A quality socket set for sub £60?

[Riff Raff]

mgroadster said:

Dog Star said:

I was looking at the Halfords stuff the other day and what really pisses me off is that about 30% of the stuff you get is useless - who needs AF sockets? I don't think I possess one single thing with AF/Whitworth. Totally pointless. Why don't they do metric only sets?

My tool box is mostly AF which is needed to work on early British sports cars.
You can get metric only sets, no problem.
Why were you associating Halfords with quality? time for a rethink i reckon.

Me too. I reckon I have about 140 sockets, over half of them will be AF or Whitworth and they are the ones that get all the use. (Old British bikes).

My sockets are a mixture of Teng, Britool and Halfords Pro. The Teng sockets probably get the most use as I have a set of 6 points in both standard a deep varieties in 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch - all the Halfords stuff I have is 12 point so I don't use them unless I have to.

Ratchet wise, I'll nearly always use the Halfords Pro ones - they have a nice feel in the hand and a nice smooth ratchet. The Teng ratchets are a bit clunky I find.

I also bought a set of Clarke wobble bars in sizes from about a couple of inches up to 24". They are fine and have never broken despite some brutal use as Tommy/breaker bars!

Edited to add that if I were to buy a starter set, it would be Teng in 3/8". Good quality, unbreakable stuff, and their 6 pointers are wall drive.

Edited by Riff Raff on Saturday 16th July 14:42

[MX7]

turbopug said:

MX7 said:

turbopug said:

EDLT said:

Really, I've used the same set for years and it has been fine. The chrome came off a couple of sockets but that night have been because they got some abuse.

To the OP: Clarke and Laser tools are OK if you are just doing DIY work.

How often do you use your socket set though? I use mines 6 days a week, sometimes 7. 3 months in unacceptable for something which is supposed to be a "quality" product.

You're a mechanic?

Technically I'm a breaker but I do servicing, MOT preps, engine swaps, restos etc. Anything that involves working on cars.

In which case, I wouldn't expect Sealey to be up to the job. They are not professional quality tools.

[NHK244V]

I use halfords and have changed many a 3/8ths ratchet without the recipt, depends on the store/worker i recon.
I use em daily for work and love em.

[toast boy]

I've got a big Halfords Pro set of 1/2" and 3/8", metric and AF. It's done me well in a semi-professional capacity for 2 years - it's decently made but I'm slowly updating to better quality 6 point socket sets.

Ratchet-wise I'm looking at stuff at about £40-50, was thinking Teng/Facom/Beta, which brand would people recommend or are they likely to be pretty much the same?

PS. The guy complaining about AF sockets, should people who want to work on an old British car go without just because you don't use them?

[Willy Nilly]

toast boy said:

Ratchet-wise I'm looking at stuff at about £40-50, was thinking Teng/Facom/Beta, which brand would people recommend or are they likely to be pretty much the same?

My 3/8ths Teng FRP ratchet has put up with 9 years of farm use well.

[yellowbentines]

mgroadster said:

Why were you associating Halfords with quality? time for a rethink i reckon.

Odd that the Halfords Pro sockets are very highly recommended by many across various car forums - I assume your comment isn't based on experience as you haven't elaborated further?

My Halfords Pro set was a gift so I have no idea how much it cost, but it's robust and is standing up to all I can throw at it, which sometimes does involve throwing it..

[Defcon5]

I have a Crescent set from Costcos, was about £60, not broken anything yet - and alot of my mechanics involves hammers!

[falkster]

I've got a halfords pro set and not had an issue. I think there's a little bit of shop snobbery going on.

[chunkol]

I've got all sorts from 25 year old Kamasa sockets to new Halfords Pro sockets. I broke two Halfords breaker bars in a row taking the wheelnut off a Maestro a few years ago and had them replaced FOC without a murmur. The old Kamasa sockets are bearing up, but a few well used ones have been replaced over the years.

[Rollcage]

I got one of these off eBay a couple of months ago. Decent quality for £40, and it's all metric. Really useful bit of kit that won't break the bank.

[numtumfutunch]

sorry, I am the resurrection

Ive just snapped my 25y old driver and have also realised that most of my metric spanners have gone walkabout too - although I do have fond memories of the 12mm socket I gave to an ex gf for her old Alfa, thats not a euphemism by the way....

Anyway I need new toolkit and the brief window of functionality thrown up by PH search has lead me to look at Halfords stuff which seems to be heavily discounted at the moment

The 2 most obvious choices are:

lots of stuff I prob wont use
and
everything I probably need

What I actually need is something to cover most routine options but a £125 discount is sweet innit!
I have a small selection of Torx already for eccentric bike stuff but my metric spanner collection from 8mm to 20mm is toast

Comments welcome

[The_Burg]

Treated myself to the 170 earlier in the year. Not used hugely but seems pretty good.
As someone else said though i'd sooner 100 piece without all the AF stuff and those that want AF probably don't want the new fangled metric stuff.

PS has anyone ever paid the full price?

[Buster73]

Served my time as a mechanic many moons ago.

I've got a selection of Snap on , Britool and a few other spurious sockets, plus power bars , ratchets and extensions.

All housed in a battered old Britool socket set box.

Open the lid twice a year and spray with WD40 , never get used nowadays.

[Dog Star]

Mr2Mike said:

Dog Star said:

I was looking at the Halfords stuff the other day and what really pisses me off is that about 30% of the stuff you get is useless - who needs AF sockets? I don't think I possess one single thing with AF/Whitworth. Totally pointless. Why don't they do metric only sets?

I use AF sockets, so do many other people - do you think Halfords should only make socket sets specifically for you?

BTW, Halfords do sell metric only socket sets, though only the smaller sets IIRC.

I seem to be getting some ire directed at me for my statement. I would say that most people - in the order of 90% or so - will have no need of AF sockets. I'm a keen home mechanic and currently have 3 cars and 4 bikes (as well as other home items that might need fixing). Apart from my Briggs and Stratton mower engine everything is metric. I doubt that I differ much to most people in the UK in this.

Anyway - I needed more sockets (I had a couple that had broke etc or just needed extras) and since I already have extensions, ratchets etc I simply bought another clip-rail of < 20mm and another of >20mm from the Advanced Range - £44 (I think), so job done, and I now have plenty of sockets in all sizes in corner and surface drive. Should keep me going for another 30 years, by which time I'll probably be dead or home spannering will be illegal

[Rollcage]

Dog Star - I for one agree. The most obvious solution is to buy a set that offers metric only. The very cheap set I bought a couple of years ago is still going strong, apart from the 1/4" ratchet which gave up the ghost a few weeks ago. Served me well as a cheap set (it was only about £40, and seems to be even cheaper now), but as mine get a fair amount of use I will upgrade to something a bit better.

When trawling through the range of stuff on ebay, the worrying thing is that there are some quite expensive sets that come from manufacturers with decent reputations, that look exactly the same as my cheap one! Whether it's just the box that's the same I don't know!

[C. Grimsley]

Athlon said:

Facom, Teng, second hand Snap-On, Mac all great and very nice to use.
The Halfords lifetime warranty is a laugh, I have a good few and if you can't show the receipt then no dice, despite the fact I am self employed and the accounts are with the accountant, even explaining it has HALFORDS stamped on the socket was no good so I went back to proper tool retailers that honour the warranty.

Just this, I had a ratchet spanner that failed, the guarantee only covered the handle, what a crock of st.

Carl

[Tant]

I wouldn't knock having a few old AF sockets in your set as they can come in very handy at times.

Just tonight I've been trying to remove a stuck 13mm head sump plug from a Ford. It wouldn't budge, and rounded it off trying. The cure was to hammer on a 1/2 " socket which gripped fine and allowed me to remove the stubborn little bugger.

I'm sure there are a few other AF is a bit smaller than metric fixes that can get you out of a pickle...

[Rollcage]

What you really need is a set of Irwin extractor sockets - brilliant things!

[mygoldfishbowl]

^^ Why is there one missing? Are they on special offer sort of like 4 for the price of 5.

[DJP]

Dog Star said:

I seem to be getting some ire directed at me for my statement. I would say that most people - in the order of 90% or so - will have no need of AF sockets. I'm a keen home mechanic and currently have 3 cars and 4 bikes (as well as other home items that might need fixing). Apart from my Briggs and Stratton mower engine everything is metric. I doubt that I differ much to most people in the UK in this.

Completely agree.

I've been working on my own vehicles for 27 years and I've never owned a car or bike that needed AF tools.

Sure, it's different for classic enthusiasts who need and will buy AF stuff, but the average DIYer will never need them.

As such, I find it perplexing that AF bits are still included in standard tool sets 30+ years after they went out of common use.

Seems to be one of those traditional things that's persisted long past the point of usefulness.