What tools do and do not need to be quality?

Hear ye hear ye all gearheads!

I'm trying to build my garage with useful things, such as tools. I'm curious as to what quality tools you guys think I should pay a good (read deserved - a.k.a. "you get what you pay for") price for. For example, I know that you get a much better, more accurate, and longer lasting torque wrench if you pay the hefty price for quality. On the other end of the spectrum, I've seen Harbor Freight generic wrenches last a good while, and you don't have to sell your lung for it.

What other examples can you come up with for both lists. I'm no super mechanic, but here's my opinionated list:

Quality Tools - Pay more because you need it to do the job right:
- torque wrench
- hex wrench set
- beer

Lower Quality - They are a dime a dozen and their function just gets the job done.
- screwdriver set
- box wrenches
- stool
- beer

Okay, okay, so beer is not a tool, but you get buzzed/drunk in the end and you can't tell if it's quality or not anyway, right?

And as you all already know, don't drink and ride!

- teacher

I would recommend good ratchets. The cheap ones will get the job done, but they feel lousy in use - especially when flipping the levers between tighten and loosen. Buy good quality tools and they'll probably last forever.

You never waste money on good tools.

You never waste money on good tools.

Here! Here! Absolutely nothing but truth in that statement.

Hex Wrenches are important to have quality.
I have the Craftsman Allen sockets... Last night the 5mm broke off in my Ducati's oil drain plug. Who would have expected Craftsman to snap.
But with Sears spiralling down hill, they are sending more jobs to China... I have one set made in the USA and the quality is much nicer than the newer set made in China.
I reached in the cabinet and just grabbed one thinking it would never break.

Generic Allen wreches always seem to round out the inside of the Hex bolt or round the end of the tool.

Same theory goes for cheap phillips screw drivers and sockets.


As for the rachet statement above... There is a huge difference between a Craftsman rachet and a Snap-On rachet. It is hard to go back to Craftsman. But Snap-On costs sooooo much.
Some of those cheap China made ratchets are just knuckle busters.

I'll disagree with your list when it comes to screwdrivers. The hardness (or lack of) of the bits in the cheaper screwdrivers will bite you in the ass. I've only got Craftsman Professional Series and Snap-On screwdrivers and they've stood the test of time of 5 years of daily use in a motorcycle dealership and frequent use for the following 9 years. Not one of them has ever needed to be replaced due to being stripped. But I have replaced a few from mis-use on my part, but the Snap-On do state right there on the handle "Not to be used as a prybar or chisel", I just choose to ignore it.

All tools need to be good quality. You wouldn't want your doctor to perform surgery on you with discount supplies. Same for your bike.

A cheap torque wrench will seem to be working, but is it clicking on the correct setting(says one thing but does something else)

I think this is all relevant to how much work you plan to do yourself.

:lurk:


This thread is going to have such wildly swinging opinions that there will not be a concensus on anything. It'll just be an oil thread about tools.


The problem is that you'll have people who are professional mechanics, weekend warriors, and guys who change oil all giving their opinion. Each opinion is correct for that person, but not necessarily for anyone else. All these varied and diverse groups are going to have different criteria on what is acceptable.


The only piece of advice that I'll offer is that money spent on quality tools is never wasted, provided the buyer knows how to use those tools and actually does use the tools.

Work box is almost exclusively snap on or Mac. Won't settle for less.
Home box is a mix of big store brands... Craftsman, husky etc. I pick and choose on which tools I prefer. The odd snap on and Mac have made it in there, as have a few other name brands(proto, gray etc)
With precision tools, you will generally get what you pay for, but I do know craftsman torque wrenches are pretty quality, although they are not cheap(as in harbour freight cheap).
One example of a tool that seems pointless to spend money on: dead blow hammers. Go swing a cheap ass dead blow and it will uselessly bounce. Go grab a snap on dead blow and give it a swing. No bounce, and excellent energy transfer. The new craftsman deadblow hammers are pretty good too.
My 2cents.