I'm ready to order a decent amount of cranks soon and was wondering what brands, sizes, and colors I should look into for fall. I'm not looking to spend more than $6 - $7 on each.

Bomber Model A (Baby Threadfin Shad.... or any shad pattern really)

Bandit Footloose... any color

I change the hooks on both of these.

Bang for your buck, IMO, are Bomber, Norman, and Bandit.   I happen to like Bomber and Norman.  I've never tried a Bandit, but I hear good things.  I'm sure there's others (Strike King and Rebel comes to mind), but these are the ones I'm familiar with.  

Bagley's require too much tuning in my experience, and their finishes are delicate.  Rapalas are great, but you'll eat up your money fast.  Lucky Craft is out of your stated price range.

I'd get the basic colors.  For me, I think that's shad, fire tiger, red crawdad, and maybe bluegill.  Anything else, IMO, is for fine tuning your collection.   What's the main forage fish in your lakes?  In my favorite lake it's shad and shad colored cranks work well.  In another it's bluegill, and there bluegill works a little better.  Firetiger and red crawdad work well under certain circumstances anywhere.  

I'd buy a few shallow, medium and deep divers.   Whether you go with Norman, Bomber or Bandit it doesn't matter.   They have pretty much equal quality.  Selecting a a few in each diving category in the basic colors will serve you well.

For shallow cranks, I like Bomber Square As.  I also like Norman Thin Ns and Mad Ns.

For medium divers, I like Bomber Model As, and Fat As.  

For deeper divers, I like Bomber Fat Free Shads, and Norman Deep Little Ns and DD22s.  

"Shallow," "medium" and "deep" are subjective.  Just pay attention to the depth ratings - that's what matters.

If you want a good crawdad crank, Rebel's Crawdad is awesome.  It comes in various diving depths.  Red, and chartreuse work well for me.  They are inexpensive, too.

What kind of water do you fish - - clear?  dirty?  Do you catch fish deep or shallow in the fall?  

Rocks?  Wood?  

I fish clear and staind just depends on which lake I'm at and I havent really fished the fall yet, this will be my first year.

I think I'm going to go with some bomber model As and deep/shallow running rapalas as I have had good luck with their shallow running line. I may buy a few expensive cranks but whats the differences between average and expensive? What Lucky Craft lures are good?

My #1 fall crankbait is the Norman Thin N in Lavender Shad.  I have yet to find a body of water it will not catch fish on.

Brad

I fish clear and staind just depends on which lake I'm at and I havent really fished the fall yet, this will be my first year.

I think I'm going to go with some bomber model As and deep/shallow running rapalas as I have had good luck with their shallow running line. I may buy a few expensive cranks but whats the differences between average and expensive? What Lucky Craft lures are good?

Good all-around choice. Bomber and Rapala both make some good baits. The Bomber 7A has probably won more tournaments than any other crankbait in life.

Throw a Flat A in there for the clear water, and if you have any rocky structure at all, you are required by crankbait law to get some Storm Wiggle Warts in a crawfish pattern.

Get to know cranks before you start throwing big money at them....as you figure out what kind of designs and actions work best in your waters, you'll have a better idea of what to look for when/if you decide to get something "high-end."  

There's some really good, affordable options to get started with. Some of Rapala's designs will hang with anybody. The DT6 is one of the best tight-wiggling mid-divers you can buy at any price, and the Shad Raps are nearly unbeatable as a clear water, diving finesse crank.  

If you want to go get a taste of "high-end" plastic shallow cranks - - I would recommend O.S.P. over Lucky Craft......Blitz, Blitz Max, and HPF.

Or you can go custom/small co. - - one of the balsa crank carvers like Big M (a forum member here), Zoom WEC, Flat-Shad, JawJacker, etc....

The difference is action.....finely tuned baits that offer actions and designs that aren't available from mass mfgs.  

Just because they're high-end doesn't mean everything they make will catch fish for you - -  that's why you need to know what designs work well on your home waters before you invest a bunch.    

I fish clear and staind just depends on which lake I'm at

Clear to stained this' what I use most of the time year round, to make my life easier.

Spring- Thin red crawfish like Rapala DT's craw or a red trap

Summer-Prefer a wide wobblers like Norman DD22 or any other deep diver in shad

Fall - either a thin or fat crankbait in shad, in shallow,  let the fish tell ya what they want

i have A LOT of bomber crankbaits. almost 90% of crankbaits from medium runners to deep are from the fat free shad family.

they are great baits.

Nah nah

Lots of good selections already listed, one I would not do without is the Mann's Baby 1 Minus, as it's name implies it runs 1 foot or less depending on you hold the rod tip.