The bonus of cheap china-spec spanners is that you can grind them down, to make them thinner for 'pain in the ass' jobs. I've got my Blue-Points, and Sidchromes, and Snap-Ons, but if I was only planning on using them for around the house handy man sort of stuff, it'd be a waste of cash. China Spec is the way to go in your case. Oh and you can also cut the spanner heads off and then turn them into cheap crows feet if you want...I get bored and cut up a lot of tools to use once or twice. The only tool I would consider getting and spending the money on is a shifter, and if you do, buy a BAHCO. Amazing little creatures.

__________________
Air is for pussies.

just get snap-on

__________________
Project STi Wagon

I wouldnt go cheap on sockets, spanners or screwdrivers...
if they break trying to get a nut or screw out, you are likely to F up the head of the nut/screw enough to not even be able to get it out..

but as others have said, its always good to have a cheap set of spanners you can butcher..

Steve.

there is also a good chance of injuring yourself if the tool does snap while applying such great force.

i would go for something that chrome vanadium and has a good rep. i picked a cresent set that has life warranty for $120 and thats the best thing since slice bread! i also have alot of sidchrome/kingchrome and KC tools and they cost 3 times the ammount and cant notice any significant difference.

Also the remember the best tool to have is a 2-3 foot piece of water pipe, that fits anything into the top.. always need that extra leaverage when getting larger bolts and shit undone when they've been stuck there for fuck knows how long.

Bingo! Cold drawn steel bar. Most versatile piece of equipment in any workshop. And if you can't undo it with all the extra leverage, just belt the fucking thing for good measure!

__________________
Air is for pussies.

Dont forget Shouting and Swearing. Works wonders.

__________________
RS Liberty - Because WRX's are only good for parts...

I was on the snap on truck the other day and this dude walks in with a 3/4" drive breaker bar and he has twisted the bit that the socket clips onto. The 3/4" bit. Of course he wanted warranty and swore black and blue that he never put a persuader near it.

I like the snap on stuff because whilst it is uber expensive you can always replace the one spanner that you lose. Or if you break a screwdriver you can just buy the shaft and put it in your existing handle. Also if you will be working a rex there are not that many different tools that you need so you can save money by just buying the ones that you need for the job.

Biggest thing that shits me with snap on though is if you are doing something on the weekend you cant just nip out and grab a tool that you need.

My 2c.

Brendon

__________________
Losing is worse than death. You have to live with losing....

I will always injure myself even before i start wOrking the the car...then the Shouting and Swearing will also follow.

another thing you might need is a good breaker bar helps alot

i got almost all my tools from blackwoods when i was working with them got a 45% discount on sidchrome stuff which is rather good and they were the best tools i have ever used but expensive

__________________
Chinese Mexican
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

I built my collection of Snap On tools via ebay US and its a good portal for excellent tools if you dont have an account with the company locally. Just sad that the USD dropped a bit in the past few weeks but still you cant compare them! Even Luca can vouch with the bargains to be had for Snap on Tools off ebay

__________________
MY00 GT Forester with STi goodies