[Dave in DE]

Who if anyone, will warranty old craftsman tools?
My old 1/2" torque wrench broke. It stopped clicking when it reaches the set value. Took it to lowes yesterday and they of course refused it.
Anyone have a quality click type replacement idea short of snap-on. I have 1 of them. It's a dial indicator type. It's not easy to see when trying to get a high torque done. Ease at 50 ft pds. Not at 100+
Was thinking maybe a kobalt digital from lowes. Advertising shows good to within +-3%. The new craftsman digital is +-4%. My guess is that's probably the standard.

Any adeas?

 

[Sinktip]

My +/- 40 yo Craftsman 1/2" torque also failed recently. Curious to see what answers you get.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Lowe's and Ace Hardware I believe will honor the Craftsman warranty.

 

[JDGreen-n-Yellow]

According to this, the higher end HF stuff may be worth a look.

 

[MDrew]

My local Ace only replaces complete sets. Stupid, or smart? You probably don't have every piece of a set you bought 20 years ago.

 

[etcallhome]

I thought Lowes was doing Craftsman warranty

 

[jimmylh]

I bought a CDI off Amazon years ago. It's an excellent quality torque wrench. They still sell them on Amazon. CDI Torque products is owned by Snap On tools.

 

[JimR]

In some cases, a "stocking retailer" handles Craftsman warranty issues. Otherwise:

Warranty | CRAFTSMAN

www.craftsman.com

 

[MTB98]

You can warranty Craftsman tools at retailers selling them today or through Craftsman.com. C’man Torque wrenches do not have a lifetime warranty. For a replacement of good quality and reasonable cost I would recommend Tekton, available at Tekton.com at similar prices to in store and they have a rewards point system of earning money off your next purchase.

 

[Dave in DE]

Lowe's and Ace Hardware I believe will honor the Craftsman warranty.

Took it to lowes yesterday. They'll warranty against one they sold, but not one that's almost 50yrs old. I kind of thought that's got to be wrong. I'll check at Ace also. Thanks.

According to this, the higher end HF stuff may be worth a look.

Interesting video. Has me thinking I need to do a bit of research. I'm in no hurry. I can get bye on what I have. One thing I like on the kobalt is it beeps and clicks, but clicking is all I really need. It's a little over $200. May be headed to HF. Lol.

 

[Dave in DE]

You can warranty Craftsman tools at retailers selling them today or through Craftsman.com. C’man Torque wrenches do not have a lifetime warranty. For a replacement of good quality and reasonable cost I would recommend Tekton, available at Tekton.com at similar prices to in store and they have a rewards point system of earning money off your next purchase.

I wasn't sure on warranty time frame. A friend was over yesterday. He saw my torque wrench in the trash can and told me lowes warrantied his that was that same wrench. He may have just got lucky.

 

[MTB98]

Craftsman torque wrenches are warranted for one year (90 days if commercial use)

Here’s the link to the Tekton torque wrenches.

Torque Wrenches | TEKTON | Free Shipping

Precise calibrations with high-contrast scales for readability. Free shipping.

www.tekton.com

 

[MTB98]

I wasn't sure on warranty time frame. A friend was over yesterday. He saw my torque wrench in the trash can and told me lowes warrantied his that was that same wrench. He may have just got lucky.

I threw my broken Craftsman torque wrench away in the mid 90s when they wouldn’t warranty it because I didn’t have the receipt. That was near the end of my Craftsman tool purchases, their warranty replacements were doing downhill at that time too. They’d take your ratchet and give you a rebuilt one and then rebuild yours for the next guy. No thanks, I’ll just go buy something better elsewhere.

 

[Dave in DE]

I threw my broken Craftsman torque wrench away in the mid 90s when they wouldn’t warranty it because I didn’t have the receipt. That was near the end of my Craftsman tool purchases, their warranty replacements were doing downhill at that time too. They’d take your ratchet and give you a rebuilt one and then rebuild yours for the next guy. No thanks, I’ll just go buy something better elsewhere.

Ya, I agree there quality went down hill quickly in there last few yrs at sears. The last set of screwdrivers I replaced with them were so soft the points twisted as I used them. Trashed them.

 

[JDSwan87]

Harbor Freight torque wrenches are surprisingly accurate. I work at a large automobile manufacturer and we have to calibrate our torque wrenches every 4 weeks. I brought 3 HF torque wrenches in from home and had our guy check them. All 3 read 2% OVER set torque value when set at 80% of max torque. Example: if max torque value is 100ftlbs. Wrench is set to 80ftlbs and actual reading is 82ftlbs.

Zero hesitation to buy another HF torque wrench.

Side note: 2% deviation on residual torque vs dynamic is our max allowed.

 

[ironpony]

Agreed on the HF and my 3/8 & 1/2" Kobalt are accurate. I also have access to calibration at work. Do not remember how close though.

 

[dianedebuda]

I have a couple of click Husky torque wrenches that I got from HD that I'm pretty happy with.

 

[Ritz]

I threw my broken Craftsman torque wrench away in the mid 90s when they wouldn’t warranty it because I didn’t have the receipt. That was near the end of my Craftsman tool purchases, their warranty replacements were doing downhill at that time too. They’d take your ratchet and give you a rebuilt one and then rebuild yours for the next guy. No thanks, I’ll just go buy something better elsewhere.

I no longer have many Craftsman tools. I confess to replacing things with HF products these days. When I think back to how much I spent on SnapOn and Matco tools back in the day, I just want to kick myself. I chalk it up to it being "easier" back in the day because they'd pull up in the truck, take back anything you'd broken for replacement, and show you the latest gadgets.

Back on the subject at hand....I did take a 1/2" impact socket set back to Lowes that had a few with cracks. They told me to take a hike. And now I've got a new set from HF. shrug

Best,

 

[RodW]

I was able to get a replacement for my 40 year old lineman pliers -- directly from Craftsman based on a photo of the broken tool. It was actually easy. (Lowe's simply referred me to the manufacturer.)

I agree that anything fancier than basic hand tools doesn't have the lifetime warranty.

 

[JROC]

Sears..... Oh wait.

Seriously freaking HF tools are likely more likely to get warrantied today than Craftsman. I have bought some Craftsman tools over the last 20 or so years that are still pretty good tools such as a mini sledge hammer and a flashlight. I bought a Craftsman tool set that puts my Stanley tool set to shame, but that's not hard to do as that Stanley set I bought is seriously lacking.