Tool Brands

[blackie]

Ive got a powerbuilt kit and its been sweet so far

[Crucible]

Snap On would be the best quality you can get but so ridiculously over priced!, Havent used Teng or Powerbuilt, but had really good use out of Koken. T & E seems to be fairly decent quality, My 3/8 set is mostly koken but Ive replaced the ratchit with Snap - on, Id have to say I use 3/8 more than 1/2 for general work.

[MikeMan]

If you only buy one socket set make it a good 3/8 set.

You can then later get a 1/2 drive powerbar and the 1/2 drive sockets you need for the big stuff (19, 21 ..... etc) as you need them.

Ring and open end spanners from 8mm to 22mm is a good bet.

A good set of screwdrivers, a couple of decent sets of pliers and cutters, one good pair of vice grips and a 16-24oz ballpeen hammer.

That is a good starter set, add to it as you need/want.

ALLWAYS buy the best tool syou can afford with a lifetime warranty, unless some tard steals them you will only buy once so buy right.

I like the Snap-On feel and design, but the price is high for a hobby set, see if you bro can get a good deal on the Repco brand stuff if you like Snap-On as they are mostly copies of the Snap-On/Bluepoint gear.

It is better to buy a few good tools at a time rather than buy lots of crap and keep replacing it. However another approach is to buy a cheap set and as things break replace with decent gear, it gets you started if the borrowing supply dries up.

Just my thoughts

[Grrrrrrr!]

The repco stuff is the same as the JBS stuff, and i used a set of that daily for 3 years, most of the work i did wasn't what i would call heavy duty but i had no problems with the tools at all.

One thing i would say is if you buy a socket set make sure you get the powerbar to suit it and use it. if you loosen/tighten the nuts/bolts with the powerbar and use the ratchet to just nip them up/remove them you should never have any problems with them. There is nothing worse than trying to use a ratchet to undo a siezed bolt at 5.30 on a sunday afternoon and breaking it when spending another $15-20 dollars and getting a powerbar would have meant you had your car back on the road to drive to work on monday!

[no_8wire]

KING TONY FTW...

[Bazda]

KC tools seems to be pretty good
Sulco sell some very nice tool pieces
also sidchrome

[kingcorolla]

I personally wouldnt go with Powerbuilt ratchets, just cause all the mechanics seem to smash them all the time, or the circlip holding the selector lever always seems to fall out. I guess they'd be fine for home use.

my powerbuilt ratchet has survived everyday use in the trade for 2 years

[Spannergal]

I personally wouldnt go with Powerbuilt ratchets, just cause all the mechanics seem to smash them all the time, or the circlip holding the selector lever always seems to fall out. I guess they'd be fine for home use.

my powerbuilt ratchet has survived everyday use in the trade for 2 years

given the number off mechanics I see that use anything but a hammer in situations that call for hammer use, i'm not exactly surprised that mechanics manage to smash powerbuilt, that said I haven't had a problem with powerbuilt yet

[Grrrrrrr!]

I think you'll find powerbuilt do two ratchets, a cheapy and a decent one. the cheapy i got with my 3/8" socket set a few years ago is rubbish, its sloppy as and going to strip itself anytime soon, but the 1/2" drive set i looked at the other day looked much better quality.

[Dell'Orto]

I personally wouldnt go with Powerbuilt ratchets, just cause all the mechanics seem to smash them all the time, or the circlip holding the selector lever always seems to fall out. I guess they'd be fine for home use.

my powerbuilt ratchet has survived everyday use in the trade for 2 years

You're a rare man, I do the warranty claims at Repco here, and I get countless ratchets back. I dont think its so much the quality as the fact the mechanics here seem to like putting bars on the ends of things well not quite that bad, but I do return a minimum of one a week.

think you'll find powerbuilt do two ratchets, a cheapy and a decent one. the cheapy i got with my 3/8" socket set a few years ago is rubbish, its sloppy as and going to strip itself anytime soon, but the 1/2" drive set i looked at the other day looked much better quality.

They do a gear to gear as well as a quick release version, its the gear to gear ones that give up most often.

[Bazda]

u guys seen the new snap-on or maybe its sid-chrome ratchet, gearless system. so smooth and can do 1/2 deg movements, feels real weird to use but its awesome

[Pies]

i still got my motorgard ratchet set despite being used as a hammer, having jack handles on the end of it to loosen asshole bolts, used as a hammer, thrown at various cars through frustration, did i mention hammer use? oh, and ive jumped on the end of it while trying to remove wheel nuts at times too still works fine and i use it almost daily!

[Sick Puppy]

Sorry to resusitate a year-old thread, but I'm asking for advice- sorry, there is a fair bit of reading to do here!

Basically I want to purchase tools to work on car, basic engine work, interior trim etc, doing more as experience and knowledge improve. The essentials I need now are combination ring/open ended spanners, socket set, screwdrivers, pliers, etc. Yeah there is more (axle stands etc) but again, I’ll build on these later. These will be used on a Toyota and a BMW (when I get one), so I need metric only (I’ll get cheaper stuff for imperial later- will hardly use it, but pays to have it around).

Figure I will start with 3/8”, then purchase 1/4” and 1/2” socket sets further down the line…
I’m from the UK and ya never know, I might end up back there, so whatever I buy must be sold over there too for upgrade/warranty purposes. And yeah, must have a lifetime warranty!

Where to look?
Amongst many others (kiwibiker, visor down, a few others in the UK, etc.), I checked these threads:

• http://forums.toyspeed.org.nz/viewtopic.php?t=44416
• http://forums.toyspeed.org.nz/viewtopic.php?t=46518
• http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index.php?showtopic=7241&mode=threaded

And I came up with five makes: I eliminated these three- yup, reasons sound fussy, but it’s a fair amount of cash I’ll be laying out, and I’ll be looking at and using them for a while! (And yeah, I would love Stahwille, but waaaay outta my budget!):
Facom- didn’t like the ratchet (funny/ flimsy feeling selector dial, fibre reinforced?!)
Powerbuilt- ratchets felt crap compared to Koken & King Tony;
Teng- don’t like finish- don’t care about shiny, but still feels funny!

Which leaves me with pretty much the two I started with:
King Tony- unsure as to whether these guys operate in UK, though definitely in Ireland- I can live with that;
Koken- (Sockets & Screwdrivers only? No spanners, pliers, tool boxes?)
Of course, if anyone knows of any other tool makes, let me know- I may have thought of them, I may not, but any ideas will be good!

Questions/advice

1. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with these makes? I know Sergei likes King Tony tools (had to put the tools in or it sounded dodgy! :p ) and it is being recommended by a fir number of shops, and Koken is one of the middle to higher-end makes recommended by a few here, but if I really know what I was talking about I wouldn’t be asking you guys now, would I? :p
2. Should I gradually build up my collection by buying stuff separately, e.g. socket set, spanner set, screwdriver set, etc. (more expensive in the long run than purchasing a tool chest for instance) or buy a tool chest a la:
   http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Car-parts-accessories/Tools-repair-kits/auction-105595734.htm?p=6
   Risk is that I end up with stuff I never use? I know they contradict each other, another reason I’m asking around!
3. Any good places to go to for these? Tried a few places in Wellie and Waitemata Hydraulics in Auckland, but open to suggestions…
4. Has anyone purchased from overseas? Exchange rate is fantastic right now...

As I said, any help in this is much appreciated- thanks!

[Malcolm]

at the UoA FSAE workshop, we're pretty well kitted out wih Facom tools. I think they're freaking sweet, only things we break are thin drift/punches and occasionally wear out the ball-ends on allen keys.

Facom is the supplier to Ferrari F1 too

They have a huge range of stuff, infact their catalogue is like a goddamn textbook, about 40mm thick + hardcover.

It's pricey, but they have lifetime warranties (like most tools I guess).

Also I don't understand what you mean about the ratchet selectors feeling funny? All our ratchets have normal steel selectors?

[Malcolm]

btw, Trade Tools in Penrose, Aucks do a few brands (Facom is their major one), and they're a sponsor of our FSAE team so I'd recommend giving them a call

[Boosted_162]

I have a 1/4" King Tony set, its tiny as hell, and only goes to 12mm (and the equivilant imperial one) but it just WONT break! Comes in handy for the bolts where you dont have much room. I have actually put a powerbar on the end of it, made it about 4 times its original length and will always get bolts off!

[Bumpy]

i still got my motorgard ratchet set.

I still have my motorguard ratchet set also, had it for around 4 years now, use as a hammer, ratchet also.

I quite like my Fuller and Fuller Pro tools. But the fuller hacksaws are useless as the blade kept falling off mine

[neo]

i still got my motorgard ratchet set.

I still have my motorguard ratchet set also, had it for around 4 years now, use as a hammer, ratchet also.

You two are a very select few!, Lots of Motorguard sets fail out of the box, especially the ratchets.

Myself at home, I use a very very OLD (Dads set from when he was my age) Sidchrome 1/2 set, thats damn amazing!

I just went and brought a repco 3/8 metric socket set and repco ring and open ended spanners for the racecars traveling tool kit.
The finish on the repco tools is slightly better than powerbuilt, and Ive also noticed different qualities in the powerbuilt range depending what shipment the tools are from!

[N.B Repco tools are now brought into NZ by the supplier of Powerbuilt]

[Ae92typeX]

i still got my motorgard ratchet set.

I still have my motorguard ratchet set also, had it for around 4 years now, use as a hammer, ratchet also.

You two are a very select few!, Lots of Motorguard sets fail out of the box, especially the ratchets...

[N.B Repco tools are now brought into NZ by the supplier of Powerbuilt]

Ive got several different sets, but have also owned a motorgard set for about 10 years now. abused it constantly and has never broken anything.

[Mr Revhead]

you should see the repco powerbar wev got here.....

snapped the head off! on inspection, its been cracked for some time

i was going to recommend powerbuilt for best bang for buck (we sell it!)..... but seems u dont like it!

write an exact list of what you need.
then go find a shop and neogiate, a speacialist tool shop will be more likely to discount rather than mitre 10 etc.
or see if you can get hold of the regional rep....

buying a lot of things seperatly will be cheaper, youll just have to sit down and work it out.