Looking for opinions...who can fill the (tool)box

It is time I replace/add to my tools. I don't have a complete set of anything anymore(kids). My biggest issue right now is having the right tool for the job that isn't broken, misplaced, or just plain don't have.
I am not a professional mechanic. I will not be making a living with these tools, but I don't want to be constantly replacing them due to breakage. If I had my way and unlimited funds, I would buy a truckload of Snap-On or Mac Tools. But, that just will not happen.
So, I put to those "in the know."

Here is the challenge,

Lets say you already have the following;

Compressor and pneumatics
Exceptable rolling box
Jack stands 1pr.
OBD II reader
misc. bottle jacks

and...and...~$1000.00 to spend(hand grenade close is good enough).

What would you get...and from who?

If there is something to absolutely to stay away from, please state why.

Thanks for playing.

 

Im not a mechanic, so Im packed with Craftsman tools in two big rolling obstacles in the garage. The warranty is hard to beat for your average user. If I was a mechanic for a living Id go with something else. About the only thing I regularly break are ratchets and screwdrivers. With the warranty they replace them for free so that keeps me happy.

The rest of my tools are all random collections of stuff that just so happened to be that one tool I needed at that one specific place and time! Or it was my grandpas old stuff. (thanks gramps!)

 

I like to hit up pawn shops for tools. You can usually find good toos for cheap. You can always haggle with a pawn shop too.

 

I would suggest that you do what I have been doing since I was about 12 years old, now 52. When I am doing something that involves tools and I don't have what I need to do the job I go and buy it. Then I have it the next time. Now I have a garage FULL of every tool I have ever needed. I don't buy many these days but there are still a few that I need. A few months ago I needed to crack open my injector lines and didn't have the right tool. I went to the tool store and bought a set of metric and SAE "Crowfoot" wrenches. You always need something that you don't have.

No sense in buying tools that you don't need. Those big tool sets have a bunch of stuff you may never need. Look at what you need tools for and buy them.

 

Another vote for Craftsman. I will say the new stuff isn't made anything like the old stuff, but still 10x better than the cheap stuff. My dad was a mechanic for 35 years and that is what most of his stuff is.

 

I'm a Craftsman fan myself. It's definately not Snap-on quality but for the price and warranty it's great. You can also look into Husky at Home Depot. They're pretty good for the price and are warrantied too. I pieced together my set. Buy quality for the stuff you use the most and the stuff that needs a quality tool. Buy cheaper stuff that you might use once in awhile.

 

I love my Husky wrenchs and sockets; definitely no problems with any of their steel.
Screwdrivers were bad, but they changed a couple years ago and are now good and American-made.
Husky pliers are worthless. I don't have any husky pliers that don't have their grips falling off. I don't even know how they can legally sell the garbage.

Craftsman stuff is all really good. Don't have any experience with Kobalt, but it seems just as good as Husky (it's a little bit more expensive). Snap-ON, Mac and Proto are all really good if you don't mind paying ten times more as for a perfectly operable Home Depot wrench.

Then again, I think that wrenches and sockets are where the least quality differential is. I think that brand matters most when it comes to torque wrenches, pliers, dykes, wire strippers and stuff like that.

 

Ratchets and sockets I am a die-hard Husky fan, with the black chrome and laser etched sockets they are hard to beat, not to mention the ratchets are much nicer than the junker Craftsmans. As a sidenote, Craftsman will no longer give you a new ratchet for an old one, they give you a rebuild kit, and you do it yourself...I was ******. Pliers, hammers, and screwdrivers are all Stanley, or Estwing for hammers. I do buy a few things from the Snap-On guy every now and then, best wire strippers ever are from Snap-On.

If your looking for a specialty tool you'll probably only use once, Harbor Freight is hard to beat.

 

If a husky tool breaks where do I replace it...Home Depot. What about floor jacks(not bottle), battery chargers, etc. is anything at Harbor Freight acceptable?

 

For most that dont make a living with them craftsmans a good choice. Most of mine are proto, and iv had good luck out of them.

 

Im going to throw another vote for craftsman in hand tools.
Get one of the big sets. for a couple hundred, you will cover almost everything you will need.
Air tools. depending on how much you plan on using them, I would go with a variable torque impact and a compressor. dont worry about air ratchets at the moment, they dont offer the torque you need. Actually, I would probably skip the air for now.
Jack stands... Big, heavy capacity set of FOUR. I only have two and really wish I had two more.
Floor jacks are more costly, but more convienent. Unfortuneatly, your probably gonna need the bigger ones they use in shops to lift your 4x4.
For a rolling box, I dont know what to suggest. look for something in your price range with rollered drawers. Will last you alot longer.
Several of our shops use drawing cabinet boxes instead of regular tool boxes.
Also, get a cabinet or two. atleast 12 gauge shelfs. heavier if you can afford it.

 

I have to vote for Snap-on. Making a livin with them though all snap-on or bluepoint. Craftsman regular brand is the best you can buy for the do it yourselfer. my first set of tools was craftsman the plating on the wrenches does not last at all. Now the profesional brand is nice, go look at a craftsman professional wrench huskey professional, and a snap-on wrench same thing, cobalt and mac same thing dont care for the square edges on them though feel real sharp if you're really gettin down on something. $1000 can buy you alot if you know what to buy but before you go to harbor freight or the truckload sales just browse the better brands and you can see the quality difference. If its something you will use all the time and are easily broken get the warranty i.e chisels, punches, screwdrivers, picks and hooks, ratchets and breaker bars, prybars, taps and dies. Wrench's get craftsman, hammers dosn't matter, sockets craftsman, screwdrivers craftsman, pliers dosn't matter, drill bits dosn't matter keep'em sharp, impacts Ingersol rand, impact sockets dosnt matter although I have had to replace a few of mine 3/4 and 15/16 (Snap-on), files get good ones, alen whenches get good ones L-shaped and the ones with a drive, impact driver get good one, and extensions and universal adapters get good ones. I know i forgot something trying to think whats in each drawer.

 

Get ball-bearing tool box.

 

I would say spend your money on things like ball joint sockets and other things that you need and will use. Another vote for Craftsman or Husky. You say that you already have a compressor and pnuematics. If you don't have an air chiesel get one and get a pickle fork set that will fit it. You can actually get alot for $1000 if you already have the compressor and rolling box. Also get a good set of 4 or 5 ton jack stands... the little 2 ton ones are marginal at best for the weight of our trucks also the 4 ton ones adjust to a much higher position so you can actually get under the truck.

 

craftsmen are a little to salty for me. harbor freight is more my style. some of their stuff is junk, though, some is good. anything pitsburgh is guarunteed for life. they break just like craftsmen. if i really need something (after breaking craftsmen, harbor, others) i get blackhawk, never broken anything of theirs.