Gear Wrench Line

[outsider347]

Considering buying combo end box/ratchet set from Tooltopia. My concern is it is China made.
Any comments?
tks

 

[jtfc]

Buy them they have been china made for years. They work fine for me. The quality is there. Btw not everything out of china is garbage=I phone.

 

[yasha32]

I tend to agree with the above statement as long as there is a track record backing it.

My iPhone is junk though.

 

[kippieland]

I personally prefer Taiwan to China....just me though.

 

[yasha32]

I personally prefer Taiwan to China....just me though.

Going into a purchase blind, I would agree. I just was saying reputation is part of it as well

 

[amolaver]

i've got a ton of both china and taiwan manufactured pieces, and all of them have been great. i've got no complaints about any of their stuff. everything from ratcheting screwdriver to flare nut wrenches to a BUNCH of a varieties of ratcheting wrench. in fact, the only thing i don't like is the flex x-beam wrenches. i thought i would like the twisted beam, but really dislike them.

ahm

 

[yogitech]

I've got hundreds of Gearwrench wrenches from fixed to ratcheting, short to long... Never had any issues with any of them. Would strongly recommend!

 

[t1r2u3s4t]

Well, the manufacturing plants in China are probably owned by Taiwanese anyway. Still I'd prefer Made-in-Taiwan stuff...

 

[buening]

Take a look at the Blackhawk line to compare in price. I'd take the Blackhawk over Gearwrench, but I think the GW tend to be a bit cheaper. BH are Taiwan.

 

[kippieland]

Going into a purchase blind, I would agree. I just was saying reputation is part of it as well

Agreed! Unfortunately, with the way things are going reputation doesn't aways mean what it used to be.

I have used the gearwrench ratcheting wrenches(recent chinese) before and I am more impressed with the Kobalt Tiawan stuff. I am sure Blawkhawk is even better.

 

[Tony N.]

I just got a set of flare nut wrenches as a gift from the GF for my bday. They feel like quality and also pleasing to the eyes. I can't wait to try them out on some brake lines next weekend.

I kind of wish they were made in Taiwan though. Like others here, I think Taiwan is a step up from China. I do not use these types of wrenches that often so I'm quite happy with the gift.

Amazon has great reviews on these wrenches btw. Many people on there are using Snap-on, Mac, etc. as a comparison.

 

[vintagefan]

I tend to agree with the above statement as long as there is a track record backing it.

My iPhone is junk though.

IMO much of the track record was based on the Taiwan made, and then the 1st generation Chinese made Gearwrenches. The most recent (2nd gen) Chinese gearwrenches are pretty mediocre IMO. They have crappy broaching on the open end, they fattened the ends up into semi-lobster claw style like the new craftsman, and every set I've played with, each wrench ratcheted different, some really tight, and some really sloppy. Someone made a thread about it a while back here.

If you compare them to Gearwrench that is still Taiwan made (like the Quadbox) the difference is pretty huge.



I really like the Blackhawk, and the Husky brand. They're made by the same OEM in Taiwan, and the quality is SUPERB.

 

[cobymoby]

Grearwrench makes good stuff. Nothing wrong with that brand.

 

[Fedwrench]

You should be ok. I think the quality of the Gearwrench line declined after moving production to the PRC. However, there is also a vast difference between the Gearwrench **** you see on half off or more at Sears sales and wrenches bought from suppliers such as tooltopia. There are few sources for US made fine tooth ratcheting wrenches and they are often cost prohibited.
Good luck in your quest.

 

[tjmonsen5]

I have craftsman USA ratcheting wrenches and gearwrench taiwan ratcheting wrenches. I prefer the craftsman. Maybe its because my gear wrench are flex head and I just dont need to use them that often. They feel almost identical to the craftsman, which have been going strong for 4 years now.

 

[kythri]

I've got a pretty wide variety of GW stuff manufactured over the past 7-8 years, both Taiwanese and Chinese, including some purchased within the last 6 months (Chinese origin).

The quality is there, and I honestly can NOT tell a difference between the stuff unless I look for stampings.

In my book, the new stuff is equal to the old stuff - whether it's from Sears or NAPA (and have bought both in the past 6 months as well).