Budget tool brands...

[gavcarter]

Anyone any experience with the likes of Bergen, US Pro or Franklin tools?
Looking for torx sets, these seem to fit the bill nicely for a small common sizes set and are all in foam which is a plus.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/142370938352

This is the sort of thing im looking at.

They will only get used a handful of times a week, mainly on car interiors, but the bigger sizes are often used on seats and seatbelt mounting which can be pretty tight, which I do maybe once a week...

 

[Fazerruss]

Bergen and US pro are the usual market stall cheap Chinese tools. I think Franklin are a bit better along the lines of Laser and Sealy but will still be made in the far East.
I have Bergen torqx set and to be fair its not too bad. It's survived work on brakes and suspension but the smaller T30 bits are cheese.

 

[Kayos]

I have a set of Bergen 3/8 sockets and they are decent enough, only get as much abuse as a 3/8 ratchet can give but no issues with fit

 

[rcx132]

Some of the cheap stuff is perfectly good, others not. I've had a lot of luck with Silver line recently.

 

[Wightsparks]

Bergen = US Pro Same mnrf different brand.
I have a US Pro tap set that has done sterling work.

 

[indy4x]

I have a Draper set, it's about 15 years old and stood up to some abuse, not sure if their current offering is same quality tho

 

[123hotchef]

clarke aint bad for the money either

 

[gavcarter]

Think ill take a punt on the cheap sets like. Clarke pro are apparently ok about the same as Halfords advanced, but they seem to come in a set of 4 or more or less a master set and nothing in between....

 

[Bill Edwards]

A lot of tools can be had cheap for lightweight jobs, but my experience of torx bits is they need to be decent.

If/when they break you are mid job without a tool, and have to extract the remains of the broken tool and of course skinned your knuckles when it broke.
If they don't break they're probably too soft to be useful and just slip.

For your use I'd get something half decent.

 

[grim_d]

I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Bergen stuff, in the last couple of years their quality has increased dramatically. IMO they are one of the best low end brands out there and my go to choice for the not used that often stuff like long reach torx sockets etc.

I don't feel bad abusing them because they are so cheap and trust me I abuse them, I bought sets specifically for hammering into rounded or corroded fasteners.

I'm pretty sure it was a Bergen (or maybe Neilsen) spline socket I used on the last Mk5 golf rear hub bolts I did and thats 5ft scaffy pole nearly tip the car off the ramp job.

Worried about them breaking? Buy two sets. plus everyone has a normal set of Allen/torx keys as a backup.

 

[Ashley Burton]

Bergen or Laser are pretty reasonable. Also bought some Neilsen Impact Sockets (Had them for nearly 2 years) & they've taken a right beating!

 

[TechnicAl]

Rolson seem OK to me but Silverline.....I nearly took my finger off using one of their exploding router bits

 

[Ruffian]

I still regularly explode bergen tools,
But Halford professional at the moment has taken some real abuse.

 

[grim_d]

I still regularly explode bergen tools,
But Halford professional at the moment has taken some real abuse.

My experience is quite the opposite in respect to torx/hex bits.

Halfords ones always exploded for me.

 

[123hotchef]

i use burgen impact sockets they do just fine

 

[Kayos]

My experience is quite the opposite in respect to torx/hex bits.

Halfords ones always exploded for me.

Might depend on age, I have some old old Halfords pro, the old pro logo and they are all good, torx and hex

 

[8ob]

My yard trolley is full of bergen/us pro/ britool spanners,sockets and screwdrivers. They get a hammering from my guys and nothings broken, I dont cheap out on ratchets, bit sets and extension bars though, snapon or mac for this kind of thing if you want to avoid disappointment.

Bob

 

[gavcarter]

My yard trolley is full of bergen/us pro/ britool spanners,sockets and screwdrivers. They get a hammering from my guys and nothings broken, I dont cheap out on ratchets, bit sets and extension bars though, snapon or mac for this kind of thing if you want to avoid disappointment.

Bob

Like yourself, for standard spanners and most sockets I just use cheap ones.
They usually end up on a job where you hammer on the next smaller size because or rust etc anyway.
I've did this two or three times with the same 16mm silverline socket and it's still fine....

There torx socket bits though are cheese....and screwdrivers too.
I use mostly facom screwdrivers
Torque wrench is snap on.
Extensions I have a good mix of everything.

I could do with a decent set of 12 point sockets as I keep coming across the odd couple of these rather than the normal 6 sided he bolts.

At the minute its torxs bits that are wearing out, just cheap silverline again to fill the box I've had them a couple of years now....

 

[500e]

Like the leather cat bed \ lounging platform

 

[dobbslc]

@8ob I likeed your post, mainly for the cat but I also like the trolley!