Kincrome V Sidchrome

[Emo]

I've got a busted Sidchrome ratchet. I'll have to take it back one day and get it replaced.

[dirtyGQ]

Repco tools actually seem to be of fairly good quality.

I'll second that. Have quite a few Repco tools in my workshop that get used all day every day by people who don't have to pay for tools they break (employees). They seem to outlast the Kinchrome and sometimes even the Snap On.

i have had my REPCO tools for 10 yrs or more and can't fault them

[4x4xmore]

repco are good for thier money, have had a set for over 10yrs and recently broke a 3/8 ratchet and they replaced it no worries without a receipt.

i also use a 1/2 drive fuller socket set for work been going strong for around 8yrs, even with the rattle gun, gets mainly used for suspension and towbar setups there available from trade tools and are a bit cheaper than sidchrome

[sudso]

Another brand to look at that isnt that well known is a german brand Gedore tools they aint pretty but they are strong as hell.

I thought Gedore were made in South Africa. Thats what it says on some of my Gedore tools anyway. Dont matter, I dont care where stuff is made as long as its good quality and not overpriced,
and Gedore rocks but hard to find nowadays.

[RockyF75]

I got a nice big Alltrade set from repco for ~$80 bux. over 100 pieces IIRC, have used it a fair bit and havent needed to test their "Lifetime Guarantee" yet. Only thing i can fault them on is the toolbox itself is pretty weak. Tools have been tried and tested without a fault.
Had a Kinchrome Combination screwdriver go on me after about 3 months, took it back and was replaced no questins aksed (bunnings, needed recipt)
You get what you pay for but bang for buck I'm happy with alltrade. The Sidchrome/Kinchrome equivalent would be 800 + i imagine. Too rich for my blood, but I can understand why a mechanic or other professional joint would get it.

[jimbo jones]

Repco tools actually seem to be of fairly good quality.

I have quet a few repco tool's and they also have a life time waranty.

[bru21]

I have heaps to do with various brands and spend heaps of time with the KC Tools guys.

Sidchrome is not australian, tiwanese as are all the better brands. the lesser brands (and model ranges eg super tool etc) are chinese. All the tools are made in same / similar factories to requested spec.

Snap on is fantastic but too dear imho. I used mainly superworx gold prior to being sposored by kc and I have bought prob 5 socket sets and prob over $1000 worth of other swg stuff It is excellent.

I now use kc and have had 3 roll cabs through them, 3 top boxes, cordless rattle gun, numerous air and hand tools right down to noid lights and I cannot fault any of the stuff. It is not polished like swg but slips less when greasy.

my experiance with sidchrome is they keep changing as do kinchrome making lost spanners replaced by missmatched ones.

gedore is similar to kc but less pretty - i inherited heaps of that too

cheers bru

[410sierra]

I cant complain about kincrome i recently broke one of their air drills (normal wear & tear) and rang up to see about getting it fixed. They sent a rep out to my house to pick it up and drop it back. it took four days in total

[matthewK]

best tools i reacon are the german ones, better steel, workmanship,
and measuring devicese the english stuff is best

[hokey]

I understood that the new sidchrome is crappy due to new ownership???
Kinchrome seems to working well for us these days
Apparently you can hand a man a granda spanna

[dv8666]

I have one set of TTI gear and one set of sidchrome, I love the total tools set, use it all the time, the sockets are still like new despite being used with the rattle gun, one sidchrome socket, well, the rattle gun made it many little pieces of socket, it didn't just crack, it shattered, and no warranty (obviously )
Cheaper to replace individual TTI gear that isn't covered by warranty than the sh*tty sidchrome stuff..

[antt]

nother vote for repco stuff. the old man has a 1/4 drive socket set, thats been used every day for the past 10 years in the car airconditiong industry, and it still works as well as the day it was bought

[ausoops]

have both gedore and sidchrome, work supplied spanners. the gedore are great can't fault them (though don't use as often as they are imperial) the sidchrome ringies are good but the open enders, well the ones i have, are too thin to hold, the handles would only be 8-9mm thick. use sidchrome sockets and they hold up well.

[Shorty40]

Anyone need a full kit ?

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp ... ir=catalog

Holy sheeeeeeeet And thats the imperial set, you can get the metric set aswell ...........

[RockyF75]

Anyone need a full kit ?

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp ... ir=catalog

Holy sheeeeeeeet And thats the imperial set, you can get the metric set aswell ...........

That'd be $US too aye

[philpot]

Just remember with all tool warranties they are only for manufacturing defects. Many of the big tool companies will even test your warranty claim in a lab to determine the cause of the failure. I have had Sidchrome, which used to have a lifetime warranty refuse a claim because the rep said that if the tool had broken due to a manufacturing defect it would have done so much earlier. I had another tool company tell me they knew I had misused the tool, a screwdriver, but would honour the warranty this time. I certainly didn't tell them what I had been doing with their gear. The same goes for snap-on. Usually they are worse because the dealer is a franchisee and he wears the cost if the warranty claim is knocked back by the bean counters in Sydney. Snap On isn't worth what they charge. You pay for the convenience of having a shop on wheels and all that interest free credit. Then there is the us dollar, and the fact that the customer is the third person to pay for the tool. Snap on us sells to Snap on Oz who sells it to the franchisee who takes all your moolah!
If you want to buy German have a look at Hazet. They don't have a lot of imperial stuff but their metric range is pretty good and they claim to be the factory tooling supplier for Porsche. They have an importer in Sydney and dealers in Melbourne and Brisbane.

[Patroler]

Another brand to look at that isnt that well known is a german brand Gedore tools they aint pretty but they are strong as hell.

I thought Gedore were made in South Africa. Thats what it says on some of my Gedore tools anyway. Dont matter, I dont care where stuff is made as long as its good quality and not overpriced,
and Gedore rocks but hard to find nowadays.

Yea Gedore is german, google it, i think the word comes from 2 brothers names GE & DO and the RE is the first letters of where they come from, ive got Dowidat AF spanners, pretty sure they're made by Gedore, german. & Repco metric, never had a drama with any.

[liftkit8]

stahlwille

[lay80n]

KC tools, Stahlwhille and snap-on are what i used when i was in the trade (mechanic) and never hand any issues with them. KC rep replaced a broken ratchet on the spot, only problem i have had after plenty of abuse. Both mine and apprentices borrowing tools . Mates owned repco tools and these held up great too. Snap-on are expensive, but there backup is great.

Layto....

[dancewiththebear]

you just can't beat a snap on rachet they are fantastic, been a tradey now for over ten years and still on the origonals 1/4 and 3/8 drive, and have abused piss out of them. as far as spanners and sockets go though, gedore, facom, stahwille, repco, jbs are all good- personally prefer facome or gedore though.
toledo are great for there price if you can find them!!

[Struth]

Buy JBS. Good pricing.
Pretty good quality.
Spanners and sockets.
We use them in industrial applications and they work fine

Sidchrome turned to crap about 15 to 20 years ago and kingcrome have been crap for about 5 years now (ratchets at least, sockets are still good).

If you have the dough find some spanners and sockets from KC Tools, the ratchets work smooth as a swiss watch. I found mine at a bearing supplier.

[Mudsierra]

I have a few snap-on tools mainly panelbeating hammers, they have lifetime warrernty on them except the handle, whick is hickory timber, cost about 22 bucks a handle to replace.

One time i had a hammer with shrinking face ( teeth surfaced face) that a workmate borrowed to use it against the chiesel then he left. didn't replace it for me but i put it under the press and broke the head of the hammer, handed it to snap on and told them it just broke. replaced it for free.. that hammer was 160 buck plus GST

I have a set of MECO socket from repco, can't go wrong and still going after 10 years.

[jeep97tj]

KC tools are weak (I sheared the ends off of 4 of them)

kingchrome go rusty, and there ratchets arnt the best because they have fine teeth in them, good for tight spacers but not good when u stand on the end of them.

Sidchrome are the go

snapon are good for special tools, u wouldnt go buy a snap on tool kit though.

[Mulisha]

KC tools are weak (I sheared the ends off of 4 of them)

kingchrome go rusty, and there ratchets arnt the best because they have fine teeth in them, good for tight spacers but not good when u stand on the end of them.

Sidchrome are the go

snapon are good for special tools, u wouldnt go buy a snap on tool kit though.

X2

I agree man i got some sidchrome stuff about 5 years ago before then went to stanley and i have used the rachets as hammers lol and used there screwdrivers as chisels and there like brand new. I like the chrome finish as well.

[Bundytime]

I sell Sidchrome, Kinchrome and KC tools, and the warranty is lifetime replacement, except where abused or used on air tools!!! No liftime warranty on tool boxes. It really comes down to the person in the store but most of the warranty tools never even go back to the supplier as they r happy to stand by their warranty.
If u have trouble with warranties ring the company direct and u will soon find they will stand by their product....

call me for cheap prices on tools!!!!! or even warranty problems....

9724 9955
Cheers Daniel

[bogged]

Digity...

Does anyone make a good quality set of 1/2 inch drive sockets, in stock sizes (8,10,12,14,17,19,21,22,24) without all the imperial stuff?

Currently lookin at this
http://www.kincrome.com.au/web/catalogu ... ber=13417P

sale for $185
RRP $249...


Edit: This would be nice :(
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Stahlwille-50-Pi ... 18Q2el1247

[Ben]

For $1600 it'd what to be a lot more than just farkin' nice!

[ofr57]

in my honest oppinion both are just as good
kincrome and sidcrome are both very good brands i have bought both and have not issues with either

kincrome is more and aussie based product where sidcrome is more overseas based

both offer life time warranties so no issue there

so basically it comes down to wat you like personally neither is stronger than the other and neither has problems that would not happen to the other....

Heath

I've got a kingcrome socket set both 1/2 inch and 3/8 the ratchet for the 3/8 gave up about 4 years after it was brought and kingcrome replaced it ... with a better one

[bogged]

For $1600 it'd what to be a lot more than just farkin' nice!

Stahl is one of the top quality ones out there, but its $1200 more than I have to spend. I have some Stahlwillie spanners from the 80's that are still in new condition

[MICK77]

I have tools from just about every manufacturer that is mentioned in this thread. As others have previously stated Snap On are fantastic if you can justify the cost. Stahlwille are also excellent but again, can you justify the cost.
Repco are also fantastic tools. Great warranty - no questions asked.

Kincrome have definately gone down hill in the last 5 or so years. That said they are still a good product though.

SP spanners are fawking brilliant.

Current Sidchrome stuff is absolute Fawking rubbish. The spanners don't sit well in your hand. The grips on the screwdrivers are next to useless. The sockets might as well be made from tin foil and the side cutters wouldn't cut hot butter. Utter Carp!!!!

IMO buy the best quality you can afford at the time. For someone not using them all day every day I would recommend Kincrome or Repco.