Seams that since K-Mart bought out Sears things have changed for the worse.
Hand tools will now be replaced or repaired at Sears discretion.

This means that if you have broken teeth in a ratchet they can hand you a new ratchet or hand you a rusty rebuilt ratchet or tell you to leave the store.
New torque wrenches now have only a 90-day warranty. If you have a torque wrench that was purchased with a lifetime warranty it is no longer covered.

So be careful what you purchase at Sears.

Ron 350

ron350 at breakthru.com

that kinda sux, craftsman tools were never the best, but you always at least got the warranty

As someone who sold tools at Sears for two time spans in the last 6 years, that'* not new information.

I swear by them. I wouldn't buy anything else.. and I only have had one socket break [deep 15mm 6pt] de-torquing the head bolts. Replcaced it no problem.. didn't even ask for the old one.

The only problem I have, is there is one girl that works at the local Sears is a TOTAL bitch, and is not nice whatsoever.. but as long as I am just buying something, it'* cool.


-justin

You want some good tools....


SnapOn


You gotta fork out the $$$ though

Just don't buy the snap-on tools with the shiny finish. Sucks with greasy or oily hands. The matte finish is much better.

I've never owned a craftsman racehet i liked. I've even had most of them replaced at one point or another. Dad'* torque wrench only lasted about 8 years. The snapon torque (which is 5 feet long and goes up to 750 lbs) has been around longer than me.

Yeah, my family used to swear by Craftsmen, but all of the wratchet'* seem to be going to pot as of late. Not to mention the metals they use for the screw drivers is down a few notches from before as the Philips and Torx screw drivers I have are losing metal on even the loosest screws.
I wonder what they'll say the next time I go into Sears and do my returns (usually do every 6 months unless I really, really need the tool like yesterday). I have about 6 screw drivers and 4 wratchets (from my collection, dad'*, and my brother'*).

I never really likes craftsman or strap-on. Too rich for my blood. Don't really like the snap-on ratchets, it'* too much of a pain to get the sockets off. I usually just buy stanley. My socket set has lasted me for 4 years and she'* still good as the day I bought it. I'm thinking about buying some pittsburg tools though. Harbor Freight sells them and I've been told they are really easy going with the warranty.

I do have some pretty old craftsman wrenches that I got from my father though. How old you ask? Well, they are stamped "Made In China"

Everything but Torque wrenches is still lifetime warranty. I love my laser socket set, and wouldn't trade them for the world. Hell they were on sale and cheaper then the regular sockets at the time.

I take comfort in knowing that althought they may not be the best (snap on or mac) they'll last forever, because i'm a weekend warrior. I don't use them everyday, so they won't see the wear a mechanic would put on them. And if i'm ever working on the weekend and break a critical tool, I can go to the mall and get a new one. I know that mechanics don't like craftsman too much, but they're certainly far from bad tools. I don't have the funding, or the time to hunt down a tool van either. But they are nice....

Side note, Stanley stopped no questions asked lifetime warranty for all their tape measures. I kinda think they've had bean counters take over. :?

EDIT: speaking of craftsman, make sure I get my screwdriver back Martin! I coulda used it tonight Instead i had to grab my cheapie stanley set. Not that prying off an electrical boot is necessary of a high quality driver...