Angled ratchet (gear) wrenches at Lowes

AndyG

AndyG

Because some other guys are perverts
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Alabama
8 for 28.48 per set- seem to be going fast at the store I was at.

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Sexy I beam design

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And sturdy fold out holder- good trail kit

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These are up front with the seasonal specials.
 
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I'd rather buy harbor freight than craftsman. I'm still mad at them for their atrocious decrease in quality. Maybe they've gotten better and I should get over it.
 
JMT said:
What store?
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Our south memorial
parkway Lowes has them- hopefully its nation wide

Be glad to try to snag more and send them 2 you -
 
srimes said:
I'd rather buy harbor freight than craftsman. I'm still mad at them for their atrocious decrease in quality. Maybe they've gotten better and I should get over it.
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The truth is more everyone else has caught up.
 
srimes said:
I'd rather buy harbor freight than craftsman. I'm still mad at them for their atrocious decrease in quality. Maybe they've gotten better and I should get over it.
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I gave up on Craftsman sometime around 2010. Since Stanley bought the name, I have bought several wrenches and a socket set, and they seem fine. Probably not as good as the pre-2000 stuff, but good enough. Some friends of mine working professional shops switched to Icon years ago and tell me I should try 'em, and since Icon seems to runs in a similar price range as Craftsman, I think I will soon, but I'm not scared of the current Craftsman stuff.
 
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BlueC said:
I gave up on Craftsman sometime around 2010. Since Stanley bought the name, I have bought several wrenches and a socket set, and they seem fine. Probably not as good as the pre-2000 stuff, but good enough. Some friends of mine working professional shops switched to Icon years ago and tell me I should try 'em, and since Icon seems to runs in a similar price range as Craftsman, I think I will soon, but I'm not scared of the current Craftsman stuff.
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I’ve got the long Icon set of these- really like them.

The truth is product differences tend to be disappearing overtime-

Years ago some manufactures would have a huge edge on everyone in the market and import quality was terrible.

Craftsman really did a good job with the do it yourself customer and they had both the quality and an easy warranty-

Snap On was the choice for professionals

I remember doing things like trying to change an alternator with a cheap socket set and before it was over you usually wished that you were dead or something.
 
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AndyG said:
Snap On was the choice for professionals
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Don't forget Mac (possibly owned by Stanley now) and S-K. I've got a set of Mac imperial combination wrenches that I inherited from my grandfather, still going strong to this day. In fact, they were still making the exact same wrenches (albeit with shiny chrome plating) until a few years ago.

I stopped buying Craftsman a long time ago. While they have a solid warranty, I ended up using that warranty a bit too much. That's likely the biggest difference I see between brands like Craftsman (consumer grade) and Snap-On. Is the premium price worth it? I suppose that depends on your use. I no longer use my hand tools daily to earn my paycheck, so Craftsman would probably do the job and last a bit longer now and it's harder to justify paying the premium.

I've have a number of S-K hand tools, purchased decades ago, and they're every bit as good as anything I have from Mac and Snap-On. That said, the last S-K sockets I purchased (maybe 5-7 years ago) to fill out a set were NOT of the same quality. I don't expect the newer pieces will age like the originals.

BlueC said:
Some friends of mine working professional shops switched to Icon years ago and tell me I should try 'em
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I'm not familiar with the Icon brand, need to investigate. (y)
 
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I’ve been slowly buying some icon stuff. Torque wrench, mini scribes, a couple pliers, semi-deep sockets and a set of big bits they had on clearance. They seem to work just fine and feel good in the hand. The torque wrench is smooth as butter. If I remember correctly, it’s the 50 - 250 ft/lbs 1/2” drive. Got it to torque the hub nuts.
 
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What's the deal with Icons return/warranty policy? At one time, I was told you had to bring in the entire set as sold to swap a single piece with something like a socket set. Is that accurate, or has the policy changed?
 
I’m not positive, I haven’t returned anything, but I’ve seen sets with one socket or bit missing, at a reduced price. I just assumed it was missing because the item was taken out as a return.

Others may know for sure.
 
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A bit late, but I found this video interesting. Tests the HF Icon line with snapon
 
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