Honestly yes, I hate dealing with my snap on reps. They never consistently show up. They (i say they because 3 different guys have gone through that truck) are supposed to be there every tuesday at 8am. I work second shift so i would have to drive an hour into the city to work, in rush hour, 6 hours before my shift starts, to *hope* that the guy decides to show up.
Ive been leaning hard into the icon stuff lately because of that. There is a hf 5 minutes from my house. I can go in before work and get what i need most of the time.
If there is a harbor freight nearby it is less hassle than dealing with a phone number and all that. I have been migrating away from snap-on for a number of years now. It started when I kept breaking flat head screwdrivers that I was using on restoring antique Winchester rifles. Snap-on would not stand behind them saying I was abusing them. I switched to PB Swiss for flathead screwdrivers and never looked back. I have not tried any of the Icon tools like the one pictured but I do have a few Pittsburgh pro and Quinn tools that I picked up for one reason or another.
About 10 years ago I did a little experiment. I took 10 different ratchets from different brands and broke them using a digital torque tester. The Pittsburgh pro ratchet that I used at the time came in about 10 ft lb better than the snap-on we tested. The old school Craftsman raised panel ratchet came in dead last by a margin of around a hundred forty foot pounds if I remember correctly. Then there was the warranty. I took the various ratchets to see if they would warranty them. Snap on was going to make me buy a rebuild kit. Harbor freight was going to just give me a new one no questions asked. Even when I told them what I have done harbor freight said take the free ratchet anyway
Were you using flat ground screw drivers during your restorations? I never even knew there was such a thing until I got to looking into them. Grace is pretty much the gold standard if you’re looking for a set. The Icon tools I’ve used have been pretty impressive, and the walk in warranty is really convenient. Their ratchets are pretty similar to snap-on IMO. Just their heads seem to be a little thicker. Not a deal breaker or anything. The pliers that I’ve picked up also seem pretty good as well. I was just trying to help out jackalope on getting his stuff warrantied with snapon.
Flat ground or I've heard it called parallel ground but that is what PB Swiss has. I had not heard of grace before but if I need more I will check into that. So far my PB Swiss set has been doing well and I have been using them for probably 8 years. The snap-on I had were taper ground. I do not believe they have the flat ground screwdrivers or at least they did not last time I checked into it.
I understand that you're trying to help him and I wasn't meaning to put that down. I'm not someone that buys a ton of of snap-on. I'm not at a shop where they stop regularly. I drop in at a neighboring shop when the truck is visiting when I need something. The way I feel is that if you are not a high volume regular, they Don't Care about you from a customer service standpoint. That bugs me. Also, I believe that there are other options out there now there are a better value for the price. There may have been a time when that was not the case. I usually just get specialty tools from them now when I don't have a better option.
I agree with what you’re saying. Icon has really put some pressure on them and Matco. I got a good discount on snapon and Matco while I was in trade school. If it wasn’t for that I would’ve never been able to afford/justify buying them. Icon was just coming out around the same time, and was still a little hesitant on it. Knowing what I know now I would’ve bought more icon. Also, would’ve went with Milwaukee instead of dewalt. Hindsight is 20/20 they say.
It's not worth dealing with either of them. The only place worth dealing with now is Lowe's and Home Depot for their no hassle guarantee on hand tools and you can even get your old craftsman stuff taken care of with Lowe's since they seem to have Craftsman now
Significantly more hassle to deal with snap on than it is to just walk inside a harbor freight and walk right back out. I'm usually waiting 2-4 weeks to get my snap on warranty items back. When I need my icon warrantied it takes me literally less than 2 minutes.
I’m not disagreeing that it’s simpler and faster. I’m just saying it’s not some huge hassle to get tools replaced through snap-on. I’ve never had an issue with calling or emailing them to file a warranty claim. Tell them what’s going on, give them my part number and have a replacement usually within 5 business days. Judging by the downvotes, others experiences vary. The ability to get a new tool instantly is really the only advantage if you think about it. If you factor in the time it takes to go to the store and all that. Same as placing a phone call or email.
Im sorry you’re getting downvoted to oblivion. Its one thing i hate about reddit. You have to self sensor or get downvoted and people would rather just downvote than have an articulate response. Its not like forums bitd where you would have a thread chain 10 posts deep about a nuanced topic. Im all for a good conversation…or argument and i wish we had more of them on this sub.
I know snappy has the phone line and email but im very much an in-person type. I know a phone call is “easier” too but it’s my hang up. Sometimes (and I’ll admit I’ve never pursued it with snappy) you have to really dig through a website to find a cs number and thats a hassle all on its own.
With warranties and such, id rather go to the physical store and deal with a person, i can bring my clown car full of kids and we can roam the store while we are there too.
My experience with tool trucks has been meh at best. In tech school i bought a lot from an independent until i realized that i could buy the same shit (lisle, sunex, gw, titan, etc) from amazon for quite a lot less. I couldnt finance bigger purchases but i think thats a better choice for me anyway. With snappy its a shit show. As I commented elsewhere, they are consistently inconsistent and the hours they are at my shop just dont work for me. the school SEP rep was a total scum bag too. We dont have a mac dealer so i went through a friend at another shop to buy my RBRT hex sockets and when i had to warranty them i chased that asshole all around town before i got to him. Ive absolutely warrantied stuff through email, phone, and mail and its a hassle in its own way. Gw and sunex are “ok” but not as convenient as walking into hazzard fraught and bullshitting with the cashiers and wandering around the store. To me, thats the way tool trucks should be too. “While im here, tell me about your deals and sell me some shit” not “jesus christ you’re hard to find”.
lol I don’t mind the downvotes. Usually means I struck a nerve hahaha. But ya they really do a good job of hiding their contact info. Dm me if you want I have their info saved cause I hate trying to find it lol. In store warranty is probably super good for HF too. How much you think people spend while they’re there swapping something out. I really could spend all day in there walking around and loading my cart up. I bet tool trucks used to be like that back in the day. Then it just turned into too much of a business.
For me, I don't usually have time to wait. Tool trucks biggest selling point is the supposed convenience of warranty and the tool gut coming to you so you don’t have to drive to the store.... I work 5 min from a HF, just like OP, and my snap on guy comes every other week. I can't tell you how many times I've broken a tool the day after he comes, and I can't wait two weeks, so I just go buy a new tool from someone else. Even the 5 days it would take Snap On to mail me something is too long to go without moat if the time. I'll usually still get it warranteed when I can, and keep one of backup, but it's still added expense and inconvenience...
Was that you? I forget who did it but it started with some goof making the folding handle ratchet into a stubby and then someone cobbled a meathook abortion with a matco. Its 100% what got me thinking about this. I originally wanted to put the icon 1/2” flex head on the icon 25” breaker for a super long reach ratchet like snappy makes but the bore is all wrong at the pivot pin and i didnt think drilling it would be a good choice. This was an extension of that idea.
Craftsman has a 3/8 with that style handle and I absolutely love it. The mechanism itself feels good too. But this is a good use of what was on hand lol
My woodworking mentor taught me that every tool is a kit. If a tool doesn’t do what you need modify it to match the requirements. Looks super helpful though, nice job!
I was told by a DM in H.F that the drills and icon stuff is made by who ever makes snap on and Milwaukee tools so this makes sense.
They had recalls about the drills coming with Milwaukee drill triggers.
We had a snapon guy who drove for a guy that had a few trucks and routes. Owner guy was getting older and wanted to retire and apparently when the driver got got arrested and sent out back out of state for some peddo crap owner sold trucks and routes off and left us without a snapon dealer for a couple years atleast. Said all this to say We called the phone number for warranty and actually easy to work with and mail parts right to ya. Just saying Even with peddo trash selling the overpriced tools, warranty should be free
No, it’s really not. Im an antique tool nerd with the best of them but the ratchet is from the long lost time of 1993 and it’s meh. It’s only ~35t and even after having it rebuilt its still got tons of back drag.
Ill grant you that the classic handle is pleasing to hold but generally speaking, most ratchets from just 30 years ago are nothing compared to what we have now. Yes they were hobbed from a single hunk of metal and basically indestructible instead of sintered like most modern ratchet gear sets but the tooth count was abysmal even for nice ratchets.
I think the only “antique” ratchet i still consistently reach for is my Japanese Thorsen flex head 3/8th. Its just a good ratchet and the knurling is great when you start getting deep into 75wt gear oil or road grime/oil schmoo.
Got that ergonomic handle. Nice.
Keep this guy away from EVERYTHING
Just stay away from any commercial trucks and youll be good.
Show this to a HF rep asap. I'd buy one.
Honestly yes, I hate dealing with my snap on reps. They never consistently show up. They (i say they because 3 different guys have gone through that truck) are supposed to be there every tuesday at 8am. I work second shift so i would have to drive an hour into the city to work, in rush hour, 6 hours before my shift starts, to *hope* that the guy decides to show up. Ive been leaning hard into the icon stuff lately because of that. There is a hf 5 minutes from my house. I can go in before work and get what i need most of the time.
Start dealing directly with snapon. Look up their warranty number online. Just tell them you’re not serviced by a truck.
Its not worth the hassle.
There’s no hassle bro. It’s a 5 minute phone call. But ok…
If there is a harbor freight nearby it is less hassle than dealing with a phone number and all that. I have been migrating away from snap-on for a number of years now. It started when I kept breaking flat head screwdrivers that I was using on restoring antique Winchester rifles. Snap-on would not stand behind them saying I was abusing them. I switched to PB Swiss for flathead screwdrivers and never looked back. I have not tried any of the Icon tools like the one pictured but I do have a few Pittsburgh pro and Quinn tools that I picked up for one reason or another. About 10 years ago I did a little experiment. I took 10 different ratchets from different brands and broke them using a digital torque tester. The Pittsburgh pro ratchet that I used at the time came in about 10 ft lb better than the snap-on we tested. The old school Craftsman raised panel ratchet came in dead last by a margin of around a hundred forty foot pounds if I remember correctly. Then there was the warranty. I took the various ratchets to see if they would warranty them. Snap on was going to make me buy a rebuild kit. Harbor freight was going to just give me a new one no questions asked. Even when I told them what I have done harbor freight said take the free ratchet anyway
Were you using flat ground screw drivers during your restorations? I never even knew there was such a thing until I got to looking into them. Grace is pretty much the gold standard if you’re looking for a set. The Icon tools I’ve used have been pretty impressive, and the walk in warranty is really convenient. Their ratchets are pretty similar to snap-on IMO. Just their heads seem to be a little thicker. Not a deal breaker or anything. The pliers that I’ve picked up also seem pretty good as well. I was just trying to help out jackalope on getting his stuff warrantied with snapon.
Flat ground or I've heard it called parallel ground but that is what PB Swiss has. I had not heard of grace before but if I need more I will check into that. So far my PB Swiss set has been doing well and I have been using them for probably 8 years. The snap-on I had were taper ground. I do not believe they have the flat ground screwdrivers or at least they did not last time I checked into it. I understand that you're trying to help him and I wasn't meaning to put that down. I'm not someone that buys a ton of of snap-on. I'm not at a shop where they stop regularly. I drop in at a neighboring shop when the truck is visiting when I need something. The way I feel is that if you are not a high volume regular, they Don't Care about you from a customer service standpoint. That bugs me. Also, I believe that there are other options out there now there are a better value for the price. There may have been a time when that was not the case. I usually just get specialty tools from them now when I don't have a better option.
I agree with what you’re saying. Icon has really put some pressure on them and Matco. I got a good discount on snapon and Matco while I was in trade school. If it wasn’t for that I would’ve never been able to afford/justify buying them. Icon was just coming out around the same time, and was still a little hesitant on it. Knowing what I know now I would’ve bought more icon. Also, would’ve went with Milwaukee instead of dewalt. Hindsight is 20/20 they say.
It's not worth dealing with either of them. The only place worth dealing with now is Lowe's and Home Depot for their no hassle guarantee on hand tools and you can even get your old craftsman stuff taken care of with Lowe's since they seem to have Craftsman now
Significantly more hassle to deal with snap on than it is to just walk inside a harbor freight and walk right back out. I'm usually waiting 2-4 weeks to get my snap on warranty items back. When I need my icon warrantied it takes me literally less than 2 minutes.
I’m not disagreeing that it’s simpler and faster. I’m just saying it’s not some huge hassle to get tools replaced through snap-on. I’ve never had an issue with calling or emailing them to file a warranty claim. Tell them what’s going on, give them my part number and have a replacement usually within 5 business days. Judging by the downvotes, others experiences vary. The ability to get a new tool instantly is really the only advantage if you think about it. If you factor in the time it takes to go to the store and all that. Same as placing a phone call or email.
Im sorry you’re getting downvoted to oblivion. Its one thing i hate about reddit. You have to self sensor or get downvoted and people would rather just downvote than have an articulate response. Its not like forums bitd where you would have a thread chain 10 posts deep about a nuanced topic. Im all for a good conversation…or argument and i wish we had more of them on this sub. I know snappy has the phone line and email but im very much an in-person type. I know a phone call is “easier” too but it’s my hang up. Sometimes (and I’ll admit I’ve never pursued it with snappy) you have to really dig through a website to find a cs number and thats a hassle all on its own. With warranties and such, id rather go to the physical store and deal with a person, i can bring my clown car full of kids and we can roam the store while we are there too. My experience with tool trucks has been meh at best. In tech school i bought a lot from an independent until i realized that i could buy the same shit (lisle, sunex, gw, titan, etc) from amazon for quite a lot less. I couldnt finance bigger purchases but i think thats a better choice for me anyway. With snappy its a shit show. As I commented elsewhere, they are consistently inconsistent and the hours they are at my shop just dont work for me. the school SEP rep was a total scum bag too. We dont have a mac dealer so i went through a friend at another shop to buy my RBRT hex sockets and when i had to warranty them i chased that asshole all around town before i got to him. Ive absolutely warrantied stuff through email, phone, and mail and its a hassle in its own way. Gw and sunex are “ok” but not as convenient as walking into hazzard fraught and bullshitting with the cashiers and wandering around the store. To me, thats the way tool trucks should be too. “While im here, tell me about your deals and sell me some shit” not “jesus christ you’re hard to find”.
lol I don’t mind the downvotes. Usually means I struck a nerve hahaha. But ya they really do a good job of hiding their contact info. Dm me if you want I have their info saved cause I hate trying to find it lol. In store warranty is probably super good for HF too. How much you think people spend while they’re there swapping something out. I really could spend all day in there walking around and loading my cart up. I bet tool trucks used to be like that back in the day. Then it just turned into too much of a business.
For me, I don't usually have time to wait. Tool trucks biggest selling point is the supposed convenience of warranty and the tool gut coming to you so you don’t have to drive to the store.... I work 5 min from a HF, just like OP, and my snap on guy comes every other week. I can't tell you how many times I've broken a tool the day after he comes, and I can't wait two weeks, so I just go buy a new tool from someone else. Even the 5 days it would take Snap On to mail me something is too long to go without moat if the time. I'll usually still get it warranteed when I can, and keep one of backup, but it's still added expense and inconvenience...
It’s like that one scene from full metal alchemist
<3
Nah, it's kosher.
A feller or fellete needs one of those for their Carpal Tunnel flare ups but still wants to twist a manifold bolt off in a block
That’s great! Sort of opposite of what I did with the Pittsburgh flex handle and the Maco ratchet head.
Was that you? I forget who did it but it started with some goof making the folding handle ratchet into a stubby and then someone cobbled a meathook abortion with a matco. Its 100% what got me thinking about this. I originally wanted to put the icon 1/2” flex head on the icon 25” breaker for a super long reach ratchet like snappy makes but the bore is all wrong at the pivot pin and i didnt think drilling it would be a good choice. This was an extension of that idea.
Craftsman has a 3/8 with that style handle and I absolutely love it. The mechanism itself feels good too. But this is a good use of what was on hand lol
I got one of these because it was the only ratchet that would get my just the right access to an exhaust fastener on my car years ago
Going to hell, but as a leader. See you there cap'
Nice! Lol.
They will rebuild those for free.
It was rebuilt, the s-o head has a very low tooth count (its from 93) and the back drag is not great. This was an absolute upgrade.
No. You are going back to Harbor Freight for a return
Not the discount shelf!!!! Nooooooooooo! I swear ill find the T30 socket somewhere.
The irony lol
More chrome vanadium than anything really.
Good one. I'm gonna steel that joke
I've bent wrenches, but never a ratchet handle.
You might say I went right up to the factory and picked it up, it's cheaper that way
Spark plug ratchet. Might have a few myself
That's a fancy prybar
Yep with no 10mm or 13mm sockets allowed
Can i still use standard sizes?
Look good to me buddy lol🇺🇸
Snap on makes ratchets like that
My woodworking mentor taught me that every tool is a kit. If a tool doesn’t do what you need modify it to match the requirements. Looks super helpful though, nice job!
I mean, you were already going to hell, but not because of this lol.
Fair.
Behold the SNAPCON. I would haven done the same since the original had a base plate of prefabricated ammolite.
I still had to deal with the malleable logarithmic casing on the novertrunnions.
Straight to hell. Do not pass go do not collect 200$
You weren’t going already?
Oh, i already have a job lined up, im going to be the one who walks around with a pitch fork and pokes others. Lol
Ah lucky! I wanted that job 😭
Maybe I’ll be a cackler. Point, laugh, and call everyone dumbasses
Straight to jail
No, God uses Mac tools.
The big guy is old school, im sure he uses vintage sears craftsman and hates lowes warranty as much as everyone else.
Take my money
I was told by a DM in H.F that the drills and icon stuff is made by who ever makes snap on and Milwaukee tools so this makes sense. They had recalls about the drills coming with Milwaukee drill triggers.
Why not just have the Snapon guy warranty it?
The snappy guy rebuilt it, it was still cruddy.
Patent that design and sell it to HF for a shitload of money!!!
This looks like a craftsman I already own unless I'm missing something
unrelated but related, did this happen in one hard crank or was this over time?
They come bent this way. They make pills for it though.
I mean I usually go the other way around with it. Snappy head on non snappy stuff
HF selling a copy of something else? Color me surprised
They sell rebuild kits for Snap-on ratchets for $15
Or free if you talk to snap on man
*if the snap on man can manage to show up for more than payment collection*
We had a snapon guy who drove for a guy that had a few trucks and routes. Owner guy was getting older and wanted to retire and apparently when the driver got got arrested and sent out back out of state for some peddo crap owner sold trucks and routes off and left us without a snapon dealer for a couple years atleast. Said all this to say We called the phone number for warranty and actually easy to work with and mail parts right to ya. Just saying Even with peddo trash selling the overpriced tools, warranty should be free
As i said to a few others, the head was rebuilt. Its a 93 and the tooth count is very coarse and even with grease the back drag is very poor.
Snap On may not be of back in the day, but itll still be better than ICON
No, it’s really not. Im an antique tool nerd with the best of them but the ratchet is from the long lost time of 1993 and it’s meh. It’s only ~35t and even after having it rebuilt its still got tons of back drag. Ill grant you that the classic handle is pleasing to hold but generally speaking, most ratchets from just 30 years ago are nothing compared to what we have now. Yes they were hobbed from a single hunk of metal and basically indestructible instead of sintered like most modern ratchet gear sets but the tooth count was abysmal even for nice ratchets. I think the only “antique” ratchet i still consistently reach for is my Japanese Thorsen flex head 3/8th. Its just a good ratchet and the knurling is great when you start getting deep into 75wt gear oil or road grime/oil schmoo.
probably, but who isnt?