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[Diamond Black Geezer]

After getting my Halfords Pro set a couple of Christmases ago I have been steadily building up a range of the best/best for price tools for Omega work I can find. All bought new, as I've not got any tools inherited, aside from an old battered toolbox and some incredibly useful Whitworth spanners. 

My experiences are as follows...
Sealey  3/8 Drive long pivot head ratchet - £20 and a shade cheaper than the Halfords one. Sorry to report, in spite of lots of positive reviews on here regarding sealey ratchet/other stuff, really unimpressed. Gave it away in the end to a mate after using it a couple of times. 5/10 Ok for the price, but vs...

Halfords 3/8 Drive long pivot head ratchet - gaining a pivoting head over the Sealey, it's the same drive as most of my sockets. Only a shade dearer than the Sealey, and double the quality. Has become my 'go to' ratchet. 10/10

Halfords 9 - 12mm flare spanner - basically the only thing to use on brake unions. The union may still round even if you use this, but at least when it does, you know you used the right tool and could do no more. Had one round on me, but maybe a dozen others haven't. Can't really mark it any less than 10/10, it does the job flawlessly, what else can I say?

Bahco adjustable spanner - excellent, Sadly no longer made in Sweden (this made in Spain) quality, when compared with my old man's donkeys-years-old Bahco the quality seems the same, sharp jaws, no play, beautiful finish and comfy to use. Only slight seed of doubt that they're not 'proper' Swedish Bahco means a 9/10

Irwin Vise grips - because Mole England don't exist any more, the Irwins seem to be the best you can get. Jaws are engineered like a swiss watch, and these are the super comfy rubber-grip handled ones where you simply push them apart with a finger to release. 10/10

Faithfull Mutimeter - one above the 'cheap n cheerful' B n Q ones, several steps below a Fluke, which made me cry when I saw the prices. Have tested the battery/alternator health so far, and very happy with. Would appreciate some crocodile clips, which I'll get off heebay at some point. 7/10 wish I had carrycase and croc clips

Ring RIL4000 - the best light for working on a car I have ever used. Top spotlight, that cuts through steel and a larger, wider-angle front light, which illuminates an entire concert hall with ease. Strong magnets and hooks. Rechargeable. I ordered a sexy black one, a baby blue one arrived instead. Seller hasn't even responded to my messages  . Not Ring's fault. 10/10 for Ring 2/10 from ebay seller

Ring twin LED magnetic tool light - the stupidest thing in the world. But costs £2.99. And then you try and adjust the handbrake shoes on an Omega, and realise you have this stashed in your toolbox. And wonder how you ever did without it. On off activated by simply clicking it on your screwdriver/socket extension. Only drawback - keep in in a small plastic bag in your toolbox, otherwise something will magnetise to it and your batteries will go flat! A tiny on/off switch would solve this. 8.5/10

Irwin Folding Knife - used by my mate in the warehouse at work. In spite of repeated hints, he refused to give it me, claim it lost, and get another.  In the end bought one myself. Stanley Fatmax are similar, but use plastic locking mechanisms for the blade. These eventually (and unsurprisingly) fail after a while. This Irwin model has so far lasted a year in the warehouse, being mistreated daily. Folding design means nowhere internally to keep blades, unlike classic Stanley design. Compact, all-metal. 9/10

Starwhille 3/8 drive 3/4 inch extension - Because no-one seems to do a super-short extension, and sometimes you do need one this short, found this in a trade catalogue. Satin chrome finish, excellent Made in Germany quality. Used it the other day on a mate's slam panel, no complaints. Feels like this will last forever. 10/10

Halfords 2.5 Ton trolley jack - this is a fat boy. Maybe if I were beefier I'd be able to pick it up easier. It's never intended as a 'keep in in your boot/casual maintenance' jack, but that's how I use it; so perhaps a little unfair to criticise its weight and lack of a carrycase of some sort, vs smaller trolleyjacks; though it would still be nice. I picked up a holdall from BnQ which fits nicely. The saddle is a little small for some bits, I'd like a second large one for crossmembers etc. Long handle and quicklift, which has come in a couple of times. Standard Vx wheelbrace fits perfectly as a shorter handle! 8/10

Minus the Sealey, all of the above I can confidently recommend that anyone should buy. As far as I'm aware, there's no better quality available for less £. 

[Nick W]

I'll play!


Leatherman Wave superb quality multi-tool, with a good selection of tools for mechanical work. Everything locks, which is essential for folding blades. Both the knife and saw blades are on the outside, openable with one hand, and they take and keep a good edge, plus the pliers and file are excellent. I used mine so much that when I broke the screwdriver blade(trying to pry off a Krooklok) and then the bottle opener doing something similar I couldn't be without it. When I stopped working, I sent it off to Leatherman expecting two new blades. Instead 2 days later a new one arrived. Get the bit set, it then means you can undo most screws as well. The nylon holster isn't very good, but the leather one is better; I got about 7 years of daily use out of it. Buy it from somewhere that will engrave your name on it: anyone you lend it to will want to keep it!


Ratchet screwdriver I've used and broken lots of these, and there is only one worth buying: Snap-on SGDMRC4A. The interchangeable magnetic shanks are good, and they do a stubby handled driver which is really handy too. I like these so much I had one of each at home, in the truck and at work. The Snap-on bit set is good, but it ought to be for the money. And the Allen bits are fractional which means even more cash for metric ones.


A long 1/2" drive breaker bar Sealey AK7302 at 750mm long effortlessly undoes nuts that some gorilla tightened with a nut gun.


Torch It needs to be small, powerful, reliable, use common cheap batteries because I don't find rechargeable torches to be very good, and be button operated. That means LED using AA cells. Fenix LD10 does all of that, and is well worth the £30 it costs. I used mine all the time, and reckoned on about two weeks out of a Duracell battery.  The pocket clip isn't very good though.


Cordless angle-grinder Mine's Ryobi as I already had a drill and batteries. It's not particularly powerful, and the charge doesn't last long. However, for small jobs like lopping off bolts, cutting exhausts, grinding little patches, cutting small repairs it does really well.


Extensions Get some long 3/8 and 1/2 drive ones. Much better than reaching down with a stack of shorter ones!




Things to avoid:


3/8" cordless impact wrench Dewalt DCF813 that looked really useful. Which it probably is for small fasteners on production jobs, but is of little use on cars. The matching Dewalt drill is seriously handy though!


Small aluminum trolley jack It's lightweight, but useless: avoid!

[Ever Ready]

Bahco shifter Bought new in 1976 used and abused and much better than its modern Ergo cousins.

Elora Breaker bar. Made in West Germany, back when tools were made to last

Gedore Socket set, bought Christmas '76 and still woks a treat.

I always buy the best I can afford and it has served me well.

[Webby the Bear]

Britool 1/4" ratchet and 4-14mm socket set. 10/10. Set includes the 5.5mm for astra pollen filter housings. A couple of extensions and a 1/4" UJ. I didn't even know a 1/4" UJ was available lol

Britool 3/8" ratchet.  Again 10/10. I wanted floppy head (easy STEMO),  long length,  soft .. handle and push button socket removal. Britool the only option even after talking to snap on and the MAC man.

Sealey 600mm 1/2" ratchet. 5/10. Day 12 of ownership the locking function to lock the floppy head in a set position came apart. Put it bacm together for it to happen again a week later. Despite this its so good for leverage of a breaker bar yet with ratchet fkr ease of fastener removal. I remember it's handiness just the other week. Caliper bracket bolts on a Saab 93. Awkward to get to and they were stupidly tight. But this bad boy eased them out.

[omega2018]

cheap ebay COB headtorch, (search for 172127116220)  frees up both hands and always lights up where you are looking

[biggriffin]

Only 1 tool.
 Blue point, ball pein hammer, with hickory (wood) handle 

[TheBoy]

I've been overly disappointed with Sealey handtools for years. Basically the same poor quality as Clarke Pro that MM sell much cheaper (and MM are quite expensive on non VAT free days), and comparing many Sealy tools to the Clarke ones, would wager they are both badged stuff from a no-name Chinese manufacturer.

I have been almost universally impressed with Halfords Pro from quality, but too pricey when not on offer and no access to trade.

Draper Expert (not plain Draper) are also decent. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Halfords Pro was rebadged.


For someone working on modern cars, but with no tools, the 200pc Halfords Pro socket set is a great starter set, but bloody heavy. £120 trade, £150 on frequent half price offer, £300 retail.

[TheBoy]

Obviously Halfords Pro is now called Halfords Advanced.

[Ever Ready]

Almost forgot my Facom collection, very good quality tools. Particularly like my range of right angle spanners

[zirk]

King Dick. 

These spanners are older than me and still going strong, just a shame there not metric. 

[TheBoy]

Things to avoid:

3/8" cordless impact wrench Dewalt DCF813 that looked really useful. Which it probably is for small fasteners on production jobs, but is of little use on cars. The matching Dewalt drill is seriously handy though!

I have a DC820 1/2" one, and for home DIY its brilliant. Not got the outright grunt of the early Snap-Off ones I tried 5 or 6 years ago though, but about a fifth of the cost.

It claims 190Nm of torque, which, being NiCad, I suspect it only approaches with freshly charged packs, but its leagues ahead in power compared to my other cordless wrench, the Clarke 450Nm one (identical to the equivalent Sealey, even to spare part numbers matching ) which wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.

[zirk]

On the subject of Batteries etc, Ive had one these thats about 20+ years old from new, used almost every week in hammer mode. taken lots of abuse and still going strong, original, battery and charger its been faultless, excellent bit of kit. Ive tried, Makita, Hilti, Metabo, in the past, this Bosch beats them all

[Ever Ready]

I do have a preference for the Bosch Professional range, bit pricey some would say but when you use them day in day out you appreciate them.

I also use a Milwaukee 18Volt drill driver, good battery life, bit heavy but the worse thing is the chucks grip loosens off during use, seems all too common nowadays , no such problem with the good SDS system

I used Metabo years ago and was very happy with them, like most things the build quality has dropped

[minifreek]

On the subject of Batteries etc, Ive had one these thats about 20+ years old from new, used almost every week in hammer mode. taken lots of abuse and still going strong, original, battery and charger its been faultless, excellent bit of kit. Ive tried, Makita, Hilti, Metabo, in the past, this Bosch beats them all

These drills are absolutely brilliant.... cannot fault them one bit...

I used to hire out tools for a well known builders merchants, and this drill was the 1 I didnt want to hire out. Not because it was crap but because I didnt want it abused by heavy handed builders who couldn't give a toss about their tools, let alone someone else's...

[Viral_Jim]

My only surprise in terms of tools are the Ryobi 18v li-ion hammer drills. Picked up a pair when they were on offer at £50 each. Despite the stick they get from the online Dewalt fanboys they're still performing perfectly 30months and 1 house renovation after I bought them.

Can definitely recommend. 

On the cars I use Halfords advanced stuff now which performs as expected. Other than a bit of a ding dong I had with them over a ratchet mechanism that failed a week after I bought the set