Harbor Freight Pittsburgh Vs Quinn Socket Sets 

I'm going to buy some of those Quinn sockets because my name is Quinn

Whats great about Harbor Freight is that when your working on your car at home in the driveway and you get stuck because you need some odd ball tool and its Sunday you can run to Harbor Freight and most likely find that tool. Who cares if its not a Snap on? You just need to get your job done.

I bought the Quinn set because the color on the sockets makes them easier to sort out.

I prefer the Quinn, as the finish and feel seems a little better.

You raised a great observation. I would definitely be interested in a ratchet tear down video. I'd also be interested in putting the calipers on the sockets to compare them also. That could save us viewers a ton of money long term. Great video bud!

Hey there. Great video. I have been buying HF's Pittsburgh tools for many years and had only one ratchet strip out on me, so I'll continue buying them. BUT, I recently treated myself to some Quinn sockets for two reasons. 1) I love the color band, and 2) my last name is Quinn. I thought it's pretty cool to have my name on my tools. Worth a few dollars more. :-)

I went with the Quinn over the Pitt cause of the socket bands indicating metric or standard. However I do love the green ratchets and I wish I could get both without spending more money! I do have the Pitt swivel head ratchet and love it!

I bought the Quinn set just because I like blue grip 🤷🏻‍♂️😂

I am buying a Quinn 3/8 drive socket set for my son-in-law for only one reason. He and my daughter named their baby Quinn. He already has a set of tools and doesn't need more (although who among us doesn't always want MORE, right?). So, maybe he'll use them maybe he won't, but my gift should make him smile and that's reason enough!

I'd like you to do a video where you take these ratchets apart and show us the insides. Everybody else on RU-vid compares the Quinn ratchet set to a different version of the Pittsburgh ratchet. And then if possible take them to failure so we can see the foot pound difference if at all. I find it incredible that nobody has made a video about this yet. And this video is 2 years old. Thank you for your great videos and stay healthy out there.

The colorization of the Quinn sockets clearly shows they are a higher quality socket. Honestly I bought the quinn's because the color stripe matched the red and blue anodized socket rails I had.

I got the 428 piece set and i like the color ring sockets because if you're using metric and standard sockets it doesn't confuse you as bad

I have all Pittsburgh 6-point sockets with the different colors for different sizes, and I've been very happy with them. The color coding deal is super convenient and they're plenty strong enough that the ratchet has always been the weak link. After breaking my cheapo 3/8ths HF ratchet with the Pry Bar of Death (required on a Dodge Dakota starter), I've got a new 120XP ratchet on the way and it'll be serving with the HF sockets.

Was going to buy the Quinn set. Glad I saw this first. Awesome video.

I continue to buy Quinn because Pitt is all out of stock in my area. It sucks to spend more but nothing else I can do. I did get a free bucket though, so I got that going for me I guess lol

Ive had the quinn set for 4 years now ive used it for all kinds of cars boats great set up still works like new i have a special love for it it was my first set

Thank you for the post, I don’t have a color preference but I Do have a Budget preference. 👍

I got a small Quinn set on open box- with nothing missing. I have to say I really like the set. The blow box it came in is especially nice- and worth something to me. Really, it's the first blow box I've had that works really well.

OMG!!! I just told my wife I'm going to get the $99.99 Quinn socket set because they have our last name...too funny.🤣

I bought the Quinn 1/2" drive set a couple months ago. My HF store didn't have an equivalent Pittsburgh one but the Quinn seems fine so far. The ratchet and sockets seem pretty solid quality.

Thanks dude, I was just looking for some sockets and was seriously considering Quinn. Thanks to your video I went with Pittsburgh, saved some $$$. Thank you. By the way I like the green and black better anyway!!!

Hey I noticed it while in the store. Same. Just when you thought things were stepping up. But I’m partial to blue. Lol

I was in a bunch when changing my shock absorbers on my little truck, I honestly chose Pittsburgh over Quinn bc i preferred the green to blue.🙂

I bought the 66 piece Quinn set because it was an open box sale for $40, all of the pieces were in it. Pittsburgh would've been a no brainer if it weren't for the sale.

It's worth $5.00 to get the labeled sockets and the blue looks much nicer. I just picked up the 1/4 inch set and the deeps, they have a nice finish for the price.

Love a man with hard tools!!!!

As a matter of fact I was at Harbor Freight this Saturday afternoon and was pondering which 1/4” drive set to get. I came to the exact same conclusions you did so went with the Pittsburgh. Same 72 tooth ratchet as the Quinn. I may color fill the sizes on the sockets if I’m really bored sometime.

Just bought the Quinn set, only difference is they look nicer than my old Pittsburgh set! Functionally they are the same - Kris VFI

My store has these at the same prices. I purchased the Quinn socket sets with coupons for $2-$5 cheaper than the Pittsburgh Pro sets. Yes they are 100% the same. I was filling a shop box with just sockets so I didn’t get any ratchets.

You are correct, and it was something I noticed a while back with most of their tools. It's a choice of saving money and/or the colorway. Since I have the Quinn 3/8" 72-piece socket set, I bought the matching 1/2" 21-piece set because I was able to get for $27 and it matches my no-skip 3/8" set from 6mm to 24mm. Now I can go and buy a single 16mm, 18mm, 32mm, 35mm, and 36mm (for less than $40 total) in the 1/2" and I'm done with sockets.

I bought it because of the sockets. I have always bought craftsman due to the warranty. I have gone back to Sears and within 5 minutes walking out with my replacement socket/tool. But the quality of the tool has lowered over the years and thought if I just buy cheap, then I'll just go back in and simply buy a replacement so I bought Quinn at HF. I thought I was buying a better quality socket set. The main reason was the color-coded sockets. My eyesight isn't the same and I can't see the craftsman writing anymore on my sockets without help. My socket wrench just broke and looking online for warranty info, I somehow found you. I asked HF if they will take it back and they will not. 90 days only warranty and I bought this set 6 months ago. After I watched your video and upon further research, HF will take back Pittsburgh without issue according to them so I will only buy Pittsburgh tools at HF.

Thanks for the info, really helpful. Expecially for us trying to stay on a budget. I live in the Rocky mountains far away from even a parts store, I don't have a lot of money so it helps a lot when you do these types of videos.

I bought the quinn sockets without the ratchet because i needed deep sockets and couldn't find any made by pitsburg

When I went to harbor freight today for a socket set, Quinn was the cheapest they had on the rack. I didn't see any Pittsburgh

Thanks Brother Man, I just need the 21 piece Quinn 1/4 inch set yesterday, thinking 🧐 I was stepping up a notch in quality.. I'm taking them back and am going to exchange them for the Pittsburgh's.

Thanks for pointing that out! That is funny!!

The Pittsburgh and Quinn ratchets that come in the case sets are not the same.

there is one difference and its worth 5-10 $for me even though i bought the Pittsburgh the size and readability of the Quinn ident. characters is far superior . The Pittsburgh the Pit. are almost impossible to read if you have any difficulty reading regular type . I myself wear readers I have a minor eye injury that left me with bad sight up close . The Quinn stuff I figured was the same as Pitz as you did . However that line of color and the double banded font makes the sizes especially in daylight easy to read where as the Pitz chrome is almost impossible to read in bright light .. Just FYI i went and exchanged mine it was worth the 10 buck

It's like to thank Butters for the great information on the Quinn set of sockets.

I was at HF yesterday and I did notice that they were very similar if not identical as you have said.

I like the coloring on the socket set and..thanks to the pandemic it’s the only set they had in stock..it was $10, didn’t care in the slightest. It was nice that it came in a clamshell vs loose sockets. Just something cheap I keep in my car for emergencies

I bought the 66 piece Quinn tool kit only reason why was because the plastic box of the kit came in was a better quality and I was giving it to my father to keep in his truck

Great video! I was on the fence about purchasing the Quinn sockets over the Pitts sockets. But I'll save me a couple of bucks and just stick to Pitts.

Bought my dad a 32 piece Quinn set because all his snap on was stolen and my sk is at my job. He needed some sockets and a ratchet. It came in a hard case. The Pittsburg from what I saw at my location didn’t have the same set and with a hard case.

Excellent video. Thank you for posting. Like you, I noticed HF it just rebadging their tools and charging more for them. They did it with their breaker bars, ratchets, sockets etc. On close comparison, they are the same tools. Hope this marketing scheme doesn't come back to bite them in the ass.

I have all the metric Quinn’s. It’s nice because of the bands on the bottom so it’s easier to differentiate between metric or standard.

I saw that after I bought the Quinn 1/4 inch set. The Quinn And Pittsburgh are the exact same as you said in the video. But not a huge price difference and they are good for the price. Also the Pittsburgh colored set is the same except for the color. But they were a fraction of the price of my GearWrench set was.

You are correct but I like the blue and red stripe because it matches the westling socket trace that I bought that's why I paid the extra

They are the same. I bought the 1/2" Quinn without really thinking about it. I had a coupon so no biggy. Not all packages are equivalent between brands, however. I'm thinking about the Quinn 3/8" set with some deep sockets and a few other goodies (SKU 64555). There doesn't seem to be a P'burg equivalent.

I bought mine before they went up in price...the selling point is the color "coding" on the sockets. I got a 1/4 and 3/8 drive both for 17.00 + or - about 2 yrs ago. Haven't been able to break the ratchets yet!

Thanks for the video Tony. They are definitely identical in overall build quality. HF managers at two locations near me have told me they are the same. They are only a part of a newer lineup of Quinn sets that are being released in November. The new Quinn sets will have no skips and different size ranges and such. These Quinn sets you showed are 4 to 5 bucks more than the old Pittsburgh sets, I am not sure that qualifies as "a ton of money", either set is still a great value for a nice set of Taiwan tools that are still priced well below many competitors Chinese made sets. I too have a set of each, one Pittsburgh set I have had about 6 years in the trunk of the car, and I recently bought an Identical Quinn set in 3/8 drive to use when I go to the salvage yard. Both are nice and I only spent the extra $4 on the Quinn just to check them out, yup, same as the 6 year old Pittsburgh, still great bang for buck.

Hi tony, I’m not a Quinn fan , I’ve used Pittsburg in the past and It’s great and affordable, I was going to try Quinn last week then I saw what you just showed and I got Pittsburg instead, excellently done video ty, Bob,

I had bought the 1/2 inch because I need 1/2 and didn’t want to spend to much money on it to use it not very often. I made the choice to go with Quinn because a gentlemen at my harbor freight shopping told me he was a mechanic and would recommend the Quinn’s over the Pittsburgh’s. I took his advice thinking he would know more than me. Guess I should’ve waited on this video to come out. I do prefer blue over green, but no so much that it’s worth 10 bucks more for a guy that is a diyer at doesn’t need 1/2 inch that often. Glad to see this video and won’t make the same mistake twice. His biggest selling point to me was he uses it everyday in a shop environment and doing everything under the sun and it hasn’t broke on him.

I bought the Quinn set because the 300 and 1 piece Pittsburgh set was out of stock. They both were 25% off. I'm glad I got the Quinn set because you end up getting a lot more pieces of actual stuff you'll use in the 428. It's not loaded with a bunch of fillers. But I know I would have been just as happy getting the 301 piece set if they would have had it in😊

I bought Quinn socket today they had 20% off on Quinn and Icon socket sets Cupon

The only Quinn tools that I have are the 2 digital torque wrenches...LOVE them! As for socket sets...I don't care about colors and also don't like "comfort" handles. If I buy sockets at HF, they're going in my truck box, so, as long as they fit my ratchets, I'm good with them. If I need them, I'll buy the set that I have a coupon for.

Got some quinn sockets due to the color differentiation and it's not as expensive for me since I work there, have a pittsburgh pro extendable ratchet and a icon 3/8 gold ratchet. Looking to start collecting more of them since colors make it real easy, and I like the quinn brand as a whole

Ha Tony i am finding older videos you have made that i must have missed!! I so enjoy your videos and learn something from all of them. Also enjoy spending a little time with freedom loving Americans to keep my sanity until we defeat/destroy the communists who have taken over....

I like the stripes on the quinn so its easier to tell metric apart from SAE

LOL. In first few seconds it is apparent that they are identical. Didn't pay that much attention last time I was in there.

Months ago I bought a set of 3/8 deep metric sockets only. They were a dollar cheaper than Pitts Pro. But the other day I was in the store and made the same observation as you. Yeah, they are the same. Both still skip 18mm for some reason.

Is that a stemless glass of merlot? Asfor the socket and ratchet sets didnt bother with those, but 10 bucks for the quinn 6 point sockets made in taiwan are ok, i still prefer harder chrome steels. Bought them to test and see what everyone was talking about since i had the $10 coupon.

I bought it because I went in for sockets and the set was cheaper than buying the sockets with my inside track club discount

Thanks I bought the Quinn

So this vid was 4 years ago - have you done any comparison since? If so what were your thoughts?

Mine was color preference but great video dude

I noticed these side by side last week and I'd prefer the green and black anyway lol

The ratchets are basically the same except for color but there are significant differences in the deep well sockets. The Quinn’s are heavier for a given size, which comes from extra material on the drive side and possibly slightly heavier walls.

I've got the master tech set it's really good I think.

Over time i bought each quinn master sets offered by harbor freight when there was a sale. If you are patient enough you can pay Pittsburgh price for the quinn stuff. I only did that because im a little OCD and wanted my sets to match.

I knew they were the same set when i first seen them in store awhile ago

I bought Quinn simply for the color coordination 😂 makes a quick glance that much quicker.

I’ve seen a few ratchet testing videos where the Quinn took out the Pittsburgh pros by a fairly large margin. Have also seen people compare the sockets to kobalt sockets for a much better price. Just food for thought.

I will admit I bought the Quinn ratchet/ socket set thinking they were better quality than the Pittsburg, I had been impressed with the Quinn ( and Doyle) pliers. I guess I was mistaken, not that they're bad tools for the average home owner occasional repairs.

If I want a ratchet that's better than the Pittsburgh, I get the Pittsburgh pro. The low-profile flex head ratchets are NICE, especially with the longer handles. Don't know how I ever got anything done without them. Not a Quinn fan.

Hey, just checking in. This video was four years ago just wondering is The Quinn Tools any better today in 2024 I bought the Quinn set. It looked like the sockets had more teeth. I’m not sure the terminology more teeth than the Pittsburgh sockets correct me if I’m wrong if they’re the same amount of teeth inside Pittsburgh and Quinn sockets the sockets. 2024

Bought the Quinn due to ratchet color, color coded bands for SAE & MM...AND... the guy at Harbor Freight says the metal for the Quinn brand is better than the Pittsburgh. Who really knows though. He also mentioned that it really didn’t matter cuz both have a lifetime warranty. Purchased deep and shallow for 1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2”. I bought these for my Dad who has an assortment of about 150 sockets but all assorted and jumbled. All in was $200 for everything. Time will tell but I think the little extra is worth it for the above mentioned reasons.

I just bought the qquin master set for 315, only reason i chose that of the 301 pitsbuurv set is because it cone with wrenches too

For the price I'd get the tekton set in the picture behind you. 1/4 set was $25 store pickup from home depot.com. I think the 3/8 was the same price. Maybe $5 more.

I have the Pittsburgh 3/8" set & a few other tools that I keep in the back of my car. I was looking at the Quinn set and observed the same thing you did, they are basically the same. I guess what you are really paying the $10 more for is the blue or red paint line that identifies Metric or SAE, not sure that is worth the extra $10 but I guess some people would.

thanks that is funny

It could be a higher grade of steel ?

I don't go to HF alot but I do like to get stuff from there that I need but don't use alot or something of that nature, I bought the Quinn 12pt shallow set with ratchet because I wanted metric and standard shallow 12pts for some of the one off jobs where I actually need a 12pt socket got em on sale with a coupon for like 19 bucks not sure what the other stuff was priced at but for me it's not a huge deal because I don't shop there all the time and I very rarely buy hand tools from there but the painted lines to make it different from metric to sae is handy

Hey Tony. I haven't bought anything from hf. I do have a lot of craftsman, old and new, the red stripe looks nice. They do have some good tools im just stuck on going to sears

I only own the Pittsburg ratchets that came in the 301piece set which I believe is the hands down best socket set for the tools to price ratio but anyway those ratchets weren't cushion grip so I figured let's try em then I saw the 1/4in Quinn set for $20 plus I don't believe the Pittsburg set was 6 point so I grabbed it & so far it feels good & tight as well as plenty strong for anything 1/4in but I'm a 6point fan when ever possible I just feel they work better without slippage or damage but then the Quinn 3/8th's set was the same price with a coupon so I figured I'd try it out for $20 only down side was it was a 12 point but I'll still give it a chance...keep up the good work ....

I have Pittsburgh in my tools at home and the Quinn in our service truck and a mixed variety in our shop boxes at the farm. I have not been able to tell difference in any of the Pittsburgh or the Quinn. same quality in my own opinion. just went that route to separate my own tools between farm tools and service truck tools. I do like Pittsburgh. don't need snap-on or big brand names for a warranty when offered pretty much same thing with Pittsburgh especially filling a toolbox on a budget.

Now you tell me. I always see one of these HF videos after I just purchased something there. 😂 I needed a few deep sockets for use as a home owner. You know, the occasional work on my riding mower or snow blower. I believe I picked the Quinn set (no ratchet with this) as it was on a black plastic anti-theft rail which I modified later with a dremel tool so it could work as a socket rail. I do think (as I look back) that the slightly higher price made me think the set was a bit better. Oh well, live and learn. 😀

Same with the icon breaker bars

I bought some Quinn 1/4 mm shallow set cause I was lacking shallow sockets

I bought this set it was same price as Pittsburg and I had half off coupon for the quin set so that’s why I bought it

I got the 1/2 blue quin because the other sockets I have for 3/8 do not have any color so this helps distinguish them. Color is an important aspect and each persons color preference is different. I also do not like their rainbow color ones.

The green and black Pittsburg is really pretty.

I compared them in the store and thought the exact same thing----identical except for the colors. Even the direction switch has the same feel. So yeah, I'll bet they have the same internals as well. With Harbor Freight pushing the new brands, I wonder if this set is going to be eventually replacing the Pittsburgh being it's identical.

Same thing as the Icon breaker bar- Side by side with the Pittsburgh pro but way more money

My brother hase Pittsburgh and i have quinn so we dont get them mixt up

I honestly just paid extra just for the color coding to easily/quickly and continually organize my tool box... Hey that’s how my mind works... is it smart... probably not, but it works for me...

Anyone know the material makeup of both? Maybe a stronger metal on the Quinn.

I got the Quinn because the color coded sockets. Yeah I could have done it to the Pittsburgh but didn't really wanna bother with that. Plus usually when I get any sort of harbor freight tool with moving parts I usually test a few and pick the one with the least amount of play. And to me it seemed the Quinn I chose was much tighter than the Pittsburghs. But I was gonna go with Quinn anyways because of the colored sockets. May not ever use the ratchet tbh I have much better ones but it was cheaper to get the set than the sockets in their own.

I mean people do pay for color I see shoes where a certain color is $50 or more than other colors. I just don’t like how their giving them new names and passing them along as a higher quality just keep the Pittsburgh name and add colors.

About the Quinn set cuz I got it for the same price is a Pittsburgh Pro and I like the color