# Tools: Facom vs. Stahlwille vs. Usag

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tools-facom-vs-stahlwille-vs-usag/300756>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 23, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tools-facom-vs-stahlwille-vs-usag/300756 "2005-04-23T14:51:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tools-facom-vs-stahlwille-vs-usag/300756/1 "2005-04-23T14:51:45Z")

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I am going to open a tyre shop soon and I’m going to need a good toolkit. I got offers from those three tool makers, but I don’t know which one to choose from. Any of you guys have personal experiences with these brands of tools?

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**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tools-facom-vs-stahlwille-vs-usag/300756/2 "2005-04-23T15:00:46Z")

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Also a clarification: All I am looking for is a workbench, a set of spanners, a set of sockets, etc. No specialized tools such as torque/angle wrenches.

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**Author:** ![chaparralv8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@chaparralv8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaparralv8)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tools-facom-vs-stahlwille-vs-usag/300756/3 "2005-04-23T17:22:04Z")

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Allen (USA) are really good, as are Facom.

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tools-facom-vs-stahlwille-vs-usag/300756/4 "2005-04-23T19:30:01Z")

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I’m not a mechanic, but the facilities guys and mechanical assembly guys where I used to work (a factory) swore by Snap-On tools.

I’ve also heard that Matco, Mac and Cornwell are also pretty good.

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tools-facom-vs-stahlwille-vs-usag/300756/5 "2005-04-23T19:31:11Z")

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Oh sorry… here’s the link to the Snap-On site: [http://www.snapon.com/](http://www.snapon.com/)

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**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tools-facom-vs-stahlwille-vs-usag/300756/6 "2005-04-23T22:27:05Z")

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> [@Dog80](#):
>
> Also a clarification: All I am looking for is a workbench, a set of spanners, a set of sockets, etc. No specialized tools such as torque/angle wrenches.

If your going to get into the tyre/tire business, you better consider purchasing a good torque wrench. Most modern cars, especially those with alloy wheels require that the lug nuts are torqued to prevent warping of the wheel/hub assembly. I know someone that had a wheel break while traveling at highway speeds, luckily she got the car stopped before any damage was done. The auto club mechanic that came to help her had to use a cheater bar to get some of the lugnuts loose. I use a torque wrench to tighten the wheels on all my vehicles even though it is not required for the types of wheels they have.