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How big does your wrench set go to?

NC-Shaun

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Nov 20, 2013
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662
30 or 32mm metric and 1 1/4 in SAE, I am a bike guy too. I work out of a 26 inch box so I try and avoid redundancy, I do have sockets up to 1 1/2 and 36mm for Harley Crank Nut, Clutch Nut, Japanese Crank Nuts, and Axle Nuts.

Really anything towards the larger side of what I own in wrenches I prefer to use my long 1/2 inch ratchet over a wrench anyway, the torque required for the larger sizes would hurt my hands to pull with a wrench. I know, I know, waaaaaaaaa.....but hey arent tools supposed to make life easier!

I am considering adding up to 1 1/2 and up to 36mm on my wrench drawer. I just never got around to it. Craftsman RP
 
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Rico.

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May 28, 2009
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I may have gone a little overboard when I was buying my spanners as I only work on my car and families cars.

But my regular combination spanners go from 4mm to 34mm and my ratchet spanners go from 6mm to 24mm

I did need a 30mm for the dipstick tube of my ancient BMW's gearbox so I was very glad I had it.


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Mr. T

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Sep 4, 2013
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Central PA
For certain hydraulic fittings at work, 70mm, we have a 150mm that doesn't get much use too.

At home, 1 1/2in.
 
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SASORacing

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Jun 10, 2014
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Utah
Nice Rico! What brand ratcheting wrenches are those? Gearwrench or generic ATD / taiwan? Or Facoms? Nice Facoms btw.

I may have gone a little overboard when I was buying my spanners as I only work on my car and families cars.

But my regular combination spanners go from 4mm to 34mm and my ratchet spanners go from 6mm to 24mm

I did need a 30mm for the dipstick tube of my ancient BMW's gearbox so I was very glad I had it.


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Rico.

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May 28, 2009
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England
Nice Rico! What brand ratcheting wrenches are those? Gearwrench or generic ATD / taiwan? Or Facoms? Nice Facoms btw.
Cheers.... My ratcheting spanners are the Facom 67 series set. Highly impressed with them.

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burke753

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Aug 16, 2014
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454
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Hobbs, NM
My biggest SAE wrench is 2-5/8" I use it quite a bit, and my biggest Metric is a 30MM ratcheting wrench that I've used once replacing a steering gearbox on a 92 Mack


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AmishFury

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Jan 22, 2015
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872
my own personal sets are fairly limited... metric i have up to 20mm (i may or may not have a 21 laying around somewhere) SAE up to 15/16"

the sets they provide at work go from 7-19 with no skipped sizes then 21, 22, 25, and 32 SAE being 1/4"-1" no skips

i've never used the 1" but the 15/16" i have... the 25mm i also have never used but the 32mm is useful for various pieces of shop equipment
 
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F124C

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Aug 19, 2013
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Ireland
.............

Buying big wrenches individually would be nice but it's not cost effective because they get pretty expensive for bigger sizes for quality name brands. it can be cheaper to just invest in a big set early on.

^^^ x 2.

I shouldn't really say this but above a certain size say 1 1/4'' sae / 32mm there's not really any need to have both sae and metric in every size. E.g. there's only (iirc) 4 thou difference between 1 1/2''sae and 38mm. Also, if you get the chance to look at someone's wrench set (easily done if the tools are on toolboards) see which sizes look used, you might be surprised by how many sizes in full sets (i.e. where every small step is covered) are never? used. Ask for other mechanic's opinions/recommendations also, as you're doing here.

I used to be a stickler for using the exact size wrench/socket on the fastener, sometimes even measuring it after determining whether it was sae or metric and even buying the size if I didn't already have it. What a load of tosh! Use your own judgement, try what you have and use it, don't think you have to have complete sets without gaps, many sizes are typically never used, it all depends on what and how many makes you work on. ymmv.

Al.

Al.
 
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619DioFan

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Apr 9, 2013
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3,617
Location
San Diego , Ca.
my combo wrenches go up to 2'' and 50mm. these sizes aren't used much but nice to know you have them if the need arises.
 

Ponchoguy

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Jul 27, 2014
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3,399
I think I go to up to 32mm (maybe 36mm?) at least with two or three sets in Craftsman and then I believe up to about 2" or so on SAE. I remember paying less than $8 for the larger wrenches at an estate sale.
 
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