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Are SnapOn tools really worth it? I turn the wrench a good bit, and have had wrenches fail and even literally explode. I have had the same set of craftsman sockets (give or take ) for the last 10 years, but I usually have to replace my socket wrenches at least every 3 years or so. Looking online, SnapOn sells a 3/8 drive wrench, just a 3/8 wrench, just the MANUAL wrench, no extras, it doesn’t play music get wifi or have a tv on it, for $78!!! What could possibly justify charging that much for a wrench? Even if I bought a WalMart wrench for $5 every year it would take 15 years to equal the SnapOn.
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Are Snapon tools worth it? If you turn a wrench for a living I would say yes. SnapOn ratchets are the only ratchets I have tried that actually hold up. Macs break, matco break, craftsman dont last a week. I think there sockets are better also, it may just be me but they seem to hold onto a bolt head better than others that I have tried. Dont have any of their wrenches yet, but they are going to be worlds better than a $5 wrench from walmart. When I do pick up a set it will probably be used.
And their balljoint press, heck yeah. If you do suspension work their balljoint press is the only way to go.If you’re working 8 hours a day everyday then the tools will pay for themselves within a matter of months. At school we use snap on, where as I use craftsman and mastercraft at home. The wrenches, sockets, ratchets are much better in terms of gripping and the number of teeth in the ratchet. I’m going to be buying a bunch of snap on tools but only because I’m getting a 40% discount from my school but I will only be buying hand tools that I’d be using every day. Stuff like pry bars, hammers, tap n die kits, etc. craftsman or some other cheaper but good quality brand is alright.
[quote=”thisisbuod” post=38266]Yeah but……$78 for one wrench?[/quote]
Thats why I said I was going to buy used.One thing I want to point out – Just like other brands, buying them 1 piece at a time (wrench, socket, etc.) is always going to cost a heck of a lot more than buying the ‘set’, and usually the bigger the set the cheaper the per unit price.
I don’t think you can compare Craftsman with Snap-On, just as I would not compare a Ferrari with a Kia. From people I’ve asked in the business, what I’ve heard is there are little (but significant) differences in Snap-On tools that make them work better than consumer tools. Maybe it’s the offset angle of the wrenches, the number of teeth on the ratchet, slimmer head design so it fits in tighter places, etc…all stuff the weekend mechanic may never notice, But if I’m making a living turning wrenches I don’t have time to figure out what works and what doesn’t, and if something fails I need the tool to come to me, not me taking time off to drive somewhere to exchange it.
I rate tools using scale – crap, good enough, and excellent. Snap-on tools are excellent tools, but I also have several tools that falls into good enough rating(SK, Facom, Craftsman, Cornwell,…) and they are heck of a lot cheaper than Snap-on tools. Crap tools does not mean useless. You can weld or grind to make special tools – you shave to make special tools time to time and you don’t want to use expensive snap on sockets when you are going to destroy the socket in the tool making process.
You get what you pay for when it comes to tools.
The 2 posts above basically nailed it.
The cheaper brands will let you down if you are a technician and work 8+ hours a day on vehicles.
My box at work is full of Snap On, Mac and Matco tools with a few Craftsman tools mixed in.
The hardline tools are some of the best quality I have ever seen (ratchets, wrenches, pliers ..etc). That being said, I don’t think they are really that much better overall than Cornwell Tools or MAC Tools. Their air tools and battery operated stuff is very overpriced in my opinion. Personally, I much prefer Cornwell Tools just because I can buy them and still have some paycheck left to take home.
I had the opportunity to use a set of snap-on tools to change a head gasket over the holiday weekend. I will admit they were the nicest tools I have ever used but, there is no way in hell I would pay that much for them.
My ex-wife makes high quality jewelry but, was barely selling any of it. Then a fellow jewelry maker told her to double her prices (for the same jewelry) and now she sells enough that it pays her rent.
Having Snap-On Tools seems more like a social status icon among mechanics more than anything else.
In short Snap-On Tools are not worth it in my opinion. Yeah it’s cheaper per piece to buy sets, but a quarter inch drive set costs almost $400. And yeah if your wrench breaks they will drive a new one out to you but, at $80 a wrench I could buy 4 pretty good quality Wrenches, and would only miss about a minute of work, rather than having to wait on them to bring me a new one (because I couldn’t buy two Snap-On wrenches and pay my rent.)[quote=”thisisbuod” post=39170]I had the opportunity to use a set of snap-on tools to change a head gasket over the holiday weekend. I will admit they were the nicest tools I have ever used but, there is no way in hell I would pay that much for them.
My ex-wife makes high quality jewelry but, was barely selling any of it. Then a fellow jewelry maker told her to double her prices (for the same jewelry) and now she sells enough that it pays her rent.
Having Snap-On Tools seems more like a social status icon among mechanics more than anything else.
In short Snap-On Tools are not worth it in my opinion. Yeah it’s cheaper per piece to buy sets, but a quarter inch drive set costs almost $400. And yeah if your wrench breaks they will drive a new one out to you but, at $80 a wrench I could buy 4 pretty good quality Wrenches, and would only miss about a minute of work, rather than having to wait on them to bring me a new one (because I couldn’t buy two Snap-On wrenches and pay my rent.)[/quote]That statement in bold is totally untrue.
Again if you are a professional technician working 40+ hours a week, the bigger brand tools will always get you out of a jam and are just built to last and offer better features over lower quality tools. They will also make the service or repair your working on go quicker.
As for the cost, there is always the opportunity to buy used on ebay and such.
Each to there own though.
I don’t think it’s a social status enhancer, but I do think that for some people, it definitely increases their ego to an unbearable degree haha. Not saying that everybody that owns snap on tools are egotistical or anything like that, but I’ve never met anybody wearing craftsman boots, a craftsman jacket, a craftsman hat and shirt, saying craftsman before listing every tool he has in his craftsman tool box. I know a few guys who do that but substitute craftsman with fuck*n snap-on lol.
Personally I use Snap-on bits, Extensions, and ratchets, and some larger sockets. Every thing else is Mac, Craftsman, or IR. I have a set of snap-on tools that I have in my snowmobile bag, for one reason when i’m 100+ miles away from civilization; I want tools that I can trust with my life. All of their tools are top notch, for someone that works with them 40+ a week and relies on them for their lively hood then they are definitely worth it. Are they a must have for every garage/backyard mechanic? No, they are for people that need tools that they can trust. If you can only afford HF, or similar tools that’s fine, if they break your not out much and you can get another relatively quickly. I know many top mechanics that use an assortment of tools from all the tool trucks, they know what works for them and they go with it.
Snapon makes a good tool but some people just go on and on about their snapon tools thinking it is a bragging right.
l hate to say it but tools are supplied at the shop i work at, 3/4 of those tools are snapon. Shop spent 1.4 million on snap on tools alone and those are cheap compared to the other tools where a single can cost 15,000 alone. You may say i don’t own it but hey i get to use it.
What i am getting at is there is no point to use the tools you use as a badge of honor.Snap-On tools should not be bragging rights, some of the best mechanics in the world have next to nothing for tools and they still get the job done.
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