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Jan 11, 2016 17:10:18 GMT
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in 2003 my dad bought me a set of spanners from lidl, although they arent polished and shiny all of them have stood the test of time, lots of tough work, and are still like new, think they were 8mm up to about 24mm and I think at the time the set was £8
so what cheap tools have you bought, that have performed above and beyond what you expected?
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Jan 11, 2016 19:30:21 GMT
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The best had to be a cheap pipe flarer, purchased it 12 years ago and it's still going strong, have flared copper and steel with it without problems
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Jan 11, 2016 19:34:57 GMT
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Aldi torque wrench. Very accurate when compared against my mates very expensive well known brand!
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Needs a bigger hammer mate.......
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Jan 11, 2016 20:12:05 GMT
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Best tool bargain was probably the pitchfork I bought for NZ$1 at a farm clearing sale.
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Jan 11, 2016 20:45:08 GMT
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I personally can't fault any of lidl or aldi's tools, been using them for years and they're so cheap if anything breaks it's not the end of the world. Also have a good stock of neilson sets here and besides 1 cracked socket also no complaints!
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Jan 11, 2016 23:57:37 GMT
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My 25 year old Ikea philips head screw drivers are still going strong.....
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Got given a Britool 3/8" drive set a good few years ago and they've been used on all sorts (mainly rusty Land Rovers) over the years and are still going strong. They are about the only thing I brought with me when I left the UK.
Just picked up around 80-90 3/8" and 1/4" sockets along with 60 or so Imperial spanners. All Snap-on or Craftsman for about 100 quid. The spanners are especially useful as you can only get metric here, but the RR had some Imperial stuff, mainly drive train and engine. Not a bad deal I thought!
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mikeymk
Part of things
'85 Polo Coupe S 1.6 16v
Posts: 931
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Got a torque wrench made of a block of alloy, use it as a breaker bar, hub nuts and all sorts, stronger than any breaker bar i've used, had to jump on it a few times. Had it near 20yrs. It's still accurate, according to three calibrated steel-tube torque wrenches at work.
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Jan 13, 2016 23:55:42 GMT
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Probably my 125mm angle grinder from Aldi. This thing has done a lot of hours, been dropped etc, but still keeps going. Excellent use of $25.
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Bought an old 2 inch adjustable spanner from a classic Jag toolkit for 50p from a car boot last year,sold it on the bay for nearly 60 quid,that was a good deal !
Best new cheap tool i bought was a dremel type thing from poundstretcher about 12 years ago for a tenner.Its had some real hammer and is still going strong.
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Jan 14, 2016 12:32:04 GMT
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I have a set of ratchet spanners from Aldi. They are as good as the Halfords, Britool and Teng ones I have. The only downside is that the sizes weren't very comprehensive, hence the Halfords, Britool and Teng ones.
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Jaguar S-Type 3.0 SE
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flynn1
Part of things
Posts: 31
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Jan 14, 2016 14:55:08 GMT
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Gotta echo sentiments about Aldi and Lidl. I had a big collection built up, but I was breaking my car by the roadside and something was happening at the time which stopped me from putting them away and they all got stolen.
Whenever I posted on the pug306 forum about how good they were I always got mocked but they served me very well! The quality of the spanners and ratchet spanners was great, the only complaint could have been that they were a bit thick which could be a problem in tight spaces.
Now I have a £70 quid tool set off ebay to work on my motorbike and I finally know what cheap tools are. Definitely not the likes of the Lidl and Aldi stuff, this stuff that I currently have is almost useless, sockets and allen keys rounding out with ease. After this job I will have to get some proper stuff.
But I needed to replace a lot of things in one go so I had to get the cheap stuff this time round.
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Jan 14, 2016 16:59:03 GMT
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I had a cheapo ratchet for doing work at home (all Snap-on at work), unfortunately it didnt like having a jack put under it on an especially tight Mini sump bolt and it er.. died. I went to halfords in desperation for a quick cheap replacement. Halfords professional basic ratchet, £25, halfords spark plug changing set - long handled flexi head ratchet, 2 extensions, 2 spark plug sockets, mini wire brush and feeler blades - £20! Bargain! The ratchet is nice to use, tonnes of leverage and hasnt let me down.
I keep having tool sellers trying to sell me the latest techno wizard brake bleeding kit. On the bench at work with the thousands of pounds worth of tools is a £18 Gunsons easy bleed kit. It hasnt been beaten yet.
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Jan 14, 2016 21:03:40 GMT
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I've got an Aldi soldering iron! I bought it about 8 years ago and it's excellent
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1993 Mercedes-Benz 190e LE in Azzuro Blue.
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Jan 14, 2016 21:10:42 GMT
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I know the old adage "You buy a cheap tool twice" (I have mostly snap on and bluepoint in my tool box from my mechanic days) but cheap tools are also good if you need to make a custom tool up. Need to get to that bolt around 3 obstructions? Get a cheap spanner, cut/bend/weld et voila. Custom tool that a dealer/manufacturer would charge $xxx for a proper one.
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Jan 15, 2016 10:05:43 GMT
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Aldi angle grinder, put up with a hell of a lot of abuse and still works the same as the day I got it a few years ago.
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1966 MK1 Cortina 1971 Hillman Super Imp 1985 Volvo 360 GLEi 1986 Volvo 340 1.7 1990 Mercedes 190e 2.0 1993 Peugeot 205 STDT
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Sinky
Posted a lot
Run Baby Run......Please!
Posts: 1,395
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Jan 15, 2016 10:19:35 GMT
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Last Edit: Jan 15, 2016 10:28:14 GMT by Sinky
2001 Volvo XC70 wagon
2003 Piaggio X9 Evo
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flynn1
Part of things
Posts: 31
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Jan 15, 2016 12:16:54 GMT
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Aldi angle grinder, put up with a hell of a lot of abuse and still works the same as the day I got it a few years ago. I had a cheap 13 mil I used for exactly that purpose to get to the injection pump nut on my 306 1.9dt. Since my old tools got nicked it's such a pain in the having to start from scratch. None of them were particularly expensive but everything was adapted to my needs, now some curse word took them and doesn't even know the history behind anything. That reminds me, I need to replace my club hammer as well!
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Jan 15, 2016 21:11:26 GMT
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A 1/4" & 1/2" drive socket set from Tshcibo before they closed down, it's had some real abuse and all that's gone wrong is the 1/2" ratchet has started slipping. I've used the sockets on impact wrenches and with breaker bars with a scaffold pole on them for extra leverage.
Oh and a 9" angle grinder from lidl, it just works and works!
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Last Edit: Jan 15, 2016 21:13:04 GMT by dodgerover
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heathrobinson
Part of things
Broken everything
Posts: 848
Club RR Member Number: 111
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your best cheap toolsheathrobinson
@heathrobinson
Club Retro Rides Member 111
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Jan 15, 2016 21:55:24 GMT
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I got a set of ratchet spanners from halford's a few years ago in half price sale. They were the expert ones, 8-19mm and about £50. They've been brilliant, really rate them as a set, and no noticeable difference between them and ones over twice their price. Also, while not being "cheap" exactly, my SGS jack is really good for the money. It's a low profile 3 ton job, so not pennies, but a good bit cheaper than anything comparable, and really good quality.
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