Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/441929
January / February 2015 15 In other words, even the expensive stuff breaks on occasion. Especially when you use the wrong tool for the wrong job, etc, not that anyone would be caught doing that. Most tools now have lifetime warranties so you should be covered no matter what you buy. Some oddball tools from craftsman for instance, like torque wrenches, are immune from their lifetime warranty, but those tools are few and far between. Usually tool r e p l a c e m e n t is a fairly painless hassle for most brands that I have seen. #2: The tools you use the most should be the highest quality tool you can afford. Things like screwdrivers and wrenches, ratchets, and especially pliers should be the best you can afford. For instance, the teeth of ratchets are typically much stronger and a finer count with a high grade tool, meaning less angle of swing before the next click which comes in handy in a tight spot and being able to handle more torque. Most off the shelf ratchets are around 35-40 teeth, where as many of my snap on ratchets are 72 teeth, more teeth means less distance the ratchet has to swing to catch the next tooth. Cheaper tools like Craftsman/Husky/etc will strip a fastener in poor condition in a heartbeat when it starts to fight you. Now your job involves drills, ez-outs, and a lot of time you shouldn't have to waste removing a broken or stripped fastener. If you have a fastener with a slightly rounded edge, the higher quality tool is still going to remove it. Magic. High end tools have much better "laser" (In my best Dr. Evil voice) cut end on them, and the tolerances are a lot tighter. I'm not saying you can't get by with some of the cheaper brands 90% of the time, it's the other 10% that will make you hate the car you are working on. The other big difference on high end tools are the e r g o n o m i c s . Higher end tools are designed to be easier to hold and more i m p o r t a n t l y, easier on your hands. For a good starter set of tools, C r a f t s m a n does make a nice plastic three drawer box which covers sockets from 1/4-1/2", plus basic ratchets, torx bits, e-torx, allens, etc. In fact, this is a box I carry to the track with me as it is portable and everything stays put where it should. Starting with a basic set like that, then you can build in a couple good ratchets, a set of good screw drivers (Craftsman professional screwdrivers are not good screwdrivers, lol), pliers, hammers, etc. I think the mid grade sockets are fine for most people, when you have a 360 degree bite, the chance of stripping a fastener isn't near what an open end wrench is….and to buy the equivalent amount of top grade sockets would cost thousands vs a few hundred.