the1nonlyjl
Banned
You got that right, bcradio. Ppl here r mental cases.
GearWrench Gone To Hell?
- Thread starter Tavy
- Start date
mmack66
Well-known member
Last I heard, though I really don't pay that much attention, is that the Taiwan ratchets were good, and that you could throw the higher tooth count Matco guts in there and have an even better ratchet.
LOL... Woody.
Just so there is No confusion, Just about every Ratcheting Wrench i own is GW branded, Whether its my Newly acquired Gear box sets, Flex, Standard or Reversing.
Im Not saying they are Junk, but There are Noticeable differences between the China and Taiwan wrenches from a cosmetic standpoint and when i had the choice between the China flex sets (Apex) and the Older Danaher Taiwan based sets i chose the Old stock outside of a few Chinese pieces that filled size gaps.
As far as where there coming from, Its still a Mystery and likely wont be solved for quite awhile as there is conflicting evidence everywhere. Whether One COO is better than the Other? Who knows? On a Personal Level i wish i could find a US set of Ratcheting Wrench Products, But NO ONE even comes close to matching the GW lineup in regards to Ratcheting products.
Mike-Trident
Well-known member
GearWrench is made in three places. US, China & Taiwan.
I am sure the Chinese factories are the same as the Taiwanese in the fact that they are owned by GearWrench (Actually, their parent company, APEX Tool Group). I briefly ran down the list and see that US made accounts for about 1/2, and about 1/4 for Chinese and about 1/4 for Taiwanese... This was just based on me looking down the list quickly.
Do I personally think you will see much of a difference? No. They are too big of a company to mess around ******* off customers and having to deal with hassles such as warranty returns.
Mike.
If you ever want to know what country a tool is made, PM me.
I am sure the Chinese factories are the same as the Taiwanese in the fact that they are owned by GearWrench (Actually, their parent company, APEX Tool Group). I briefly ran down the list and see that US made accounts for about 1/2, and about 1/4 for Chinese and about 1/4 for Taiwanese... This was just based on me looking down the list quickly.
Do I personally think you will see much of a difference? No. They are too big of a company to mess around ******* off customers and having to deal with hassles such as warranty returns.
Mike.
If you ever want to know what country a tool is made, PM me.
SMKS
Well-known member
There is no way that 1/2 of GearWrench products are USA made. There's definitely some confusion with these numbers.
The only USA made GearWrench items I've ever seen or heard of are the torque wrenches.
Mike-Trident
Well-known member
Stephen, you are right. I didn't realize my list had Armstrong in it as well. I had not filtered out the other brands.
Okay not quite lobster claw but they're still larger. Most noticeably in the thickness of the open ends in the bottom photo.
3/8" comparison and 1/2" comparison new Chinese from sears and well used ones purchased about 7-8 years ago. The box ends of the Chinese ones have a bit more meat on them as well but its not too bad, thickness of the box ends is about the same.
3/8" comparison and 1/2" comparison new Chinese from sears and well used ones purchased about 7-8 years ago. The box ends of the Chinese ones have a bit more meat on them as well but its not too bad, thickness of the box ends is about the same.
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thesilverone
Well-known member
chinese steel = weakkkkk
you mean Chinese gearwrench? I don't have Chinese craftsman wrenches.
Yes I guess I mean Chinese GearWrench. I thought those wrenches you have shown there were Craftsman.
nissan_crawler
Well-known member
I've broken one 9/16" gearwrench, and I had both feet braced against a plane, jerking on the wrench. To be fair, it didn't even fully "break", I jammed it. It would come loose, but jammed with no pressure after that. It was warrantied, no troubles since.
I have 1/4"-1 1/2" gearwrench at home and work, some metric at home, stubby in some, also.
Most of mine are probably 8-9 years old, and get used all the time at work. They come in very handy on jets, often no room for ratchets.
I have 1/4"-1 1/2" gearwrench at home and work, some metric at home, stubby in some, also.
Most of mine are probably 8-9 years old, and get used all the time at work. They come in very handy on jets, often no room for ratchets.
wrh3
Well-known member
But to be fair those are Chinese GW, the Taiwan have smaller heads.
Yes the problem being that when you purchase them online and don't know which ones you are going to get. I highly doubt they are offering a Taiwan version and a China version. When the Taiwan ones are gone we will be stuck with the larger heads.
I bought a set of the reversible ratcheting wrenches online a few months back and received both the metric and SAE made in China version. I haven't even opened them I was so angry about it.
4x4gearhead
Well-known member
I will say the QC on my flex ratcheting wrenches is just terrible, some of the open ends look like a fat homeless man with a club foot! I guess its good I got them around the holidays for cheap money, and I think the SAE set was given to me. I use the flexible ratcheting part mostly but still they are really bad looking. Its bad enough Ive found myself at times getting another wrench to use the open end because the thickness to size ratio is just F'ed.
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Hey, who let a common sense guy into a COO bashing thread?
I have yet to ever break a ratcheting wrench. Of course I've never hit one with a hammer, or used a cheater on one, or... Whoops! Common sense alert! Quit reading!
So what was the final COO verdict after you set the filters correctly?
3xpendable
Well-known member
My set of GW don't have a COO. Wife got them for me when they first came out
Well that sure got me a lot more input than I could have hoped for. Much obliged, one and all.
As far as the exact failure goes, they either stick (smacking them/soaking in ATF is a temp fix, I've found), or completely slip. The reason I got extra long double box-ends was to break things free with the other end.. the ratchets don't hold up at all. 9/16, 1/2, 7/16, 5/16 being the worst offenders. 3 replacements in under 3 months.
The same way with my older set. Took one half the open end off beating it with a hammer.. that radiator wanted nothing to do with it. My own damn fault, anyway. Now it's like walking on eggshells with the new set, maybe it's the swap over to Apex as I see my new set is PRC COO. I'm definitely holding off on buying anymore until I look into some alternatives.. tool failure is debilitating.
As far as the exact failure goes, they either stick (smacking them/soaking in ATF is a temp fix, I've found), or completely slip. The reason I got extra long double box-ends was to break things free with the other end.. the ratchets don't hold up at all. 9/16, 1/2, 7/16, 5/16 being the worst offenders. 3 replacements in under 3 months.
The same way with my older set. Took one half the open end off beating it with a hammer.. that radiator wanted nothing to do with it. My own damn fault, anyway. Now it's like walking on eggshells with the new set, maybe it's the swap over to Apex as I see my new set is PRC COO. I'm definitely holding off on buying anymore until I look into some alternatives.. tool failure is debilitating.
Mike-Trident
Well-known member
Looks like Taiwan.
AmericanPreferred
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 8, 2013
- Messages
- 159
Okay not quite lobster claw but they're still larger. Most noticeably in the thickness of the open ends in the bottom photo.
3/8" comparison and 1/2" comparison new Chinese from sears and well used ones purchased about 7-8 years ago. The box ends of the Chinese ones have a bit more meat on them as well but its not too bad, thickness of the box ends is about the same.
I am guessing its due to not much use, but the larger heads do appear to be holding up better. I have some older ones from maybe the first year they came out (I know it was the first year I was aware of them) that I have used and abused quite a bit. They show no wear on the open ends, and the ratchet end has just gotten smoother. I have some newer ones that I haven't used much, but they seem ok so far.
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
There are only 8 US made Gearwrench items, that being their micrometer type torque wrenches. The rest is either PRC or Taiwan made.
I purchased the 20pc metric/SAE spanner set from Sears last December for $50 down from $100. It's Taiwanese made and came in a box. I was in Sears last week, and saw the new version is still $100 MSRP but down to $50 on sale. The box is gone and now it's sold in a plastic card type pack, and is made in China.
So Gearwrench moved this item from Taiwan to China, savings costs (I presume), but then didn't lower the price to share any of the savings they made. I'm happy mine were made in Taiwan, and will make sure I check where any new Gearwrench tools I buy are made. Gearwrench from China seems overpriced, whereas Gearwrench from Taiwan seems good value.
So Gearwrench moved this item from Taiwan to China, savings costs (I presume), but then didn't lower the price to share any of the savings they made. I'm happy mine were made in Taiwan, and will make sure I check where any new Gearwrench tools I buy are made. Gearwrench from China seems overpriced, whereas Gearwrench from Taiwan seems good value.
Farmall450
Well-known member
Exactly, its because they haven't been used
. The other thinner set has some good miles on them.priceman1414
Well-known member
Interesting, I was kind of looking at the greawrench pack 'on sale' in the sears flier that are on sale for $50, but it was interesting to read on this thread that they're made in china and people have been having issues from the china ones.
I think I'll look at some other ones.
Anybody know if the ratcheting stubby wrenches are made in Taiwan still? My dad has the metric and SAE ratcheting stubbies and his are made in Taiwan, but he bought them a few years ago.
I think I'll look at some other ones.
Anybody know if the ratcheting stubby wrenches are made in Taiwan still? My dad has the metric and SAE ratcheting stubbies and his are made in Taiwan, but he bought them a few years ago.
NC-Fordguy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2012
- Messages
- 1,391
I see this type of financial thinking on this forum quite often. Outside of the Nigerian sovereign fund e-mails flying around, it's the most absurd.
So lets say they saved 5 dollars on a set and passed it on to the retail level. Now there will be a stampede of people buying this stuff at 45 dollars versus 50 dollars???
To farther apply this logic, seeing how I paid off my mortgage in January and no longer have an 800 dollar a month cost, I should go to my employer and ask to cut my salary 800 dollars a month
I'm now going to wander the neighborhood and see if I can find kittens to kick
