Kobalt and Gearwrench tools

[blazer1]

So I have been seeing alot of people here buying and/or talking about Kobalt and Gearwrench tools.

Are these tools actually quality tools? How do they compare to Craftsman? I understand they are not Snap On.

Thanks for your help!

 

[fm2176]

New guy here, but in my opinion the Kobalt (and Husky, for that matter) tools are every bit as nice as Craftsman. I wish they had them when I was a mechanic (they might have, but if so they were not marketed very well).

Like Craftsman (and unlike Snap-On, Mac, and Matco, which have limited warranties) Kobalt offers an unconditional warranty. Most of their wrenches and ratchets are fully polished, one reason why I always preferred the tool trucks over Sears (not an issue with Craftsman Professional now). It's been almost a decade since I turned a wrench for a living, so the only Kobalt tools I've purchased recently have been a set of slip-joint pliers comparable in feel and quality to my newer Craftsman Professional slip-joints but still inferior to my Mac pliers. If I were just getting into the business Loe's and Home Depot would be my first stops, though.

 

[treasureseeker]

I have some Gear wrench ratcheting wrenches. The ratchet end is pretty smooth but of my three sets each had one wrench with peeling chrome, and inside the open ends are lots of tooling marks.

Kobalt is now changing suppliers for the second time and both times are lower quality than the previous. They have lifetime warranty but what will your item be replaced with.

 

[DavidB]

The reason they're being talked about a lot right now is because Lowe's is clearancing them out and replacing them with offshore made Kobalt tools. Kobalt (US made) and Craftsman (US made) (as well as some other brands) are both made by a company called Danaher. So the Kobalt wrenches, sockets, and ratchets are comparable to the raised panel Craftsman stuff. If you need to warranty something in the future it won't be the same as what you buy now. I have multiple GearWrench (also Danaher) branded ratcheting wrenches and have yet to have an issue with them. It seems that Lowe's is no longer working with Danaher and going with another manufacturer. Probably the same one HF uses given the prices.

 

[mikester]

I have Gearwrenches in both Metric and SAE and I use them all the time. I usually grab one over a combination wrench. I bought them all at Lowes but last week their shelves were empty. I wonder what brands going to replace them.

 

[Big Bubba-76]

Not much dealing with Kobalt tools, except their toolboxes are good for home use just not great for everyday shop use.

As far as gearwrench goes, they are great! They don't seem to be a bad wrench, and they do have a lifetime warranty... however, i recommend buying the reversible ratcheting wrenches and not the straight ones. Simply because both wrenches will crack on the boxed end, but the straight ones will lock up in the head (no ratchet anymore). The reversible ones with the offset 15 degree heads will actually keep working once they crack.
On the other hand, i have never had the truck brand ratcheting wrenches crack on me, but there ya see why there is the price difference.

Also gearwrench ratchets are the great for the money, just get a rebuild kit for the spring in the head because they get weak really fast and self reverse.

gearwrench screwdrivers are as follows... phillips heads - marvelous / as good as cornwell i would gather to say... but the flat heads - absolute junk (get craftsman or truck brand)

 

[timesrgood?]

I think the fault of the tool changes to lower priced imports can be found by looking in the mirror. At the Lowes I go by the sockets and ratchets had a lot of dust on them before the clearance. That doesn't work when the business is to sell them.

If we bought those and avoided HF, those tools would not be discontinued. It is lost jobs.

I thought Armstrong made the USA tools for Danaher, who owns them. If there are any other USA Danaher tool companies? I noticed the Armstrong website doesn't proclaim 100% made in USA, etc etc, like before, I'm suspicious of the trend to assemble from global components.

I needed two, 3/4" brass elbows, male one side female the other,last weekend. HD charged me 13.07 apiece for them. Made by Watts China. It makes me sick. No other stores very close so had to get them big China stamped forever on them. It is almost unreal how their plan, the Chinese communist government that is, is working so well.

 

[dankicksass]

Kobalt is by-and-large overpriced, and before their new all-China revamp, their Chinese stuff wasn't very good. I wouldn't hold a lot of hope for their new China sourced hard line. If you only have a Lowes and a Home Depot local, HD is a better tool source IMO.

 

[Big Bubba-76]

i agree 100% with dan... husky is a great tool for the price... just get a different storage box for them, because the case the sets come in *****

 

[fm2176]

i agree 100% with dan... husky is a great tool for the price... just get a different storage box for them, because the case the sets come in *****

I keep a Husky set in the truck box. The case, while not as nice as other cases I've seen, seems to hold up pretty decent even with a few spare tools in it. IIRC, I paid about $30 for the set on Black Friday years ago.

 

[mp23]

I have a lot of the gearwrench ratching wrenches and I like them a lot. Better than the comporable craftsmans.

 

[MoToys]

I thought Armstrong made the USA tools for Danaher, who owns them. If there are any other USA Danaher tool companies? I noticed the Armstrong website doesn't proclaim 100% made in USA, etc etc, like before, I'm suspicious of the trend to assemble from global components.

They are all part of the apex tool company.

 

[Trucky]

Older Kobalt and any Gearwrench is decent stuff. I don't know about the new stuff flooding into my local Lowe's. It looks.... cheap. My current combination wrenches are Proto stuff, with a few c-man professionals to fill in the larger sizes that didn't come in the set (And one Homak 1" polished combo made in Taiwan... it's shorter than my larger C-man wrenches that are smaller in end size.. haha). I'm not picky with my tools. I just love one that FEELS like it's worth the money, and works like it too. The new Kobalt... made me shake my head. It's shiny BS. We won't know for real until it's bought and used for a while, but it looks cheap as all heck. I bet the tolerances ****. But I won't know until I measure them, maybe I'll take a caliper down there and check. But if I was someone lookin for wrenches or sockets and the like, i'd look at used stuff, preferably USA made.

 

[domain]

Craftsman, gearwrench, and now obselete Kobalt are all Danaher tool companies. New Kobalt is LG sourcing..

 

[saturdaymechanic]

I love my GW wrenches, flex heads, ratchets and other assorted tools. For me they work well with no issues.

Kobalt slip joint, tongue and groove pliers were junk. As was their adjustable wrench, too much play in the jaws. I bought a 3 pack set a couple years ago for a car kit and they were flimsy and felt like junk. Regular CMan pliers are head and shoulders above them. However I did pick up some long nose pliers for $5 and they were surprisingly decent.

I never bought any Kobalt again until the close outs. Great prices on US socket sets that I didn't have (hex, torx 1/4" deep) were great additions to my tools, since 99% of my sockets are CMan.

 

[BQuicksilver]

Gearwrench is probably the best quality/dollar out there, or close.

Kobalt IMO is like Craftsman. Easy warranty but the supplier keeps changing so who knows what your warranty. That said, you don't worry much about abusing either for that reason unlike those NWS pliers or or other special order items that will be a huge pain to warranty.