Halfords tool bargain

[Will]

Who was it that made the Halford's pro stuff? I'm sure I read somewhere that it was Britool or someone like that?

Will

 

[BlackC55]

Who was it that made the Halford's pro stuff? I'm sure I read somewhere that it was Britool or someone like that?

Will

The boxes were made by MAC.

I had one years ago.

 

[KLP 92]

I gave them away to a former apprentice.

I do use spanners everyday and I do need the best quality and the Halfords were not good enough for everyday use. I know of a few techs that bought them and don't use them because they slip.

It's generally the same with their Torx sockets too. I got fed up with taking them back because they snapped all the time.

Completely agree with you.

I have a complete Halfords tool kit, but have eperienced the same problem as you have had.

For 80-90% of applications they are fine, but if you need to apply a fair amount of torque they are far from perfect. With regards to their spanners, i actually managed to deform a open ended 17mm spanner opening a nut. A snap on spanner opened it fine.

I have a complete Snap tool box (roll cab and top box) now along with the Halfords stuff. I use the Halfords stuff for small jobs and the snap on stuff for pro jobs.

It doesn't just stop at the spanners though. I used a 3/8 socket set to undo glow plugs on my W202. Glow plugs aren't the easiest things to remove, and the using the Halfords kit was a BIG mistake. I ended up rounding the of of the glowplugs The ratchet would just keep slipping, my hyeart skipped a beat! Out came the snap on kit, to my amazement the same size socket undid the glowplugs, the same one that the Halfords kit kept on slipping on!

Moral of the story is you get what you pay for. The Halfords kit is good for the money, adequate for most jobs but can result in rounding heads alot more easily than pro tools. Not anywhere near Snap On quality though.

The Halfords kit i use is the pro kit. (top of the line) I have also experienced problems with their pro range torque wrenches. I bought one to tighten up the small OZ fasteners on the AMG 3 piece wheels. After torquing 1 wheels the wrench stopped working on the second wheel, resulting in over torquing of the bolts. Halfords were kind enough to swap it out for a new one without any hesitation, even without the receipt. My only concern was the premature failure of what is supposedly a pro range piece of eqipment.