Thoughts on this tool kit please .

[Shayne]

I left my every day tool kit on the boat in the Isle of Man and have decided thats where it should stay as the boats more important than my truck . Now i'm home in Wales i was thinking this would make a good starter kit to add to . I'd be grateful for your thoughts on Halfords tools and or suggestions if you can find something better in a similar price range ?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_862421_langId_-1_categoryId_255215

 

[Chris Green90]

I have this same kit Shayne, and frankly its excellent. Plus if you keep your receipt there's a lifetime warranty. ratchet actions are nice and smooth and everything seems good quality. had mine for about 3 years now and its the first time ever I have had something like this that is still all there.

 

[Chris Green90]

That being said I would probably stump up the extra 25 quid and go for this one. When I bought mine I paid another 60 quid on top to get the full set of retchet spanners and boy do they come in handy but can be a little awkward in tighter spaces. Oh I can't make my mind up now. probably go for the first set and then build on it with a set of ratchet spanners later, or vica versa

Not very helpful I know but.....

 

[Shayne]

Oddly enough Chris i went down Halfords today and its still £160 in the shop . I'm thinking 100 quids enough coz i still need a plier set , screwdrivers , hex keys , etc etc etc and then just a few hundred more bits and bobs ....... damn it i left my magnet on the boat too

 

[Chris Green90]

FYI That kit comes with an excellent set of torx and hex bits (the 100 quid one that is, don't know about the other)

 

[yogi]

Oddly enough Chris i went down Halfords today and its still £160 in the shop . I'm thinking 100 quids enough coz i still need a plier set , screwdrivers , hex keys , etc etc etc and then just a few hundred more bits and bobs ....... damn it i left my magnet on the boat too

That's the real problem with trying to have 2 sets of anything though!! One is always better and you never have the one thing that you only have one of!!

Those Halfords tools are OK though, I have a few of them and I haven't broken them yet!!

Only thing is the box looks crap and that's what always determines the life span of sockets and the like for me!

 

[Chris Green90]

might look crap in the pics but s pretty sturdy and doesn't mind being stood on

 

[Shayne]

Well said Yogi i'm trying at this very minute to find a general tool kit that will supply me with screwdrivers , hex keys and a plier set without doubling up on all those things you never use but have a drawer full of in pairs and quadruplets . Once the box dies so you can't see an empty space when you put it away and the tools all escape slowly but surely .
I once had a canvas bag without a single matching tool in it coz everything had been collected 1 piece at a time while i was a kid , the stuff was scavenged from tips and junkyards , dug up and otherwise acquired , but whatever tool i needed was always in that bag . Broke my heart to leave it behind .

 

[Chris Green90]

how about either of these. Brother has the larger set and it holding up well. 1 2

 

[yogi]

Yeah, you can never knock the canvas bag!

I once mangled the exhaust on my piece of crap ford sierra when I was living in Ringsend (Dublin), anyway it was still attached on one side at the manifold but was too twisted even to tie back up, couldn't get it off with sockets or a hammer so I needed something to cut it wit, course I had no hacksaw!! So I went into one of the pubs we were regulars in and asked the couple of lads at the bar and the barman could they help (twas empty cause it was about 1130 on a Tuesday morning!).
Anyway I kind of knew one auld lad to see and he said yeah no bother come down to my house and I'll sort you out. Wobbled off down the street with him, now its about 1997/8 at the time, not the 1950s, but your man brought me into his bedsit, no sink, stone floor, solid fuel range, damp as a bog hole one light bulb on a wire and a big pile of blankets on a wooden bench where your man slept. Doubt there was an inside toilet because most of those tenements only had them outside only even then.
Points me at a cupboard and says reach into the back, and out I pulled a big CANVAS BAG!!
And inside the bag was an immaculate set of tools, all oiled and all a good bit older than I was! He says 'deres a 'acksaw' in dere bud, bring it an whatever else ye think ye need!' So I did, and half an hour later I had the meanest sounding 1.6 1986 Ford Sierra they ever made!!

But such a set of tools in this huge canvas bag! And so well kept! And I wish I could remember the mans name, cause I had to force him to take a pint off me for the favour.

 

[Shayne]

I was looking at them earlier Chris but in my experience they rattle around in the back of the truck like your towing tin cans at a wedding . I'm pretty much decided on this lot https://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs...fHpSxr9S7zb8Umyt/5r&ddkey=http:OrderCalculate

Maybe coz it all has a lifetime guarantee and i've never owned an allen key that lasted more than a couple of uses .

 

[Shayne]

Yeah, you can never knock the canvas bag!

I once mangled the exhaust on my piece of crap ford sierra when I was living in Ringsend (Dublin), anyway it was still attached on one side at the manifold but was too twisted even to tie back up, couldn't get it off with sockets or a hammer so I needed something to cut it wit, course I had no hacksaw!! So I went into one of the pubs we were regulars in and asked the couple of lads at the bar and the barman could they help (twas empty cause it was about 1130 on a Tuesday morning!).
Anyway I kind of knew one auld lad to see and he said yeah no bother come down to my house and I'll sort you out. Wobbled off down the street with him, now its about 1997/8 at the time, not the 1950s, but your man brought me into his bedsit, no sink, stone floor, solid fuel range, damp as a bog hole one light bulb on a wire and a big pile of blankets on a wooden bench where your man slept. Doubt there was an inside toilet because most of those tenements only had them outside only even then.
Points me at a cupboard and says reach into the back, and out I pulled a big CANVAS BAG!!
And inside the bag was an immaculate set of tools, all oiled and all a good bit older than I was! He says 'deres a 'acksaw' in dere bud, bring it an whatever else ye think ye need!' So I did, and half an hour later I had the meanest sounding 1.6 1986 Ford Sierra they ever made!!

But such a set of tools in this huge canvas bag! And so well kept! And I wish I could remember the mans name, cause I had to force him to take a pint off me for the favour.

Brilliant and in them days i bet you had a few pints with him before you drove home

 

[yogi]

Brilliant and in them days i bet you had a few pints with him before you drove home

Your not wrong there!!

And how do you think I wrecked it in the first place.........

Those were the days!!

 

[Paddler Ed]

Things I wish my Crescent Socket set has:
-Ratcheting spanners
-3/8" ratchet
-Deep socket ratchet

I've added to mine over time with a 23mm socket, a magnet, a contact file and a small tape measure (never underestimate how useful a tape measure is!)

It's now back in Australia with me, having come from Aus originally.

 

[Mal Eade]

I bought 2 of these kits one in the truck and the other in the workshop.

I have yet to find fault and would recommend the kit to anyone.

Mine is silent no rattles bangs when on or off the road. I have one and know.

Almost everything you need in one box and you can see if there is anything missing before you pack it away.


Mal

 

[clivehorridge]

I inherited a canvas bag of tools some 35 years ago. It had been unused and unopened for the previous 10 years at least and all the tools were rusty. I set about them with a wire brush and found that I had a wide variety of medium to heavy duty plumbing spanners. They're not the friendliest of tools for more delicate car work, but it's surprising how often a big brute of a spanner comes in handy!

My guess is that some of them probably date back over a hundred years and I'm actually rather proud of them! They stay in the shed so I don't have the bunch of tin cans syndrome, the car kit is a one by one ensemble of pliers and screwdrivers, combo spanners and the like, complemented with quite a substantial (German) socket set wich has a good variety of socket depths, torx, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch drives, three good ratchets with button press releases, hex keys and nothing I've found to be missing yet, for the uses I have.

A tip on hex keys is not only to have a set of loose keys, but a modern bicycle fold-out set is very handy. If you pay more than a cheap Chinese price, you'll get good quality and at least they're all in one place, not scattered throughout your toolkit because the bloody elastic band broke!

 

[TonyP]

Plus if you keep your receipt there's a lifetime warranty.

In the past I have managed to get stuff replaced without the receipt, although it probably would have been easier with.

 

[grantw]

I have one as well ... I do love the fairly fine movements on the ratchets. They have the feel of a good quality tool.

They only thing they are missing really is the 22 and 24mm spanners. Also the 6 sided impact sockets don't go up to the 24mm for the diff plug.

I'm actually very tempted to buy the larger one to keep in the truck on a permanent basis.

 

[Shayne]

A tip on hex keys is not only to have a set of loose keys, but a modern bicycle fold-out set is very handy. If you pay more than a cheap Chinese price, you'll get good quality and at least they're all in one place, not scattered throughout your toolkit because the bloody elastic band broke![/QUOTE]

I am astonished someone with a 100 year old tool set in a canvas bag hasn't got a 2oz tobacco tin full of hex keys , i have but few have much in the way of hex left .

 

[Shayne]

I'm impressed just add a stanley knife and a tape measure and i should be covered for most eventualities . I gave in to temptation by the way and bought the 170 piece kit i figured with a lifetime guarantee i will only by it once .


40mm body lift is on its way in the post so i guess i will get to test them soon !