Opinion on new Craftsman socket sets?

Dick2

Well-known Member
I saw this morning that Costco has a 174-piece set of Craftsman sockets for $100, with lifetime warranty.

Has anyone bought Craftsman socket sets lately?

I have a good set of sockets now and wife is after me to not do anymore mechanic work at my age, so I really don't need a set - but it did get my attention.
 
Nope , my set is fifty years old and i can only remember replacing one socket in all that time. They have to be the best set of sockets that i have eve bought and the first to be used . The 1 /2 in drive 9/16ths gets the toughest use of any of them as that is the socket that i use each and every time i have to split a 06-86 series I H tractor as there is one 12 point headed 5/8ths bolt that holds the speed transmission to the range transmission and at times i have had a three foot cheater on my long breaker bar to break that bolt loose , and it just keeps on taking it . I have broken Snap on , Mac, S&K, Matco and Proto sockets on that bolt but not the craftsman , go figure .
 
Beware they do have cheap stuff i see some of there 3/4 are just like china made tool sale ones. Some are still good.
 
There good sockets, but would spend the extra money and buy the snap-on they have a lifetime warranty to and there a better socket, my opinion anyways
 
Make sure you inspect them before you buy them and I'd make sure they are still American made. If you break them, they may also replace your American-made tool with a Chinese-made tool. Craftsman is making more and more of their tools in China. I've got a few of them lately as stocking stuffers. It will be interesting who picks up the Craftsman name if Sears goes belly up. It will also be interesting if the new buyer can keep the lifetime warranty.
 
I bought the 255 piece socket set when they were giving them away for around 60% off before Thanksgiving. They are not what they used to be for sure. I took close to 20 sockets and 2 ratchets back to be replaced and handed the new 3/8 back to the guy at the store as it was worse than the first one, they flip directions at will. All were chearfully replaced. Personaly I wish Sears would add 50% to the price and sell a good tool but Im not holding my breath for that to happen.
 
It is imported junk for that price.
Crapsman is made in Taiwan or China now.
You get what you pay for.
 
I have several sets of Craftsman and Snap-On sockets, I have broke some of each. The main difference for me is I can drive to Sears and get it replaced right now without any trouble, the Snap-On ones I have to wait for the dealer to come around and then listen to him tell me how I abused their tools before he replaces them. BT
 
I've got a few of the new Taiwanese Kobalts that are pretty nice.
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I've got a 3/8 and 1/2 ratchet to take back right now. They didn't last long. Sure, you can take them back but to have one break in the middle of a job. Not worth it.
 
The new Chinese Craftsman tools don't compare with the old Craftsman tools from back in the day.
At $100 they have to be Chinese. If I were in the market for a socket set in that price range I'd be looking for an older set of Craftsman, SK or other quality brands.
 
I have two of those sets and think they are great for the money. I have broke and worn out snap-on, matco and Mac ratchets. I got sick of paying all that extra money for tool no better than a sears. I have a completely worn out matco ratchet now that they will not replace because it wore out not broken. For a part time mechanic they are fine
 
Been using Craftsman sockets full time as a mechanic for the last 4-1/2 years.

I just replaced both of my 1/2" 3/8 12 point sockets with the 'chinese' replacements. Didn't really have a choice, the old ones were so worn they would slip on fairly good bolt heads.

I don't have anything against them. Except that its a 1/2 hr. drive to the nearest store.

I do keep a spare 1/4 and 3/8 ratchet in my tool box for just in case, but its nearly 4 years old and the other one hasn't started slipping yet.

I like the convenience of the tool truck coming by the shop every couple of weeks, and do buy from them occasionally, but cannot support those guys like they would like for me to.
 
TRK do yourself a favor and get some Snap On ratchets. If they're too pricey for you get some SK ratchets. Graingers sells them.
I was in the tool department at Sears a few days ago. Nearly all of the Craftsman tools are imported from China now according to the department manager.
 
If that Costco socket set was the same quality as 1969 Craftsman tools it would cost a whole lot more than $100.

In 1969 I bought a fairly small Craftsman tool set for farm mechanics school. 1/2-3/8-1/4 inch socket sets with probably ten sockets per and the ratchets. Set of open/box end wrenches from 3/8-15/16 plus a 1 1/8. Ignition wrenches, Vise grip (Craftsman version, it was junk),10" adjustable wrench, screw drivers, hammer, allen wrenches and suitcase type tool box. Price was right at $100 in 1969 dollars. What would the same tools of the same quality cost today? Would $500 touch it, quality for quality?

Jim
 
Almost all my tools hand and power are craftsman. They ARE good tools. Sure there is better out there but there is nothing wrong with craftsman.
 
Without delving to deeply into it, think of it this way. For 100 bucks you have to know they are imported, probably from China. A large majority of stuff from there is crapola, but there is a percentage that is actually pretty good quality.
That being said, if they have a lifetime warranty then what's the difference between them and Snap On with the same lifetime warranty?
Think about who you have to return an item to if it breaks or dies or whatever. Snap On, you have to find a Snap On dealer. Sometimes easy, some times difficult depending on your location and the dealer.
Craftsman you would normally return to Sears, although you say these are available at Costco.
Sears has been around for a long long time, BUT will they be around 10 years from now if you need to take advantage of that lifetime warranty? K-Mart was on the rocks for quite a while. I understand they filed for some sort of bankruptcy some years back. The reorganized by closing down a large amount of their stores. I lived in the Dallas area when that took place and when they got done, there was no longer a K-Mart anywhere in the north Texas area. Once stable again and now flush with new found cash they needed to invest in something. That something was Sears which is why you can now buy Craftsman and Kenmore (Sears name brand items) at K-Mart and Costco.
That being said, I have several broken Montgomery Ward tools that I've hung on to for no particular reason. Every time I drive by their old store location that is now a thrift store, I always glance over to see if it's changed back into a Monkey Wards but so far no such luck. So much for their lifetime warranty!
As a car salesman once told me, all their cars came with a 30 /30 warranty. 30 seconds or 30 feet out of the driveway, whichever came first. He said they used to offer a lifetime warranty, but someone tried to return a car and they had to kill him. Apparently the warranty was on the person, not the car (tool)!
 
Sounds more like a dealer problem to me. My dealer will warranty anything in give him. I wear out a 1/2 drive 3/4 inch socket every 2-3 months. It has never broke, just gets sloppy from nonstop impact use. I don't even have to ask anymore. My dealer just walks in with a new one every few months. I have never had an issue in the 13 years I've been buying from him.

Casey in SD
 
You need to really look the sets over and make sure of the sizes included in them. I have found that Craftsman will some times not have the most commonly used sizes included in the set. I have a set of end wrenches that has the 1 inch wrench but no 15/16 ths. Th

If the set has the sizes you use in it then you should be good to go. The new ratchets are not very good. My one son has some Craftsman's ratchets and he is always having issues with them. I finally gave him two extra Proto ratchets I had.
 
Well I see he finally did it! The Sears of today is not the Sears most of us grew up with. The controlling interest in Sears today is owned by one man, Edward Lampert, a hedge fund manager who owns 62% of Sears stock as of 8-11-12. He had been talking of letting other big name stores sell Sears big name products, ie; Craftsman, Die Hard, etc. He seems to think Sears will make more money if other stores sell their products, but seems to me like shooting yourself in the foot. Popular opinion among knowledgeable investors is that Lampert plans to break the company up and sell it off.
 
Unfortunately it is true. Very sad to say but nearly all craftsman hand tools are imported. Saw the first imported sockets and wrenches two weeks ago at the local sears.
 
(quoted from post at 11:06:56 12/28/12) Unfortunately it is true. Very sad to say but nearly all craftsman hand tools are imported. Saw the first imported sockets and wrenches two weeks ago at the local sears.
The 1st imported Craftsman wrench I saw was around 1981. It was clearly marked Japan.
The switch to Chinese production of Craftsman tools started a few years ago and has really picked up steam in the last year or so.
 
Yes, very sad. I've been a long time Craftsman customer but lately I've been buying a lot of hand tools at Harbor Freight as there is a well stocked store 1 mile from where I work. I figure if I'm getting a Chinese product I might as well pay Chinese prices. Besides, their Pittsburgh line of hand tools has the same lifetime warranty as Craftsman.

And if you don't have a store close their $6.99 flat rate shipping is hard to beat.
 
I HAVE A COMPLETE SET OF CRAFTMAN TOOLS IN A PLASTIC CAQSE 20 YEARS OLD MADE IN TIWAN YEP
SEE NO DIFFERENCE THAN IN MY OTHER CRAFTMAN TOOLS WAS TOLD THAT THEY WOULD BE A COLLECTORS ITEM SOME DAY MAY BE NAH
 
I knew somebody was going to bring those Japanese
wrenches up. I also have a complete set of Japanese raised
panel wrenches. They belong to my dad.

Japanese wrenches were good quality. Go look at the current
Chinese offerings...
 
(quoted from post at 20:52:30 12/28/12) I knew somebody was going to bring those Japanese
wrenches up. I also have a complete set of Japanese raised
panel wrenches. They belong to my dad.

Japanese wrenches were good quality. Go look at the current
Chinese offerings...
I only have one. I needed a brake bleeder wrench on a Sunday and Sears was the only place open. It's served me well all these years but I wasn't happy that Sears was advertising Craftsman tools as being made in the USA when some were actually made in Japan.
 

If your looking for ratchets I'd look at the gearwrench or sk. You get the nice features without the tool truck price.

On Craftsman ratchets I bought one of the newer (small)socket sets for some added sizes. The rachet that came with the set seemed well finished and the reversing lever seemed to hold okay. Now I have as a base work a craftsman set from around 2000 with 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 drive ratchets and they are all still going fine. I was going to junk the 1/4 but I ended up taking it apart and lubing it and that fixed it. I find that of the guys I work with all the ratchets(sk, snap on, mac, craftsman, and others) are about equal in there problems(ie not that many) it more how hard it is to get them fixed. The guys with snap on stuff have to wait along time generally as the local guy quit coming since we don't buy enough from him and the Snap on industrial dealer only comes once a quarter or so. The mac guy comes a couple times a month so the wait isn't bad for him and he doesn't give you a hassle with warranty. Though I think in the end craftsman is the easiest to get replaced. I would just make sure that They trade you the right sockets 6pt to 6pt etc.. or get a rebuild kit for you old ratchet rather than a whole new Chinese one.
 

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