5 Of The Worst Tools That Snap On Has Ever Made

Snap On is widely known as a manufacturer of pricy, yet high-quality tools. The company was founded in 1920 as a creator and purveyor of socket wrenches, but has since expanded into a national tool manufacturing powerhouse. It's certainly impressive that the institution has managed to maintain a reputation for quality for over a hundred years.

That said, Snap On has definitely made a few products over the years that have failed to live up to the standards its customers have come to expect from it. Some of them can be quite strange and many are simply overpriced, but there are others where the build quality just seems worse — even when compared to cheaper brands.

It's normal for any manufacturer to have a few whiffs now and then, but many customers seem to believe that Snap On's product value has been on the decline in recent years. They've had to replace tools that they've owned for years, and found that the brand-new replacements aren't as good as the ones from decades past. You might be interested to learn which of these tools have received the most complaints so that you know which ones to avoid when it comes time to make an addition to your collection.

A good impact wrench is an essential tool for any mechanic, and you can use them for everything from changing tires to pulling out an engine block. The extra torque and impact motion they supply make it much easier to remove stubborn bolts. A good impact wrench can cut hours of labor and save many a bloody knuckle from getting scraped.

That's why a lot of mechanics might think it's worthwhile to spend the extra money to get an impact driver from a company like Snap On, but many of those who've already bought one have been sorely disappointed. YouTuber JRC54 purchased an 18V brushless impact wrench, which cost around $800, and claimed that it was one of the worst products he had ever bought from the company. He said that sometimes he would pull the trigger and it simply wouldn't activate.

The YouTube channel Donut tested the Snap On against similar wrenches from Bauer and Milwaukee, and was surprised to discover that the significantly more expensive Snap On failed to outperform the much more affordable wrenches in any meaningful way. In fact, it was the slowest of the three when it came to breakaway torque, and underperformed in several other tests as well.

That doesn't necessarily mean that Snap On's impact wrenches are bad tools, but it does make it hard to justify the company's prices when better tools can evidently be had for much cheaper.

It isn't just the impact drivers themselves that have been causing issues either. Many have reported problems with the Snap On brand socket sets and extensions that are designed to go with them. 

Montevallo Mustang posted a video showcasing the way the sockets kept popping off his 3/8" extensions. "I cannot think of an industry — or a reason — you would want these," he said. He then claimed that the socket would often fly off the attachment when he was trying to use it. Loose attachments aren't just frustrating, they can be dangerous.

CP the Tool Addict also posted a video on his channel where he claims that the $259 12-piece 3/8" socket set he purchased "feels soft." He states that he has already had to call in the warranty on a few of them after minimal use because the metal has worn out so quickly. He claims that the worst thing about it is that he doesn't trust the sockets to hold up when he needs them to. 

CP the Tool Addict's reaction makes a lot of sense. The last thing you want is to be out on a job, only to have to drive back to the hardware store because the one socket you need can no longer grip a bolt.

Ratchets are another tool that's useful for removing nuts and bolts, particularly when you don't need quite so much horsepower in order to get the job done. It's a relatively straightforward piece of equipment, so you would be forgiven for thinking that it should be pretty easy for Snap On to knock it out of the park. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have been the case.

YouTuber Montevello Mustang had his Snap On 3/8" Brute battery-powered ratchet on his list of the most disappointing Snap On tools. "This thing is usable and it is powerful, but it's extremely slow," he said. "I don't think they make a slower-moving battery-powered ratchet." That's just the battery-powered ratchet, right? Shouldn't the manual ones be fine? Well, it seems others have had issues with Snap On's non-powered ratchets as well.

One contributor on the Garage Journal forum about Snap On's tool quality stated "The locking mechanism on their ratchets is inferior to others," while another claimed that the pot metal direction switches on their ratchets were one of the few truly bad things that the company made.

This is a particularly glaring area for the premium tool company to be lagging behind other brands since Snap On quite literally made its name on its detachable socket system.

A basic screwdriver set is a necessary part of anyone's tool collection, from full-time construction workers to weekend handy people. You might not have given too much thought to the quality of your screwdrivers before, but a good set can make a big difference — especially for carpenters and mechanics. A screwdriver doesn't have any fancy mechanical components or moving parts, so you wouldn't expect it to be all that hard to make a decent set. Sadly, several users have found that the sets from Snap On aren't really living up to their price tags.

The Garage Journal contributor dwm made a post back in 2011 about how he purchased two short screwdrivers from Snap On that cost $11.95 each. Not only were both of these tools covered in dirty scratches and scrapes right out of the box, but dwm also included photos to illustrate that the ends were uneven and shoddily forged.

Donut also made a video where they tested a $200 Snap On screwdriver set against several cheaper options that were available from Harbor Freight. They found that the mid-range $25 set from Doyle actually outperformed the $200 Snap On set in torque strength, prying strength, and most other tests as well. Even if the build quality was excellent, the price difference could be an easy deterrent for those looking to buy a new set.

Locking pliers, aka vice grips, are a useful multi-purpose tool for anyone to have in their tool bag. Unlike regular pliers, they can be locked into place, ensuring that you can get a strong grip on whatever it is that you're trying to turn or hold in place, without having to burst a blood vessel trying to keep a tight enough grip on it.

The YouTube channel Koon Trucking listed Snap On's locking pliers as the worst tool that they had ever used from the manufacturer. They said that the set they used retailed for $48, and that they are "the worst thing Snap On has ever had." 

They certainly weren't alone in that assessment either. Justin ATV claimed that the Milwaukee vice grips are way better than the Snap On version. They pointed out several features the Milwaukee had like sharp teeth, a textured, non-slip body, and a torque lock that would allow the user to use a screwdriver to make the lock extra secure.

Another YouTube user wrote a comment on CP The Tool Addict's video claiming that they were a former Snap On dealer, and that the vice grips were the worst thing they sold from the company. They claimed that they would get regular complaints about them and then exchange them for Irwin brand locking pliers and give them a truck credit for the difference in price.