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i need a set of wrenches

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LOTW

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Oct 21, 2013
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Location
Northern Minnesota
While changing the U-joints on my truck recently I decided I NEED another set of metric combination wrenches.....preferably long pattern.
Any thoughts on the best value out there right now? I don't want to spend a ton but I don't want junk either.
 
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jsmeece

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Kanawha County, West Virginia
I do not wrench for a living, so I do not own many truck brands, so I cannot comment on them. But for the money, in long pattern wrenches, I just received a set of Toptul long pattern wrenches in metric (GAAF1008) Sizes: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19mm and they are great, do not cost that much (around $50). There is a guy on here that sells them Dennis (dnschmidt), give him a shout, he may have some left. They are super long.
 
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jakemac

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I don't have any experience with either brand, but Tekton and Wright get a lot of chatter on the forum with regards to cost vs quality.

And then you'll get some members that will jump straight to SnapOn or Harbor Freight.

I like my Williams/Vulcan set, but they aren't made anymore and a full set can be hard to find. Especially at a reasonable price.
 
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wkndwarrior29

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Jan 19, 2015
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NorthEast
I have a set of gearwrench ratcheting wrenches. Last time I was doing suspension work I had trouble with the wrench spreading when I was putting full force on it. I've never had this occur with my snappy's. I don't think it's worth investing big money for the snapon so I'm going to bite the bullet on some Wright's soon because of it.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 
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Trey T

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Houston, TX
Milwaukee got the regular length 15pcs, similar to the GW set ebay linked above, that have features from SK and SO for $130 from HD
 
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emeraldcoupe

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spring hill, florida
check your local sears. I picked up a set of the Taiwan made Dewalt combos for $29.99 a few weeks ago, think they were clearing them out. seem to be pretty good for the money
 
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johndeereman

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Mar 28, 2014
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WILL COUNTY IL
long pattern CWL1219M from Carlyle at napa 6mm - 24mm I just bought my 2nd set for the work truck, and man they are great. awesome chrome perfect sizing and a great price.
 
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John in OH

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SE Ohio & Eastern Virginia
Much as it kills me to offer this suggestion, (groan!) .... take a look at the HF long pattern combo wrench set (either set #47067 or #60548). For only $25 (or $20 with a coupon) a set it's worth a try. If they are truly junk, you aren't out much.
 
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Empty Pockets

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Rural New York
I have Wright, they are great, but some will say not long enough. I recently bought a set of Tekton angled DOE wrenches, they worked for the job in question, If that set is a representative of their quality, I'd buy them again
 
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visionguru

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Chicago
disston said:
Ye gads. Less than a dollar a wrench. Are these things made of cheese and whey?
Click to expand...

I have this set, which was an upgrade from Craftsman. Certainly not comparable to pro grade tools, but it's better than anything from Harbor Freight, Tekton, ...and alike. It's virtually the same (even the packaging) as the DeWalt set from HomeDepot for $49.99.

Long pattern, anti-slip notches on the open end. It's a pretty good deal if you are not make a living out of them.
 
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Wamsutta

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Amarillo, Texas
Whatever you do, don't touch a Snap-on wrench. All of a sudden you won't care about value or saving money. You'll do whatever it takes to get some.
 
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Coach James

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Sandhills of North Carolina
John in OH said:
Much as it kills me to offer this suggestion, (groan!) .... take a look at the HF long pattern combo wrench set (either set #47067 or #60548). For only $25 (or $20 with a coupon) a set it's worth a try. If they are truly junk, you aren't out much.
Click to expand...


I have those sets in metric and SAE and am happy with both. I don't use them as often as my regular length wrenches, but I have used them for control arms, wheel hubs, brakes, struts and a few other things. If I need still more torque, I wrap a rag around the end and hit it with a rubber mallet. No problems with either set.

Coach
 
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kctyphoon

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Jersey/Staten Island
Yea I'd say look at the new Milwaukee's. Acme has one set in stock and the other arriving soon. They look really nice, are we're supposed to be designed for professional use. I simply CANT justify more wrenches or I'd buy them myself..

I have the long HF wrench sets too.. for the money they can't be beat imo..
 
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HanShotFirst

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Jun 29, 2015
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NW Nevada
wkndwarrior29 said:
I have a set of gearwrench ratcheting wrenches. Last time I was doing suspension work I had trouble with the wrench spreading when I was putting full force on it. I've never had this occur with my snappy's. I don't think it's worth investing big money for the snapon so I'm going to bite the bullet on some Wright's soon because of it.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I actually like the WrightGrip's better than the SnapOn's...So I'd say good call!!
 
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HanShotFirst

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NW Nevada
visionguru said:
I have this set, which was an upgrade from Craftsman. Certainly not comparable to pro grade tools, but it's better than anything from Harbor Freight, Tekton, ...and alike. It's virtually the same (even the packaging) as the DeWalt set from HomeDepot for $49.99.

Long pattern, anti-slip notches on the open end. It's a pretty good deal if you are not make a living out of them.
Click to expand...
I was pretty impressed with the Tekton's. Very nice chrome, broaching looked very good, beam isn't too thin...downright decent wrenches.
 
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HanShotFirst

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NW Nevada
So some long patterns I have worked with:

SnapOn - Of course they were great, they're SnapOn! I have used the old non-ASD style, and the Flank Drives; both were outstanding, but very pricey.

Matco - Also very nice, no complaints...again, a bit pricey.

SK Long Pattern - Have had them for over 25 years, really great wrenches. I need non-ASD wrenches for much of what I do, and these have been great.

25 years ago when I was looking for SAE Long Patterns, I narrowed it down to SnapOn, Matco, and SK. At that time, I chose the SK's because they were basically the equal of the SnapOn's (then) for about half the price. I have not regretted that decision. They still serve me very well, but if I were buying today, I probably would buy the Blue Points.

continuing...

Blue Point Long Patterns - Helped a friend work on his dirt bikes a few weeks ago, and I used his Blue Points...they were outstanding wrenches. If I were in the market for US made, non-ASD combination wrenches; these are the ones I would buy!

Gearwrench long patters - Taiwan made, very well broached, nice chrome, comfortable...just all around VERY nice wrenches. If COO isn't an issue, and you just want the best wrenches at the best price, the Gearwrench Long Patters are the one's I would be buying.

Craftsman full polish (current make) - These don't state "long pattern" but they are longer than my V series raised panel Craftsman, and just a tad shorter than my SK long patterns. Anyhow... Complete waste of money! I bought a set to put in my portable tool box, and I couldn't even use them for that. Chrome was very good quality, the broaching of the box end was off center on all but 4 wrenches in a 13pc set. The open ends have that lobster claw look going. I don't doubt they're probably pretty tough wrenches, but I just hated them...ended up giving them away to a friend who had no metric wrenches...almost felt guilty about that even.

So there's the one's I have used that don't have ASD open ends. I like having wrenches without the ASD because I work on motorcycles with fasteners that I don't want marked up.

For ASD, I have my Proto's...which have a really cool ASD design. It works REALLY well, and doesn't really mark up the fastener unless you crank down HARD (as in, cheater bar hard).

If I were considering ASD wrenches... My first stop would be WrightGrip; they are freaking awesome. Every bit as good as SO1, but for less money.
 
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retDAC

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Oct 28, 2011
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near Huntsville, Ala.
visionguru said:
I have this set, which was an upgrade from Craftsman. Certainly not comparable to pro grade tools, but it's better than anything from Harbor Freight, Tekton, ...and alike. It's virtually the same (even the packaging) as the DeWalt set from HomeDepot for $49.99.

Long pattern, anti-slip notches on the open end. It's a pretty good deal if you are not make a living out of them.
Click to expand...
A year or two ago, Sears here had DeWalt combos and Walmart had Bostitch combos. While the packaging and design appeared the same, DeWalts were made in Taiwan and Bostitch in China. Taiwan DeWalt had much better broaching and finish than ChiCom Bostitch. Maybe you got some better ones.

There are (were?) some other Bostitch hand tools made in Taiwan and those also seem quite good.
 
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visionguru

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Chicago
retDAC said:
A year or two ago, Sears here had DeWalt combos and Walmart had Bostitch combos. While the packaging and design appeared the same, DeWalts were made in Taiwan and Bostitch in China. Taiwan DeWalt had much better broaching and finish than ChiCom Bostitch. Maybe you got some better ones.

There are (were?) some other Bostitch hand tools made in Taiwan and those also seem quite good.
Click to expand...

Well, I got both SAE and Metric sets for $20. Yeah, DeWalt has better chrome and finish but would cost 4x or 5x as much. The design is exactly the same.

I've used a couple of them once or twice. I would say, it's much better than Craftsman USA (unpolished ones) and way cheaper.
 
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Jarhead0408

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Who knows?
John in OH said:
Much as it kills me to offer this suggestion, (groan!) .... take a look at the HF long pattern combo wrench set (either set #47067 or #60548). For only $25 (or $20 with a coupon) a set it's worth a try. If they are truly junk, you aren't out much.
Click to expand...

Heck, two weeks ago I installed a new differential in an old Peterbilt. It belongs to a friend who uses it to haul an end dump, rock trailer for his construction company. We used a 3/4" impact on anything we could reach. The ones we couldn't, we doubled up two s.a.e. wrenches from that long pattern HF set and cranked down HARD on them. No flexing, no open ends spreading; they worked like a champ. I'll be picking up both the s.a.e. and metric sets next time I'm down that way.

For shop usage I like my long pattern Toptuls; but they don't come in s.a.e. and the largest they go to in metric is 19mm.
 
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shawndp

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Jun 25, 2017
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Toronto, ON
Wamsutta said:
Whatever you do, don't touch a Snap-on wrench. All of a sudden you won't care about value or saving money. You'll do whatever it takes to get some.
Click to expand...


This is true! I went in curious to see what all the fuss was and walked out with the 10 to 19 set, 6 sets of sockets, 7 ratchets, and a "few" more things I rather not say. That said, they are excellent wrenches! If you use them professionally they are worth it and you can recoup some of the cost selling them when you wrench no more. Non professionally, Mastercraft Maximum (if you are in Canada) or Napa Carlyle (if you are American) will do just fine, as will Gearwrench.
 
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Unruh

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Silverdale, Washington
So what about Genius Brand? I saw some Video on YouTube and the guy was all in love with them. I see them on Amazon and EBay, but haven't heard too much about them on here (negatively or positive). Anyone have some. They look great and are fairly responsibly priced.
 
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Fender1325

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Dec 30, 2014
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The genius brand looks interesting. US made and the price is right. Looks just like old US craftsman from the pics online. My only gripe is it doesn't have teeth on the open end to grab like Wright's do, and the price is the same basically
 
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davethorik

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Norka, Ohio
Fender1325 said:
The genius brand looks interesting. US made and the price is right. Looks just like old US craftsman from the pics online. My only gripe is it doesn't have teeth on the open end to grab like Wright's do, and the price is the same basically
Click to expand...

They are not usa made. They put USA after genius tools to trick people.
 
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camd64

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Cedar Park, TX
emeraldcoupe said:
check your local sears. I picked up a set of the Taiwan made Dewalt combos for $29.99 a few weeks ago, think they were clearing them out. seem to be pretty good for the money
Click to expand...

X2, these are very good quality wrenches for the money. Long pattern, ASD open end and they seem fairly strong with the limited use I have put them through. Dewalt seems to be fairly good on the warranty side as well. I called them up about a ratchet I broke (my fault) and about a week later a new one was in my hand.
 
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