Does anyone use line wrenches that AREN'T Snap On?

[545_days]

OK, I will confess to owning an el-cheapo set made in China. I lock a pair of vise-grips around them to keep them from spreading and rounding off the nut. I don’t use them much, but my method worked for replacing all of a 38 year old Fiat’s brake lines.

If I used them more frequently I would buy nicer ones.

 

[M6erfan]

Funny that this thread was brought up again. I haven't used my line wrenches in a long time but I replaced the power steering lines on my BIL's Frontier last week and had a chance to use them again. I've had a set of SK metric line wrenches for years, they've never let me down. They're a bit short but work well, and the short pattern is an advantage in tight spaces.

I don't own, but I've used S-o line wrenches and they are really nice too.

 

[woody6904]

The SAE SnapOn line wrenches are actually the only SnapOn tools I own. IMO one of the few SnapOn tools worth their price.

 

[mrspeed]

If it helps anyone else out, I have a post from another thread where I compared the old made-in-USA Craftsman (raised panel), the made-in-USA Craftsman Pro (full polish), and the current made-in-China Craftsman (full polish) flare nut wrenches side by side with pictures.

The conclusion was, both the old made-in-USA wrenches were pretty good. The current ones, not so much.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7352784&postcount=9125

 

[Eric29]

I use a set of old craftsman and a newer set of Wright. If I held a wrench in my hand every day, I would be concerned enough about the feel, wear, and strength of the wrench to use SnapOn. Cheaper wrenches are fine for occasional use but if my job security depends on the time I spend on a particular job, I would use what the more experienced people use day in and day out.

 

[My Old Tools]

I have a set of Craftsman from the 1960's, USA made. They work just fine.

 

[plinker]

I had bought a 3pc Snap-on set, but my Metric set is a Carlyle. Never really had to put a lot of torque on them, but they seem pretty decent.

 

[Mgdoug3]

I had to do some work on my cousin's tractor. I needed a 19mm line wrench to remove injector lines. I called around and only NAPA have a 3/4 in stock but it was in a set. I needed it now and bought the 5 piece double ended wrenches for $75. They seem to work great but a 12 point line wrench would be better. The lines aren't torque too tight and space is limited.

 

[Semi-hole mechanic]

Thats one of those tools that I dont use enough to justify buying a set so I buy when I need. Mine are are all GW. Haven't had any problem with them spreading.

 

[Farmall450]

I have Indestro and Proto.

 

[WittHay]

Have a set of Canadian Tire Mastercraft. They look identical to GearWrench and seem to work okay. Real rusty **** you are going to have problems, no matter what brand you use

 

[Jazz1]

ITC SAE and Mastercraft Metric. Both work good unless rusty **** then my Vice-Grips come out to crack the line nut.

 

[AL`]

Craftsman RP.

 

[Farmall450]

I lied, I have SK too

 

[DTuck]

SK in metric and Granco in SAE.

 

[Empty Pockets]

I own some Snappys, SK and Wright as well as CM. All work as advertised. YMMV

 

[AL`]

If it helps anyone else out, I have a post from another thread where I compared the old made-in-USA Craftsman (raised panel), the made-in-USA Craftsman Pro (full polish), and the current made-in-China Craftsman (full polish) flare nut wrenches side by side with pictures.

The conclusion was, both the old made-in-USA wrenches were pretty good. The current ones, not so much.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7352784&postcount=9125

I was looking at the pics in your link, and aside from the poor fit on the Chinese version, it appeared the RP had the best fit of all three. The other difference was the RP was longer than the made in USA Craftsman full polish in both sizes. Full polish wrenches are certainly nice, but given the choice, would rather have the less refined RP if it means a better functioning wrench. Of course, that was just one fastener and one size tested but I don't think the RPs give anything up to the full polish where it counts.

 

[mrspeed]

I was looking at the pics in your link, and aside from the poor fit on the Chinese version, it appeared the RP had the best fit of all three. The other difference was the RP was longer than the made in USA Craftsman full polish in both sizes. Full polish wrenches are certainly nice, but given the choice, would rather have the less refined RP if it means a better functioning wrench. Of course, that was just one fastener and one size tested but I don't think the RPs give anything up to the full polish where it counts.

I would agree with all that. The only thing that's not as evident in the pictures is that the raised panel wrenches have a large outer diameter on the heads and I believe they're also thicker, meaning they it's possible to have situations where they wouldn't fit while the Craftsman Pro wrenches would. The Craftsman Pro wrenches are also slightly more comfortable to hold.

But when it came time to decide which ones to put in my toolbox, it was a really tough decision and almost a toss-up between the raised panel and the Pro wrenches.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Al Borland]

I have 35 year old Craftsmans. They ****.
I also have 30 year old SKs. Mediocre on a good day.
More recent SK crowsfoots. Better.
Also have Taiwan-era Husky. They actually work better than the others.
Of course, I'm in the Rust belt, so a lot of times I just clip the line and use a 6-point socket if I need to get a bad line out of a metering valve or a steering box or whatever.

 

[vssjim]

I have all brands but I just used my SK set Saturday on a road service with no problems on a 1989 chevy caprice

 

[Road_runner]

Only a weekend warrior. No issues with Britool flare wrenches (old Britool, not the modern Expert stuff) that I inherited from my dad.

 

[joecon]

years[really decades] ago I worked in a shop with two others I had a set of S Ks
the boss had Macs and the other mechanic had snap on We found that the snap on
would turn brake lines that the others would round off. When you have to replace
the line if you round it off you have a great interest in not damaging the nut.

 

[yrly]

Got Craftsman’s do fine for my purposes

 

[dsimatt]

I have matco sets and rarely use them but they seem decent and haven't had any real issues. I also had a couple craftsman sets that sucked because any decent pressure spread them and stripped the stuff I was trying to loosen.

 

[B.S.A. (ret.)]

My old VACO's have served me well for over 40 years now...

 

[jeepnatv4life]

I use Craftsman..... If there not moving with them I break out the snap on pwz pipe pliers cause the fittings too soft if the line wrench isnt biting..

 

[RCL]

Been using SK for years with no problems.

 

[Cobradriver]

I've had the Matco SAE flare nut wrenches for 30 years and they work great. I just need to splurge on a good set of metrics from someone....

Chris

 

[Stadger]

My sets are named after a city in Pennsylvania. They work fine for as little use as I give them.

 

[ngk22r]

My sets are named after a city in Pennsylvania. They work fine for as little use as I give them.

Philly?!???

 

[Sine Swept]

It may not be the proper tool, but if I can fit it, I use my Knipex pliers wrench - the big one! I can grip the nut and not round it, while getting it nice and tight.

 

[emeraldcoupe]

I have the full polish SK made craftsman pro wrenches, haven't had any issues with them.

 

[lbhsbz]

My first set of line wrenches were HF..made in india. One broke the first time I tried to use it, so they all went in the trash. Then I bought a set of craftsman raised panel metric line wrenches...they worked better than an open end, but I still rounded off tube nuts on occasion. Picked up a set of full polish craftsman professional and they were better, but still opened up a bit and damage the occasional tube nut. Have a NAPA brand wrench that showed up somehow...it's OK. Bought a snap on set and they are leaps and bounds better than all the alternatives I've used...so I threw everything else in the trash and only use SO line wrenches now. Not once have I been let down. I'm sure there are others that are as good...maybe, but I'm not gonna buy they all trying to find "the one" when SO works as it should.

 

[wolf_from_wv]

Line wrenches from Autozone, but I don't use them much.

 

[Flybye]

I have a set of mid 90s USA Craftsman. I really can't comment on how they compare to the new ones, but these have never stripped a nut.