ICON Ratcheting Wrenches - Coming Apart ???

[joey1320]

Stopped at HF this morning to grab a few small things and while browsing the clearance table I stumbled upon these ICON ratcheting wrenches that had either completely separated or the mechanism wasn't installed from the factory and not caught by the inspector (If any).

There were 3 box sets all missing one or two gears (? - I don't know what you would call that part).


Hopefully no one here, who has bought a set, has the same issues.

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[Bockscar]

I guess to piggy back on this thread...I am looking for some flex head ratcheting wrenches.....maybe I am insane but the icon seem too expensive....not sure if I would use them that much....looking on Amazon at the 8 million different brands and trying to decipher if any of those are worth it or not is mind numbing....My thought was to get both pittsburgh sets when they go on sale and see how they work and if I use them much and if so spring for some better ones....I don't know....any thoughts from you guys would be appreciated


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[Zewnten]

Mine have held up fine, but they are stubbies. Are you sure they're not warranties or returns? Usually the discount area at my harbor freight is all returns

 

[joey1320]

Mine have held up fine, but they are stubbies. Are you sure they're not warranties or returns? Usually the discount area at my harbor freight is all returns

They could had easily been but the boxes looked perfect. I think it would be difficult for three different buyers to have all brought back the boxes looking almost brand new after having been opened and the ratchets used. But yeah, definitely could be a return.

 

[joey1320]

I guess to piggy back on this thread...I am looking for some flex head ratcheting wrenches.....maybe I am insane but the icon seem too expensive....not sure if I would use them a that much....looking on Amazon at the 8 million different brands and trying to decipher if any of those are worth it or not is mind numbing....My thought was to get bothe pittsburgh sets when they gonon sale and see how they work and if I use them much and if so spring for some better ones....I don't know....any thoughts from you guys would be appreciated


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I have the Husky ones and they have been fine. I don't use them often and hardly ever use them to "break" the bolt/nut but rather for after I have done so and need/want the speed.

 

[Skin]

Since they dont have open stock the stores have to open sets and swap individual wrenches. Then they stick the incomplete sets on clearance. Its interesting that they put the defective wrench back in the box though since it opens them up to warranty the same wrench. You're suppose to be able to call and get individuals swapped too.

The ring gears are held in place by spring clips. Sometimes they're not fully seated or you drop the wrench just right and everything pops out.

 

[BrandoJames]

I am looking for some flex head ratcheting wrenches...looking on Amazon at the 8 million different brands and trying to decipher if any of those are worth it or not is mind numbing

I've got a set of Tekton ratcheting box flex-heads. The long pattern in 8mm--19mm goes for $130 via Amazon. Highly recommended for DIY use.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F512HOU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Mr_B]

i've been using the metric set wrm10 for over a year professionally and they doing fine .
decent enough and sometime get the sets on ebay silly cheap .

 

[Professional Tool User]

That's Harbor Freight for you. You'd think they would smarten up in the quality control department after moving into a higher price tier with their Icon tools.

 

[Ralf11]

That would cost money and require thought

 

[Dzmax77]

Shocker.

Wait until SK offers a set on one of their steals and deals promotions. You’ll still pay more but it won’t break the bank.

 

[Bubba Fett]

I've got a set of Tekton ratcheting box flex-heads. The long pattern in 8mm--19mm goes for $130 via Amazon. Highly recommended for DIY use.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F512HOU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Tekton is a step up from Icon, in my opinion. They are a good company and their tools are quite good.

 

[Fedwrench]

That's Harbor Freight for you. You'd think they would smarten up in the quality control department after moving into a higher price tier with their Icon tools.

That would cost money and require thought

Icon is only a name. Whoever the supplier is needs to tighten up QC on their end.
I remember getting brand new Armstrong long reversible ratcheting wrench sets new in the plastic from MSC Direct only to discover a perfectly shiny boxed end without the ratcheting wrench guts twice. MSC made it right but, you have to ask how something like that makes it out the factory door.
Those Icon extra long reversible ratcheting combination wrench sets are one of their better products. I like my metric set.

 

[VT Tool Man]

I remember getting brand new Armstrong long reversible ratcheting wrench sets new in the plastic from MSC Direct only to discover a perfectly shiny boxed end without the ratcheting wrench guts twice. MSC made it right but, you have to ask how something like that makes it out the factory door.

Late-stage Armstrong tools seem to have been assembled with less than a lot of care for quality. Over the past few years, I replaced an incomplete lifetime set of Craftsman tools with 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2-inch Armstrong sets with short and tall SAE and metric sockets....and, well, the quality of each set got worse as we got closer to the end of Armstrong.

The 1/2-inch set was purchased around 2012/2013, the 1/4-inch probably 2017 and the 3/8-inch about two years ago. The latter two were certainly post-closure surplus. My 3/8-inch ratchet is a dog. It is very hard to move the reversing lever, even after I disassembled, cleaned and lubricated it--and this was a brand-new tool.

Buying American was very important to me, but clearly building American was not particularly important to Apex.

Now, the one-piece forged products, like the Maxx Beam Cross Force wrenches? Those are super nice. I love using those wrenches in place of a standard combination wrench.

 

[mikew13]

Late-stage Armstrong tools seem to have been assembled with less than a lot of care for quality. Over the past few years, I replaced an incomplete lifetime set of Craftsman tools with 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2-inch Armstrong sets with short and tall SAE and metric sockets....and, well, the quality of each set got worse as we got closer to the end of Armstrong.

The 1/2-inch set was purchased around 2012/2013, the 1/4-inch probably 2017 and the 3/8-inch about two years ago. The latter two were certainly post-closure surplus. My 3/8-inch ratchet is a dog. It is very hard to move the reversing lever, even after I disassembled, cleaned and lubricated it--and this was a brand-new tool.

Buying American was very important to me, but clearly building American was not particularly important to Apex.

Now, the one-piece forged products, like the Maxx Beam Cross Force wrenches? Those are super nice. I love using those wrenches in place of a standard combination wrench.

Apex DISGUSTS me for killing Armstrong and outsourcing Crescent and Jacobs. I refuse to buy GearCrap.

 

[ike]

I agree with you on Apex. I used to like them, and thought the Taiwan made Gearwrench were good tools. Last year, I ordered a few flex heads to fill in gaps in my set. They looked like they were just slapped together with no consistency. The flex points were all crooked and inconsistent. The Chinese made are between Taiwan made in these pics:





they still charge the same price, but the quality is much lower now. **** them.

 

[dnschmidt]

I have the ICON and I love them. Very long and no problems whatsoever. **** happens with every brand known to man but when something weird happens to anything from Harbor Freight it's time for a congressional investigation. Like there has never been a problem with Snap-On, Mac, Matco or every other brand. I THINK NOT! **** happens.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Apex DISGUSTS me for killing Armstrong and outsourcing Crescent and Jacobs. I refuse to buy GearCrap.

they still charge the same price, but the quality is much lower now. **** them.

No argument here. The same story can be told for quite a few brands these days. Craftsman's infamous lobster claw wrenches come to mind, but that's just one example.