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Gearwrench thoughts

Scotsman1886

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Jan 9, 2013
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Whats the general opinion on Grearwrench products? I looked around the forum a bit and they are mentioned quite a bit.
 
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thightower

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Jun 4, 2011
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oklahoma
Just bought a set a few months ago, 1/4" to 1'. I've also used snap on's ratchet wrenches. My 2 cents, the GW are as good or better quality than the SO.
 

CWP1616L

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Aug 31, 2012
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They make great sockets, but their (non-ratcheting) combination wrenches smaller than the size 5/8'' have problems.
 

FiendFX

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Sep 30, 2012
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California
I would say Gearwrench would be the best made in taiwan product in my opinion. Unless you want to opt for craftsman which is also overseas.
 

shoturtle

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Frankfurt AM
GW have Chinese and Taiwan made tools. They are pretty good. Price well, and they have some interesting tools. Looking to see how their new flare wrench are
 

RedFordTruck

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I would say Gearwrench would be the best made in taiwan product in my opinion. Unless you want to opt for craftsman which is also overseas.

What I dont understand is why Craftsman went to China when Apex makes fairly nice stuff in Taiwan.

Obviously Sears can buy the Chinese cheaper, but why not deliver a nicer product for a little bit more. People *might* not complain as much if they were given a Craftsman-branded GW socket in warranty rather than a bottom of the barrel Chinese.

I was looking at Sears the other day and there is a 10-piece 1/4'' drive shallow 6pt metric socket set. Both Evolve and Craftsman were made in China, but the Evolve set was $7.99 and the Craftsman was $19.99. Except for the labels they looked identical. Why would you pay $12 more for the same product? Say "warranty" all you want but I personally dont think Ive ever had to warranty a little 1/4'' drive socket.
 

signcrafter

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May 9, 2012
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I like my gearwrench tools. Bought the Etorx set, 3/8" drive swivel metric set, 3/8" drive wobble extension set, and some other stuff. The finish is really good. I haven't really needed to push them hard yet but so far they have worked good.
 

Chadwilliam1

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May 13, 2012
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Cincinnati
I have a few of the pass through ratchet sets I got pretty cheap. Quality is nice but I dont get what all the hype is.
 

shoturtle

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Frankfurt AM
It is great when you need a really low profile ratchet, or when working on a very long stud that deep sockets are to shallow for. And they tend to be stronger then the ratcheting wrench when you are really cranking them.
 

shockwave

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Oct 23, 2012
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Marietta,ga
There ratcheting wrenches are great I like them better than my coworkers matco ones but outside of that I have not had good luck with there double x pliers or ratcheting flare nut wrenches as a matter of fact I need to sell these
 

str8axle55

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Oct 23, 2010
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Ma
I have had some issues with the ratcheting wrenches, my 14mm locks up from time to time, doesn`t seem to take very much torque. If you break the bolt look first, and don`t use it for final tightening, its fine. I have and older Matco spline drive that seems to take a beating.
 

the1nonlyjl

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are you kidding, GW has chinese made tools as well. Not everything is made in taiwan.

very few are made in china (about 2%)... The rest are taiwan. So what's the biggie about if everything is made or not all is made or some is this this. One day all sh%it will be made overseas. Who cares as long as you use them and they serve you good along with lifetime warranty.
 

shoturtle

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I have nothing against chinese tools, I was responding to the prior thread, that was starting to sound like anti chinese craftsman all over again.

Actually I have notice more an chinese gw. Their flex head pass through and more none reversing wrench sets are made in china.
 
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Brownsfan

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I have a bunch of the ratcheting wrenches and have only broken the 19mm flex head. The quality is great for what it is. It is a great product for the money.
 

shoturtle

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It is more then 2% but no where near 50%. But the Chinese tools are good quality. The vortex passthrough are very nice.
 
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mrstrictlygm

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Jul 3, 2011
Messages
116
What I dont understand is why Craftsman went to China when Apex makes fairly nice stuff in Taiwan.

Obviously Sears can buy the Chinese cheaper, but why not deliver a nicer product for a little bit more. People *might* not complain as much if they were given a Craftsman-branded GW socket in warranty rather than a bottom of the barrel Chinese.

I was looking at Sears the other day and there is a 10-piece 1/4'' drive shallow 6pt metric socket set. Both Evolve and Craftsman were made in China, but the Evolve set was $7.99 and the Craftsman was $19.99. Except for the labels they looked identical. Why would you pay $12 more for the same product? Say "warranty" all you want but I personally dont think Ive ever had to warranty a little 1/4'' drive socket.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing the last time I was at Sears, but with their combo wrenches instead of the sockets. The same damn thing but different price. Might as well get the Evolve set and save some bucks. I like the cardboard (go Green) recycled packaging they come in.:lol:
 

the1nonlyjl

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I have nothing against chinese tools, I was responding to the prior thread, that was starting to sound like anti chinese craftsman all over again.

Actually I have notice more an chinese gw. Their flex head pass through and more none reversing wrench sets are made in china.

Nope you got that wrong. There are two different kinds of flex ratcheting wrench set... cheap one- 29.99 Black Friday Deal (china) and high end is the very expensive one (taiwan) 89.99.
 

shoturtle

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flex head pass through ratchet, not ratcheting flex wrench. They were on sale last august before I got the craftsman maxx axxess passthourgh. For a little less I got the craftsman with 1/4 and 3/8 vs getting a gw set in 1/4 and 3/8 without the hex and torx bit. They were all made in china both the GW and Craftsman.
 
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Scotsman1886

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Jan 9, 2013
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74
Ok y'all seem to give them a thumbs up. I was thinking more the combo wrenches. I'm not sure I'm ready to look at the passs through socket deals.
Change is difficult for me :D
 

daturbosix

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Jan 16, 2013
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73
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Aurora, IL
i love my gearwrench fix head wrenches. use them almost eveyday. and my napa swaps them out when i break them.
 

BrokewrenchLS1

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Jul 10, 2011
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WV
I've got a metric and standard set of their older ratcheting wrenches (Taiwan-made) and they're pretty decent. The ratcheting box end isn't designed to do the same thing a fixed box end is - busting loose high-torque fasteners - but works well for what it should be used for, which is low- to medium-torque with a lot of repetitive strokes.

I've also got a set of their XL-beam metric wrenches (Taiwan-made also, I believe) and they're definitely nice enough for car tools. Only problem is that the beams are relatively thin, which can get painful if you're putting a lot of *** into loosening or tightening a bolt.

Their ratchets aren't bad, I'd rate them better than Craftsman but still a few good steps down from stuff like SK and Wright.
 

young_buck

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Jan 1, 2013
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443
Location
Alberta, Canada
their ratcheting wrenches are great for the price, I got a 28 pc set (metric and SAE regular and stubby) for $75 and have taken a lot of use and held up very well, would buy them for full price if these ones ever die.
 

ddo

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Oct 29, 2012
Messages
153
Location
Richland
No complaints about my gearwrench products so far. Use the quadboxes and flex head ratchets daily. Good value for the money. Had to exchange a sticky one right out the box, but that was fairly easy at sears. Only complaint is in some of the sets they sell skipping sizes. More so than other tools, you can usually find these on good sales.
 

cburnscrx

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Jan 15, 2013
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1,751
Location
Indianapolis
My flex heads have been great, both metric and SAE. I filled in my sets when Lowes was discontinuing them to carry the Kobalt version. Just an at home user, but I've used them pretty hard, probably harder than I should.
 
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