Cheap impact sockets??

Casey in Ky · Mar 2, 2011

I need some cheap impact sockets. I"m not a professional mechanic and this things will only see occasional use, so I can"t really justify Craftsman prices. I hate to buy anything from Harbor Freight, but they"ve got the best prices by far, the whole Chinese junk thing just kinda turns me off to them. What about Grey?? I think they are made in Taiwan and appear to be decent. Anything made here in the states that won"t break the bank? Any other recomendations?

WvaJim · Mar 2, 2011

I usually buy craftsman, but I have a set of HF impact deepwells I bought initially to use with my shop press just for pressing out bearings and such. But I have used these now for years with impacts and not one of them have broken, rounded out inside or give me any problems.

TimV · Mar 2, 2011

Casey: I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how well a set of the Harbor Freight cheapies will hold up. Mine are still going strong after a lot of use and more than a little abuse, and at $20-30 or so for a 3/8"-1 1/4" set, they're quite a bargain.

Kevin2 · Mar 2, 2011

HF recently switched from Taiwan to China on these. Whether the Chinese ones are as good as the old ones remains to be seen.

old · Mar 2, 2011

Now days it pretty much does not matter where you buy something. 99% seem to be China junk but the cost on the other and do not go hand in hand. HF if cheap is probably better then buying from say NAPA etc because the only thing that is different is the price but they all come from China

Hobo,NC · Mar 2, 2011

http://www.sunextools.com/

http://www.gpsocket.com/

Use them every day give'em ell,, good tools at a reasonable price...

XRogerX · Mar 2, 2011

Gray tools are made in Canada.

NCWayne · Mar 2, 2011

Have some Sunex impact stuff and it works just as well as the MAC and other name brand stuff I've got.

msb · Mar 2, 2011

Go with the HF. Two sets will probably cost a lot less than Craftsman.

ASEguy · Mar 3, 2011

I've bought cheap and expensive impact sockets and they seem to hold up the same. I saw a set of 1/2 inch drive deep wells by Stanley at Walmart for under 20 bucks. If I would have needed sockets I would have bought them.

Dick2 · Mar 3, 2011

I bought a set of deepwell sockets from HF many, many years ago. One of them cracked after a few years of use. I put a hose clamp around it and used it a few more years until I finally took it back to HF. I handed it to the clerk and she went and got me a new socket that hasn't cracked to this day.

Much of the things that HF sells has improved over the last 10 -15 years - although there is still some low quality things on their shelves. I'm not afraid to buy their sockets though.

mnchevyguy · Mar 3, 2011

i bought a cheap set from mills fleet farm and i use them everyday at work. i work on big trucks by profession so they get used and abused and never had a problem so if u got a fleet farm around there is another choice for u

bruster · Mar 3, 2011

I've bought Cheap impact sockets in the past (Grip) and had NO problems, even though they had a thinner wall than most. (Used a 3/4" thin wall Sunnex set on truck work for years to get in where thick wall Snap on couldn't go)
My biggest beef with ALL impact labeling is that the gold "laser engraved" numbers wear off !

markiz41 · Mar 3, 2011

If you can afford Grey Pneumatic (if that's what you mean), I'd recommend their impact sockets. They are good. I would not call them cheap though, more like reasonable.

rustyfarmall · Mar 3, 2011

(quoted from post at 19:18:16 03/02/11) I need some cheap impact sockets. I"m not a professional mechanic and this things will only see occasional use, so I can"t really justify Craftsman prices. I hate to buy anything from Harbor Freight, but they"ve got the best prices by far, the whole Chinese junk thing just kinda turns me off to them. What about Grey?? I think they are made in Taiwan and appear to be decent. Anything made here in the states that won"t break the bank? Any other recomendations?

Craftsman are most likely made in China also, and probably by the same company that makes Harbor Freight junk, so you might as well go with the best price. Craftsman tools used to rank right up there with the likes of Snap-On, Mac, and many others, but it just ain't that way anymore.

Bob M · Mar 3, 2011

I've used couple sets (metric and SAE) of 1/2" drive deepwell impact sockets from Harbor Freight for about 3 years. They see occasional service both on the farm and at home (changing tires, etc). So far no problems with them whatsoever.

Even though I don't like buying stuff from China, for me they were a good value for the money.

edj856 · Mar 3, 2011

Grey Pneumatic makes good impact sockets. I think that the prices are comparable to Craftsman. Try www.thetoolwarehouse.net for Grey and Sunnex sockets.

Fred Martin · Mar 3, 2011

I've seen the first HF sockets that swam over and I think they were made from high carbon steel...pretty inferior stuff. But when I saw that they were making them out of chrome vanadium steel, I knew when they got their heat treatment right, they'd be okay. So, if you see CRV on them, they'll hold up. I bought the SAE set but, the metric set didn't have it so I never bought them Don't buy them if you don't see it on them. Chrome Vanadium and Chrome Molybdenim are the steels of choice for hand tools. I'm not a Metalurgist but, you can pretty well put this in the bank. ohfred

Doug in Illinois · Mar 3, 2011

I have used some cheap impact sockets before. I have no gripe if they split in two, but a real complaint if they just "round off" inside the socket and round off the bolt head at the same time.

A lot of my impact socket work is lug nuts, 13/16 to be exact. 13/16 just happens to be the same size as most of the old spark plugs. I have a couple 1/2 drive spark plug sockets that I think will never break.

Point is, if you break one, you might be surprised what you can find at your local pawn shop or yard sales. DOUG

JDseller · Mar 4, 2011

Any farm and fleet store around you? They have a cheap line called Duracraft. I worked with a guy that had some of they and he beat the crap out of them. They seemed pretty good for cheap imports.

BDT in Minnesota · Mar 4, 2011

I bought three sets of Craftsman impact sockets for Christmas... Made in USA

You have to check each tool you buy......

Alan Y. · Mar 8, 2011

(quoted from post at 20:03:40 03/02/11) Gray tools are made in Canada.

hile that is true, don't confuse them with Grey Pneumatic. They're different companies.

Cheap impact sockets??

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