Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Pub Talk). This thread is read-only.
Most people know Thorsen tools as a cheap ass, gas station brand of tools you buy in a pinch to put a new alternator belt on your car along the side of the road and then proceed to leave on the side of the road to spare the additional 7 feet per gallon the added weight of the tools would cost you. However, there was a time when Thorsen produced an excellent quality tool. I still have one of my grandpa’s Thorsen ratchets from the 60’s and it works great. Here is the story of a good tool gone straight to Hell.