General tool kit

owains

owains

owains

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16 Jan 2004
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I'm thinking of buying a general tool kit for car maintance and general DIY tasks. I'd like a decent quality set of tools that will last a good while, so I'm thinking I should probably avoid the type sold at Argos etc. Does anyone have a particularly good one that they can recommend?

Thanks!
 
Halfords are doing up to 50% off on their tools. Contrary to the brand snobs out there, the Halfords own come with a lifetime warranty and for home use are pretty good by all accounts.

I'm currently toying over the £100 150 piece socket set. Link for convenience.
 
I have a lot of the Halfords professional (now called Advanced?) and its been great.

The few things I have broken through ab-use I have been able to exchange no problems.
 
Dup said:
Halfords are doing up to 50% off on their tools. Contrary to the brand snobs out there, the Halfords own come with a lifetime warranty and for home use are pretty good by all accounts.

I'm currently toying over the £100 150 piece socket set. Link for convenience.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info... that socket set looks pretty nice!

Berger said:
I have a lot of the Halfords professional (now called Advanced?) and its been great.

The few things I have broken through ab-use I have been able to exchange no problems.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it's good to know that they actually respect their warranty.

I really like the look of the 235 Piece Dynamic Tool Chest for £50. What are are your thoughts on that? Would it be better to go for smaller sets instead?

Hmmm... just noticed this on the Cutomer Q&A tab


235 Piece Dynamic Tool Chest does not contain Halfords Professional Tools and is not part of the Halfords Professional range. It is not covered by the Halfords Lifetime Guarantee.
Click to expand...
 
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Also, the ratchets aren't covered by the lifetime warranty as they have moving parts and so, in the words of the Halfords salesman, "will all fail eventually" with normal use, whereas other tools such as spanners *shouldn't* fail.
 
At the moment I have a Renault 5 Campus... but that's due to chance pretty soon! I'm not looking for a particularly specific tool kit though, just a good basic set to which I can specialist tools when I need them.
 
for an old car like that, they love to rust blah blah blah i highly highly recommend you get a socket set with 6 sided sockets just to start with

if you want cheap and cheerful. get clarke from machine mart or draper on amazon, there are some real bargains on there

clarke pro screw driver set, one of their spanner sets too

a decent torque wrench too

youll be almostly completely kitted out for about £100 if you want it all new, or get searching on ebay
 
Matt82 said:
for an old car like that, they love to rust blah blah blah i highly highly recommend you get a socket set with 6 sided sockets just to start with

if you want cheap and cheerful. get clarke from machine mart or draper on amazon, there are some real bargains on there

clarke pro screw driver set, one of their spanner sets too

a decent torque wrench too

youll be almostly completely kitted out for about £100 if you want it all new, or get searching on ebay
Click to expand...

Thanks Matt82. I've had a quick look at some of the draper kits on amazon and, so long as the quality is reasonable, there look like some pretty decent sets. Can you recommend any in particular?
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-Expe..._1_13?ie=UTF8&s=garden&qid=1260176686&sr=8-13

this set is a fantastic 1/4 drive set. 4mm to 13mm, with some .5mm sizes. no missing sizes and loads of deep sockets. i dont think youll find better for the money and being 1/4 it will fit anywhere. i have this personally, i got this for my gf's brother too, i recommend them highly and they are great VFM

i have that in addition to a 1/2 drive set by laser
 
ive played with a few halfords kits in the past, they definately werent 6 sided... just make sure its 6 sided and youre half way there

i highly doubt there is a halfords set that that comes close to the draper one i posted for VFM
 
This might be worth a look, offers a good selection of 6 point sockets and accessories for a sensible price:

http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Socket-Set-52pc-1-4-3-8-1-2Sq-Drive-Metric-Sealey-S0693

I've not shopped around though so it might be available cheaper elsewhere. Personally I like to have a good amount of overlap in terms of which sockets I have available so I bought rails of normal and deep sockets in 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" sizes plus ratchets and extensions seperately, cost me a little more but I find the flexibility it gives me invaluable. The kit above would be a solid starting point which you could add to though. I'd probably start by adding some 1/4" and 1/2" deep sockets.
 
i do like the look of the sealey one. all metric, most of the bits youd want,

then get a good S2 Steel bit set with hex, spline and torx
 
I like Halfords pro spanners but I can't stand their sockets or ratchets. Much prefer Sealey 6-sided sockets and I prefer the ones that come in a metal case rather than a plastic one.

For the record I beat the **** out of my 3/8" ratchet and it's not affected it. I put over 120 ft-lbs through the smaller sockets no problem at all.

Buy good, buy once. Buy cheap, buy twice.
 
on the front of the porsche 928 block the crank pulley is held on with a 27mm bolt at 290nm

i undid that with my 1/2 drive laser set (breaker bar and 4ft of exhaust tube for leverage) without issue at all.

having decent sockets really really pays. shame i keep loosing them in the disaster zone disguised as an engine at the front of the S4
 
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