Does Gearwrench have an entry level quality?

[Jack Ryan]

I don't have any flex combination spanners and a Gearwrench "Black Edition" set was on special at a local tool shop - so I bought it to try out.


I have other Gearwrench tools that I am generally happy with, including a 120XP™ Universal Spline XL Ratcheting Combination set. This set though, seems like rubbish in comparison.


Kincrome, Gearwrench flex, Gearwrench 120XP and Sidchrome. All 8mm.

The shape and the size of the open ended end looks like a toy - big, bulky and thick. The ratchet is 72 point but taking the backlash into account, less than half of that.

So, do Gearwrench make a cheaper, lower quality tool in addition to their standard range? I wondered if they were copies.

Thanks
Jack

 

[milky2k]

I don't believe Gearwrench has a higher/lower line of tools within its brand. Meaning there is no Gearwrench Pro or Gearwrench Lite line. However, I think there seems to be a varying level of quality within their line depending on the country of origin. There were some older tools made in the USA but I think they were rebranded Armstrong back when Apex bought them out. I think their premium products like high tooth count ratcheting wrenches or long pattern wrenches are made in Taiwan and as newer, better stuff is introduced, the older tools may get kicked down to China or elsewhere in Asia. I had a couple of friends buy the same set of ratcheting wrenches from GW maybe a year or two apart and the chrome finish and smoothness of the ratcheting wrench are so different I don't believe they came out of the same factory. I think one set was made in Taiwan and the other in China. I think you may have experienced the same thing meaning those tools came from somewhere in Asia other than Taiwan. Gearwrench is Apex's main/premium line and SATA is their budget friendly line that is made in China but seems to get good reviews on Amazon. Just because its made in China it doesn't mean its all terrible. Apex also makes some private label tools like Husky for Home Depot as well as Duralast for Autozone and who knows what else since brands aren't eager to reveal the actual manufacturer of their tools. I suspect some stuff is coming out of the same factory as SATA though I've noticed that Husky wrenches (non-ratcheting) now say there are made in India. Just thought I'd mention that in case you did want to source some cheaper Apex tools but I just noticed your are in Australia so I don't think there is Home Depot or Autozone down there. I wouldn't be surprised if Apex was behind some regional brand down there though.

 

[Mr_B]

gearwrench isn't what it once was and lot of the newer tool range from sockets/ratchets to wrenches are a quality and design drop
much much better to be had these days in the same pricing range .

 

[Jack Ryan]

I don't believe Gearwrench has a higher/lower line of tools within its brand. Meaning there is no Gearwrench Pro or Gearwrench Lite line.

Thanks for that. Clearly then, the Black Edition comes from a lesser facility. I'll have to look more closely in future but it makes it hard with on-line purchases. The finish and the operation of the ratchets of the 120XP series is much more to my liking.

I just noticed your are in Australia so I don't think there is Home Depot or Autozone down there. I wouldn't be surprised if Apex was behind some regional brand down there though.

No, no Home Depot or Autozone but plenty of other suppliers of fairly reasonable tools - even if they do come from Taiwan these days.

gearwrench isn't what it once was and lot of the newer tool range from sockets/ratchets to wrenches are a quality and design drop
much much better to be had these days in the same pricing range .

Thanks, as I mentioned above, I'm pretty happy with the 120XP series and I do hunt around to get a decent price.

Fortunately, I don't have a pressing need for these at the moment so they will probably get lost in a cupboard somewhere. I'm sure they would work but they just don't feel right.

Jack

 

[Chineasium]

Gearwrench is actively devolving. Their ratcheting wrenches and sockets are noticeably worse than they used to be. This has come as they pivot from Taiwan to China and now Vietnam production. That is not to say those countries can't make quality items, but no company has ever moved production to a nation with cheaper labor and lower environmental standards for the main purpose of improving quality.

The rachets themselves are still fine, quite good actually, but I have little confidence they will stay that way. Sad, but I don't know what we expected after apex murdered Armstrong in cold blood.

 

[chappys4life]

Not to hijack the thread. I have owned a lot of the flex ratchets and loved them but are older. Who would be the replacement in that range? Icon? Was looking at getting a 90 tooth 3/8 flex ratchet but these comments scare me

 

[dnschmidt]

I don't think we can legitimately answer your question as you’re in Australia and we're in North America. Here I find Gearwrench to be Gearwrench. What's going on Down Under could be completely different.

 

[Schurkey]

Gearwrench IS "entry level quality".

There was a time when KD Tools was "entry-level or better", but the slide downhill started when the KD brand name went away and Gearwrench became the overalll brand name instead of a KD tool name for a specific kind of wrench.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Gearwrench is actively devolving. Their ratcheting wrenches and sockets are noticeably worse than they used to be. This has come as they pivot from Taiwan to China and now Vietnam production. That is not to say those countries can't make quality items, but no company has ever moved production to a nation with cheaper labor and lower environmental standards for the main purpose of improving quality.

The rachets themselves are still fine, quite good actually, but I have little confidence they will stay that way. Sad, but I don't know what we expected after apex murdered Armstrong in cold blood.

They move to lower costs and a good number of companies have succeeded in that without lowering their standards. It depends on the market, where there are a large number of DIYers who buy tools to perform a single job, there will be cheap, low quality (disposable) tools. I hope that the final equilibrium between cost and quality still allows me to buy, what I would call, quality tools.

Jack

 

[Jack Ryan]

I don't think we can legitimately answer your question as you’re in Australia and we're in North America. Here I find Gearwrench to be Gearwrench. What's going on Down Under could be completely different.

The world is not such a large place - the 120XP™ set that I am happy with came from the USA. What I have seen of locally stocked Gearwrench tools is identical in look and feel to those US tools.

What is different about the "Black Edition" is that I have not heard of them and not seen them stocked anywhere (except for this "special"). In addition, the part number, 9901DBE, is not listed anywhere - there are similar numbers, but not this one.

I guess that means this was a special run - perhaps to try out a new manufacturing contractor. I hope they didn't get the job.

Jack

 

[milky2k]

Not to hijack the thread. I have owned a lot of the flex ratchets and loved them but are older. Who would be the replacement in that range? Icon? Was looking at getting a 90 tooth 3/8 flex ratchet but these comments scare me

I wouldn't worry about Gearwrench ratchets, they came out on top in Project Farm's informal testing. Many other brands performed very well too. Check out the video below. I bought some Gearwrench ratchets based on that video and various other posts and reviews over the years and I'm very happy with them. Then again I'm not a professional mechanic and my experience has mostly been with Craftsman, Proto and Pittsburgh ratchets.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Gearwrench IS "entry level quality".

There was a time when KD Tools was "entry-level or better", but the slide downhill started when the KD brand name went away and Gearwrench became the overalll brand name instead of a KD tool name for a specific kind of wrench.

I think there are a lot of makers below Gearwrench. Some might say that all of my tools are entry level but the Sidchrome (Australian) and Minimax (Japanese) tools I bought over 50 years ago, and those that were my father's, are still going strong. I have to admit that, in the face of obstinate fasteners, I have resorted to the odd pipe as added persuasion and despite these sins, the tools are probably in batter shape than I am. "Entry level" is often a subjective description.

Jack

 

[RedneckWelder]

The Chinese Gearwrench seems to be worse (lobster claws, for instance) than the Taiwanese Gearwrench tools, which are pretty good. It’s not Dollar Store no name tools bad, just less desirable.

I have had excellent service out of Taiwanese Gearwrench tools. Good quality at fair prices, especially back when their BOGO deals were in effect.

 

[Jack Ryan]

The Chinese Gearwrench seems to be worse (lobster claws, for instance) than the Taiwanese Gearwrench tools, which are pretty good.

I can't remember, do they say where they are made? Most companies are becoming pretty coy about place of manufacture.

Jack

 

[Jtels85]

GearWrench quality has dropped significantly in the past decade. I really liked their stuff prior to 2014/15, but like most companies they found a way to successfully race to the bottom.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Thanks for the comments, I learnt to be a bit more careful - again.

Jack

 

[JEdiag]

Gearwrench IS "entry level quality".

There was a time when KD Tools was "entry-level or better", but the slide downhill started when the KD brand name went away and Gearwrench became the overalll brand name instead of a KD tool name for a specific kind of wrench.

Spot on

 

[JEdiag]

Gearwrench is actively devolving. Their ratcheting wrenches and sockets are noticeably worse than they used to be. This has come as they pivot from Taiwan to China and now Vietnam production. That is not to say those countries can't make quality items, but no company has ever moved production to a nation with cheaper labor and lower environmental standards for the main purpose of improving quality.

The rachets themselves are still fine, quite good actually, but I have little confidence they will stay that way. Sad, but I don't know what we expected after apex murdered Armstrong in cold blood.

I wont buy a single thing from gearwrench or apex because of that. I try to stick with Wright for most of what I use.

 

[dscheidt]

They move to lower costs and a good number of companies have succeeded in that without lowering their standards.

the apex tool group is not one of them. They move based on cost, everything else is obviously secondary. It's very clear from pretty casual inspection the difference between US made, early taiwan, late taiwan, china, and vietnam. The late production taiwan stuff if superior in fit and finish, followed by the US stuff, followed by the early Taiwan (which was noticibly inferior to the US stuff when it appeared) , followed by the Chinese and Vietnamese (or is it India?) stuff, which is heavier, thicker, and not as nice looking. That's not saying it's junk, but it's priced like it's premium stuff, and it's not. You can get the same quality stuff for less, and better for the same money.

 

[VolvoRyan]

GearWrench is super hit or miss. I suspect if two people bought the same tool made a year apart, they'd have different experiences.

-Ryan

 

[Lt CHEG]

Gearwrench IS "entry level quality".

My sentiments exactly. Nothing they make impresses me. I wouldn’t describe any of their made in China hardline products as particularly good. I‘m somewhat tempted to try their extractor sockets that CP the Tool Addict compares to the Mac RBRT socket extractors but I think I’d rather spend more money than support GearWrench, even if they do work nearly as well.

 

[MarvinBerry]

Don't own any GW or see much of it in stores around northern NJ/nyc however Apex sata & specifically husky..? Downhill.

Few days ago I bought a husky 1/4 drive set on sale for $30. Fairly complete no skips shallow & deep SAE metric etc. Really only needed the deep sockets but why Not? Figured I'd toss the ratchet & whatnot into the spares box.

72 tooth ratchet is skipping & locking up. Also looks a wee bit different then my older husky & sata pieces. Not overly, but side by side?

The 6 inch extension is actually bent! And the 3 is super sloppy almost like a wobble. But it's not a wobble. Terrible fitment even by budget standards.

And not sure about the sockets. They all look ok but a couple have some kinda sticky substance? It's not oil. They're tacky. Very strange.

Really tempted to exchange but I'll probably just return then go to hazard freight or find some other solutions. There's too much wrong.

 

[Mr_B]

The Chinese Gearwrench seems to be worse (lobster claws, for instance) than the Taiwanese Gearwrench tools, which are pretty good. It’s not Dollar Store no name tools bad, just less desirable.

I have had excellent service out of Taiwanese Gearwrench tools. Good quality at fair prices, especially back when their BOGO deals were in effect.

BOGO at time when most of the tools good production effort taiwan is what gave gearwrench good reputation and the consumer incredibly good value for pretty nice design/manufacture effort tools .
Like volvoryan mentions, two consumers buying same tool years apart will have a vastly different experience .

 

[Fedwrench]

I haven't seen Gearwrench Black Edition tools sold here yet. However, that doesn't mean it won't end up here. I don't think Gearwrench has black wrenches in their line up here but, a shared Apex brand Crescent does. Perhaps it's something we'll see in the future.

 

[Jack Ryan]

This is an update.

Here is part of the label of the "Black Edition" tool set in question.

1. There is no specific statement of the duration of the warrantee and there is a warning - no tight fasteners.
2. The tools are manufactured in China
3. The company address is in the Netherlands.

I purchased another set of what I believed to be the original quality that I have come to expect. Here is part of the packaging.

1. There is a specific lifetime warrantee without warning
2. The tools are manufactured in Taiwan
3. The company address is in the USA

All of the other Gearwrench tools I have were made in Taiwan and I am happy with their quality.

Jack

 

[Jack Ryan]

I haven't seen Gearwrench Black Edition tools sold here yet. However, that doesn't mean it won't end up here. I don't think Gearwrench has black wrenches in their line up here but, a shared Apex brand Crescent does. Perhaps it's something we'll see in the future.

Here is an image taken from sales blurb. It is a Crescent combination spanner.

 

[jay70]

I think these were a failed experiment to see if anyone would notice the difference from their regular product line.

There’s a reason these are only $99. The original ratcheting flexheads are still available at $300

 

[Jack Ryan]

I think these were a failed experiment to see if anyone would notice the difference from their regular product line.

There’s a reason these are only $99. The original ratcheting flexheads are still available at $300

Perhaps, they have moved back onto the wall at Total Tools and the price has over doubled there and at other places. The Crescent tools remain as a product and they look much worse.

Looks like they tried to get cheaper production in China but ticked the wrong quality box on the order.

Jack

 

[VolvoRyan]

My sentiments exactly. Nothing they make impresses me. I wouldn’t describe any of their made in China hardline products as particularly good. I‘m somewhat tempted to try their extractor sockets that CP the Tool Addict compares to the Mac RBRT socket extractors but I think I’d rather spend more money than support GearWrench, even if they do work nearly as well.

My joke a couple years ago was that you could use regular GearWrench sockets as extractors: The sockets would cam open under normal use and fasteners got stuck in them. Gah.

Surprisingly, my original flex-head Gearwrenches have been around here forever and a day. Most are 15 years old. I've broken one or two, but they're cheap enough to replace rather than warranty. They're the last GearWrench items in the front line box. In a fit of rage, wanted to throw them all in the trash to expunge GearWrench from my life after the 90T locking-flex ratchet debacle. Cooler heads prevailed before that happened.

IMHO, GearWrench is making fatal missteps in their niche of the market. That section of the market is too competitive to have tools that aren't good out of the box.

-Ryan

 

[Jack Ryan]

IMHO, GearWrench is making fatal missteps in their niche of the market. That section of the market is too competitive to have tools that aren't good out of the box.

It is certainly a mistake to have two very different levels of quality under the same brand. It is bad enough having those rubbish Crescent tools under the same umbrella.

Jack

 

[milkovich]

COO keeps moving around with big guys like SBD and Apex. I have had some REALLY nice tools surprise me from less common brands when the country of origin is Taiwan but the COO is just never consistent enough to always use as a reference. I'm surprised that Amazon shows it on their website to be honest because we receive orders of the same sku and might have different COOs of the same item on the same pallet.

 

[lardy1]

They have an awesome range of products. Their marketing appears to be top notch in that they are well known and very available. Generally speaking, pricing is in line. My thing with them is inconsistency. Some things are good tools. Some things aren't. I like a certain reliability from a brand. My feelings about COO and their feelings about COO do not align and I'll leave that there.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I'm not sure what the definition of "COO" is - does it mean country of manufacture of the tool in question?

I have only had one bad experience with Gearwrench and that set of tools was clearly marked "Made in China". All of the rest were clearly marked "Made in Taiwan" so my experience has been that the tools made in Taiwan are consistently good. I mostly only buy their spanners though and all of those are ratcheting.

I don't remember ever seeing the acronym "COO" used.

Jack

 

[ForrestT]

Country of origin

 

[Jack Ryan]

Country of origin

Thanks, but does that mean

- country of manufacture?
- country of assembly?
- country of packing?

or, something else?

It seems to be an acronym added to obfuscate the origin of the product.

Jack

 

[M6erfan]

Geez, I wasn't that impressed with GW 20 years ago. Even less so now.

 

[dscheidt]

Thanks, but does that mean

- country of manufacture?
- country of assembly?
- country of packing?

or, something else?

It seems to be an acronym added to obfuscate the origin of the product.

Jac,

In the US, for imported goods, country of origin is where the last substantial transformation occurred. Take a bunch of chinese parts, ship them to Italy, put them together, and you can slap a made in Italy sticker on it. You can also label things more specifically ("made in China of Italian silk"), if that suits you. For US goods, sold in the US, Made in USA means it's substantially all american made. So a made in USA wrench needs to be made of american made steel. If that's not true, you get to made in USA with global materials (meaning real work is happening, but a substantial enough fraction of the material comes from overseas) and assembled in USA from global materials, meaning the "made in Italy" case. (For some things, you're allowed to say "Made in USA from Italian silk", if that's true, and you think it's a selling point.) For export, US law allows most of those to be labeled "made in USA", depending on the rules of the destination.

Outside of the US, who knows.

 

[ForrestT]

Thanks, but does that mean

- country of manufacture?
- country of assembly?
- country of packing?

or, something else?

It seems to be an acronym added to obfuscate the origin of the product.

Jack

Where it was made.

 

[Schurkey]

I think there are a lot of makers below Gearwrench... ..."Entry level" is often a subjective description.

I consider "entry level" to be "apprentice-grade". That is, suitable for professional use, for a worker at the beginning of their career, knowing they'll need better stuff as time goes by. Sears Craftsman filled this niche for decades before dropping below "entry/apprentice" level into "homeowner" tools formerly branded as "Sears", (not "Craftsman") "Companion", and later, below "homeowner" grade as "Evolv".

Below that are the junk disposable one-use **** sold on the bargain table at auto parts stores, Hazzard Fraught, etc.

I have "Gearwrench"-made, Craftsman USA-branded ratcheting combo wrenches; they're totally suitable for apprentice use. No complaints, had 'em for...20 years (?) but I don't use 'em much. Not saying I'd buy the current imported version.

Their marketing appears to be top notch in that they are well known and very available.

Exactly following the formula of big companies on a downhill slide. They're more concerned about marketing than quality. More marketing "makes up" for lower quality, because they're selling to a wider audience, additional people who have no clue. As long as they can remove value/quality/cost faster than the retail price, and reputation drops, things look good on the quarterly balance sheets. At some point--surprisingly--they run out of ignorant potential customers, or they settle into an "acceptable mediocrity" where cost, quality, and price are "adequate" for continued viability.

Cadillac especially, and all of GM generally did this during the '70s and '80s; then spent twice as much money as they saved (maybe ten times as much as they saved, going bankrupt in the process) trying to resuscitate their "premium" brand when enough folks figured out the cars were **** and sales hit bottom. For many folks, buying a Cadillac is still a non-option because we remember how bad they screwed people in the past. Cadillac could never find "acceptable mediocrity" so they've had to invest in bringing the "premium" back. Good luck with that. They ain't there yet...

Smokey Yunick said that it takes ten times as long to un-FiretrUCK a situation as it took to FiretrUCK it up in the first place. I'd say he was being conservative.

 

[Steve_P]

I have a bunch of the Gearwrench 90T ratchets that I bought in the last ~6 months; they're all very nice and no issues. Well, the 1/2" locking flex head was a bit sloppy, but a socket head shoulder screw shim fixed it; no more slop. I have two sets of GW mid length sockets that I purchased 3+ years ago; again no issues. I have a set of the first-generation ratcheting wrenches; no issues. I know I have a few other minor things also. All of the stuff I have has been fine. The 90T ratchets are a bargain. I'm sure they make some junk, but what I have is very good.