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For the last several years I've had full use of my family's shop, mainly used by my younger brother for the family business/farm vehicle maintenance. That's where all the work has been done on my BMWs. Now I've moved to Birmingham AL for work, and got a house here with a decent single car garage, so I'm having to add on to my meager personal tool collection.Belldandy posted:I'd like to echo the Harbor Freight jacks. They are light as hell and totally kick rear end, lift the car very easily. I've been through loving 3 Craftsman aluminum jacks now. Great. I just went to HF last weekend to buy one of those $135 jacks, and they were out of stock, so I went to Sears and paid $169 for the Craftsman. Oh well. I'll use it until it breaks... I just got a surplus air compressor from my brother, a Campbell-Hausfeld 4hp/13gal unit that will suit my uses perfectly. Had to wire a new plug on it and replace the quick coupler, but $Free is good (well, $15 in parts to fix) I've been shopping for an impact for months now, and finally bought a Farmhand brand from Tractor Supply. It is made by Campbell-Hausfeld, but the whole thing is metal, not cheap plastic. Seems better built than the more expensive CH units, and $80 with a 3 year warranty.  I'm going to get some jack stands from HF, but not an urgent need. I have two decent ones, but those rare occasions you need more... I picked up a lot of misc. bits like hammers, mini sledge, rubber mallet, pry bars, etc., at Harbor Freight, and some new Craftsman ratchets at Sears. My next purchase is going to be a large chest, the local Sears has a low-end Craftsman rolling cabinet + chest + free intermediate chest for $119. It isn't ball bearing, but it beats the plastic tool box I've been carrying my stuff in for years.
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Mar 4, 2008 17:28
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IOwnCalculus posted:1/2" drive version Thanks. There goes yet another small portion of my paycheck. My luck the local HF won't have any in stock; they're terrible about having inventory here. Now that I'm buying a proper tool box, I have to populate it with something...  $119 for the 3-piece combo at the local Sears.
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Mar 5, 2008 23:25
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IOwnCalculus posted:Oooh, I have that but in red and minus a few of the drawers in the middle. Nice set I haven't picked it up yet; they are on sale until March 15 so I've been putting it off because I'm afraid once I get it home I'll discover I don't have enough tools to fill it up, and then go on a drunken tool-buying binge at HF and Sears, leaving me bankrupt and soon homeless. Despite not being ball bearing, has it held up pretty well? I'm also now trying to decide how I can convert my 1 car garage, which was formerly a 2 car garage, back to a 2 car garage without giving up the extra room(s) created in the basement. The layout they chose down there is not the most efficient use of space, so I may end up moving a wall around to create a more useful area.
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Mar 6, 2008 01:09
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Dark Solux posted:They have this promotion in stores? I looked online and didn't see anything. That looks like a killer deal, I should go pick it up today. My tool storage situation is a sad sight. It is in the local store here in Alabama; I have no idea if its the same at the other Sears in town or nationally... They also have a smaller one w/o the intermediate drawers that's silver w/ the 80yr Craftsman 2007 Anniversary logo on it for like $89, but I think I'll get the bigger one for just a few more  Also, what about some wrenches?  1-7/16" to 2"  30-ton shop press My uncle was partners in a farm with an older guy, who previously was an engineer. When he passed away, my brother, uncle, and grandfather bought the whole farm operation including a few tractors, backhoe, and three shop buildings full of awesome tools like those two pictures. This crazy old guy had one of everything, and two or more of most things, and didn't buy cheap junk either. That's been nice to have access to for the past couple of years. Too bad I live 2 hours away from there now, but that's where we're working on my (future) SPEC E36 track car.
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Mar 6, 2008 17:25
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Dark Solux posted:They have this promotion in stores? I looked online and didn't see anything. That looks like a killer deal, I should go pick it up today. My tool storage situation is a sad sight. Well, I was at the store TWICE on Saturday and looked at that combo both times. It was $119, and I went so far as to ask a clerk, "That's for the whole kit?" and "How much longer will it be on sale?" (March 15 was the answer, and I wanted to know because I was in my car with no way to get it home. I declined the offer to pay for it now and pick up later.) So I went this afternoon to buy it, and the price was $199, AFTER $20 mail-in rebate. I found the manager and asked him if that wasn't $119 on the weekend and he just looked confused and said it wasn't. So, either I'm crazy or Sears pulled a fast one on me. It is listed for $199 online too, so I guess the store had made a mistake which got caught since Saturday. Regardless, I bought it, then found out I'll have to pick up the intermediate chest from another local store since they didn't have one in stock. So I got the top and bottom parts home and set up and all my tools migrated over and mostly organized. I'll get the intermediate chest tomorrow afternoon. So, sorry if I got your hopes up about finding it for $119. I should have bought it on Saturday. I also got a set of Craftsman ratcheting wrenches. When I go pick up the intermediate chest, I've got to get another screwdriver organizer, a wrench organizer, and some of that padding for the bottom of the drawers. Bankruptcy awaits with these frequent visits to Sears...
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Mar 7, 2008 05:42
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leica posted:Harbor Freight, 40 bucks for a "click" wrench. Needle wrench will be even cheaper. I have one of those generic clickers, identical to HF but mine is a "Cummins Tool" brand. Its been pretty decent, and I've so far resisted the urge to use it as a huge 1/2" breaker/general ratchet. I imagine its probably +/- 10lbs or so, but lug nuts aren't THAT exact of a science; its better than the tire/lube store monkeys cranking them on with an impact so tight they snap. I've got to buy one of those 80# sticks ... Where can you get Snap-on tools without working in a shop and being on the tool truck's route?
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Mar 7, 2008 05:46
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BabyJesus posted:Can I use my standard sockets on a 1/2" or 3/8" drive torque wrench. Sorry, I'm a noob when it comes to them. Never had one You can, but get some deep-well sockets to make your life much easier. You might HAVE to have deep-wells depending on how your wheel studs are; on my cars I've converted to longer studs and a standard socket won't fit. I actually use impact sockets with my torque wrench, but that's usually because I run them down with the impact and then pop the socket onto the clicker and finish them. I've done it enough times I can get pretty close to 80# with the impact now. I'm not sure I have another deep-well 19mm socket actually, so I probably have to use my impact set. Something else to pick up at HF or Sears today... *edit* Anybody have these Craftsman offset ratcheting box wrenches? I bought them yesterday. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00943376000P I fully expect that plastic to break eventually, but hey, free replacement... Hypnolobster posted:Yep. I ordered two torque sticks just a little while ago. Supposedly, they've already arrived at home. Hey, free shipping. I wasn't expecting that. Order placed. I was going to get the set from HF, but I only really need the 80# and one from Snap-On is cheaper than the set from HF, and has to be better quality. I'll use the piss out of this. miklm fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Mar 7, 2008 |
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Mar 7, 2008 16:48
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rhombus posted:But I sprung for the quality Snap-On stick instead of the cheap HF stuff! I guess I'll still have to use the torque wrench to finish off all the bolts. I'm sort of disappointed with mine too. But, trouser chili is right, and I'm not sure that my little 4hp/13gal compressor is really up to running that impact I have at WOT. I'm double checking things with a torque wrench for now. I'll get a second opinion when I hook it to my brother's huge compressor, which runs his 3/4" impact up to ~400 lbs ft for breaking loose tractor wheel lug nuts. miklm fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Apr 9, 2008 |
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Apr 9, 2008 05:15
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Delivery McGee posted:On a similar note, does anybody actually screw oil filters on as the instructions say? Something like gasket contact plus a fraction of a turn? That seems incredibly loose to me, and I always crank 'em down as tight as I can by hand, and have never had a leak. Of course, Wal*Mart apparently uses the tire-changing impact guns for oil filters, so I doubt it's all that important. I have use a torque wrench to tighten the top of my oil filter cannister to spec, yes. Mainly I just do "hand tight" on it though, but more importantly the oil pan bolt which is quite likely to strip if you hammer down on it like a 'roid-raged ape. Some things you pay attention to the torque ratings, others you don't. My BMWs, we use torque wrenches. Farm trucks, hammer them down with the impact and then hit it again for good measure. Its going to rust up anyway, so get that impact ready to break them loose even if torqued to specs. Just use some common sense, or end up with a lot of broken bolts.
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Apr 9, 2008 22:51
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