lowes Kobalt tools

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crackedback said:
Look for a rebuild kit. That's what I do with my 40+ year old craftsman ratchets. I'd rather spend a few bucks on a kit than get a crummy new one or in house rebuild.
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Local Sears here will give you a rebuild kit for free.
The USA made ratchets are 100X of the quality of the cheap china crap they are now selling.
 
Hmm maybe I'm doing something wrong but I rarely break tools...? I have an assortment of "cheap" brand stuff I've collected over the years and never really broke anything. A few Kobalt, some Craftsman, and some pieces from the parts stores mostly "GearWrench" and "Powerbuilt". I also recently got a big Craftsman air compressor and impact driver (thanks Dad!!!!) so no more failed attempts at trying to muscle off a rusty bolt/nut. Once I have the money to buy nicer tools I may but for now all my "cheap" tools work perfectly. Kinda reminds me of buying a gun, you can sometimes get away with a good cheap brand as long as it "feels" solid... smooth action, low tolerances, good materials etc. if it feels solid then it usually is in my experience. I could usually pick up a tool with a blindfold and immediately tell that it's cheap Chinese junk.
 
Take a trip to your local NAPA. They are now selling Carlyle Hand Tools. Pay close attention to the wrenches, ratchets and sockets. They will look very familiar if you've looked at a Snap-On piece :wink:. They are same quality for about a third the price. Lifetime warranty as well.

Eddie
 
JBurch said:
Unless they changed, Kobalt was a division of J.H. Williams, which is/was owned by Snap-On
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exactly ! my snap-on tool man used to sell kobalt tools on the snap on truck. they are the cheaper side of snap on. What ? you guys thought all snap on tools were American made.
made overseas and then chromed in the us. presto- American made. Just like craftsman.

Just like most of you, I turn wrenches for a living. I go to distribution centers, warehouses, and factories. You should see some of the cross branding that goes on.
 
I have a plier set with linemans pliers, snips, etc and it has been pretty good and was fairly cheap.
 
My old Kobalt stuff, 2000-2003 or so time frame are great quality made in USA stuff.

Craftsman, no matter how old, are the only tools I've broken (lots of sockets broken with hand power, several ratchets).

I have a lot of newer Kobalt stuff, made in Taiwan but no problems. Tried to add a Kobalt tool box section a couple years ago, but my old ones are nice made in USA ball bearing stuff. The new section was junky, might as well buy a Harbor Freight box IMO.

I also have quite a few Harbor Freight tools and the only ones that have broken are power or air tools, which I expected to happen at some point given the price. No problems with any kind of wrenches etc.

Pawn shops are great for tools. I bought a large set of Craftsman metric sockets (18mm and larger) for like $1 a piece. Of course I had to really dig through them to find the ones I was looking for, but nice to get them over import stuff.
 
Had a Craftsman 3/8 ratchet messing up. Just put a couple drops of air tool oil in it and problem solved. But tools aren't the same as 40 years ago, that's a fact.
 
heard this that kobalt tools are made by the company that was once JD WILLIAMS, but they are definitely not the same wrenches. but still if they are made by them, they are made by people that know how to make tools albeit cheaper tools.
 
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