BlueRidgeMark

Oh, yeah. That long extension kit is great. Put a few together and the dreaded CPS replacement is not a problem at all.

lawsoncl

The HF recall included many of the 3 and 6 ton as well. After the recall, they improved the design quite a bit.

lawsoncl

For sockets, I really prefer 6-point as they're less likely to round and get stuck.

Rogue4x4

I have the newer versions anywho, but thanks for posting that link.

The nice thing about the kit I posted about is the fact that the majority of the set is 6 point, in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 inch, but there's also a decent setup of 12 point sockets (1/4 & 3/8) that has come in handy. Also, all sockets in all drive sizes have both standard and deep well...the elusive 18mm socket is also in there. I did have to buy a deep well 12 point piece meal for the cylinder head bolts...but you get the idea
..

country2

Don't forget a 12v test light!

Oh if your budget allows a welder...lol

Spencer_P

How do you like those? Do they seem well built? The Gearwrench ones are one of the only I've found that are 6 point but the reviews said they were thin and prone to bending.


Harbor Freights Quincy brand sells a 428 piece set, or if you wanted to get crazy Tekton sells a 441 piece set.
Shop around and choose a brand with a lifetime warrenty.

lawsoncl

A multi-meter too, and a few videos to learn how to use one effectively. Guaranteed to pay for itself the first time you chase down a bad connection or figure out that a sensor is either good or bad.

The HF cheapies can be had for a few bucks on sale and work well enough for auto work. $20 will get a much better quality, reasonably well featured one. I actually bought a case of the cheap ones when they went on sale for $1.29 each. One in each car, and I give them away when folks want to borrow my nice expensive one.

Ralph77

Never really thought about it. Probably have only used a couple of them to date and have not had a problem.
So I pulled out my 17mm ratcheting one and compared it to my 17mm 6 point.
The 6 point does look a little thinner and is lighter but some of that could be the ratcheting in the other 17mm.
I could see why reviews would say that.
Guess I might find out someday but I am not overly worried.
Hopefully there is a lifetime warranty on them and won't have to jump through to many hoops to defect one. LOL.

Titanium

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

It's a bummer what happened to Sears and Craftsman. They were such institutions when I was a kid. I've always been sympathetic to change and progress, but some of these changes just suck. There's hardly anywhere to go anymore to talk tools and buy tools. Lowe's really offended me last month when I saw that video of scumbags stealing thousands of dollars worth of copper from a Portland Lowe's, and their employees had to just let them, couldn't do a thing to stop them. Scale that up across an entire country and they're setting broad collapse or malaise in motion. (A customer took video of the scumbags all the way through to them loading the copper into their Subaru...) Things are absolutely insane right now.

​​​​​​I've never had a hand tool break that I can recall – I'm curious how a solid steel bar can break in normal use. I guess maybe the fiddly bits like the ratchet bearings?

As far as jack stands, I'm looking at a two post lift in the garage, like this one: https://rotarylift.com/product/spoa7/

That's a 7,000 pounder – I might want to go higher to be safe, given what you guys said about failing jack stands. I'm stunned by those stories – it's a very simple piece of equipment, just some inert steel. There's no rocket science to the engineering or load calculations. They just need to use enough steel to easily meet their ratings, shaped and joined in the necessary ways. To screw that up is amazing. I feel like any problem that you can solve with a few pounds of steel, you should solve the hell out of. If it was cost cutting over a couple of extra pounds of steel, that's amazing

Titanium

As far as brands go, what do y'all think about Klein, Milwaukee, and Stanley? Those are the ones I tend to see. And maybe "Workpro", but I'm not sure if I'm getting the name right.

One of the things that has really bothered me lately are fake reviews of products like tools. I don't mean fake customer reviews, which is a different issue. I mean that I've noticed that in many, many professional reviews – articles published by major websites – the reviewer never used the tool. He never touched the tool. He doesn't have the tool in his possession. He has never had, touched, used, or seen the tool in real life.

So many reviews online that come up in searches are just vehicles for the website to make money from commissions on "affiliate" links to Amazon or other sellers. The reviews are just a way to present links to buy the tool and make a commission on the sale. That seems to be the whole reason why many of these websites exist. I think a few years back it was expected that reviewers actually used and tested the tool, without which a "review" would be meaningless. Now they just seem to read about the product on the manufacturer's website, and repackage that marketing info. Sometimes they even tell you about the Amazon ratings, if it's highly reviewed or what, instead of testing the tool themselves. It's such a crock.

BlueRidgeMark

Klein and Milwaukee are professional grade. Top notch. Klein tends to be mostly geared to electricians. Milwaukee's power tools are second to none.

Stanley used to be very high quality, mostly woodworking tools. Now they are just another garbage consumer brand. Workpro is too new to tell, but they seem to be marketing to consumers, not pros.

DGA

Didn't see it mentioned so far, but: wheel chocks. proper gloves and eye protection and not only because because you'll need a can of PB Blaster. And a fire extinguisher.

agreen

Lowes has been on my list for a while. Every time I have bought an appliance, they would say it's in stock then leave me at the front of the store waiting. After half an hour or so I'd go find someone, who had to find someone else, who eventually would come out and say they actually didn't have it in stock and I could drive 45 miles to the next nearest location to pick it up.

And now they're saying that they won't give me their military discount because (according to them) a different name shows up on my MyLowes account. I can stand there, in front of them with my active duty military ID, with a picture of me on it, with my name on it, and my MyLowes card, with my name on IT, and they still won't. One lady actually applied it, then removed it because a different name popped up on her register. I even stood there in front of her and signed into my account and showed her the name (my name) and still. So I left over $1k worth of stuff with her and walked out.

I don't buy from one brand any more. I used to a long time ago when I was a dealer tech, but those days are over. There are far too many options, prices, and qualities out there. If you want an honest review on tools, check out Project Farm on YT. He breaks it down to a science, reviews them, and compares them by many factors (to include price as well).

Don't spend a ton, but don't grab the cheap set from Dollar General either. Again, a metric tool set and a multimeter will get you far enough to start. Eventually, you'll have a large complement of tools. You can also rent special tools from parts stores as well.

Titanium

Did you pair your Lowe's account with ID.me online? I just did that this year, which enabled the military discount. ID.me handles the verification, the DD-214 or whatever, and then a bunch of different companies and retailers just lean on them to verify veteran status and qualify people for discounts. Either way, you should be able to fix the name issue online.

Ralph77

So remember what I told you guys about having all sorts of tools that I will never use.
Well sometime ago I bought a GearWrench security torx set.
Been sitting for who know how long in my tool box unused.
Today I decided to gut a steering column that I have in "stock".
Guess what tools I did not have to go and buy to do that. LOL.