Flare nut wrench

[barrybeefburger]

Ive gone through the other threads on this and didnt find anything, Im a home tinkerer and looking for some flare nut wrenches, all the cars are less than 6 years old so corrosion isnt a big issue, I keep hearing about Tekton and was wondering if they produce a good flare nut wrench, Im not wanting to spend SO money and they will likely see little use.

If there are better options Im all ears, also, I live in Canada so my best option is Amazon, but I do have family in the US so could get them shipped there.

 

[noahwins]

Get a set of Husky or Kobalt or Pittsburg or eBay generics and be done with it. No need to spend any more than the minimum on flare nuts unless you're a tech using them all the time.

Even then, Snap On flare nut wrenches ****. Biggest, thickest, clunkiest jaws ever.

 

[jumbojak]

Get a set of Husky or Kobalt or Pittsburg or eBay generics and be done with it. No need to spend any more than the minimum on flare nuts unless you're a tech using them all the time.

Even then, Snap On flare nut wrenches ****. Biggest, thickest, clunkiest jaws ever.

I'm guessing you just go straight for the vise grips...

To the OP, I have a set of metric from SK that work for me in Virginia and if rust and corrosion aren't too much of an issue they'll probably work for you. You could also buy singles if the fleet is small and you know what sizes you need. Cheaper flares have caused problems for me in the past but I do have some Evercraft crowsfeet that work well.

 

[eschoendorff]

Get a set of Husky or Kobalt or Pittsburg or eBay generics and be done with it. No need to spend any more than the minimum on flare nuts unless you're a tech using them all the time.

Even then, Snap On flare nut wrenches ****. Biggest, thickest, clunkiest jaws ever.

Umm... no. I have Snap On, Husky and Craftsman Pro (SK) flare nut wrenches. The Craftsman have the biggest jaws.

They all work but the Snap Ons that I have are in the sizes I use most so they get the call.

For the OP, any decent brand will probably work.

 

[Tallpilot]

Tekton no longer sells flare nut wrenches. Any that you see online are old stock. They were the same generic China models sold under other brands. They are pretty much junk.

Figure out what sizes you need and get some used Snap-on from eBay. Don't pay more than 50% of new MSRP. SK are also rumored to be fine but Snap-on are the clear winners.

 

[The Fall]

At a decent price point, SK. I've had Protos. A fuel line nut started to round so I grabbed the SK. That did the job. And I like Proto.

I have Snap-on in SAE and SK in metric. Both are great. The Harbor Freight ones shouldn't be on the market. As someone mentioned, you're better off with Vise Grips.

If price is an issue, buy the single size SK wrench you need.

 

[Bills Tools]

I am currently looking for a good set of line wrenches. I just redid all the break lines on my chevy Astro. I used craftsman combination wrenches 9/16 and didn’t strip any bolts. My break lines were rusted really bad. I sprayed them up with liquid wrench before attempting to break them free. I did buy Pittsburgh flare wrenches and they also worked but I am looking at a set of sk 378 and 385 to add better wrenches to my tool arsenal.


Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Mgdoug3]

Napa had a set of Carlyle flare wrenches on sale last month or maybe February. I needed a wrench and buying the set was the only way to get that wrench locally and that day. They seem to be a good set.

 

[eschoendorff]

Napa had a set of Carlyle flare wrenches on sale last month or maybe February. I needed a wrench and buying the set was the only way to get that wrench locally and that day. They seem to be a good set.

I checked out napaonline and a 5 piece metric flare wrench set was $95! That’s a good bit of $$$ for an imported wrench set. You can get SK for that kind of money.

 

[Mgdoug3]

I got the standard for $70ish I believe. I needed the one wrench and I didn't have a set anyway. I haven't needed one for a metric yet but SK would probably be my first choice new. Used Snap-on would probably be second.

 

[derosa]

Umm... no. I have Snap On, Husky and Craftsman Pro (SK) flare nut wrenches. The Craftsman have the biggest jaws.

They all work but the Snap Ons that I have are in the sizes I use most so they get the call.

For the OP, any decent brand will probably work.

I have a 20 year old set of craftsman pro so prob old SK, they've failed every time. For my next brake job I'll find out the size I need and hit up the SO man for that one size.
To me as a driveway mechanic doing hydraulic lines is an almost never thing to do, only twice in the 20 years since buying them and I'm looking at a third time this summer. Which means other then the one that failed me twice the rest of the set is just sitting around taking up space. I'd have rather in hindsight have spent the money on the one really good wrench that I needed rather then the set I haven't needed. In both cases I watched the jaws spread allowing the wrench to slip. As a non-pro I'm not paid to screw around and figure out the solution to my screwup and I don't enjoy the frustration of fixing problems that didn't need to be. There have been a couple threads lately on this and there really seemed to be 2 camps, only sO or any brand should do. Any brand hasn't worked for me so I'll look to snap-on. Course if you want to try any brand I'll sell a set of 20 year old craftsman pros for cheap.

 

[crasher98]

I recently bought an S-K SAE set for ~$80 from here: https://www.circlecsupply.com/sk-38...ractional-15-offset-flare-nut-wrench-set.html and it seems fine.

You'll see in the photo below that the wrench I was actually using (9/16") is swaddled in a shop towel -- that's because I had to put an 18" pipe on it to try to coax some completely fused-together lines and fittings to come apart, but it looked so pretty I hated to gack it up right after I got it. No luck tho -- I got the fitting loose but the brake line failed from the twisting. Point being - I'm surprised to hear about any brand of flare nut wrenches spreading, at least when you're using them on brake line fittings, because in my experience the brake line fails before you ever get to the point of spreading an open-ended wrench.

 

[barrybeefburger]

Thanks guys,

Ive ordered the 3 piece set from SK.

 

[jumbojak]

I recently bought an S-K SAE set for ~$80 from here: https://www.circlecsupply.com/sk-38...ractional-15-offset-flare-nut-wrench-set.html and it seems fine.

You'll see in the photo below that the wrench I was actually using (9/16") is swaddled in a shop towel -- that's because I had to put an 18" pipe on it to try to coax some completely fused-together lines and fittings to come apart, but it looked so pretty I hated to gack it up right after I got it. No luck tho -- I got the fitting loose but the brake line failed from the twisting. Point being - I'm surprised to hear about any brand of flare nut wrenches spreading, at least when you're using them on brake line fittings, because in my experience the brake line fails before you ever get to the point of spreading an open-ended wrench.

I don't think "spread" is the issue - I'm highly skeptical of reported wrench spread in general - it's initial fit on the nut. The cheap ones may not spread but they do, in my experience, round which comes to the same thing in the end.

 

[Tallpilot]

I don't think "spread" is the issue - I'm highly skeptical of reported wrench spread in general - it's initial fit on the nut. The cheap ones may not spread but they do, in my experience, round which comes to the same thing in the end.

That could well be. One guy was complaining the Snap-on was big and chunky instead of slim and ****. That’s on purpose to grab more of the nut. These fittings are soft by design so spreading the load along the greatest surface area possible gives the best chance.

As most have discovered, if you’re going to touch these things have some new line and a flaring tool handy. It’s even odds the line isn’t going to survive the disassembly.

 

[rlitman]

...Im not wanting to spend SO money and they will likely see little use...

Why not? My guess is you could probably get away with just two wrenches that cover all your needs.

 

[ChrisLS8]

Get a set of Husky or Kobalt or Pittsburg or eBay generics and be done with it. No need to spend any more than the minimum on flare nuts unless you're a tech using them all the time.

Even then, Snap On flare nut wrenches ****. Biggest, thickest, clunkiest jaws ever.

Pretty sure you're the only person to say the SO wrenches ****.

And frankly your advice is terrible. Line wrenches are one tool you do not cheap out on and get the bare minimum cause if they round the nut off you are in for a whole lot of extra work to save a few bucks.

 

[greg13]

Snapon wrenches ARE thick - for a reason, to help prevent rounding the nut when you can't get on it square.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Pretty sure you're the only person to say the SO wrenches ****.

And frankly your advice is terrible. Line wrenches are one tool you do not cheap out on and get the bare minimum cause if they round the nut off you are in for a whole lot of extra work to save a few bucks.

So true.. Snap-on flare nut wrenches are designed to do a specific job..

The bargain brands are made to sell for a bargain price.

 

[jgme]

Yes, an old topic from prehistoric times with dinosaurs roaming the Earth. Thanks for the various comments. The choice was to go the cry once route and grab a couple of eBay items. These are replacing some old USA craftsman flare nut wrenches that were acquired in the early 1980s.

 

[HVAC Study]

Snap on

Sk

Matco

New craftsman

Gearwrench

USA craftsman

Crescent

Harbor freight

Gearwrench flex


In that order as tested by the torque test channel

 

[rsanter]

Don’t cheap out on flare nut wrenches, buy good ones.
You can just buy the couple sizes you will need and you can buy them used.
Snap on is worth the added money in this case

 

[driftpin]

A few years ago, I treated myself to SK in both metric and SAE flare-nut sizes.

 

[Ricky Joe]

Regarding brake lines: it just true that the line will probably fail before the wrench does. Where I have seen issues is in applications like sensors that may have rusted to the exhaust or turbo, and I have seen many brands fail to loosen before they spread. Snap-On will do the best job when needed. They are amazing. I haven’t tried every brand in difficult situations, because I went for the best when necessary. I have a lot of them; K-D, New Britain, Mac, Easco, Proto, Cal-Van, Herbrand, Bonney, Blue Point, PowerBuilt, Great Neck, probably forgetting some. All have been serviceable in most applications. The Snap-On has bailed me out of difficult jobs.