I broke a 3/8" rachet a few years ago using it to take something off with a 3' cheater bar. lol Went down the street and swapped it right out no problem with no receipt or questions asked. The replacement rachet seemed cheaper quality since it has a plastic switch. And wouldn't you know it, the plastic switch broke off just last week. I plan to go back soon and see if I can swap it out with the same ease as last time.
Other than that, I use regular sockets with the impact, use Craftsman air tools, compressor, jacks, stands, etc. Love em all.

 

Christmas of 2002, my father bought me a 300 piece craftsmen toolbox. Made in USA, lifetime warranty. I love it!

 

Have tools from all 3 distributors, broken tools from 2 out of the 3

I bought a 1/2" craftsman torque wrench, snapped the male nub right off, torquing within the range of the wrench. Craftsman only gives 1 year warranty's on torque wrenches and this just happened to be over a year. I went in a little heated after a quick phone call, they didn't replace it but they gave me a rebuild kit for the head and re calibrated it for me.

I also decided to get a nice ratcheting wrench set from them, 13mm had NO gears in it out of the box, replaced but took 2 f'in weeks

I broke 2 snap-on ratchets, in 3 hours. both were replaced but the truck comes 3 times a month so i had to wait about a week.

Mac is my favorite of them all, extremely expensive but durability and comfortably are the main sellers for me

 

i have a strapon fine tooth ratchet

awesome ratchet but i paid 150 bux for it

still sorta regret buying it

 

This is how I found out they no longer had a lifetime warranty on "precision" tools. 6 months after buying mine, the adjuster lock ring broke off. I brought it back and was asked for my receipt. I didn't have one because I thought there was a lifetime warranty. They wanted me to pay $75 to have mine repaired and recalibrated. They were on sale new for $70. Huh? So, I bought a new one and one month later, brought my broken one back with the receipt from the one I just bought. They gave me a new one. I then sold that one to my friend for $5 less than I paid for it. Screw K-Mart.

 

Took my 3/8" rachet into Sears last night. Broke the plastic switch off. They swapped it at the counter for a new looking refurbished one instantly. No ID or paperwork involved. cool.gif

 

...uh... LOL

 

i've been a mechanic for 8 years on jet aircraft, 1 year with a honda/hyundai dealership, 15 years on cars as a hobby.
-With that disclaimer out of the way.
1. craftsman is a good quality and probably better than you will ever need.
2. snap-on and mac are the best quality but are very expensive.
3. also consider husky (home depot) and kobalt (lowes) not quite the quality of craftsman but carry the same warrenty.
4.Harbor Freight- cheap and inexpensive. these tools suck but you dont always need good tools, think about it your going to be hitting things with a hammer so it doesn't matter if you spent $3 (harbor freight) or $45 (MAC) it will still hit things.

-quality can have several meanings, it can be more precise, lighter, thinner walls, stronger, etc.

-to sum it all up dont go into tool debt when you get a new job. buy a basic set of craftsman (150-300 bucks) and wait till they go on sell. as you see a need for more precise tool buy it from mac or snapon 1 piece at a time (johnny cash!). also consider that harbor freight tools even though they are cheap are a good temperary solution while your short on cash.

-my tools are a mixture of all the above.
-WRENCHES-i have 1 set of snapon wrenches for getting into tight places and for jet engines. i have several sets of craftsman and kobalt for everyday use, and 1 set gearwrench racheting.
-SOCKETS- same as above 2 sets of snapon and the rest are all craftsman, deep well and shallow 3/8s and 1/4 12pt and 6pt. 1 set of 12pt shallow 1/2 drive and 1 set of shallow 6pt impact 1/2 drive, all craftsman
-SCREWDRIVERS AND PLIERS- craftsman screwdriver set and plier set, MAC and kobalt mini pliers set (wasted my money on the MAC, the kobalt work just as good), also have snap-on saftey wire pliers (a MUST if you work on motorcycles, aircraft, or racecars). and a few random harbor freight pliers that have unique bends and reaches (rarely used thats why their harbor freight)

-you should get the idea from this above, if you have any questions just ask me, ive seen a lot of people making 75k to 100k a year and are masively in debt with full MAC/SNAP-ON tools. use your head pay with cash not debt