Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Looking at a few socket sets and am wondering what is the better brand or are they basicly on Par with each other.

Bought a very stout Cinchrome tool chest the other day for 130 new. Mum used to work for Stanly Tools so we have quite a lot of their stuff which is great but heard that the new stuff isnt so good since it comes from Asia is this true? But now I'm looking to stop stealing dads and start my own collection.

Snap On is nice but a bit to exxy and i would rather support Australian companies. ive had a bit of a search and found not much.

so who would you go with or bit of mix and match?

Sidchrome and Stanley are owned by the same company now and like Kinchrome they're all made in Asia or somewhere like that.
All good stuff though.
I still reckon Sidchrome is the better quality though.
JBS is ok for the price, there are worse out there
Snap On and Stahlwille if you win the lottery

The kincrome ratchets aren't that good, get quite a few coming back at work, however majority of people misuse ratchets. I prefer sidchrome...

Jbs is good.

wurth

shakes wrote:wurth

Excellent stuff but waaaay pricey.

Repco tools actually seem to be of fairly good quality.

sudso wrote:Sidchrome and Stanley are owned by the same company now

Afaik Stanley tools always owned Sidchrome, becuase mum worked for stanley she got all their tools cheap, we stocked up a bit before she left over 10 years ago so i was to young to get all the good stuff!

i have all sidchrome and snap-on in my toolbox at work both great quality stuff i use them heavily everyday for work being a mechanic and cant fault either of them but a few guys have kinchrome things and they look cheep and tacky and their spanners wear prematurely

Hmmm... I'd preferred Kinchrome over sidchrome after the stanley move, but havent been "in trade" now for over a decade. If the Kinchrome has turned crap then I guess you have to look at stalwille or wurth for good stuff.

Snap-on is way overpriced and over-rated, but their support for trade is very good so I guess that's what you're paying for.

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 have a decent sized kingchrome kit, and while i'm not in the trade i've never broken anything no matter how much i abuse it. they've got a lifetime warranty, so that's good but if i broke a tool that i use a lot i would replace it with the best quality one i could find (stahlwille etc.) That way most of your kit is of reasonable quality and the ones you use heaps are the best.

KC Pro are pretty good too - but not as many places stock it.
Most of my tools are Kingchrome and I've had no problems with any of them.

The quallity of both has dropped quite a bit in last couple of years.
They both are still OK and about on par with each other.
You just need to find a good shop that isnt picky with the warranty as it is up to the individual shop whether they say yes or no (due to abuse etc).

One thing I have found of late is that Kincrome seems to be getting a lot of cheap chinese crap and throwing their lable on it during the sales. All I believe this is doing is giving them a bad name.

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.

Mate had a KC Tools 1/2 rachet with a busted mechanism, walked into their head office, they were unable to replace the mechanism, so they gave him a new one no questions. It was nearly 20 years old as well.

again wurth but I wouldnt want to ever pay more than trade for it!!!!!

the total tools home brand stuff is suprisingly good. I got their spanner set about 5 yrs ago when I moved outa home as the budget was much tighter then, and they still look like new and have copped a hiding!

ausyota wrote: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've had a set of Gedore open/ring spanners for over 20 years. Haven't broken any - but lost about 4 of them. I reckon they're great!

I've had a KC socket set for almost as long, the ratchet went after about 15 years. The ratchet in my 4by tool kit fits the KC set nicely, so I bought another ratchet for the 4by.

Scott

I have most of the REPCO set and wouldn't buy anything else. They have the same warranty as SNAPON for about a quarter of the price. They are nice to use (not as nice as snapon, mate has all their gear). But how many repco stores are there? Because if anything breaks you can just take it in and they replace it there and then
I have only broken one screwdriver tip and that was because i wasn't using it as was intended; they still replaced it

So that is why i would not buy anything else unless i won lotto and rang snapon

Webbie wrote: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.

The best -> Stahlwille
but they aint cheap

sierrajim wrote:

Webbie wrote: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'll 3rd it.

Ive just recently gone all out and bought a new tool box and all the spanners/sockets/screwdrives etc from repco, as i had all sorts of bits and pieces from seperate tool brands etc all over the place. Stuffed em all in the OLD drawer and replaced.

Seemsto be decent quality. Cant fault it.

Beastmavster wrote:Hmmm... I'd preferred Kinchrome over sidchrome after the stanley move, but havent been "in trade" now for over a decade. If the Kinchrome has turned crap then I guess you have to look at stalwille or wurth for good stuff.

Snap-on is way overpriced and over-rated, but their support for trade is very good so I guess that's what you're paying for.

Exactly, with snap-on your paying for the warranty. Which for someone in the trade its a good thing cause unless you lose it you're never going to have to buy another.

yep repco is the way to go.
when some low life scum thought he would like my toolbox and tools i replaced them with all repco stuff find them great except for the screw drivers they dont like going into some phillips head screws but the rest top stuff. I think it was about $160 for a 38 p metric&imp half inch socket set.
PS Powerbuilt is the same as repco but just bit cheaper and got lifetime waranty too

i got a stanley ratchet set for chrissy, and it's very nice to use, nicer than the kingchrome stuff at work. have had a couple of issues with newer sidchrome stuff being poorer quality than the old stuff (borrowed my old mans and haven't returned them).


the older sydchrome stuff cops a flogging in my tool kit (think 15 year old ratchet with a street sign attached to pull corroded) GQ front control arms). doesn't feel as nice as the new stanley ratchet, but it's strong

i got both sidcrome and kingcrome, i find then kingcrome open/ring spanners heaps better than my sidcrome stuff, the sidcrome seems to slip unless it dead flat on the bolt head. also busted a sidcrome rachet and havent been able to get it replaced so i just bought another....

and now some of them are getting a bit tired im thinking bout going to repco also, my mates a mechanic my trade and they abuse pi55 out of their repco gear and its holding up fine....

and i mean belt it, hitting ratchets with hammers and stuff... ive seen them do it numerous times

can i suggest? superworks gold. we have a socket set, as well as spanners, shifters, pliers etc, and they're all good quality. plus a lifetime warranty, what more can you ask of your tools??

I'm pretty sure the only tools mentioned above that actually have a life time warrenty is Snap On.

If you read the fine print on some tool warrenties what they consider life time is 10 years where Snap On is as long as you own the tools.

In my opinion Kingcrome is about as good as super cheap tools these days. There alright for the boot of the car but no one I know uses anything but Snap On or Repco for trade use.

Cheers Mick.

i use sidechrome or snap on but have minimax sockets and spanners have an unconditional warranty and are cheap i swing bars of my spanners and use the sockets on impact guns they are great well worth it im a mechanic so they are used every day and would be the best buy for home or workshop

Mick. wrote:I'm pretty sure the only tools mentioned above that actually have a life time warrenty is Snap On.

If you read the fine print on some tool warrenties what they consider life time is 10 years where Snap On is as long as you own the tools.

In my opinion Kingcrome is about as good as super cheap tools these days. There alright for the boot of the car but no one I know uses anything but Snap On or Repco for trade use.

Cheers Mick.

Sidchrome and Kincrome don't ask for proof of purchase when replacing tools, although they look at them and if they show any signs of misuse they refuse warranty.

the total tools home brand stuff is suprisingly good. I got their spanner set about 5 yrs ago when I moved outa home as the budget was much tighter then, and they still look like new and have copped a hiding!

Yeah that Total tools stuff and the JBS is real good for the price, had TT spanners for about 6 years and still like new, and a JBS socket set for 12 years, treat it like sh*t and haven't had a problem with it yet, can't be to bad as Blackwoods stock it.

Needed a 15mm spanner, so bought a Kingchrome one 12 months ago and now its covered in rust.