Tool Warranties... Who cares?

[Joe Dirte]

I went pretty much all tekton durin the kung-flu. All my craftsman stuff was wore out n the only place to warranty them was Lowes. That's a whole nother can of worms with their customer service. Walked out p!ssed with broken tools. Tekton customer service worked with me when my camera was broke. Plus the student discount really helped. The cash back added up n got a couple tools free with it. Any of my old Craftsman USA made is now off to the side to never be used again. Did get lucky at a yard sale and 2 full sets of NOS USA made Craftsman wrenches couple years ago. They sit in house as a collector item haha.

 

[Schurkey]

My 20ish year old Craftsman ratchets were getting a little sticky. I thought I might have to replace them with Chinese stuff, but luckily a few sprays of silicone WD40 freed up the mechanism.

I had been putting off replacing them for years. They were doing the thing where they wouldn’t really ratchet either way. I am just a hobbyist, so maybe they don’t hold up as well for pros.

Ya do what ya gotta do to get the mechanism freed-up. Silicone spray seems to have done that for you.

Consider using a couple drops of high-viscosity liquid engine assembly lube to keep them working well. The stuff is relatively inexpensive; good for all sorts of lubrication projects that require liquid rather than "grease". There's probably fifteen different brands, and numerous "colors". Red is popular; the stuff I bought is green. None of that matters.

I learned a lesson about using "grease" (even relatively "thin" grease) in ratchet heads. The grease sometimes prevents proper engagement of the pawl into the gear. This results in a wonderfully-smooth ratchet action with little noise and great "feel". It also results in broken gear teeth. Liquid lube doesn't give you the terrific smooth "feel", but the ratchet also doesn't break.

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There are many others.

 

[88cheyenne]

Right on, I think I will try that.

 

[Schurkey]

Right on, I think I will try that.

Silly me. I forgot to post a link to the one I actually bought and use--the "green" stuff.

One of these will be a "lifetime supply" of ratchet lube; although as I said--it's good for other purposes as well. (Such as...you know...assembling engines.)

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/SEP55400

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Why is Assembly Lube better than plain ol' engine oil or aerosol lube in a ratchet? 'Cause it takes longer for this stuff to leak out of the ratchet head. More than two drops in a 1/2" ratchet (less in a smaller rat) is an invitation to a gooey mess in the tool box.

 

[DonYukon]

in my expierence HANDS DOWN DURALAST/AUTOZONE THE BEST. only 2 occasions both were there flatheads that got either bent or chipped from abuse and as long as they can read the emblem your getting it

 

[Wh4t3v3rs]

My local mom and pop hardware store sells craftsman and they are great with warranties still. Bring broken tool in and walk out with shiny new tool. No questions asked.

Believe it or not, our small town still has a Sears! So, Craftsman is what takes up alot of my tool box. My Cornwell driver kicks ass!

 

[97C1500TJ]

The tool truck warranties are the ones that set me off. I’ve been waiting two weeks for the Snap On truck to come by the shop to warranty out something. It’s no problem to take your money on a weekly basis but they can’t even show up to check in on their customers. I own a lot of Mac secondhand but what little new I buy comes from HF since it’s right down the road.

 

[97C1500TJ]

Believe it or not, our small town still has a Sears! So, Craftsman is what takes up alot of my tool box. My Cornwell driver kicks ass!

Is it the same quality as the Lowe’s Craftsman?

Our Cornwell guy disappeared years ago.

 

[Schurkey]

Is it the same quality as the Lowe’s Craftsman?

"Craftsman" has always been an "outsourced" tool. Sears invented the brand, and shopped vendors to supply stuff with the Craftsman brand name stamped into the tool. Their stuff came from multiple vendors, and the vendors changed over time depending on which way the wind was blowing at the upper floors of the Sears Tower.

Now that Stanley Black and Decker owns the rights to the name, supposedly Stanley is supplying Crapsman tools from their own factories (or, more likely, their "contracted" factories in China.) But the way I understand it, Sears still has the right to source Crapsman junk from their historical suppliers for sale in the two or three remaining Sears stores, for 15 years from the time Stanley bought the Craftsman name. Therefore "Sears" Crapsman and "Lowe's" (Stanley B-D) Crapsman may--or may not--be the same tool. During that 15 years, Sears gets paid a royalty for all Stanley Crapsman tools. After 15 years, Sears pays a royalty to Stanley (but there won't be a Sears by then.)

Stanley sent out big press releases yapping about building a factory in Texas, to return some Craftsman production to the USA. Every new-ish Crapsman tool I see is made in China--but I kinda quit looking at them.

Stanley Black & Decker Announces Opening of New CRAFTSMAN Plant in Fort Worth, Texas

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) today announced it will expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint with a new CRAFTSMAN manufacturing plant in Fort Worth, TX. The groundbreaking for the 425,000-square-foot facility will take place in summer 2019, and the plant is expected to be completed in late...

www.stanleyblackanddecker.com

The big problem with Crapsman warranty "from stocking dealers" is that the "good" old tool part numbers are superceded, therefore NO dealer "stocks" them. A lifetime warranty...with no replacement stock.

The whole arrangement stinks to high Heaven. One batch of criminals selling "rights" to another batch of criminals, and We the People get screwed.

 

[Moparmat2000]

I have Snap On ratchets for home and work. No questions asked when warranty repair or replacement is needed. These rarely break. Other than that I have harbor freight sockets, craftsman, stanley proto, S&K, snap on. Never an issue with any of it.