Any experience with CM U.S.A. ratcheting wrenches?

[Jeremy77]

I was in one of the local ACE hardware stores today and noticed that they had a good assortment of the U.S.A. made Craftsman RP ratcheting wrenches. These are 0 deg. offset and are non-reversible. In fact an entire set of SAE 3/8 through 3/4 and a majority of a MM set 11-19 could be had by purchasing singles. Prices ranged between $10 and $18 per wrench. I currently have a full set of SAE and MM that are a mix of GearWrench, Kobalt and Husky. The Gearwrenches, I've had 8-10 years with no issue. The Husky and Kobalt have also served me well, though I've had them less time since I bought them to fill in gaps in my original GearWrench set (I'd swear the Taiwan Kobalts are the exact same wrench). The COO on the Huskys is China. All are good wrenches in my opinion. That being said, a U.S. made set of ratcheting wrenches is something that is somewhat hard to come by. Does anyone out there have any of the Craftsman wrenches? If so, do you like them and feel that their quality is equal to or greater than what I currently own? I realize that they couldn't be warrantied for an exact model and that SnapOn and Armstrong make ratcheting wrenches in the U.S. I'm simply curious about others experiences with the CM. Thanks all.

 

[Notorious BRT]

I have some, they are serviceable but far from stellar, boxed end is large and difficult to fit in some places, seemingly more so than other brands. At the listed price I would absolutely pass, US made or not.

 

[Parabellum]

Get them when you can, I have them and like them.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I have an SAE set, they work fine no problems with any of them. Honestly, I like my Gearwrench set better, more teeth, and a bit slimmer heads.

 

[Jeremy77]

I did notice the size of the box ends as compared to my current wrenches. I may pick up a couple of the sizes I most commonly use and see if they grow on me. Thanks for all the replies and opinions on them.

 

[Skin]

Save your cash. If you want to support US manufacture buy SK, Armsrong, or Proto. The issue with the RP pawless ratcheting wrenches, besides being rather short with a beefy coarse ratcheting box end, is the mechanism which is kind of junky. If you side load the wrench just a little bit you can get the box end to free spin. It happens occasionally whether you mean to or not, kind of annoying. If they were dirt cheap it might be worth it to someone from a collectability standpoint but at that much per wrench don't bother.

 

[gdocktor3]

For that price I would pass. $10-18 per wrench is over $100 for a set of 11-19mm you mentioned. You can buy a 20 piece set of gearwrench mm/sae in the same style you mentioned, 0 degree offset non reversible for $50 from Sears and they're smoother with more teeth. Just because they're USA doesn't mean they're better.

 

[bdresch]

I'll sell you mine for half of that.


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[1950mercury]

Total pass those wrenches **** compared to anything else

 

[Jeremy77]

Thanks once more for all the advice and opinions. It seems from what I'm hearing that other than being U.S. made, that these aren't very good. Certainly not better than the current GearWrench/Kobalt models that I already own. Thinking I'll pass for now and maybe look into some X-Frames in the future. Appreciate it guys.

 

[njride]

I would pass at that crazy price, i've had these probably since 01 or 02, i guess when you could buy them normally at sears, they work but they are very coarse and as previously mentioned the 0 degree offset combined with the thickness of the ratcheting end limit them.

Seems like crazy money for what they are.

To be fair they have been durable, although i try to use regular wrenches to break stuff free. With the years though my set is pretty crunchy at this point.

 

[mr.speaker]

Sorry, I know they're made in USA but they **** .As far as the box end ratcheting side goes, the Taiwan made Kobalt, Gear Wrench ,and even Harbor freight newer 72 teeth stuff is better.(my opinion of course)

On the flip side, I sold mine on eBay very quickly mainly because they were USA made

 

[Soslow]

My dad has had a set for years and likes them. Not problems yet