Impact Socket Set

[Mart63]

Can anyone recommend a cheaper end set of impact sockets for occasional use please? I totally understand that you get what you pay for. I previously bought a very cheap set in a green box and they have survived very light work so far. Looking for an affordable set I can push a little harder.

 

[Kayos]

Big Halfords set is £100 or £60 with trade card

 

[knighty]

Pardon our interruption...

I use loads of uspro stuff, regard it pretty well

one thing - there's no naming that I've seen but they do high end and low end stuff... with the impact tools matt ones are good shiny ones are no good

uspro used to be bergan toold... which is the only rease I bough their stuff at first


I like it because it's good stuff... but also cheap enough that I don't care if I lose a socket or batter one with a hammer


girlfriends car had a stuck locking wheel but... it was a right pain to get off, lucky for me mechanic mate was doing it (while sorting mot) - in the end he ruined a £45 snap on deep impact socket battering it on... said snap on guy won;t replace it because it's battered

 

[Wozzaaah]

Another vote for the Halfords Advanced set.

https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/socket-sets/halfords-advanced-46-piece-impact-socket-set-628014.html

 

[Bornfree]

Ive got cheap eBay sets of 3/4 and 1" impact sockets and they have been hammered to death by CP air wrenches regularly in the workshop and none have broken or worn.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Pardon our interruption...

I use loads of uspro stuff, regard it pretty well

one thing - there's no naming that I've seen but they do high end and low end stuff... with the impact tools matt ones are good shiny ones are no good

uspro used to be bergan toold... which is the only rease I bough their stuff at first


I like it because it's good stuff... but also cheap enough that I don't care if I lose a socket or batter one with a hammer


girlfriends car had a stuck locking wheel but... it was a right pain to get off, lucky for me mechanic mate was doing it (while sorting mot) - in the end he ruined a £45 snap on deep impact socket battering it on... said snap on guy won;t replace it because it's battered

I’ve bought a few US Pro things. Nothing screams cheap rubbish about it, it’s decent enough for any diyer.

 

[Kayos]

Another vote for the Halfords Advanced set.

https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/socket-sets/halfords-advanced-46-piece-impact-socket-set-628014.html

No trade discount when reduced but I paid £60

 

[Wozzaaah]

No trade discount when reduced but I paid £60

I can’t remember how much I paid.

 

[harveyp6]

I've got a set of Bergen deep 1/2" drive imperial impact sockets. Had them about 30 years I reckon, and I've never had a problem with them and they have had some hard use.
As said previously, now they're marketed as uspro, and if they're half as good as mine you'll be well happy.

 

[mightymig]

Just checked its £80 with trade discount. I literally made a fake business card from one of those free trial websites that basically said "I am mechanic" and they gave me one.

 

[harveyp6]

Just checked its £80 with trade discount. I literally made a fake business card from one of those free trial websites that basically said "I am mechanic" and they gave me one.
View attachment 516062

Do you think if I got a pin badge saying I'm a mechanic that anyone would believe it?
Which reminds me, how the term "master mechanic" has been totally devalued by all the w*nkers on the telly that use it about themselves.

 

[ChrisBailey]

I have these on my m18 impact gun.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Laser-LAS6648-6648-Impact-Socket/dp/B01MXSICOB

 

[Mart63]

Thanks everyone. £80 is outside my budget so I've been looking at US Pro stuff. They do really cheap stuff that's chrome vanadium and slightly dearer stuff that's chrome molybdenum. The cr-mo seems recommended for impact sockets so I think I'll give them a try.

 

[8ob]

Thanks everyone. £80 is outside my budget so I've been looking at US Pro stuff. They do really cheap stuff that's chrome vanadium and slightly dearer stuff that's chrome molybdenum. The cr-mo seems recommended for impact sockets so I think I'll give them a try.

The US pro/Bergen impact sockets are good value, I have never managed to break one, only downside is they are a bit bulkier than the upmarket brands and on the odd occasion that bulkiness hinders their use.

Bob

 

[frank horton]

my workshop got cleared out by scrouts....
all I could afford at the time was a cheap no name brand from eBay....
still in use to day, still a complete set with no busted socket....
sometimes u get lucky

 

[Domdom]

The thing with impact stuff is that it will get mullered with use. That’s kind of the point really. I have a few sets, deep, shallow, hex key, torx, bolt removers etc. The US-Pro set of shallow ones is in about the same condition as the set of deep SnapOn ones. None have broken, none are worn to the point of being un-usable, there really isn’t a lot in it.

Put it another way, as long as the walls are good and thick they are going to do what you want. How many sets of Halfords/ebay/US-Pro can you buy for the cost of a Milwaukee or SnapOn set? There’s your answer.

The only ones I binned were the freebies that came with a middle-aisle air impact (Lidl or Aldi, don’t recall) but they were shiny, not the matte finish you associate with impacts stuff. The walls were also quite thin and I really didn’t like the look of them. As it turned out the air gun was rubbish too. It probably wouldn’t have shattered those sockets, but a Milwaukee hi-torque could well have done just that.

 

[mightymig]

Thats why Halfords professional makes sense in this case, if it breaks you get a replacement for free

 

[MetalMonkey]

You’ll find the impact sockets tend to fall into two categories, Cr-Mo (chrome molybdenum) and Cr-V (chrome vanadium).
The “better” more expensive impact stuff is Cr-Mo. The cheaper stuff tends to be Cr-V, just the same as the chrome sockets but without the chrome plating.

Pros and cons of each, but worth keeping in mind when comparing to make sure you are apples to apples.

 

[mightymig]

I thought the whole purpose of impacts is that they are not as hard as the chrome sockets, but also less brittle - meaning they don't crack when impacted, but because of that they are also thicker in their wall profile meaning they fit in less spaces than the chrome sockets do, hence justifying the need for both types.

 

[jsf55]

I got a machine mart AF set years ago only 1/2" still nice and tight none have broken, actually i can't remember the last time i bust a socket !