Using cheap tools to work on your Jeep is like trying to access the Internet with a banana. Yeah, cheap tools have their place, and I even have a few. Things like sledge hammers and dead-blows can be cheap, but when it comes to real tools like drills, drill bits, wrenches, sockets, grinders, saw blades, and so on, there is no room for China in a toolbox.
Anyway, I recently met a guy who was convinced that he wanted to install a lift kit on his Jeep Wrangler over the weekend. Not a big deal, really, because regular short-arm lifts are pretty easy to install. In fact, most simple kits can be slapped on in a driveway in an afternoon by a single competent mechanic. Unfortunately, his lift of choice was a long-arm kit with all the bells and whistles. It required removing welded brackets from the frame, drilling holes, and modifying the exhaust. It's really not a good kit for a first-time installer with the right tools. And no way is it a job for anybody with the wrong tools.
It looked like this guy had apparently visited his local discount tool store with a grocery list of necessary items and literally filled his shopping cart with the worst electrical garbage I have ever seen-all of the tools were brightly colored. Presumably, this is done so they are easier to find once you get pissed beyond all comprehension and toss them down the driveway and into the bushes.
It took twice as long as it should have to hack through the exhaust with the Day-Glo orange saws-nothing reciprocating saw. I made the final cut, and I'm convinced that in some other store the same tool was sold as an electric steak knife. Or perhaps it was partially the fault of the China-made blade that seemed to dull at the mere sight of anything harder than Balsa wood.
I was about 20 yards away when he started drilling holes for the brackets, and I would've sworn he was grinding. I really have no idea how any tool could emanate that kind of racket and not physically come apart in your hands. The fact that he insisted on using a 3/8-inch electric drill to spin a 7/16-inch bit through his frame certainly didn't help. And again, the import drill bits were likely made of material that was softer than the frame itself. It looked and sounded kinda like drilling into a 2x4 with a melted cube of butter attached to a small chain saw without a muffler.
It's really difficult to try and have a conversation about tools with someone who has no concept of what a quality tool is. The phrase "I have a Super Tool Mart XYZ, and it's lasted me forever" usually comes from someone who has never actually used a quality power tool. The user has no idea how much he's torturing himself or how much time he could save by using a higher-quality tool. Have you ever heard a professional mechanic say, "I use to use quality tools, but now I run the cheap stuff"? Me neither. Once you know how much better good tools work and how much quieter they are, you couldn't be paid to go back.
When you're shopping for tools, compare the amp draw of the motors. More amperage means more power for faster cutting, drilling, and grinding, as well as longer tool life expectancy. Typically, the cheap version of any power tool will be about half the price, with a motor rated at half the amps. For any given power tool, purchase the highest-amp version you can afford.
Maybe the problem is the cost of these potentially rarely used tools. I mean, does it really make sense for a guy to purchase $400 in tools to quickly and efficiently install his own lift kit? Maybe not, but if that's the case, he should've simply paid a professional to install the lift for him-time, money, and energy would've been better spent that way. Needless to say, the owner of the orange tools will not be driving his Jeep to work on Monday, as first planned. Good thing he works close by.-John Cappa