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Craftsman Tools degrading?

Are Craftsman tools degrading?

  • Yeah I think they've been getting worse.

    Votes: 93 50.5%

  • No I think they're great.

    Votes: 52 28.3%

  • I think Craftsmans factory is right next to HF's in China.

    Votes: 28 15.2%

  • They all suck I use a string and stick for a drill.

    Votes: 11 6.0%
  • Total voters
    184
AIbandit

AIbandit

NAXJA Forum User
NAXJA Member
Location
Chico, CA
I've been seeing a drop in reviews on sears.com on their equipment. More recently I was looking into floor jacks. All of the reviews were pitiful to include mine. I have a 2.5 ton jack that cant lift 1ton.
I asked Ford-trucks about jacks to pickup my PSD. The majority recommended Harbor Freight bottle jacks over craftsman. That seems kinda sad to me.

I picked up a air die grinder today and all of the labels were falling off including the serial number. I hope this is just a label thing not a crappy quality throughout thing.
What do you guys think?
 
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Im sure they're getting bad, but theres no way they are as bad as HF.

The lifetime warranty on hand tools keeps me coming back.
 
Home depot and lowes have life time too..I still have a hard time buying junk..But i do have a K-MART down the street to return them too
 
haven't had too many problems with their hand tools, never liked there power tools though either.

it does seem like they've been bigger jerks about returning broken ratchets over the last few years.
 
I'll buy their stuff if it's made in the USA, most hand tools. If it's from China, and I can't get it from the USA within my budget, then I will head on down to HF, because it's probably cheaper.
 
The quality has lowered in the last few years for sure, absoloutley without a doubt.
 
they sure have been goin down hill , and fast! if you want quality go with MAC, SNAP-ON or even MATCO. sure they are a bit expensive, but ya get what ya pay for!
the last craftsman 1/2" breaker-bar i had & broke i took it back & it was well over a half hour to get replaced. (that was back in 2002/2003).
in a pinch i'll buy someething "cheap" but, i'd much rather not.if i don't break it the first time i use it i feel lucky! lol

edit: those three also have a life time warrenty on everything they sale. never had a single problem with any of them (other than their higher prices! lol).
 
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i dont buy anything that has a motor at sears. electric or gas. all i buy is craftsman hand tools, and tool boxes. The quality may have gown down a bit in last decade or so, but i refuse to pay 75 dollars a ratchet and 24 dollars a socket with snap on. dont get my wrong, sears is expensive to, but not that bad. Especially if you only buy sale items, like me.
 
A craftsman 1/2" t-flex saved my ass by getting a rust welded axle nut off. I was literally jumping on the end of the handle and hasn't shown any signs of breaking yet. I own a 1/4" and 3/8" socket wrench as well among a 2 jaw puller, extensions, and combo wrenches. All quality. The open ended 14mm is what gets the bolts off of a turbo manifold without rounding the head. My gear wrenches can't do that. However, their lights need work. I have a single halogen lamp from them and 2/3 plastic knobs have stripped out. And I haven't touched them either. They just self stripped themselves. What crap.
One of my good friends who's a mechanic and is on here swears by Craftsman's air compressor and nothing else. What brands are you guys going with if not craftsman?
 
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I like their hand tools, the ratchet I got in 2003 is still going strong though I looked at it when I bought it and said "I know I'm gonna end up bringing this back in a year, it's not like they used to be." I've broken 3-4 husky ratchets in the same amount of time.

I have a 19.2V sawzall they made, bought it new and got the longer warranty... used it in junkyards and part-outs till it blew up, completely destroyed the motor and probably half of the gearbox. They replaced it in 15 minutes flat with no real questions.

I like the evolv stuff they sell too, I figured I'd break my evolv 12pt sockets but I've beat on them just like my craftsman stuff without breaking anything. Took a never-removed 10+ year old unit bearing out of the d30 I picked up a while ago with them, was hauling on them with my breaker bar and they didn't even lose the finish on the insides of the sockets.
 
crimsondragon said:
What brands are you guys going with if not craftsman?
Click to expand...

for hand tools, Kobalt (Lowe's). Same no-questions-asked lifetime warranty. So far, in the last 5 years, I've gone thru one 1/2" drive ratchet wrench and two 15mm (by far the most commonly used socket next to 10mm on a Jeep).

Jeff
 
Jeff in VA said:
for hand tools, Kobalt (Lowe's). Same no-questions-asked lifetime warranty. So far, in the last 5 years, I've gone thru one 1/2" drive ratchet wrench and two 15mm (by far the most commonly used socket next to 10mm on a Jeep).

Jeff
Click to expand...
I'm using Kobalt pliers and ball peen hammer right now. I've used the hammer to knock a hub out of a knuckle. Two handed wise with every bit of my strength. Awesome hammer. I've broken mallets one handed with half the strength used. The diagonal cutters are ridiculous. I've used it to cut steel sheet metal before. They refuse to dull. The slip joints and needle nose have seen better days. The teeth are a little worn but still retain their grip. I was looking into Husky or Kobalt compressors. Or Dewalt. I'm sorta kinda looking for one yet at the same time I wouldn't know where to put it.
 
True, I still haven't broken my Kobalt 3/8 to 1/4 drive adapter, even with a 24" breaker bar on it.
 
I returned a 1/2" drive ratchet that I had been using as a hammer for about a year or so when I finally got around to returning it they didn't think twice, in and out in 5 mins. Yea, the quality on a lot of their products has taken a dive lately.

I've been buying more and more Snapon tools to supplement the craftsman stuff that has broken. If its broken once during a job then its free replacement will just break on the next job, when it does i'll have the good ones there to finish the job.
 
I've bought a few Kobalt tools at Lowes, they are okay but I would rather have Craftsman. I bought one of their 12" adjustable wrenches, it's real solid and was only $15, and that is probably what I'm happiest with. Also have some of their pliars which are usable. I have two of their vice grips and don't like either of them (jaws don't line up, handles slipped off, etc). I had a set of their sockets once and gave them away.
 
dennis461 said:
srmitchell said:
Im sure they're getting bad, but theres no way they are as bad as HF.

QUOTE]

Actually, I think a lot of stuff is the same, garden suff made in China, jacks made in China,
Sears hand tools come in two grades remember Isn't there a Crafstman and Companion brand?
Click to expand...
Companion was discontinued and suceeded by evolve. From what I read, most of the hand tools are made in USA but everything else is made overseas and assembled here.
Click to expand...
 
Id have to say that their ratchets have gone down hill in the last few years. I keep at least two if each size in my tool box because they use those cheap plastic forward reverse selector levers on them and I keep breaking them. Ive probably warrantied 10 in the last year. I do like the thin profile fine tooth ones those are nice and Ive never had to warranty one.
 
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