Plan to treat myself to a decent set of USA made combination wrenches for Christmas. SK long panel and Wright full polish both have my interest, I have not actually seen or used any of the new SK products ,the Wrights have a very traditional old school feel and are priced about the same. Anyone have any recent experience with these products ?
SK or Wright Combination wrench opinions
- Thread starter DOUGD
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85camaro
Banned
I can't speak for Wright, but the SK wrenches I own (all of my SK tools for that matter) have been darned good.
Farmer Joe
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I have a set of SK which might be right before, or pretty much as soon as the new merger. It's a full polish combination set up to 19mm. No complaints at all. I really like them, and am considering buying another set to keep as a backup
greasemonkey44
Well-known member
ive got wright grips and a set of xl sk wrenches; honestly they are both tough great wrenches
i use them both and they are both strong and have great fit and finish
i use them both and they are both strong and have great fit and finish
toolmaker1
Well-known member
I love my sk's just make sure you get the long pattern, the regulars are wayyy too short(shorter than crapsman rp's)
GoBlue
Well-known member
Long pattern Sk wrenches are really nice. Another great wrench is the KD non ratcheting long pattern wrench fwiw.
I Own/Owned both and Im partial to Wright. There Standard Length Wrenches are about the Same Length, Which by "Truck tool" standards is short, The good thing about SK is they offer long pattern options but then again they are about the same length as Standard pattern "Truck tools".
dwm
Well-known member
I don't have any of the new SK, but I have a little of the old. I'd pick the Wright just to get WrightGrip. You won't go wrong with either, but when I need an open end, WrightGrip is nice to have. I have the D980 and D978 combination wrench sets (come with the merchandiser boards) and I wouldn't trade them for anything in their price range, but I needed/wanted the merchandiser boards.
brianpgriset
Well-known member
I have the SK long pattern combo set to 1 1/2" and I like them alot. They are solid. Just waiting for the 86037 set (long pattern to 24mm) metric set to start hitting shelves so I can buy that set up too.
FYI I emailed SK and they said they would ship late October to mid November so they should start hitting online retailer shelves soon.
FYI I emailed SK and they said they would ship late October to mid November so they should start hitting online retailer shelves soon.
For what you are looking for I would go for Armstrong. USA made, very nice and at a decent price point.
My "real world" experience with SK wrenches is that the box end has a lot of extra material on it making it fat and bulky.....hardly ideal in tight areas and as we all know tight areas are common in automotive situations.
The shank portion (between the box and open end) is also fat and bulky and it has an akward shape to it.
The open end is fat too.
SK wrenches are not made to a very tight tolerance either, so not a lot of precision goes into them. Many of mine were a semi-sloppy fit onto the fasteners I tried to use them on.
I have had good luck with SK 1/4 and 1/2 drive sockets though.....
My "real world" experience with SK wrenches is that the box end has a lot of extra material on it making it fat and bulky.....hardly ideal in tight areas and as we all know tight areas are common in automotive situations.
The shank portion (between the box and open end) is also fat and bulky and it has an akward shape to it.
The open end is fat too.
SK wrenches are not made to a very tight tolerance either, so not a lot of precision goes into them. Many of mine were a semi-sloppy fit onto the fasteners I tried to use them on.
I have had good luck with SK 1/4 and 1/2 drive sockets though.....
slipjointed
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I have 2011 production Wright full polish combos, they're superb. For sockets I prefer SK, but IMO Wright's wrenches are superior in fit and finish, as well as comfort.
Hyster Gareth
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I have had both and I would say you can't go wrong with either. I can't speak for the new Wright grip as mine are the older pattern.
They are full polish and very nice. I think either would suit your needs.
Another brand to look at would be Martin Tools or Gray Tools from Canada.
Thanks Gareth
They are full polish and very nice. I think either would suit your needs.
Another brand to look at would be Martin Tools or Gray Tools from Canada.
Thanks Gareth
z28snksknr
Well-known member
I only have a few Wright wrenches, and I wish I had more of them. There was a thread a long time ago comparing contact patches of open ended wrenches, and WrightGrip stole the show I believe. I'd do a search for that thread to see some actual testing and results. I know every time I use them, I think to myself "damn, these wrenches just feel like they are doing a better job than my gearwrench and c-man sets"
I believe the poster was Hiball, but I could be wrong.
I believe the poster was Hiball, but I could be wrong.
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Both will serve you well and it will come down to feel, balance, and other personal choices.
I think the SK combination wrenches are too wide and thick in the hips around the boxed end but, that's just me. This gets more noticeable on sizes over 15mm.
Wright doesn't offer a long wrench style. I use my recently acquired metric Wright Grips mostly and if I need extra reach or leverage, I use a long zero offset boxed end wrench.
Buy a set of each
I think the SK combination wrenches are too wide and thick in the hips around the boxed end but, that's just me. This gets more noticeable on sizes over 15mm.
Wright doesn't offer a long wrench style. I use my recently acquired metric Wright Grips mostly and if I need extra reach or leverage, I use a long zero offset boxed end wrench.
Buy a set of each
HandyManny
Well-known member
Only thing I really like about newer Wright wrenches is the beam cross section. It's more comfortable on the hands than any other wrench out there on the market. Beyond that I just don't understand all the hype about Wright these days. I own many of their older tools and recently bought 3 of their new satin finished standard length combos as replacements. I honestly don't find the broaching or the open-ends to be anything special, not better than the Danaher made Kobalts or the RP Craftsmans. In fact the box-end on one wrench isn't even at an offset of 15 degrees. like the other two new ones. More like 5 degrees. For all the hype and the price I just don't see anything special about the newer Wright wrenches. In fact the special thing about my older Wright and Proto wrenches are that they are high quality durable no-nonsence hand tools. All business made to get the job done. But they are very basic tools, nothing special about the broaching or the open ends.
Always have had high regard for all my older SK wrenches though I think both brands are tough and durable, but today I'd go with SK given the quality level of one of my newer Wright combos.
Always have had high regard for all my older SK wrenches though I think both brands are tough and durable, but today I'd go with SK given the quality level of one of my newer Wright combos.
slipjointed
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The quality of the broaching on my Wrights is light years ahead of the quality of broaching on SK's and Craftsman I've owned.
I mean, there's not even close to being any comparison.
I saw a recent SK set that had open ends so poorly done on some of the smaller wrenches, that they would fit the next size up fastener from what they were marked. Two of the box ends were actually broached at an angle to the point where the wrench wasn't able to sit flat over a fastener. To top it off, every single wrench in the set had different quality chrome.
The Wright broaching is clean, sharp, and precise.
When it comes to sockets, the SK are the winners as they use a modern cold forging process as compared to Wright's antiquated hot forging. The interior surface finish of SK's sockets is very similar to Snap-on, although the plating and prep isn't quite as good.
HandyManny
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Yeah well that wasn't my experiece with Wright recently. But maybe I just got a few bad wrenches, who knows.
bart1
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Here's a few WrightGrip pics:
Wright on right:
Wright on right:
slipjointed
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Likewise... I've seen older SK such as the SK-made Craftsman that were much, much better quality. I'm hoping that the ones I saw were from the bankruptcy, because otherwise I'm quite a big fan of SK tools.
I know that there was a bad run of Wrights lately, perhaps you got one of those. IIRC, they had switched over to a new QC system and it wasn't quite working out for them.
I got some production right after that, and it was back to normal good quality.
HandyManny
Well-known member
Yeah could be. As I said earlier, most of the Wright tools I have are older stuff. They are great tools, but the only thing I'd say is special about them is that they are tough and they have served me well for years. I guess that is special. As far as anything facy about those older wrenches broaching and open ends, nothing special at all except they fit the fasteners well. I guess that's all one needs or can expect in a tool. Same thing for my older Proto wrenches. Alway had high regard for Proto, but on these older tools they didn't have any exotic type broaching or open ends, just pretty basic. Again, the only real thing special about them is that they are a durable and tough utilitraian tool that served me well for years. Years ago all wrenches had were basic inletting on the open end and basic broaching on the box end.
dwm
Well-known member
Wright did have some issues with the satin finish wrenches a bit ago, someone posted about it and Wright resolved it (via the reseller, if I remember correctly). I've not seen any problems with the full polish. Mine are all perfect, though I don't have close-up pictures of the ends.
Camtwo69
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Nice looking wrenches .
93sr20det
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Wright uses American made metal in all the products they make. That alone sold me on them. I have a set of metric full polish and a partial set of satin sae and love them.
Thanks for all the replies. Those full polish Wrights are looking good. I was quoted a very fair price locally on an 11 piece set. I will order the 1/4 and 5/16 full polish combos to check them out, as they are not included in the set and I always need those two sizes at work. I like the extra length of the SK's,I just wish I could see them locally. The Armstrongs also looked great but are priced a little high for my needs.
slipjointed
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IMO Wright shines most against SK in the smaller sizes.
Nah Bro.... The Big Wrenches are where its at.
My Mostly Hodge Podged set, Picked up a Piece at a time.
bart1
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Hiball is Wright 
. Those extra heavy duty big ones are beasts!!
. Those extra heavy duty big ones are beasts!!slipjointed
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Wright's larger wrenches, especially the heavy duty round beam ones, are unbeatable.
What I meant about smaller sizes, was that Wright maintains the precision and finish quality much better in the smaller sizes than SK, IMO.
Many of the smaller SK sizes I saw had different length jaws on the open end, warped/smashed beams from overstamping, and poorly formed box ends.
What I meant about smaller sizes, was that Wright maintains the precision and finish quality much better in the smaller sizes than SK, IMO.
Many of the smaller SK sizes I saw had different length jaws on the open end, warped/smashed beams from overstamping, and poorly formed box ends.
kreierkountry
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I have 7 SK combination wrenches the were my husbands that I am looking to sell.
2 - 1 1/2", 1 - 1 7/16, 1 - 1 5/16, 1-1 3/8, 1 - 1 1/4 and 1 - 1 5/8. I would like $200 for all of them. My husband passed away and the longer I have them the more that seem to grow legs and walk. Please email me at [email protected] I am near Portage WI.
2 - 1 1/2", 1 - 1 7/16, 1 - 1 5/16, 1-1 3/8, 1 - 1 1/4 and 1 - 1 5/8. I would like $200 for all of them. My husband passed away and the longer I have them the more that seem to grow legs and walk. Please email me at [email protected] I am near Portage WI.
cgv69
Well-known member
I've had a full set of SK long pattern wrenches (marked CM Pro's) for many years and they are good wrenches. Nothing special mind you but nothing to complain about either. I did break one once (rather easily I might add) but luckily this was back when I could still get a replacement for it.
I recently got some Armstrong wrenches (CM Industrial marked) and I have to say I like the Armstrong's more. They are a little bit bigger and feel much stronger. They actually feel very similar to Snap-On's which may or may not be a selling point to you?
I recently got some Armstrong wrenches (CM Industrial marked) and I have to say I like the Armstrong's more. They are a little bit bigger and feel much stronger. They actually feel very similar to Snap-On's which may or may not be a selling point to you?
I have them both. I like the WrightGrip 2.0 combination wrenches, but I like the selection from SK for all of my socket sets.
toolaholic
Well-known member
Here’s Sk double box vs Wright combo satin. Got the SK at Paul B. Zimmerman hardware. Not sure if old stock . Dont have SK combos. But have ratcheting SK x frame and G pro. Satin is Wright . Polished SK. Sk box end smaller. 3/8 and 1/2. Compared. Wright better finish
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ThePostman
Well-known member
Full disclosure up front. I own the wright 7-24mm set. I purchased it for the following reasons:
I wrench everyday.
I am an auto tech.
The big hips on the sk wrenches don't get in where I need to.
The open end is the same as so flank, and in tests, wright and so sheared the head off a grade 8 before bending.
Box end, it's beefy, but again tested the strongest, of all.
Real life use, I've owned them for a while, and when I need them, they don't let down.
I own many wrench sets.
For a full set of wrenches at 250 or less, the wrights are a winner.
I wrench everyday.
I am an auto tech.
The big hips on the sk wrenches don't get in where I need to.
The open end is the same as so flank, and in tests, wright and so sheared the head off a grade 8 before bending.
Box end, it's beefy, but again tested the strongest, of all.
Real life use, I've owned them for a while, and when I need them, they don't let down.
I own many wrench sets.
For a full set of wrenches at 250 or less, the wrights are a winner.
Hi,
I use the Wright tool combination wrenches as well. I like the WrightGrip 2.0 better than the Snapon flank drive plus. I agree about the bulky SK wrenches, but I do favor SK sockets.
I have a nice set of SK combination wrenches. #520057. Special Edition in a fake leather pouch. Full polish. 3/8" through 1-1/4" and I truly do like them. However, I typically reach for my satin finish NAPA branded New Britain wrenches first. I also have satin Blackhawks and I have a partial set completed of satin Wright's.
I'll be honest here. When I bought the SK's I was ecstatic. Craftsman was the best I had ever had. But, that was a few years and a few turned bolts ago. Today, I prefer satin finish. I still like those SK's a lot and there is nothing at all wrong with them. I just found a different preference and I'm thinking about selling my Special Edition set of SK's.
I'll be honest here. When I bought the SK's I was ecstatic. Craftsman was the best I had ever had. But, that was a few years and a few turned bolts ago. Today, I prefer satin finish. I still like those SK's a lot and there is nothing at all wrong with them. I just found a different preference and I'm thinking about selling my Special Edition set of SK's.
Ton ton
Well-known member
H.D. supply sells SAE Wright brand wrenches. H.D. supply has brick and mortar stores scattered across the USA. I don't go to town much these days. Maybe someday I will be able to check them out for myself.