Silverline tools

[sierraman]

These any good? I wouldn't be using them on a professional basis just for occasional diy use?

[derskine]

Hit and miss, depends what tool it is. Generally not very good though.

[ruffgeezer]

The thing I like about silverline tools is that you can pick the chrome off and eat the chocolate inside.

[strangeangel]

I bought a big (26mm?) ring spanner of theirs to undo a CVT hub nut. I couldn't use it because the jaws were so badly made (and such an approximate fit) I was worried it would round the nut as soon as I applied any force.

 

Best avoided, I think.

[Stanky]

I've got a 'backup' socket set made by them that I got for a fiver from a car boot several years ago, its 1/4" and is quite handy as the sockets are physically smaller than the 1/2" set I also have. I tend not to use it for tough jobs if I can avoid it, but its survived alright considering.

 

I've also got a Silverline wooden mallet which is pretty good, but you'd have to be really crap at making tools to make a bad mallet.

[noseypoke]

In order of goodness...

(1)  TENG TOOLS...British + BESTSHITE.. you can tighten wheel lugs with the ratchets,my 1/2" drive ratchet still going strong after 9 years

(2)  BERGAN....GERRRRRMAN...nuff said next good shite

(3)  HALFORDS PRO , BY OLD STOCK..they were made by SYKES-PICKAVANCE  better than modern ratchets bit shitty.

(4) Snap-on   ....Yank...great shite BUT expensive......The POSERS  toolbox....doesn't turn you into a good mechanic tho!!

(5) American-PRO...really good shite,you can tighten wheel lugs with the ratchets.

(6) Silverline  good for stirring ya mug o tea,ok for removing/refitting nuts/bolts,but tighten down with TENG or BERGAN/AMEICAN-PRO

[garbaldy]

What's a wheel lug mister.

 

I've used silver line tools before but wouldn't use my own money to buy them.

[conkerman]

For occasional use.

 

Halfords professional are actually pretty good. I like the ratchet spanners, but DO NOT use them to remove a Cam chain tensioner on a late ZX9R.

 

I picked up a good deal on some Draper Expert stuff, Handled 15 years of my occasional incompetence.

 

Considering many of us work on cars that have errr, experience. 6 point/flank drive sockets are a good move.

[ruffgeezer]

Bergen, Nielsen and American pro are all Chinese but are significantly better than Silvershite. Rolson fall in between the two.

 

Halfords pro are great for the money, but most of their sockets are 12 sided which is great for rounding stuff off.

[Richard]

I have never had anything branded as Silverline or Rolson that wasn't appalling shit, although I stopped buying them quite quickly.

 

I find Lidl and Aldi stuff as good as cheap tools get.

 

It's a common strategy to build up a toolkit with cheapo stuff then upgrade later. I would suggest it's better to take longer to build up the collection by buying better tools in the first place.

 

I wouldn't necessarily recommend one of the giant Halfords kits either. The quality is good but there's a lot of stuff you will never need and some glaring gaps in all but the biggest set.

[sierraman]

I've always had Clarke PRO sockets, given them some real hammer and they've never failed me. Six sided as well. The Silverline was a power tool I was buying, seen a Clarke one on offer a fiver more so I shall be buying that instead. Has anyone heard of BlueSpot tools either? It's like name the shit brands today.

[ruffgeezer]

We had a load of silverline soldering guns, by the time you had them nearly hot enough to melt the solder, there was smoke coming out of the back.

 

Instructions for that kit; remove solder sucker & solder, throw kit away.

[Kiltox]

Love silverline stuff for very occasional use tools that I buy for one job and be happy if they still work for the next one in months / years

 

Halfords pro for daily use at a sensible price

[laser wheels]

In order of goodness...

(1)  TENG TOOLS...British + BESTSHITE.. you can tighten wheel lugs with the ratchets,my 1/2" drive ratchet still going strong after 9 years

(2)  BERGAN....GERRRRRMAN...nuff said next good shite

(3)  HALFORDS PRO , BY OLD STOCK..they were made by SYKES-PICKAVANCE  better than modern ratchets bit shitty.

(4) Snap-on   ....Yank...great shite BUT expensive......The POSERS  toolbox....doesn't turn you into a good mechanic tho!!

(5) American-PRO...really good shite,you can tighten wheel lugs with the ratchets.

(6) Silverline  good for stirring ya mug o tea,ok for removing/refitting nuts/bolts,but tighten down with TENG or BERGAN/AMEICAN-PRO

 

I thought Teng were Swedish? Either way, their stuff looks good and reasonably priced. Interesting thread this as I really need to get a decent socket set!

[conkerman]

If I had the choice I'd probably go KING DICK

[derskine]

Teng are probably my favourite, not horrendously expensive (still not cheap) and superb quality.

[sierraman]

I've some Teng spanners, real pleasure to use. Nice feel, accurate, just a good tool.

[omegod]

On balance I think Halfords Advanced/proffesional are great value, what with the lifetime warranty and possibility of trade card discount. Costco did a big set that was very good value which I started off with and still have plenty of it left after 10 yrs   

[Grundig]

I've always had Clarke PRO sockets, given them some real hammer and they've never failed me. Six sided as well. 

 

I have some clarke stuff & agree for the money, tis pretty good, same can be said of the Teng & Halfords tools 

[sierraman]

The 12 sided socket thing fecks me off. I'm doing car repairs not putting furniture together. I'd imagine most mechanics would use 6 sided sockets as their choice saving chewing nuts off.

[inconsistant]

If I had the choice I'd probably go KING DICK

 

 

[beko1987]

Ive got a few silver line tools, which have been ok, but get very little use. I'm sure if I did the standard of work that you chaps do I would notice though!

[plasticvandan]

I like Stanley fat max screwdrivers

[Parky]

I have mostly Halfords stuff - it never gets asked to do anything too drastic and has understandably been fine.

 

My Draper torque wrench is a good piece of kit, and I have a mini socket set made by Bahco. Apart from the extension bar not seeming to be a brilliant fit, the rest of the kit is very good. Pretty sure Bahco are Swedish but it's probably all made in a single factory in China

[billyboy406v6]

Car boot sales are a good place to pick decent tools up. A lot are grubby/painted and unloved but look a bit deeper at the brand name and a few mins with a wire brush and youre sorted !

[twosmoke300]

Being a full time mechanic I have a lot of snap on tools . They are bloody expensive but sometimes the slimmer jaws or better fit etc can save you hours on a job . Snap on brake pipe spanners are a good example of this .

I also have plenty of other makes . Facom , elora and snap on are all equally good ( facom ratchets are brilliant)

Laser , halfords and Bergen seem reasonable as are draper expert . Signet make good ratchet spanners . Beta and teng are a bit middle of the road in my experience and beta brake spanners are crap ( see snap on ones above )

Modern Britool is nothing like as good as they used to be .

Silver line is better than rolson but most stuff is .

Sealey is very hit and miss and I'm not a fan of there stuff at all .

For big stuff and special tools you can't go wrong with Sykes Picavant .

 

Hope I haven't bored you all too much

[Ronnie L]

I had an interesting conversation a couple of years ago with a guy who owns / runs a big tool store near Glasgow. He does a range of Silverline stuff and I asked him what he thought about quality. He told me that Silverline tools range from absolutely rubbish to very, very good. He said that they carry only the ones which were very good and didn't do the rubbish stuff. He suggested that any time I was thinking about buying any Silverline stuff I should ask him first and he could tell me if the quality was ok. I must say that I've had some shit stuff from Silverline in the past but I've had quite a few really good quality tools at a very reasonable price.

I've been buying (and selling) tools for over 45 years and I've got a reasonably good idea of what's good and not so good. I've got a lot of Snap-on stuff and it's great, but the price is astronomical. Not good value unless you are using it all the time to earn your living or you want something to show-off to your mates.  

If you want tools which are good quality and will do everything you want at a reasonable price, the following brands have all been used by me for many. many years and I can recommend: Halfords pro,Teng, Britool, Bergen, Elora, Bahco, Stanley, Sealey, and most of the Draper chrome vanadium stuff. If you want some high-end quality but don't want to pay Snap-on prices then get your hands on some of the lovely stuff produced by Facom. Not cheap but truly professional quality. 

There's many other brands out there which will do the job at a reasonable price, so my list isn't comprehensive. A lot of the stuff which looks like it's European or American is actually Chinese. That doesn't need to mean is poor quality though.

[gordonbennet]

My Teng set was a big un when i bought it, lost a few sockets, but considering it's some 30 years old and has been abused rotten and seen some bloody hard work in that time i'm well impressed.

 

The 1/2" ratchet has had extensions over it, its been used to undo the mothers of seized bolts by the hundred, its been oiled maybe once every 5 years and it simply refuses to break, same with the 3/8th ratchet too.

 

Was considering a new set but, decided a set of Britool 6 sided sockets on a rail and a set of deep sockets for when needed were a better buy, they were, and i'm still using the Teng ratchets.

 

Had a feeling Bergen and some others carefully named to sound impressive were Chinese i detest that sort of all fur coat and no knickers business and if i know for sure will never buy the shit.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Ive a stack of Halfrauds pro stuff, mostly 1/2 inch drive.

Really solid for the money, I've bust the odd socket doing daft things - halfords replaced them all no questions asked.

 

Ive some old draper stuff my dad gave me and its decent, although I think newer draper stuff is a bit hit and miss.

 

Wouldn't go near silverline unless someone I trusted recommended a specific tool

[catsinthewelder]

I really like my Laser sockets,  slim, accurate and six pointed.