Ratchet Breaker Bars and Snap On tools

G'day ladies and gents,
I'll be honest- I need to eat my words a bit here. I'm an apprentice diesel fitter and although I have a lot of the tools I need I've been stocking up on new bits for the stuff I don't already have. I have avoided Snap On so far for two reasons. The first is the crazy pricing... I can't really afford to spend $300 on a ratchet. The second is after using their spanners I found them to be far to thin and they hurt my hands (I'm a sook I know).

When the Snap On truck turned up the other morning (a rare occurrence for me) I decided to have a look inside... Long and the short of it is I bought myself a breaker bar with a ratcheting head. Thinking was this should make my life easier and not bend like a banana when I give it a good tug. $350 in Aussie money.

In two days it's paid for itself just in saving my lifting my socket off of fasteners and stuffing around trying to undo things in stupid places that a normal bar is difficult to get into (track frame removal comes to mind). Makes undoing level plugs in excavator finals a breeze. It doesn't bend even when I just about lifted myself up on it trying to undo a very tight bolt (I'm only little and light haha)

Regarding the strength of the ratchet mechanism itself (Dual 80 I believe)... I mean it's lifetime guaranteed so I suppose I'm going to find out exactly how strong it is. Going to get used a lot.

I was wondering what your opinions are of the trade off between price and quality of Snap On tools. I know they are almost the industry standard but for one bar it's a very large investment for me. Also, what're your opinions of these bars in the long run?


Thankyou in advance everyone

45 years ago I took the advise of my Grandfather, buy good tools once, being 15 it took a little while to sink in, but it did and I invested in Snap On. No regrets. I have Snap On tools that belonged to my Grandfather...from the 1920's through the 1950's and still work fine.

Good tools are a INVESTMENT, they will last a lifetime and make work easier, you have already pointed that out.

Shop eBay, there are some great buys on it.

Good luck and God bless you.

Bob

My philosophy is buy for the task. Sockets, and long ratchets/breakers, absolutely as good as you can possibly afford. Wrenches, the best quality you can find in a wrench that fits your hand comfortably! I have some wrenches I will never wear out because I can't stand to pull on them. Screwdrivers, one set of good to better quality and a whole drawer full of sacrificial ones, ranging from decent down to harbor freight.

My small ratchets and ratcheting end wrenches I choose what feels good to me, works VERY smooth and has a decent warranty. Don't really push them much so I don't need gold plated.

Pick and choose, invest in what will save you time, money, and injuries, if you use it a lot and lean on it always, get the best.

I second what lantraxco says:agree how much does an trip to the doctor cost you because you did not have the right tool or the cheap one broke. I have never regretted buying anything quality made. especially any thing hands on

You've admitted you're an apprentice. One thing I can tell you from a lifetime of experience, you'll will obtain tools you thought you needed and find you hardly ever use them, and you will find tools that you find you can't live without and they quit making them. It's the dilemma all of us wrench benders experience, and you are certain to as well. My point, don't restrict yourself to a certain brand "tool truck". Instead, look at all of them, inspect them closely and think about them, will they do what you need. As others have stated, if you work with those tools daily, yes, get quality stuff regardless of the brand. But above all, find the tools that fit your preference, again, regardless of the brand. Using me for an example, I prefer quick release ratchets, but I've noticed not many still make them, bummer. I have a fractional set of SK Superchrome combination wrenches, have had them for years, no other wrench compares in my mind. I've beat them with a ball peen knocking hydraulic fittings loose and they show no dents from the punishment. Craftsman wrenches suck, they're way to sharp on the open end, puts a hurt on your hands when you put the meat to them. For angle head wrenches, SnapOn only. They're the only brand that has a 60 degree and 30 degree angle on the heads, all others are 60 degree and 15 degree. Duh...I have a 15 degree on all of my open end wrenches, I don't need to buy half a wrench.

Find what tools are comfortable and fits your taste, quality tools. Those two considerations come before brand.

Can you tell the difference between these? Yep, one's got Snap On written on it and the other has Cat written on it. Guess which one costs $47 and which one costs $81?

Do yourself a favour; Before you spring for anything Snap On, check out the price from cat.

And if you have a friend that works at a CAT dealer, most will get a discount for personal use. You can borrow his tools, yeah?

I use near all Snap on tooling including the 3/4 drive breaker bar with a swap out ratchet head that is sealed, the ratchet set up has been a super bit of kit although I chose the industrial finish bar as it makes it less interesting for the tool collector, I also have ring open end spanner set from about a 1/8th to 1"1/2 A.F. including about 7no 9/16" 5no 3/4" etc, so lots of double ups of the same spanners although the length might be different, I have the same stuff in metric as well, but the spanners that have saved me times are the straight long thin ring spanners they are costly but work so well. tctractors

willie59 said:

You've admitted you're an apprentice. One thing I can tell you from a lifetime of experience, you'll will obtain tools you thought you needed and find you hardly ever use them, and you will find tools that you find you can't live without and they quit making them. It's the dilemma all of us wrench benders experience, and you are certain to as well. My point, don't restrict yourself to a certain brand "tool truck". Instead, look at all of them, inspect them closely and think about them, will they do what you need. As others have stated, if you work with those tools daily, yes, get quality stuff regardless of the brand. But above all, find the tools that fit your preference, again, regardless of the brand. Using me for an example, I prefer quick release ratchets, but I've noticed not many still make them, bummer. I have a fractional set of SK Superchrome combination wrenches, have had them for years, no other wrench compares in my mind. I've beat them with a ball peen knocking hydraulic fittings loose and they show no dents from the punishment. Craftsman wrenches suck, they're way to sharp on the open end, puts a hurt on your hands when you put the meat to them. For angle head wrenches, SnapOn only. They're the only brand that has a 60 degree and 30 degree angle on the heads, all others are 60 degree and 15 degree. Duh...I have a 15 degree on all of my open end wrenches, I don't need to buy half a wrench.

Find what tools are comfortable and fits your taste, quality tools. Those two considerations come before brand.

Click to expand...

I 2nd that

I have purchased many Sunex tools after looking at the prices at the snap on and mac trucks. I bought angle head wrenches, punches, ratcheting wrenches, a punch set, 3/4 drive impact sockets and a some ratchets. I have been surprised how well they work and how well they withstand the daily abuse. In contrast i bought a snap on 1/2 breaker bar and snapped it off.
The snap on stuff isn't what it used to be.

I pick and choose my tools depending what I like not any sort of brand loyalty the I have some snap on stuff that works very well and some that is constantly getting warranted Don't rule them out though sometimes even the snap on truck has good deals

I have always been a firm believer in spending the money for quality ratchets and breaker bars.

When you are putting 600 ft lbs of torque (or more!) on a 3/4 breaker bar, then you want something that will stand up and not fail and hurt yourself

Loading up a cheap breaker bar or ratchet and then wondering will it fail while you are going all gorilla on it can be nervewracking.

Spending money on quality tooling minimizes the busted knuckle factor.

When the Snap On truck turned up the other morning (a rare occurrence for me) I decided to have a look inside... Long and the short of it is I bought myself a breaker bar with a ratcheting head. Thinking was this should make my life easier and not bend like a banana when I give it a good tug. $350 in Aussie money.

Click to expand...

Can you post a link of this tool or the part number for it? I haven't seen one yet but I want to check it out.

I have some of every brand. I have bought allot of good tools at flea markets and garage sells thats one great thing about the area were i live. One thing i have to say about some one starting out is alot of tools that look useful will not be used much so think about it before you spend money on something that will only take up space in your tool box. Take this advice from some one that works alot of 15 hour days air and electric impacts are worth their weight in gold as is any thing that is used with them. There faster and save wear and tear on you. This will be very clear to you when you come home and cant unbutton your shirt.

G'day again ladies and gents,
Wow! Thankyou so much for all your advice! I will do my best to take it on board.

I am acutely aware of the fact that good tools are an investment. Also that quality tools are the way to go. Although I am only a first year apprentice I have been working with tools on cars, bikes (motorised or not) and just about anything else I could get my dirty mits on since I was knee high to a grasshopper. My old man taught me to buy good tools from the beginning. I neglected to mention this originally.

The deciding factor for me (and the original reason I overlooked Snap On) is how the tool feels in my hand. Snap On spanners are too thin they hurt my hand when I give em a yank. That's why I use SP tools spanners. I like the fatter handles. That's the sort of thinking that has guided me with my tool selection over the years, though I was way short when I became a fitter. Needed more tools So I buy around, I've got a a lot of different stuff, some which I now think maybe I should have bought in another brand and some which I'm very happy with.

I was aware that Cat torque wrenches = Snap On but was unaware that this carried over for other tooling. Thanks for the tip Cmark

Those long thin straight spanners are on the list, though below a lot of other things I borrow more often. I will be going SP in those, for I prefer the way they feel over any others I've encountered.

@ JD955SC
My bar is actually a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar. Here it is! Money well spent I assure you.
https://store.snapon.com/Dual-80-17...ndard-Handle-1-2-drive-24-13-16--P651015.aspx

Impacts are my world- IR 1/2 impact air wrench is on the list. My Milwaukee electric impact wrench is just about the most used thing in my toolbox. I cannot imagine how I ever lived without it.

Sorry I took so long to get back to you all, I was very much enjoying my long weekend without phones or net. hehe.

Thanks again for all your help, please keep the advice coming. Do you have any other tips/ advice?

Neither CAT nor SNAP-ON make the Torque Wrenches. The Rachet heads on some models were SNAP-ON but the Tension Part is made by a MOB called PRECISION INSTRUMENTS. And you will also find the Chrome on the CAT tools are done to a budget to keep them competitive (also don't have Flank Drive in the O/E spanners). It used to annoy you the additional purchase price of SNAP-ON but eventually you learnt the hard way that they pay for themselves.

I don't want to take the OP's thread off topic, but I have a 3/8 and 1/2 inch drive air driven ratchet wrenches and they are extremely handy tools to have and use.
They have a lot of ft. lbs of torque to.

CAT793 said:

Neither CAT nor SNAP-ON make the Torque Wrenches. The Rachet heads on some models were SNAP-ON but the Tension Part is made by a MOB called PRECISION INSTRUMENTS. And you will also find the Chrome on the CAT tools are done to a budget to keep them competitive (also don't have Flank Drive in the O/E spanners). It used to annoy you the additional purchase price of SNAP-ON but eventually you learnt the hard way that they pay for themselves.

Click to expand...

Yep.

Snap On has a few subsidiary companies- Williams, Bahco, CDI Precision, Sioux Air Tools.

Williams is Snap On's industrial subsidery. They have both US and foreign produced tools (mainly Taiwan). The Cat combo wrenches are Williams SuperCombos, and they do have a gripping feature on the open end but it's not full blown Flank Drive like the Snap On stuff (and certainly not Flank Drive +). Williams and Snap On sockets are pretty close to being identical, which is where Cat sockets come from. Williams and Cat ratchets are Snap On's older generation ratchets (936 I believe, as opposed to the current generation of Dual 80 designs that you get from Snap On). CAT angle wrenches are Snap On with the signature 30/60 deg heads.

Personally I have a lot of the CAT branded tools. Great quality stuff. There is a lot on the Snap On truck (like better ratchets, longer breaker bars, etc, plus not to mention the higher grade boxes (Cat boxes are snap on's classic series). I actually like the Cat/Williams wrenches better due to the thicker beams as opposed to the Snap On stuff. The nice thing about the Cat stuff is not only is it high quality, you can have pretty much anything the next day so if I break a tool I can get a replacement pretty quick, or if I need a specialty tool I can usually have it pronto. I still do plenty of business with my Snap On driver but I do like to check the Cat catalog first to see if the tool I am looking at is in it.

Most of my tools were purchased 40 years ago. Although I no longer work on heavy equipment, I have kept everything except the Proto 1 in drive set and the Mac 3/4 drive set. I am 65% Snap On with the rest being in this order; Mac, Proto, Craftsman, and a few oddballs like Cornwall, Blackhawk, Kent-Moore and a few others. My hammers and pliers come from all over the place. I always tried to buy quality, but I sometimes bought for the need of a project, or because it was the only choice and I had to get something done. It always felt better to use the Snap On and other good ones when doing field work in remote areas of Alaska. Just because you can get a new one if the old one breaks doesn't mean much if it breaks when you are 50 miles off the road from no where or on a remote island.

For whatever reason I couldn't get a tool truck to stop by at a former job I had. I started to buy Napa tools from a local store and was pleasantly surprised at the price and no hassle warrantee. The sockets and wrenches are good stuff.

well said former wrench!! I have always bought snap on or Mac a few proto & Williams & Blackhawk stuff.. just because you can get replacement in the city, that don't help when you need the tool to finish the job you are on out in BFE!! I also have a drawer/box full of JUNK wrenches to heat up/weld on or fabricate for special purposes!!!