Hot take: Harbor Freight sockets are fine for home use but I'd never trust them on a job site.

After my buddy snapped a Pittsburgh socket on a stuck lug nut last Saturday and I replaced it with a Craftsman that took the same torque without a scratch, I'm wondering if paying triple is really worth it for weekend warriors like us - what's your cutoff between cheap tools and quality for your own projects?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivia_murphy1d ago

@noah_webb might be onto something with the heat treat thing, but my buddy's Pittsburgh socket exploded on a rusty bolt and he swears he heard it whisper "you get what you pay for" right before it let go.

noah_webb1d ago

The Pittsburgh socket probably wasn't heat treated right, not just a cheap vs expensive thing.

jennifer_mitchell531d ago

My 3/8" Pittsburgh socket straight up exploded on a rusty lug nut last month. Guess I'll add "bad heat treat" to the list of reasons that was my fault.