Looking for a set of motoring tools for some DIY car maintenance

Hyperxr

To be honest I do not want to spend too much on tools, looking at the Halfords professional range its anywhere between £100-£200 and I probably won't even be using 905 of the tools in there.

I have found an excellent bargain on Halfords for only £15. MSE wno't let me post up links but its called the Phaze 52 piece mechanic tool set.

The only thing I don't like about it is the way the Allen keys are, not very user friendly

lovinituk

Look out for the tools when they are on sale at Lidls and Aldis. Perfect for the amateur mechanic. I have a large socket set that is excellent quality and have just bought a torque wrench that was recently on offer. I've just done some fairly serious work on my engine using these tools and have no complaints at all.

Horizon81

A set of motoring tools? I can name darkmatter101, Hyperxr ... ...

FiremanDave

Hyperxr wrote: »

To be honest I do not want to spend too much on tools, looking at the Halfords professional range its anywhere between £100-£200 and I probably won't even be using 905 of the tools in there.

I have found an excellent bargain on Halfords for only £15. MSE wno't let me post up links but its called the Phaze 52 piece mechanic tool set.

The only thing I don't like about it is the way the Allen keys are, not very user friendly

Surprised you're not going for snap on.

EdGasket

Agree i have bought great quality tools from Aldi and Lidl. Just pick them up as and when because obviously they won't have a full range of just what you need on any particular day. I've bout a good trolley jack there for £9.99 and some decent spanners. Also an electronic caliper which has been more usefull than I originally expected!
If you are choosing between 3/8" and 1/4" socket sets, go for 3/8" or even 1/2" drive. You won't really need 1/4" on a car and they won't be man enought to undo most of the bolts .

JustinR1979

Just buy cheap crap here and there, and end up spending more than the Halfords professional, for a load of tools that aren't as good...
Nothing worse than getting halfway into a job, and the tool you need is missing or breaks.

You will have these tools for decades, they will pay for themselves.

forgotmyname

Dont buy cheap tools.. Buy one decent socket or spanner rather than a 30 item pack of junk.

If you need to tighten something to 30ft/lbs then you wont be doing it with that set.

Buy a decent 1/2" set first. Then add a 1/4" or 3/8". I rarely use 3/8.

Dont forget a torque wrench.

Norman_Castle

I'm not sure whether I'd be better of with a 1/4 drive ratchet socket wrench or a 3/8 drive?

If the choice is one or the other choose the 3/8". 1/4" can be handy but is too small for general maintenance.

lovinituk

JustinR1979 wrote: »

Just buy cheap crap here and there, and end up spending more than the Halfords professional, for a load of tools that aren't as good...
Nothing worse than getting halfway into a job, and the tool you need is missing or breaks.

You will have these tools for decades, they will pay for themselves.

I don't agree this is always the case. I bought a load of JCB tools from Makros around 20 years ago. I don't know if JCB was regarded as a good brand or not, but they were really cheap - equivalent sort of price to Aldis/Lidls tools now. I'm still using most of them. The cordless drill only finally burnt out on me earlier this year and has been used and abused along the way.

A lot of Aldis/Lidls stuff is even better quality than the JCB stuff I have/had. Its all made in Germany I believe so not surprising really!

JustinR1979

forgotmyname wrote: »

Dont forget a torque wrench.

A what?!
Only used one once, for a headgasket.


He won't fork out for decent tools, so buying a torque wrench will be low on his list I'm sure!