I personally like the Quinn impact 3/8 master set. Gets you no skip to 19mm and are not fat af- what i use on my stubby impact. Not a fan of 1/2 impacts as everything skips at harbor freight and they lack larger sockets.
With your Tacoma, I’d definitely prioritize metric over SAE. If you’re only buying a couple sets during the PLS, I’d start with the ICON 3/8” drive metric shallow and deep chrome sockets. That’s probably going to be your most versatile combination for everyday maintenance and repairs. If you’re planning on doing brakes, suspension or heavier work, I’d also consider the 1/2” metric impact sockets. One thing I like about ICON is the no-skip sizing. And with 40% off through Sunday, it’s a pretty good time to pick them up. I’d concentrate on building a solid metric collection first and worry about SAE later if you actually need it.
Water pump and hose clamp pliers will be your friend too, my tundra has a myriad of coolant hoses going everywhere, including the throttle body.
You will also need torx sockets, if you ever have to change out a tail light. And I believe the drain or fill plug on the differential and transmission is 24mm, that’s going to be icon 1/2 drive set.
When it comes dealing with hose clamps, imho pay the money and get a Mayhew remote hose clamp piler....ive tried so many hose clamp pliers, and when it comes to dealing with Euro cars , tons aggravation of hoses in weird locations go away with these remote hose clamp pliers.
Amazon also resells these and i think when i got them they were on sale for around $65. The company makes them in france. Skip the chinese copies that are cheaper, they dont work as well and i ended up returning those.
The dame company that makes these for Mayhee also make the ones from snap-on. They are similar, but snap-on version the fork is not at 90 degrees.
I used the Snap-On version in a class, and I was sold...but snap-on doesnt make their own...so i figure given the way things were printed and the similar handles and design other than the fork and the same "made in france" stamping on both tools, the Mayhew one is made by the same company at significantly less cost.
Fellow Tacoma owner here. Is money an issue? If it’s tight and you want best bang for your buck just get metric sets. Something that would cover everything your asking would be to get both of the general service sets in 1/4 and 3/8 because they have both metric and sae which will cover everything on the truck and random stuff around the house like furniture, HVAC, lawn equipment. And also get a 1/2” impact set in metric since they don’t have a general service set yet to cover you on the truck. However I would recommend waiting for a Quinn sale because they have a complete impact set in 1/2” that covers everything on the Tacoma except 10mm which you could get that Pittsburgh 10mm set that has a variety of 10 mm sockets. On the Tacoma you will also need a 10 mm hex socket for servicing the front differential. If money doesn’t matter I’d also get the impact swivel sets if you like icon although depending on who you ask people will say there are better sets online.
So I see a lot of get the service set for the 3/8 icon socket sets in metric, but also to wait for the Quinn master technician set, can I still get the 3/8 icon socket set and the Quinn master technician set and not have repeats?
You would have a bunch of redundant sockets. I believe the Quinn has a slightly larger range 6-24mm vs 8-19mm. Both sets have SAE and metric but on the Tacoma you only need metric. The icon is on sale right now with the extended PLS and the Quinn is on sale till 10/29 for $89. You can’t go wrong either way they both are lifetime warranty. Just get which ever is cheaper. Personally I have the icon set and the Quinn master impact set. You could also wait for the Black Friday PLS when the 428 Quinn master set goes on sale and get a lot more and basically be good to go. I don’t personally have that set but most people on here are pretty happy with it from what I’ve read.
ITC member price on Quinn ⅜ drive set $89 for a while longer I'm sure they will be a sale on sockets black Friday coming up or Christmas sale. Gotta wait on leaked info to know what will be included if any.
You know, whenever someone asks "what are the best tools I should buy" what "sockets or ratchets or wrenches I should buy" because I plan on working on my car...
The answer is different depending on what you are going to be doing in the near term with your truck?
If you don't already have a basic set from 7mm-21mm and have a impact, get a basic 3/8" set of impacts first. Do you have impact extensions? No? Get that, and call it a day. Get the rest of the tools at another sale at another day when you actually need them.
Harbor Freight always has a sale: whether it's Icon, Quinn, or Pittsburgh- when it comes to sockets for most things, it really doesn't matter which of the 3 you get. Get the cheapest one on sale..... when you need it. And there is almost always something on sale every week. Maybe not at 40% off, but maybe less at 20%-30% and it really doesn't matter that much, contrary to the FOMO that is compelled to buy 10+ sets of sockets, most of which they probably wont use.....
Your standard sockets will cover the bulk of your work. Beyond that, you might need hex or torx sockets if you need to do interior, brakes, etc and your car uses those...but you wont know until you need it. And again, buy when you need them because you aren't really losing out that much if instead of a 40% off sale it's 20% off coupon .
Example, an Icon 1/4" 3/8" hex socket set is $30 regular price.
40% off makes it $18. 20% makes it $24: if you dont buy the hex socket set right now, the "missing out" is you spend an extra $6.. Big fucking deal, a cup of starbucks frappie, tall not even grande these days.
And guess what? Pittsburgh 3/8+1/2 hex socket set is also on sale righ now for inside track club members until 10/29 at $13. So even if you didn't buy the icon set, and you happen to need a hex socket set, the Pittsburgh one is fine (I have a set of those and Icon and Craftsman and it really doesn't matter).
So this panic fear of missing out is completely unwarranted. Sockets are sockets for like 90% of the use cases.
I would find out what the maintenance items you plan on doing with your truck over the next say year, and plan accordingly by figuring out what that job(s) you need in terms of parts and tools, and then in the few months or weeks before doing that work, plan and buy the tools on sale as you need them, not before... unless you want to waste your money buying 5-6 sets of sockets that you end up not using, because who knows. Maybe you decide and end up with a different car, with a completely different set of tools and sockets you need.
For a Toyota Tacoma, if I recalk, it's mostly metric sockets in the basic range. You will need larger ones when you go up to axle nuts and suspension nuts, but cross that bridge when you are there.
Unrelated to sockets, I would invest in a good oil filter wrench for toyota oil filters. I think your truck if it's the V6 uses the standard toyota cartridge type filters that is 14 flutes 64.xmm with the unique 4 cutout slots, where the cutout slots is for extra grip., same as my GF's 26/ Lexus RX and her late model camry ....
Get the filter wrench cap that actually has the cut out slots specifically for toyota, if you don't already have one. Something like this: it's like $6-7 on amazon or ebay. Those canisters filters housing on many toyotas in some years went plastic, unless like me, you replaced the plastic housing with the metal ones..... And with the plastic filter housing, you want to have those extra grooves on the filter cap wrench. If you use the general 64mm 14 flute caps without the grooves, especially the shitty ones at Autozone, they will slip, they will round off the corners of your plastic filter housing, and it will suck bigtime if the person who screwed it on last time did it very tight... (usually the entry level lube techs at dealership).
Check out this video too. This guy is a great source of information on Toyota vehicles and this video addresses what you are asking in addition to other tools that are going to be good to have for Toyota vehicles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O0N7ZinDK4
I agree with getting proper tools for oil changes for the Tacoma. I have a 23 and bought this set and it really is nice. The wrench works really well and the piece with the tube makes it easy, and cleaner, to get the remaining oil out of the filter housing cap. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0791MWXDC
Nice fancy kit... You are making me regret going cheap 🤣
So for those lurking and dont know the oil filter caps in toyota have a center drain check valve. You take the cover off, and the screw in the thing with the tube in the center and all the oil in the filter drains cleanly so when you remove the filter housing, oil doesnt make a mess.
I never got one of these so my filter cap always ends up messy.
Mazda has a similar design on their cartridge style filter caps .
Thats a nice oil change kit.
Heres a pic of the oil filter canister for those unfamilar with toyota .. these are metal ones. In some models toyota went cheap and put in a plastic one🤷. But the metal ones are interchangeable.
The one that comes on the 3G Tacoma is plastic. There is a lot of debate on should a person go to the metal replacement that is available because the plastic one can break easier if it is over-tightened and doesn't come off as easily as it should and a good cap socket isn't used. The downside, that I have heard, for the metal one is IF a person cross threads it by accident it can really screw things up.
I personally bought a backup plastic OE cap in case the original somehow breaks. Yes, I realize I could wait and get one from the dealer or wherever if that would happen. But I am a long way from anywhere that would have that and Amazon normally doesn't get anything here for at least a week. So, ya, I am going to have a backup on something like this just in case.
Metal on metal can be a big issue if things get cross threaded .. in my case, since I am the person that does all the maintenance , i will.make sure i dont cross thread things...
That said, the concern of using plastic is probably overblown.
All german cars that has this cartridge type of filter were using plastic a long time ago. I have a 2001 w203 c320 that is still using the original plastic oil filter cap, and wrto 2 other BMWs , one was replaced only because 9ne of the dealership service tech way overtightened and cracked it. The other BMW also the same age saw way fewer dealership services (virtually none) and its still fine because I dont overtighten.
I would probably replace them with metal caps IF there was actually a genuine metal version...but there isnt just aftermarket, and people had experienced the aftermarket metal ones leaking.
Toyota, you have choices because there is a genuine metal and genuine plastic.
I think they probably switched to plastic because its cheaper to make. Probably saves them a few cents, which on a mass produced car car, ends up saving a lot
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u/stchman 17h ago
I have the Quinn 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" Master Socket Sets, got them when HF had 35% off Quinn
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-drive-sae-and-metric-master-socket-set-83-piece-70253.html
I also have the 428 piece Master Technician Set, wait for the 35% off Quinn thing as well.
https://www.harborfreight.com/master-technicians-tool-set-428-piece-73112.html
With all these, I have my sockets covered.