HART impact sockets for impact wrenches

HART Impact Sockets Upgrade Your Impact Wrench Game Without Draining Your Wallet

So you bought an impact wrench and are ready to go to work. To save some money, you can just use the chrome sockets in the mechanicals you have. When you reach for them there is a lingering feeling that perhaps the impact sockets are there for a reason. We decided to take a closer look at HART impact sockets to see if they were a contender for the best impact socket for the money.

Why use an impact socket?

Everyone seems to know someone who has seen someone else get cut in the eye by splattered chrome when a standard socket on an impact wrench fails catastrophically. While possible in extreme cases, most socket failures have low news value and are simple.

Typical chrome sockets are designed for ratchets – even cordless ratchets. They will last a lifetime with these tools with a little wear on the corners. Impact wrenches are much more powerful, though, and chrome sockets are usually not thick enough to take as much impact over time.

The impact socket is thicker and the metallurgy is specifically blended to handle the force of an impact wrench. They also ditched the chrome that would actually splinter sharp when it failed.

HART Impact Sockets: Best Impact Socket for the Money?

If you walk into any home improvement store, you'll find some great options for saving money on impact sleeves. Between house brand and consumer/DIY brands, the best shock sockets for your money might just depend on which store you're in.

The HART impact receptacle is interesting for several reasons. Since price is a top priority, their pricing matches or exceeds that of their closest competitors. A 10-piece 3/8-inch kit sells for $31.28 in SAE or metric. If you want to upgrade to the larger 1/2-inch drives, they're $40.98 each for a set of 11.

Then there is convenience. You can buy the set from your local Walmart or online. If you're anywhere near a small town, chances are there's a Walmart nearby.

Of course, we can't ignore the construction of the socket itself. There is a difference between cheap impact sockets and high value impact sockets. Cheaper may skimp on material or thickness, and be more likely to fail. HART's impact sockets use chrome vanadium steel (CR-V) and are forged to our desired material thickness.

All things considered, the CR-V is "probably" more vulnerable under stress. Under certain conditions, it crumbles and crumbles. Often, impact sleeves do something extra to the steel to make it safer to use (such as thickening the sleeve walls or adjusting the steel mix overall). The advantage of the CR-V over the CR-MO is that the CR-V socket does not deform easily. This is ultimately a tradeoff.

We warned against chrome earlier, but HART seems to have made these sockets thick enough to handle consumer-level shock duty. As part of the material mix, the CR-V material should help increase the stiffness of these impact sleeves and resist long-term wear.

HART Shock Socket Kit

the bottom line

HART impact sockets are a great option for fitting the right accessory to your impact wrench so you can get the job done right. Their low cost compared to traditional professional brands is attractive to DIYers, and their build quality meets the needs of professionals, too.