Fleet USA wrenches

[nickelTwin]

Picked these up this morning at a garage sale. I have never seen or heard of this brand before today. Did alalitlittle reading about Fleet today. They seem pretty nice.

 

[WJD]

I have but one fleet wrench, a 3/4 inch combination end wrench.

The build and finish of my fleet wrench reminds me of New Britain wrenches.

I know, that does not even count without a picture.....

 

[KEH]

According to the Alloy Artifacts site, Fleet was made by Penens Corporation, which became part Plomb tools.

KEH

 

[Farmall 1066]

Dad has a set of Fleet wrenches. Always liked the finish on them.

 

[twertsy]

I've got tons of sockets, extensions, and ratchets, but I've yet to find a wrench. Kinda odd?

 

[Beerman]

Have a Fleet 3/8 ratchet somewhere that is IDENTICAL to a Wright "tootsie roll" style ratchet. Bet my bottom dollar it was made by Wright for them.

Those Wright tootsie rolls are VERY underrated, IMHO.

FWIW.


Beerman

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Those Wright tootsie rolls are VERY underrated, IMHO.

Truer words have never been spoken!

 

[montanafordman]

View media item 91153
My grandfather had left a few fleet wrenches (made by Proto back in the day) in his model A that I inherited, and I found a few more fleet wrenches on eBay to complete the set. I put them all in a new wrench roll. No frills, just some good vintage USA combo wrenches.

 

[thehorse13]

I bought a box full of Fleet tools that came from the estate of the original owner. They are great daily users and can be found for pennies at flea markets.

The set that I have is interesting because the sockets are stamped with the Penens clover while the Fleet name in script appears on the sockets and most other tools in the set. The ratchets are marked Penens though. The original tool box says Fleet in script with a set of wings.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The set that I have is interesting because the sockets are stamped with the Penens clover while the Fleet name in script appears on the sockets and most other tools in the set.

Fleet Quality Tools was a PENENS brand, and it's not uncommon to find those kinds of variations, Sonny. Also, that "clover" marking (or a star or an asterisk) - indicating the location of the detent hole on the inside of sockets and the bells on the female end of extensions, to enable the user to line up the ball on male drive tools when connecting them - can be found on all brands, including PENENS, Fleet, Challenger, and even Proto from the late 40's right through the PTTI into the Proto era. (Not 1/4-inch, which had no detents.) It was on the 'to do' list for TA, and as far as I know we never definitized a timeline for the various symbols, but the hunch was the clover was early (late 40's into 50's) followed by the star and asterisk.

 

[thehorse13]

If I rely solely on what I was told when I purchased the entire Fleet set, you assumption of late 40s/early 50s is spot on. The seller is the son of the original owner and he told me that his father bought them after WWII but before he went to Korea.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Good to know.

 

[shanny19]

I know Challenger outlasted Fleet, but when they coexisted as part of Proto empire, what was the marketing angle/ niche / relative quality between the two?

I find Challenger to Fleet in about a 20 to 1 ratio around my parts.
I also speculate that Challenger might still be sharing or owning the niche currently enjoyed by Blackhawk if it wasn’t for the shuttle disaster.

 

[montanafordman]

I know Challenger outlasted Fleet, but when they coexisted as part of Proto empire, what was the marketing angle/ niche / relative quality between the two?

I find Challenger to Fleet in about a 20 to 1 ratio around my parts.
I also speculate that Challenger might still be sharing or owning the niche currently enjoyed by Blackhawk if it wasn’t for the shuttle disaster.

Probably different target markets/demographics. I'm sure Proto wanted to market their "Proto Tools" as a "premium" line, and a full and comprehensive line at that where you could not only find combination wrenches, but line wrenches, crowfoot wrenches, tappet wrenches, torque wrenches etc. Where proto tools are sold I'm sure they wanted their brand well represented and well displayed.

If Proto wanted to market some of their combination wrenches to harry homeowner they could rebrand, or dedicate some production toward another name, and now their fleet or challenger wrenches can be found at a small town hardware store or gas station that doesn't have a lot of inventory or an expensive display. They can sell their tools at Kmart and not cheapen the perception of their premium brand.

*That is my own opinion or guess anyway....

 

[tym]

I think fleet was mostly a "farm store" brand.

Like Twertsy, I see a lot more socket tools than wrenches, but I have some wrenches. Saw a couple of combo wrenches in big sizes last night when I was sorting stuff to get rid of. I get probably 40 Challenger tools to each Fleet. Challenger are like Craftsman; you get them when you buy lots to sort out Proto or Snap-on or other stuff you want, mixed in, and you have to figure out how to get rid of them constantly.

BTW, if you have some larger Challenger combos you need to dispose of, let me know; I'm trying to fill out a tool board and lack 6134, 6136, 6140.

 

[tym]

^ D'oh! I wonder, are there any major differences from Challenger, apart from the markings? The Challenger 61xx series seems to be a longer pattern combo wrench.