Craftsman... (mild rant)

rockcity

rockcity

everyday is a chance to get better
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Location
Greenville, NC
What is it with Craftsman? They put that name on anything they sell and have the lifetime warranty on very few of the items with the "Craftsman" name :shaking:


Years ago I dropped some serious coin on a a "good" 1/2" Craftsman torque wrench. I've used it very little although its about 10 years old. Still have it in the original packaging.

Last night I take it out to torque the ring gear bolts on the D60 at 110 lbs/ft (obviously doing it correctly with small incriments, etc.) and halfway through at 75 lbs/ft the gears in the head strip out :shaking:

No big deal, I'll take it in the morning for a new one. NOPE! Seems that Craftsman torque wrenches are not covered! WTF? Its a hand tool. Its not like the calibration is out, the damn head stripped out!

Disgusted I left the store (with a new torque wrench in hand) :( I'll swap the heads and return the new one with the broken head :flipoff2:

Crap pisses me off. They've done that to me in the past with some other stuff but can't remember what it was...


Point is, be careful what you buy and make sure you are aware of the warranty when you buy it. I could swear that it was covered under the typical craftsman warranty. Wish the label on the package was still readable. If possible, keep the warranty info for future reference, especially with high $$$ items like this.


OK, rant over


Rob
 
I had a similar situation with one of their torque wrenches. they told me the lifetime warranty was only for hand tools, my immediate response was well this is a hand tool. Sears didnt get my money that day, and unless its on sale, i go elsewhere now.
 
One time, Upstate NY...(didn't know that Damn Yankee Yager then) putting some heads & junk back on a small block i needed a 1/2" drive universal joint for something...couldnt find one...so jump in the truck to local Sears...bought 2 just in case...got back...broke both w/in 5 minutes...look in phone book...found nearest Snap-On Warehouse distributor...30 min drive, twice the money for 1 Snap-On as 2 Craftsman...anyhow...put motor all back together...never broke the Snap-On...never returned the Craftsman junk either...wasn't worth it

But yeah everything these daze has taken a Quality :poop:...
Good Luck Rob...:beer:
 
Rob, many years ago I took a bonus check and went to Sears to get some "gifts" for myself. One of which was a 1/2" torque wrench. I used it once, maybe twice within a few months. It laid in my tool box five years. Next time I needed it, first pull at 45 pounds, yep you guessed it, stripped the gears. Also found out it wasn't under warranty. Only had a one year warranty. I was pissed, just like you. I didn't buy another Crapsman torque wrench!
 
I use HF tools for stuff like that. I figure their shit is coming off the same assembly line as everyone else. As an example for the ring gear bolts I shoot for the middle of the range. Say its 60-70 (don't have my sheet) I shoot for 65. 5# on 60 is still less than 10% and I assume the tool is off by 10%. If I can't accept that much 'slop' then I get a better tool.

Otherwise I've been having good luck with northern tools. I've not had to warentee any yet but overall have been happy with their tools in general. (Except for those damn missing 16mm wrenches :) )
 
Doesn't Craftsman give you rebuilds for ratchets now instead of replacing them. I think they have been doing it for a while now. I broke two 1/2 breaker bars trying to break an axle nut loose. They replaced them and I upped to a 3/4 breaker bar, But I guess it depends on the tool. I agree I have heard there torques have issues.

Wonder if Snappy will chime in. :popcorn:
 
When I worked at Sears in '98 the torque wrenches were not covered under the "Lifetime Limited Warranty", nor were any electric tools (drills, saws, etc.) What I'm getting at is don't assume everything with the name is warrantied. Like Rockcity said Read the warranties before you buy something. If I need to torque something like lug nuts or something I don't give a shit about I use my Craftsman. The axle nut on my bike, main caps, rod bolts, head bolts and anything in differentials or trannys (the gear box not the shemale) the Snap On gets to come out of the case.
 
That is correct about them rebuilding the ratchets instead of replacing them. I believe they started doing that around 2000-2001. I worked at Sears at the time, and remember a lot of pissed off customers.

Their warranty has gotten more and more vague over the years, and so has the quality. I had a boxed end wrench with 9/16" on one end and 1/2" on the other. It was my favorite wrench because it had a much better feel than any of my other ones, and a nice low profile around the boxed ends, so it would fit in more places. Well, one day meatfist decided to rip the 1/2" side open. I took it in to swap it out, thinking there would be no problem. I was right, about the transaction side, but I went to the wrench isle to get a new one, and the darn thing had such crappy quality that one side of the boxed end was about 1/16" thick and the other side was about 3/16" thick. The hole was very offset in the casting. They had about 5 on the shelf, all of em were like that. I went back to the register, got my well made, broken wrench back, and went home. That reminds me, still haven't welded it back together. I've had a really low opinion of Craftsman quality since then.

With all that said, my 9.99 (12.99 these days) Harbor Freight 1/2" torque wrench has held up to 175 ft-lb torque'ns just fine, and many repetitions.
 
I'm done with Sears. I went round with them a couple of Christmases ago. I told my wife I wanted the flex-head ratcheting wrenches in METRIC. She even got somebody to help her get them off the rack, asking him to make sure they're METRIC. Open my gift and they're SAE. I take them back, with a gift reciept, and my wife. They tell me the wrenches were bought with a gift card, so they can only give me store credit. I told them we didn't have any gift cards, and they were bought with cash or a bank card. Got nowhere except angry. I took the stupid gift card, as I think the old guy behind the counter was about to call security. Within a week, we found the original reciept, showing the purchase made on the bank card. To me, that's just a shitty way to do business. Tell everybody with a gift reciept that they can only get store credit, using the gift card as an excuse, assuming they can't prove otherwise. If Sears wasn't all the way across town, I would have tried harder to get the cash, but it wasn't worth the wasted gas and frustration.
 
They do not consider torque wrenches hand tools, they are measuring tools. As far as I know, and I've used craftsman for over 20 years, they have never had a life time warranty. Neither do their power tools. I have a craftsman torque wrench I bought 20 years ago, still working. Some of my craftsman tools are over 20 years old and still holding up. That being said, I haven't bought a new craftsman in 10 years, mainly because I've had to replace so many of their newer tools. Quality really went down in the last ten years. Home Depot used to replace broken Craftsman with their husky line at no charge, I did that for a few tools and they're still holding up. I think they stopped doing that though.
 
Lowes has been really good about swaping out Kobalt tools...I've broken two 3/8 drive socket wrenches and they replaced them with new ones. They didn't ask any question, so I didn't have to tell them how big of a cheater bar it took to break it.
 
1stgenxxx said:
Lowes has been really good about swaping out Kobalt tools...I've broken two 3/8 drive socket wrenches and they replaced them with new ones. They didn't ask any question, so I didn't have to tell them how big of a cheater bar it took to break it.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

I went in there with a busted 1/2" ratchet (of course I used a breaker on it and destroyed it) and since they were out of stock on the single ratchet they just gave me one that came with a 10 pc or so socket set.

I still have some old craftsman tools that used to be my dad's and they're all in good shape... Anything craftsman that has been made recently (past 10-15 yrs) I've ended up destroying. Though to be fair when I took a 22mm wrench in there they replaced it immediately and let me keep the broken one.
 
The old craftsman stuff I had from my dad's sailboat tool kit is still going strong. Pretty sure ive mangled almost anything Craftsman in the last few years. Lowe's gets my business now. They never hesitate to make things right when its messed up. Either refunding, replacing or giving me store credit.
 
ive had problems with the craftsman replacements...ive taken several ratchets up there and swapped em out, get home go to wrench on something and it wont click, or it wont move easily etc etc....rebuild errors from the idiots
 
StretchASU said:
The old craftsman stuff I had from my dad's sailboat tool kit is still going strong. Pretty sure ive mangled almost anything Craftsman in the last few years. Lowe's gets my business now. They never hesitate to make things right when its messed up. Either refunding, replacing or giving me store credit.
Click to expand...

Thats the key. The old stuff is good. The new stuff SUCKS.

Their torque wrenches are notorious for stripping the head. I found this out AFTER I bought mine (I dunno where it even is, I dont think I have every actually used it).

Their ratchets are total crap as well. Basically the only think I like is the sockets, because they definitely have the life time warranty.

We have a Craftsman lawn mower that has been going strong for probably 10 years, without any regular maintenance. We store it inside.

Just got a 2 stroke Craftsman weed eater. This thing hasnt worked from day one. The Idle speed is set wrong, and you cant do anything to fix it yourself or you'll void the warranty :shaking:
 
I've always like Craftsman as it WAS easy to return the broken tools. As time has passed, its getting harder and harder to get tools swapped.


It would be nice to see what the warranty paperwork said 10, 15, or even 25 years ago versus what their warranty terminology is today.

I've always wished I could find my warranty info from YEARS ago so I could compare it now. If it was different, then I'd think they would have to honor the warranty that was in place when you purchased the tool.
 
StretchASU said:
Thats exactly why I don't buy cheaper lawn/garden equipment. Husky or Stihl is the only stuff I use when it comes to that.
Click to expand...

Husky is still crap. Stihl only. I'm sure there are better ones out there but Stihl has always been very good to me with their products :)
 
rockcity said:
What is it with Craftsman? They put that name on anything they sell and have the lifetime warranty on very few of the items with the "Craftsman" name :shaking:
Years ago I dropped some serious coin on a a "good" 1/2" Craftsman torque wrench. I've used it very little although its about 10 years old. Still have it in the original packaging.
Last night I take it out to torque the ring gear bolts on the D60 at 110 lbs/ft (obviously doing it correctly with small incriments, etc.) and halfway through at 75 lbs/ft the gears in the head strip out :shaking:
No big deal, I'll take it in the morning for a new one. NOPE! Seems that Craftsman torque wrenches are not covered! WTF? Its a hand tool. Its not like the calibration is out, the damn head stripped out!
Disgusted I left the store (with a new torque wrench in hand) :( I'll swap the heads and return the new one with the broken head :flipoff2:
Crap pisses me off. They've done that to me in the past with some other stuff but can't remember what it was...
Point is, be careful what you buy and make sure you are aware of the warranty when you buy it. I could swear that it was covered under the typical craftsman warranty. Wish the label on the package was still readable. If possible, keep the warranty info for future reference, especially with high $$$ items like this.
OK, rant over
Rob
Click to expand...

Exact same thing happened to me last summer, used it 3 or 4 times over a year, went to take it back and the guy acted like I had lost my mind, not like I was asking him to refund my money, just gimme a new torque wrench. Sears has continued to disapoint me.
 
StretchASU said:
Thats exactly why I don't buy cheaper lawn/garden equipment. Husky or Stihl is the only stuff I use when it comes to that.
Click to expand...

I wanted her to get a Stihl, but she ended up with the Craftsman. Hell I probably could have gotten a two stroke Stihl at cost if I had tried.
 
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