Flex head ratcheting wrenches - reccomendations

[gdpolk]

Who makes decent ones for a DIY guy? I'm not looking for SO prices but want a serviceable tool. I can get Gearwrench locally but there may be similarly priced stuff out there that's better quality or larger sets for similar money.

 

[Paulkenosha]

Gearwrench is what I have and love them. Don't pay full price though. Many coupon codes out there and sales that can make them pretty cheap. Also check eBay and deals on tooltopia also if advanceauto has coupon codes that stack you can get them pretty cheap as well.

 

[LB-1911]

Who makes decent ones for a DIY guy? I'm not looking for SO prices but want a serviceable tool. I can get Gearwrench locally but there may be similarly priced stuff out there that's better quality or larger sets for similar money.

Blackhawk™ By Proto® might be an option.
http://www.protoindustrial.com/en/industrial-tools/BrandPage/BlackhawkByProto/

 

[Jamie in wv]

I own both the gearwrench and the lockable blackhawk flex.. The lockable part makes this Blackhawk wrench a very nice feature that allows it to be used without the knuckle smashing of a flex wrench folding up on you.

 

[MEngineer]

I know there are people on here that are not impressed by Craftsman, but I am just a hobbyist and there was a Cyber Monday sale at sears yesterday that had the CMan flex head ratchets at like $10 each. I thought that was a good enough price.

 

[jallyn]

I would get this Tekton set made in Taiwan:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEKTON-Flex...935237?hash=item3f677930c5:g:9agAAOSwWfFXklCd

 

[jstroede]

Another vote for GW. I have had them for about 10 years now and use them all the time.

John

 

[jallyn]

or this Gearwrench set since it doesn't have any skips (Edit: made in China):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GearWrench-...:g:5wIAAOSwJSJXGULl&item=222185888316&vxp=mtr

 

[Adam.C]

I don't get the attraction of these sets. All the wrenches seem way too short. And the open ends? How good are they? These are funny tools for the DIYer.

I'd rather have double ended EZ Red or something similar. I would get the absolute longest wrenches you can buy. None of the ratchet wrenches are super strong. So we are really talking about convenience. You might do better with ratcheting stubbies.

I have many sets of ratchet wrenches and I really don't use them. What I like most are the hi performance double box wrenches and 1/4" sockets. Crack stuff free with a long wrench, then zip it off with the smallest lightest tool you can get away with.

 

[bcradio]

I don't get the attraction of these sets. All the wrenches seem way too short. And the open ends? How good are they? These are funny tools for the DIYer.

I'd rather have double ended EZ Red or something similar. I would get the absolute longest wrenches you can buy. None of the ratchet wrenches are super strong. So we are really talking about convenience. You might do better with ratcheting stubbies.

I have many sets of ratchet wrenches and I really don't use them. What I like most are the hi performance double box wrenches and 1/4" sockets. Crack stuff free with a long wrench, then zip it off with the smallest lightest tool you can get away with.

Same here. I almost never use my ratcheting wrenches.

On rare occasions they do come in handy though.

 

[Ign]

Honestly as long as you don't get reversibles the GW stuff is fine. If you're looking fractional though the Tektons include 1/4" and 5/16". One of my pet-peeves with most ratcheting wrenches is they don't go small enough - - and of course they rarely go big enough.

 

[M6erfan]

Had the original Gearwrench 15 years ago or so, wasn't that impressed with them. The width of the gear head was almost always too big to be useful. Ended up selling them.

I agree with the box end break, 1/4" socket removal suggested by Adam C above...

 

[gdpolk]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll pick some up next time a sell or coupon or something comes up

 

[gdocktor3]

I bought both metric and sae flex head Gearwrench from Advance Auto Parts. I used a promo code for 30% off when they were already on sale and they came to like $30 bucks for each set. This was about 2 years ago, but they still offer them and you can use promo codes. I have both these sets, reversible GW, stubby GW, and Proto spline drive 0 degree offsets, but 9 times out of 10 I grab the GW flex heads.

 

[Ign]

So I just ordered a single 3/4" flex head from O'Reilly. The plastic card is their Power Torque (house brand) but the wrench is branded GM Goodwrench (another house thing O'Reilly's been doing for awhile). What caught my eye is Taiwan rather than all the new GW offerings being China. I don't know who the OEM is on this Power Torque, if it's GW than it's NOS (I had to order it as my store does not stock single flex head ratcheting wrenches so maybe it's been on a warehouse shelf for a long time).

Anyway, point is I was poking around their site today and the fractional set is on clearance for $60:
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...=Search_N2316_5226030_2659&pt=N2316&ppt=C0216

My store shows available for in-store pickup. As HomeDepotRob has pointed out here before, shipping on clearance items at O'Reilly will usually kill you so you really need to find one locally (or run through the cart and see what shipping would be).

If you were gonna give similar $$ for China GW I'd probably opt for these if they're Taiwan.

There's also a metric set (GM4759) but it's stupid as it skips 11mm and tops at 18mm (should include 19) for the same $59.99. Clearly they wanted to use the same packaging so compromised to make a 7 pc metric set.

edit: post 18 here says made by Wilmar:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=333651&highlight=Powertorque&showall=1

 

[rmsg0040]

Had the original Gearwrench 15 years ago or so, wasn't that impressed with them. The width of the gear head was almost always too big to be useful. Ended up selling them.

I agree with the box end break, 1/4" socket removal suggested by Adam C above...

3rd that, was thinking about that the other day to myself

 

[Know Wosad]

4 th that. I have a set of Mountain(same as EZ)I break loose with one of my XL combo or low offset box pieces.The only time I use a ratchet wrench is when there is a reach-vision issue.Not very often.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

or this Gearwrench set since it doesn't have any skips (Edit: made in China):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GearWrench-...:g:5wIAAOSwJSJXGULl&item=222185888316&vxp=mtr

thats a great price. i just found the full 16 piece set for 99.

 

[tonyciambrone]

I like my long handled 6pt flex heads from Tekton. They do not win points for comfort (very thin). Finish and fit is nice. I don't know why anyone wants ratcheting 12pt or Spline but to each their own. We have Gearwrench at work and they're fine too.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

The only time i've found gearwrench break is when people use the ratchet end to break free bolts or nuts with them and it's mostly the sizes smaller than 12 or 13mm. The 10 was always being broken. I believe they're meant to be used as a ratchet for right places and seldom used to break free fasteners but i could be wrong. Thats why i like the long wrenches with the box end on one end and the ratchet on the other. You break free with the box end and remove with the ratchet end.

 

[Finky198]

I don't get the attraction of these sets. All the wrenches seem way too short. And the open ends? How good are they? These are funny tools for the DIYer.

I'd rather have double ended EZ Red or something similar. I would get the absolute longest wrenches you can buy. None of the ratchet wrenches are super strong. So we are really talking about convenience. You might do better with ratcheting stubbies.

I have many sets of ratchet wrenches and I really don't use them. What I like most are the hi performance double box wrenches and 1/4" sockets. Crack stuff free with a long wrench, then zip it off with the smallest lightest tool you can get away with.

Same here. I almost never use my ratcheting wrenches.

On rare occasions they do come in handy though.

I have to agree with both of these... I don't really see the point its just a lot of consumer marketing to sell extra wrenches... If I use any ratcheting wrenches its the SO Double box (XDHRMs) to break things loose and the blue point stubby flex head wrenches for super tight areas... when nothing else will fit....


Otherwise its a socket with ratchet or Impact for me Its usually 1/4" drive but whatever the smallest I can get away with...

.

 

[d.mcfarland]

I too prefer to use sockets when I can instead of a wrench, but a wrench is a necessary tool so have the most useful wrench for your situation is the key.

People who work on big equipment don't need the fine tooth ratcheting wrenches. They just won't use them. However, anyone doing automotive work will find that one time that nothing will work as good as a ratcheting wrench.

For the $60 it costs for a complete set it's totally worth it. Less if you only get metric. Hell even the flex head ones are on sale for $20 pretty often.

 

[Ign]

I compared the PowerTorque/GM Goodwrench 3/4" flex to my Gearwrench 3/4" flex. The GW definitely suffers from a bit of lobster claw syndrome on the open end and the ratcheting end is slightly larger. Also the stupid directional arrow on the GW is more like an afterthought scribble on the body of the wrench, but the GM has a nice large arrow laser'd in directly below the ratcheting box.

Overall the Taiwanese GM is a noticeably higher quality piece than Chinese GW, although admittedly the markers of higher quality are relatively subtle.

 

[d.mcfarland]

Overall the Taiwanese GM is a noticeably higher quality piece than Chinese GW, although admittedly the markers of higher quality are relatively subtle.

Good point. However, the Taiwan "original" Gearwrench is different or "better".

With that said, I think Tekton 6 points are Taiwan and they are on my short list. I would love to have been part of the testing period for those. I'm in the rust belt and 12 point is a gamble on the smaller sizes.

 

[Ign]

Good point. However, the Taiwan "original" Gearwrench is different or "better".

With that said, I think Tekton 6 points are Taiwan and they are on my short list. I would love to have been part of the testing period for those. I'm in the rust belt and 12 point is a gamble on the smaller sizes.

I just received the Tekton 6 point flex heads via ebay in fractional sizes. I'd say they seem nice. I did notice the 3/4" in particular has some backlash, meaning after it clicks it rotates back a bit until it stops.

Honestly I've very much enjoyed my old SK G-pros which I guess are considered spline drive, but they didn't call 'em that back then. They're supposed to fit all kinds of shapes and I've used them on square and something else (maybe E-torx) with great success.

I understand the strong-like-bull mentality behind 6 point, but it pretty well means you're ONLY using them on hex heads and nothing else. For most mechanics that's fine I realize.

 

[BTL-A4]

I realize this is an old thread, but I came across it looking for recommendation for ratcheting flex head wrenches.

I decided to go with an Olsa Tools set. 6 point, 120 tooth, 12 piece SAE set for $130 shipped. I'm a serious DIY guy and don't need top of the line, and was getting set to go with GW for inch (they have a 10-pc set with an 11/32" wrench which I use all the time( for $151 and a Husky 13 pc metric set (8-19mm and 21) for $110. However, the most recent GW reviews weren't good, so I continued my research. I came across Olsa. I have 3 Olsa flex-head socket wrenches which are pretty nice, so I thought I'd give these a try. They were less than the GW, too. I bought direct from Olsa and got points, so I'll use those to buy the metric set when they are in stock in August. I called Olsa (and got a live person, no phone tree), to check when they'd be in. I did it as a test to see how the customer service was.

I've used just one wrench, but it feels really nice. I thought the 6 point opening would be an issue, but the 120 tooth rotation mostly negates that.

The wrenches have an arrow indicating which way is loose and tight. Finish is nice, they feel "weighty" and the flex heads rotate really nice: not too loose or tight. The fit on the fasteners was nice and firm as well. They got here just a few days after I ordered them.