draper expert and halfords pro are both made by apex in Taiwan

Which is the best set to buy? is 200pc overkill?

What an outright pack of lies. I bought a small socket set for my tool box from Halfrauds not long ago. It was £15, now it says £50 with 50% off, so now its only £25. I like the quality of Halfrauds tools but this is a total joke. Thanks to the OP anyway, there might be some deals in there, but beware.

Just beat me to it.... I was about to put this up after needing an emergency toolkit and having a browse on their site...

Hot!

does anyone know if the trade discount applies to these nowadays, or is it still a case of trade OR promo discountV

Plus Quidco

I with you on this - you can never have enough tools - I have now got 3 socket sets (thanks to this site), 1/4 " ,3/4" halfords and a good quality 1/2" set - I only like 6 sided sockets as I always worry about rounding nuts ! when I die I expect the government to have taken every last penny I own so at least I will be able to leave my tools to my children.
Best tool I have bought was a special tool for removing the lower ball joint off a BMW - I thought I could pay £150 for the tool + part or £150 for the garage to do the job, the tool is excellent as you just crank the nut up and the ball joint slides out rearrange the tool and it will slide the new one in. used it twice on my old car and once now on my new one (luck would have it that it fits exactly the same)

The larger socket sets are excellent for an amateur mechanic to get started with but I'd recommend you get a longer 1/2" breaker bar and some longer extention bars (wobble or normal) and perhaps some extra universal joints and you will be able to do many of the jobs on your car or motorcycle, I had a dodgy 1/4 ratchet in my set that jumped into a "neutral" position with any torque applied so I took it in within a few days of purchase and the excellent staff swapped it for a new one after inspecting it (although my local store has much better staff than any other halfords I have been to).

He was answering my question in the first post...

Stuff made in Taiwan is generally very good quality. Stuff in China, not always so much. Draper Expert stuff is generally very good, as is the Halfords Pro stuff (now you know why). The first "proper" socket set I bought was the Draper Vortex set about 6 years ago - it's taken a fair bit of abuse and is still going strong!

Ahh makes sense now, thanks for clarifying.

I own the Halfords Pro 150 piece set as well as the 19 piece vortex set which has the larger sockets in and I really like them both. Great quality! Maybe I'll pick up the smaller vortex set in this deal.

I wonder which is cheaper, the Draper Expert or Halfords Pro stuff?

Probably the Halfords at the moment. Only thing I dislike about the Vortex stuff is the std type socket adapters - they push in from the back and if your working under something with a couple of extensions etc., the whole lot has a habit of falling out and smacking you in the face. On the plus side, because they drive the edge of the bolt/nut, I don't think i've ever rounded anything with the Vortex sockets.

The Halfords Vortex set are all metric, I brought a Draper set a few years ago and it was Metric but they did do both bit like the large normal Halfords socket sets.

Must admit Draper Expert, Halfords Advanced / Pro and Sealey / Sigen are my preferred tool brands as a home mechanic.

...and of course even with price etc being equal, you'd still go for the halfords version for its lifetime warranty and the fact they have a branch in virtually every town up and down the country, open on Sundays.

Indeed not, they are for my money far and away the best tools you can buy at their price level.

Just pointing out that they are made by a thrid party that also makes stuff for various other brands. e.g. there';s a long standing rumour/urban myth that Halfords pro tools are made in the Snap-On factory. What actually happens is that Blue Point (snap on's budget brand) source their stuff from various places, one of which is the same company that supplies many of Halfords pro tools.

I've got the 120 piece and it's been a great help at times both for the car and house.

I just wish they'd foregone some of the imperial bits in favour of a 15mm spanner, and there's another socket size just missed off the list (forgotten which, sorry!)

Halfords routinely reduce these so you'd be mad to ever pay the full price.
I picked up the 150 Piece set for £64.79 in 2013.

About as much of a sale as a DFS store

For all those who are thinking of these socket sets, for modern cars, you will only need 10-20% of the entire set so I wouldn't go overboard with the massive sets. I make do fine with the 60 piece set for at home DIY

In my opinion the qualities gone down hill the last one I purchased was still in the brown cardboard box that said made in China not Taiwan, considering how cheap Bahco (owned by Snap-On) are on Amazon I know which sets i'd go for.

I have a Bahco set, bought a couple of years back from Amazon, terrific quality for the money, and silly attachments you never use.

Sorry, "no" silly attachments...

And by the look of it, it's a mixed imperial / metric set, so unless you have kit from both traditions, half of the set will be useless!

That's what I used to think when I only owned Japanese and Italian motorcycles. Then I bought an old British car and now I'm very glad I have all the imperial stuff. It's only the main sockets which are imperial, so it's a long way off half.

Note that only the 200 piece set has a full range of spanners from 8mm to 19mm. The 150 piece set misses out 9mm, 11mm, 16mm and 18mm. 11mm (almost exactly 3/8th inch) is very important, 16mm is often used on brake fittings, and 18mm is seen occasionally.

What is this magical tool that you speak off?

​ball joint separator about £20 for fancy one but £150

​obviously u never done any proper work on the car apart from changing air filter!!!
go for the biggest one u can afford I have 150 pieces set which I bought 9 years ago and I am telling you its worth every penny
u couldn't buy 200 bits set them days which I would definitely buy and I am only DIYer

Reckon the British Cycling discount will work on top of the other ones? :wink:

Will find out soon as I'm going to try at my local Halfords.

Not heard of Bahco before but will certainly give them a try, especially being Snap-On owned (http://www.snaponindustrialbrands.com/31/about-us.htm). Even got their own Vortex type kit, with a flexy ratchet:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bahco-S140T-Push-Through-Socket-Set/dp/B004VLZ8KG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1457606034&sr=8-6&keywords=bahco+3%2F8

...although their set doesn't have std socket adapters and they're 12-pont sockets :/

However, as others have said, with the Lifetime Guarantee, a shop in every town and being open on Sundays...you can't beat the Halfords Pro stuff for convenience...

I have a 150 piece Halfords pro socket set, but have bought the 18 piece for £17 delivered as it'll be handy to keep in my tool box for everyday jobs. Details as below - excellent value AND free delivery! Heat added

Halfords Advanced Professional 18 Piece Socket Set 3/8"

The Halfords 18 piece Advanced Professional Socket Set 3/8" is a great value, Advanced Professional quality socket set, ideal for the DIY enthusiast or Advanced Professional. The set is made from fully polished chrome vanadium steel for superior performance and supplied with a robust carry case, ideal to keep all the parts organised and tidy. The set features 12 x standard metric sockets from 9mm to 20mm and 4 x deep sockets 13mm, 14mm, 15mm and 17mm, perfect for most jobs and tasks around the workshop or garage.
Halfords Advanced Professional 18 Piece Socket Set 3/8" Extra Info

Excellent Advanced Professional quality starter set
Lifetime guarantee*
Fully polished chrome vanadium steel for superior performance
Robust carry case, ideal to keep them organised

What's in the box

3/8" Drive:
12 x Metric Sockets: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20mm
4 x Deep Metric Sockets: 13, 14, 15, 17mm
1 x Extension Bar - 75mm
1 x 3/8" Drive Ratchet Handle

ive used a set from halfords for the last 16 years, it has been great. Think it was 150 piece. Just add a breaker to the set and you can do most diy jobs :smiley:

they cost about £40 now days but I paid £150 for mine when I bought it - possibly better quality but probably just more competition now days - it's not the same as a ball joint splitter as the cups fit the joint and push the joint out and then the new one in - fantastic tool /most satisfying to use!

Don't forget the advanced professional set have a lifttime guarentee and you don't need the receipt anymore (well for the last few years now). I agree that these sets are always on sale and you'd be daft to pay full price. I also agree that there will be a lot of sockets that you don't need and is really annoying when trying to get the right size socket 1st time, sods law dictates that you'll always pick up one size small or larger than you need and then have to put it back.

Do Halfords not sell the big spanner set with all the sizes in it? I can't see it on their site any more.

Never mind, I've found it...here

Please stop posting these things. My hubby is trying to convince me he needs them all :-(

well, if he uses them to work on your car and save you garage bills...

He does to be fair but can't get into the garage now because of all the tools he can't live without :-)

Wow, free delivery and I've got mine already! Next day. Very happy with the set (my 2nd halford pro advanced socket set).

I picked up the 28pc 3/8" pro socket set - metric, for a little shy of £25 earlier this week, on trade...

Even with the 15% off it was only £25.50

got the 200 piece set for £112.50! Thanks op

how? it cost me £127...

sign up to British cycling using the free code and get an additional 10% off (i have a trade card which took the cost to £125 initially hence the extra few quid off - 10% off £125) you should still get 10% off £127 (£12.70)

ended up with some duplicates in my set Craftsman and not halfords pro?
was i just unlucky or is this a common fauly?

if you have a set check they are the correct size and all have halfords on them