Craftsman DBE warranty?

[Ign]

This 14mm DBE stopped ratcheting last night. Kinda bummed as these XL DBE's are nice.

It's a 11247 which doesn't seem to be a valid Cman part # any longer. I don't think they ever sold these individually?

I know I can get it as a GW 85914 but it's $25 on Amazon and $28 on eBay, which I'd rather not spend right now.

Do I have any hope of warrantying this, and if so, who would I contact? There's definitely no local Sears here anymore. I have a Lowe's an hour away but they're not gonna stock this

 

[PureLeaf]

I've no idea if you can get a comparable replacement but since you said the physical locations are all pretty far from you, you'll want to contact Stanley who is the new owner of Craftsman. Fingers crossed they can help you out.

 

[nmantas]

Might be able to mail it to Stanley and get a Proto version (if they make one) but I don't think they do.....I'd rather pay the $25 and replace it with the gearwrench since you would be out of the postage anyway. Sears-craftsman doesn't seem to offer the set anymore (I didn't even know they were still alive to be honest with you and I wouldn't be mailing them anything......not worth the postage risk.

Perhaps try to take it apart and try to dress the pawl up with a file or better yet get a craftsman 14mm ratcheting wrench of the same vintage (combination) and switch parts:

 

[89MustangGX]

Not that it helps all that much, but I think the Matco is also the same from back in the day. That would be the GRBZXLM1414. In all likelihood it would be more expensive than the others, but you never know what you might find and you might as well have all the options.

Please keep us updated us when you contact CM.

Side note, I have sets of Armstrong standard length double box ratchet wrenches which are obviously irreplaceable and was wondering what would happen if I had to contact GW for them.

 

[89MustangGX]

Was thinking about this more- I think if/when you contact them for warranty they will first search for an equivalent (don't think they will find one as we know), but after that they should offer to give your money back. Probably in the form of a gift card I'm guessing. At that point I'd push to see if they can substitute the GW you are looking for or just order it for you with your credit from this wrench, as Sears carries GW. Of course if they just offer to send a check, you're in business then too. I think you will have some options, but first thing is to contact the warranty department.

 

[Ign]

Ok well excellent points all. I appreciate the feedback.

I hadn't considered the postage to them, and I agree I wouldn't trust them or hold my breath to ever see anything ever again if I mailed it in.

I may try to pry it open and see if I can get it working. I'm not trying to work an angle here, I just want a functioning DBE XL ratcheting wrench. Since it seems a lot of Toyota maintenance is in my future 14mm is kinda critical....I suppose 9/16" is just as good but I'd still like a complete metric set

However maybe for grins I'll try to contact Cman this week.

 

[getbentMUSTARD]

Before you tear into it try letting the ratchet end soak in some ATF overnight. For the most part when I have one skipping or not working all together a soak in ATF usually fixes it!

 

[joshmodelskidoo]

Call an ace hardware and see if they can do anything

 

[Kscardsfan]

Contact Stanley-Black and Decker/Craftsman on their various social media pages and see what they can tell you. It’s free and can’t hurt to try.

 

[Ign]

Well I sent an inquiry to Craftsman thru their Contact Us-->Warranty at craftsman.com. Honestly I'll be amazed if I actually get a response -- I'm envisioning it already in a digital Trash Bin in India

 

[nmantas]

If you do take it apart.....and it is easy/painless. Perhaps take another one apart to confirm that the pawls are the same regardless of size....if so, you would multiply the number of donor ratchet/wrenches considerably. All probably not worth $25 of your time though.

 

[Ign]

Yeah I mean the $25 isn't a huge deal to have a complete, functioning set but maybe I'll try the ATF soak.

edit: looking at my order history i paid $57 for the entire set in '17, so from that perspective $25 for a single is a lot, but the $57 was also a killer sale price

 

[Ign]

Well to my surprise I got a response. They told me they no longer have this product or parts for it (which I told them in my initial inquiry)

They tried to offer me a CMMT42918 which is just a basic (and probably lobster claw) combo wrench. I don't think she ("Laura") understood this was a ratcheting wrench.

They also told me I could contact Sears and provided a number. I don't think I'll get very far with Sears - does anyone have a copy of printed policy that they're supposed to provide a refund? Is Sears even still on the hook for Craftsman warranties? I would think the sale of Craftsman included verbiage that SBD would shoulder that?

 

[unslow1]

Well to my surprise I got a response. They told me they no longer have this product or parts for it (which I told them in my initial inquiry)

They tried to offer me a CMMT42918 which is just a basic (and probably lobster claw) combo wrench. I don't think she ("Laura") understood this was a ratcheting wrench.

They also told me I could contact Sears and provided a number. I don't think I'll get very far with Sears - does anyone have a copy of printed policy that they're supposed to provide a refund? Is Sears even still on the hook for Craftsman warranties? I would think the sale of Craftsman included verbiage that SBD would shoulder that?

That's what the Stanley group has told myself and others on multiple occasions. Basically if they have discontinued it you are out of luck. There have been two or three other threads on this with the same outcome regardless of which of their brands it was. I waited to comment to see if you had better luck.

 

[89MustangGX]

Well to my surprise I got a response. They told me they no longer have this product or parts for it (which I told them in my initial inquiry)

They tried to offer me a CMMT42918 which is just a basic (and probably lobster claw) combo wrench. I don't think she ("Laura") understood this was a ratcheting wrench.

They also told me I could contact Sears and provided a number. I don't think I'll get very far with Sears - does anyone have a copy of printed policy that they're supposed to provide a refund? Is Sears even still on the hook for Craftsman warranties? I would think the sale of Craftsman included verbiage that SBD would shoulder that?

Probably worth a phone call or at least an online chat at this point -- where you can explain what it is if they aren't clear.

As for the policy info, I have kept a couple PDF's just in case, but they all just say repair or replace, no receipt required, etc. Nothing about "what if it's discontinued." BUT, I know at one point I returned a tool to the store that was discontinued (don't remember what it was), and they were able to look up the MSRP and gave me some type of credit for it that I used on another tool.

It was a long time ago, but that's one of those things that just makes sense. Otherwise, what's to say they don't just change part numbers or colors or size or even just the tool name every couple years and now no more lifetime warranty for anyone. There has to be some remedy other than "better luck next time."

Don't give up (yet).

 

[89MustangGX]

If you get to the point where you aren't getting anywhere, maybe try an angle of CMMT42572 is the closest thing to your wrench, and you would like the credit equivalent of that. That looks like it might get you $20+ that hopefully you can take and go get another wrench that matches. Or, if they just want to send the wrench, at the very least you get a 14mm ratchet wrench to fill the hole in your set.

 

[Ign]

Well I talked 'em into a CMMT42425 which is the offset reversible. I'll just cut my losses with that and buy the appropriate GW 14mm DBE XL

Actually haven't had time to try an ATF soak yet...maybe that'll do it

 

[89MustangGX]

Well I talked 'em into a CMMT42425 which is the offset reversible. I'll just cut my losses with that and buy the appropriate GW 14mm DBE XL

Actually haven't had time to try an ATF soak yet...maybe that'll do it

Not the happiest ending, but it gets you further than you were before. I suppose you could always throw that wrench on eBay and try to get $15 or something for it.

Did you try for a credit or gift card or anything? Can you share how the conversation went for future reference?

 

[unslow1]

You got a lot farther than I did.

 

[Ign]

Not the happiest ending, but it gets you further than you were before. I suppose you could always throw that wrench on eBay and try to get $15 or something for it.

Did you try for a credit or gift card or anything? Can you share how the conversation went for future reference?

Been meaning to reply forever....anyway basically they first offered the basic combo wrench (ie no moving parts). I dug around the website and found the part # for the reversible ratcheting wrench (even though the zero offset non-reversible arguably might have been a closer match) and pointed out the faulty wrench was ratcheting and said if they'd send me that part # I would consider the matter closed. They replied by asking for my shipping address. This was all conducted via email.

As a stop gap I lopped both wrenches apart and welded the offset reversible end to the old box end and added a couple more inches length yet, so now I have a Frankenstein uber rare DBE reversible ratcheting wrench. Just used it on some more Toyota work and it performed well (shrug).

I will say.....the video where the guy "got lucky" and his ratcheting wrench came apart in use....he truly GOT LUCKY. There's another video where a guy fashions some tools from shim stock and fucks with it for quite some time. This was me....I've got plenty of shim stock lying around as I run my own machine shop, but after 15 to 20 min of doing the monkey-*******-a-football impersonation I decided my time was more valuable than trying to salvage a ratcheting wrench that, in truth, was never REALLY meant to be disassembled.

Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy detailed "Operation" game-esque work but in this case the work didn't pay enough as paying jobs were literally sitting here staring me in the face. Huge YMMV

 

[89MustangGX]

Hey that's pretty sweet! I'm still 99% sure that Gearwrench and current Matco are the same, maybe others in Taiwan too. But I guess maybe now that's even better than new?!? Nice work.

 

[bonneyman]

Ditto! I think that lengthening job worked out great.

 

[slowtwitch73]

I miss the good 'ol days when you could stroll through the doors of Sears with a broken tool, and they'd hand you a new one off the shelf. Broken CMan tools were always a great buy at the pawnshop, etc.
I have to admit, even at the time I thought it must be brutal on their bottom line.