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I am currently going to school to become a autobody repair technician. I am also trying to figure our what tools and equipment I want/need. my biggest question is about wrenches/ratchets, I noticed that alot of the different brands out there come with things like just metric sockets or just standard sockets or wrenches… I have done alot of mechanical work on my own cars and I have mostly used a $60 ace hardware set I got on black friday when I was 14 years old. they have worked pretty good and they have honred their lifetime warranty a time or two but I dont know that I would trust them for professional use, but what I really like about this tool kit is that it comes with dang near about any socket and ratchet size you would ever really need. it has 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 inch and then deep/shallow sockets to go with those ratchets. on top of that it has I think 5 standard and 5 metric wrenches of the pretty common sizes.
So I am wondering what is the best way to go about this?? like I said I really like my ace hardware setup because I can just open it up on the tailgate or where ever I am working and I have most anything that I need, I mean I have other wrenches and stuff but generally that kit is what I use. is there a reason to go with just a 1/4 ratchet set and buy them individually? is it just a personnel preference thing? is it a shop thing? I dont have alot of experience working in a actual shop but I am currently working in a auto body shop a couple hours a day after school and everyone there just seems to have just sockets and ratchets loose in there drawers. but one of my teachers at school has his tools in cases as sets. I am just curious if it would be smart to get a good set with them mostly all in one case liek what I have. thanks
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Use what you have and build up from there. I started out with a small cheap set of sockets and wrenches from popular mechanics back in the day. I still have them 20 some years later and you’ll still have yours if you take care of them. I would use those while you spend your money on the tools you don’t have yet. When just starting out, there is a huge list of things to get so no immediate need to buy doubles just yet. The way I went through the process was buying the things I use everyday first and buy everything else as the need arises. Your hand tools really don’t have to be the best brands in the world as long as they do the job. I only spent lots of money on things like impact sockets and air tools that the quality of the tool really impacts the performance, reliability, and usablility of the tool.
I started like 82Chevy. When I was growing up in my Dad’s shop, I didn’t even think about tools because I used my Dad’s. I never had to think about it.
When I got to Germany in the Army, I had no tools and no place to keep very many. I worked on my own old car and worked on cars for many others. Before I went to Germany, I don’t think I ever touched a Metric bolt. The few tools I had access to were SAE, and most everything I worked on was Metric. I actually got by with a 3/8″ open end that I filed to 10MM and was able to come up with an SAE size close enough to most everything else. My girlfriends Dad was a German farmer that worked on farm equipment to supplement his farm income. He gave me a set of Stahlwille Metric Box Ends that were duplicate of another set he had. He might as well have given me a gold bar. I then gathered up a tool box full of tools that was no bigger than a good size tackle box. They got stolen when I shipped my personal property back home after the Army.
I went to work in a truck shop once back in the states and gathered up tools from everywhere. The collection didn’t amount to much, but I got by. The first quality tools I bought were a set of Snap On long pattern combinations. I still have them. As I added tools I tried to put things in the box that I had a need for and that did not duplicate what I already had. I think the next thing I got after the combinations was a Snap On 3/8″ ratchet that I got at a pawn shop. It had been used in dirt and failed not long after. It failed so bad, the truck guy couldn’t rebuild it and handed me a brand new one, no charge. Once I had collected the basics, I started getting things as I needed them for tight spots and such. I bought a crowfoot set one day when the tool truck happened to be there while I was fighting something hard to get at. From about that point forward, when I added things they were usually Snap On.
Fast forward 45 years and I have collected a pretty good set of tools.
Anyway, if that set works for you, why worry about it for now? Put your hard earned tool money in other things as you need them and then circle back around to upgrade the socket set when the time comes. When that time comes, you will know it.
Hope this helps, and best of luck with your career.
When I was and got out of vocational school back in 1984, I started with a Craftsman set and tool box then worked my way for a rollaway chest. When I left the profession back in 1990 I kept the tools but sold the chest (stupid mistake now the Craftsman chest are made in china). When I worked and got father along I bought Snap Ons. The company I worked for supplied all the air tools and we my boss bought Snap Ons. We even had a 80 gallon Snap On compressor because he didn’t like Sears at that time. Good luck in your career!
As a new technician, you wont know which size sockets to grab and bring under the vehicle. Best to keep your tools as mobile as possible. Something easy to grab and take under…
I used to manage my sockets like Jason talks about above. I had some sticks for each socket set. That worked great when I worked with a floor Jack, Jack stands and a creeper. About ten years ago, I got a two post lift. My car repair world changed at that point.
I finally have moved to an arrangement with all straight sockets in one drawer on the plastic stands with posts that label the socket size. The drawer below that has the ratchets, extensions and such, arranged by drive size. The drawer below that has various tools including specialty sockets and other things that I consider tools for tight spots and difficult fasteners. These are arranged in compartment trays so they are not all jumbled around in one drawer.
Hope this helps in some way.
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