbor Freight tools because it all might get stolen......

Harbor Freight is fairly new around here. I use them for gadgetry style tools. Special stuff that you don't use often and doesn't have to be heavy duty.

Things like wrenches and screwdrivers don't matter as much as sockets and ratchets. It's hard to break a wrench.

All my wrench SETS are Craftsman because that's what I could afford when I started 30 years ago. For basic tools, Snap_on is 10X other lifetime warranty brands...likely because they visit you and can finance.

I have a Snap-On box that I paid for in 90 days back in 2008 and some of their tools in it, some from Matco, MAC, Craftsman, Icon, and about a hundred others I have collected over the years. I think I have one Cornwell socket.

Agree with Harbor Freight being real cheap and easy to return if something breaks. Husky might be a small step up.

Same...
Out in my shop is a Craftsman chest from the 70s full of Sears Craftsman from 60/70/80s
In the main garage is early 2000s chest with all newer Craftsman, still sears.
Pool house garage is my full set, with large chest and workbench chest. This is all Husky, chests and tools combined probably around $3-$3.5k. That said, I use the Husky the most and have been more than satisfied with it.

Good to know...........

HB tools are junky at best and I’d generally recommend buying something better quality and save your money long term but times have changed drastically… . I’ve got 9 box’s I’ve filled with Snap On and Mac tools over the decades and I’d normally say buy wrenches, sockets and ratchets in those brands and Craftsman in everything else but that chits become so expensive I’m not sure even how full time mechanics afford them now. I ordered a small Snap On 1/4” socket/ratchet set 2 weeks ago without asking the price and that mofo was $1200 plus tax when she showed up with it. I’ll be getting prices moving forward

Husky

Three words that don't go together Decent Cheap Tools.

Craftsman mechanics tools and battery operated tools are both great for the money.

I have Craftsman tools that I acquired more than 25 years ago still going strong. Ace Hardware replaces anything that gets broken. Like the "Chubbyfart" man stated..."Decent Cheap Tools" do not go together!


^ This.

I have Craftsman tools that I acquired more than 25 years ago still going strong. Ace Hardware replaces anything that gets broken.

I have Craftsman tools that I bought in the 60s and 70s. Supplemented with tools from pawn shops. When I lose a socket or wrench I shop the local pawn shops from replacements.

lifetime warranty, I have a bunch of husky tools and they are good.


https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Mechanics-Tool-Set-290-Piece-H290MTS/312945780

Heres a discount if you buy it this weekend from harbor freight. Just screen shot this post and they can scan it off your phone, no membership or giving them your phone number required

As a professional I have about $25K in mine and that's only because I am frugal. I know many techs with well over $100K in tools. But when a large Snap-On tool chest MSRP is $16K, doesn't take long if you spend like a dummy.


Thanks! I am going to buy ONE OF THESE soon for overflow so I don't have to trade up in tool box.