A certain adjustable wrench

[rlitman]

I went with a set of Bahco adjustable wrenches when outfitting my truck last summer. The decision was based on my experience when my Kobalt, Craftsman, and even Crescent adjustable wrenches all failed to remove an oil drain plug on my wife's car that had been over tightened at the "steelership" on its prior oil change...

If you failed to remove a fastener with one adjustable wrench, moving to a different brand adjustable wrench makes absolutely no sense.

Also, drain plugs are very often quite tight (so I think you're being unfair in your complaint), and have a narrow profile, and for those reasons I'd NEVER consider using an adjustable on one. Heck, I wouldn't even feel comfortable using the open end of one of my Snap On combination wrenches on a drain plug. That's just asking for trouble. The only open ended wrenches I'd think about using on a drain plug would be a Pliers Wrench (or equivalent parallel action smooth jaw), or the vise-grip style locking adjustable. Both of those styles are far less likely to round a fastener than anything else open ended.

Your choice in Bahco is good. They're the best large scale current production adjustables today. FYI, they're made by Irega, as are the Channellock adjustables.

Now if you've got money to burn, there's always these:
https://www.ngkmetals.com/index.cfm...rtmentId/0/categoryId/1/Adjustable-End-Wrench

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4804095&postcount=298

 

[maxpower_hd]

Pictures

None of those look like the Bahco ones I have which are the non-chrome version of the Snap Ons. Mine are like the ones in this link.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012Y2EUC/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[KDoug]

So does Crescent/Apex still manufacture some adjustable wrenches in the USA, or did that stop when Armstrong shut down and there is just left over stock?

 

[OMMP]

I think there was mistake... Bahco adjustables are now made in Spain, yes, but the factory is Acesa... On the other hand, Irega does produce for Channellock under its name as well for itself, under Irega.

 

[OMMP]

I recently purchased a pretty big Bahco adjustable, 15". The price was good, also the state it was in, as far as I'm concerned, it's brand new. And there IS backside slop in the jaw... It's manufactured in Sweden, so it would be new old stock. I bought couple of pretty old used ones, such as Sanki of Japan and US Utica Tools. They don't wobble... Simply, there is no rule - it could be just bad luck, bad batch, or bad quality control. However, certain thing to learn in GJ is that the perfectionism is illness, unless it's about tools - then it is virtue...

 

[plinker]

So does Crescent/Apex still manufacture some adjustable wrenches in the USA, or did that stop when Armstrong shut down and there is just left over stock?

As far as I know the Armstrong's were made by Western forge. I assume once Apex got formed from Cooper/Danaher they just left that contract in place or had plenty leftover until they dropped the line.

My understanding is for a while Crescent got offshored and it appears they may have gotten brought back based on the claim in the link, but if you read the review from '16 they were imported at that time.
http://www.crescenttool.com/wrenches/crescent-ac110-10-adjustable-wrench-musa-boxed.html