Snap On vs ...

[cal]

My ATD ball joint press ($63) works just as well as the OTC one ($330), and I could go through my tool room, and my boxes and make you a list, but Ill save us all the time.

330?!?! is someone having it gold plated first?

i paid like 130 for my OTC years ago, looks like they are 99 now.

 

[xcm]

Well said!

 

[markw]

I picked up the OTC press without the adapters then grabbed the ATD adapters, works great.

 

[md21722]

Ah ok fair enough, that explains it a bit then.

Me, I've got a 44" Harbor Freight tool box...and I'll be getting a couple more of the bottoms in the not too distant future. The things are fricken' tanks. I've had the one I have for a few years now, and bought it lightly used. The thing still looks like it rolled off the floor.

Sure, I can't get it in fancy colors, but I'm fine with my dinky red toolbox :laugh:

If I had the room, I'd seriously look into their 72" model. Guys have been raving about them, just wishing they made a matching top for it. For $1200 without coupon...that's hard to beat.

I finally went and looked at Harbor Freight tool boxes today. I can't for the life of me see how they're any better than the old Husky box I bought back in 2001 which I consider to be a pile of crap. About the only thing I can see attractive about the HF boxes is the price, which is like a lot of HF stuff. Until you have to buy it again because it fell apart.

 

[freerider15]

I finally went and looked at Harbor Freight tool boxes today. I can't for the life of me see how they're any better than the old Husky box I bought back in 2001 which I consider to be a pile of crap. About the only thing I can see attractive about the HF boxes is the price, which is like a lot of HF stuff. Until you have to buy it again because it fell apart.

:dunno:

I love mine. I've been around and dealt with Snap-On boxes...but they didn't impress me near enough to justify their price tags.

I know a lot of people who are more than happy with their HF boxes, and have had them well over a decade.

Then again, much like anything...it's all about what you want...opinion being like a**holes and all that. :laugh:

 

[md21722]

:dunno:

I love mine. I've been around and dealt with Snap-On boxes...but they didn't impress me near enough to justify their price tags.

I know a lot of people who are more than happy with their HF boxes, and have had them well over a decade.

Then again, much like anything...it's all about what you want...opinion being like a**holes and all that. :laugh:

The three main things I don't like about the Husky box I have are:

1. Shallow drawers (only 15.75" deep)
2. The "latches" that keep the drawer closed are cheap plastic and break over time, so the drawers fail to stay closed
3. Easy to tip over if you have too many drawers open

I suppose if your work environment is perfectly flat then #2 won't matter as much, and if you put a work bench over the box, then maybe #3 doesn't matter much either. I am curious how the latch mechanism works on the HF boxes?

 

[freerider15]

The three main things I don't like about the Husky box I have are:

1. Shallow drawers (only 15.75" deep)
2. The "latches" that keep the drawer closed are cheap plastic and break over time, so the drawers fail to stay closed
3. Easy to tip over if you have too many drawers open

I suppose if your work environment is perfectly flat then #2 won't matter as much, and if you put a work bench over the box, then maybe #3 doesn't matter much either. I am curious how the latch mechanism works on the HF boxes?

I will agree the 16" deep drawers are a slight draw back, but nothing that annoyed me that much...as most boxes in that size that aren't ridiculous amounts of money are that deep.

The 56" and above boxes ares deeper. The 56" is ~20" deep.

For the bench I'll be building, I thought about going with the 72" box instead of two 44" boxes.

I've never really had a problem with #2, but I always level out my boxes wherever they sit.

#3, I have had that issue I think twice, but with any box if you open too many heavier drawers, simple physics will want to do the same.

Husky, Crapsman, Kobalt, etc. all felt like crap compared to the boxes I have now. Are they going to be MAC, Matco, Snap-On, Bluepoint, etc.? No. But as I said, I'm not going to go into debt buying friggin' toolboxes, that I could buy several lifetime's worth for the cost of one more "name" brand unit at this time. I have a hard time justifying so much money on things that are indeed so friggin' simple :laugh:...but that's my $.02.

 

[md21722]

Can you take out a drawer and see how the latch mechanism works on the HF boxes? Or should I try this at the store?

 

[POLAR_JEEP_04]

I use a HF box for work it gets the job done. I work in a mostly diesel fleet shop so its gets covered in soot in no time so I don't want anything pretty, just functional.

 

[Hypoid]

Can you take out a drawer and see how the latch mechanism works on the HF boxes? Or should I try this at the store?

Steel to steel.

For the money I wanted to spend on a box, the HF with coupon was the best deal: Deeper drawers and higher weight capacity than comparably priced sets at Home Depot and Sears.

I was a little angry that Harbor Freight beat me out of $300 that I did not plan on spending. :looney:

 

[md21722]

It could be that Home Depot cheapened up their boxes in the 15 years since I bought mine. I really didn't see anything better looking at the HF box, except that HD didn't have anything comparable on the floor when I looked earlier this week. In looking at Lowe's it seems they claim their boxes are 54" wide but it looks like a lot of fluff and padding to me. Of course 15 years ago I paid something like $1,100 for my Husky boxes and now you can get pretty much the same for $700 from Harbor Freight. Not everything goes up in cost with time.

 

[Hypoid]

Ummm, yeah. I paid $50 for a Husky top chest because it was part of a broken set. It rides on a Crapsman roller cab that a bud gave to me. I started shopping for a roller cabinet to go with the Husky top chest, bought the HF 26" set instead.

I might buy that Husky roller cab for Father's Day. :anon:

I am not shopping for stuff that is outside my budget. I tend to compartmentalize my operations, and the tools required for those operations: You won't find welding/grinding equipment anywhere close to my precision measuring instruments. I'll pull out the tools I need, when I need them. A one-size-fits-all box set is incomprehensible to me, at any price.

 

[md21722]

I'm not sure what box sets have to do with this? :skull1:

All I know is anyone who's been working on cars & machinery for decades seems to have a lot of toolboxes to hold all their tools I try to get rid of stuff I'm not reasonably going to use again either because I upgraded or have no foreseeable plans to own that car or any car that will need those tools again. Good examples were when I was working on German cars. The Klann spring compressors & 5 link rear suspension tools were sold off with zero regret.

 

[md21722]

I went to the other Harbor Freight in town they usually things laid out better. I now see why folks like these toolboxes. The 56" looked like a pretty good deal:

http://www.harborfreight.com/56-in-11-drawer-glossy-red-industrial-roller-cabinet-67681.html

It would awesome if they sold one with (2) 50" drawers with all drawers being 24" deep.

 

[cal]

 

[md21722]

lol To date the only thing I've bought from Harbor Freight that has helped me is their floor jacks, 12 ton press, foam mats, and a center punch. There's a huge difference between being previously injured & out the Snap On price. I think long term paying Snap On is cheaper than paying ER an unlimited to remove parts of HF tools or accessories from your body.

 

[Ecomike]

Wow, boxes? I use $1-$4 plastic boxes with lids, about 12 of them from Wallmart, water proof, light weight, portable, stack-able for my tools....and spare parts, many of them ride with me in my jeeps.

 

[Ecomike]

Been buying and using tools since 1972 and never once until this month bought anything from Snap-on and rarely anything from Sears. I have 99% of the tools I bought and they still work. The one thing I bought was a used MT-2500 Snap-on scanner off Ebay. I have bought quality tools from Walmart (Stanley), Home Depot and Harbur Freight and from parts houses, and Graingers ages ago before they decided to run up their prices 1000%..

 

[Hypoid]

I might buy that Husky roller cab for Father's Day. :anon:

Happy Father's Day to me!!!

It is cheap, it is cheesy, but, all it has to do is sit there and look good until I need to measure something. At that time, I can roll out that equipment and utilize it.

 

[xCWolf]

Been buying and using tools since 1972 and never once until this month bought anything from Snap-on and rarely anything from Sears. I have 99% of the tools I bought and they still work. The one thing I bought was a used MT-2500 Snap-on scanner off Ebay. I have bought quality tools from Walmart (Stanley), Home Depot and Harbur Freight and from parts houses, and Graingers ages ago before they decided to run up their prices 1000%..

Yeah in 72 Stanley was a good brand but us youngins don't have the luxury of GOOD American (or foreign really) brands so much anymore. Even craftsman nowadays is junky. I have mostly Snap-On at work and for my house I bought some craftsman and husky stuff and I feel like I'm at one of those place every other week exchanging broken tools. I'd love to be able to get some real nice vintage husky/stanley/craftsman. as a matter of fact I bought some husky stuff for work and the first time I used a locking ratchet from them the damn thing broke taking bolts out of the knee panel of an 09 JK :flamemad:THEY WERE EFFIN 7MILS!!!