Is gearwrench a good brand?

[Jersey Drew]

Trying to find a new set of flex head ratcheting wrenches that wont break the bank. I am all over the map. Looking at following:
Gear wrench xl 120 xt
Tekton xl wrenches
And am open to other suggestions. I think gear wrench has a good rep but i have not been let down by the tekton yet and it would be noce to get a full set of wrenches in a smaller package. But am having a hard time justifying -$200 for a set of wrenches i don’t/ wont use often. I may also replace my old craftsman set of combo wrenches in near future only because i find them to be a bit thick when trying to het into tight spaces.

 

[lardy1]

I won't get into the different names available. I don't even know them all. My point being that there are literally dozens of companies marketing ratcheting wrenches. Be patient. Research the companies and their offerings. Dig around more at Garage Journal. Lots and lots of ratcheting wrench threads and recommendations.

Good luck in your quest.

 

[driz]

I’ve got a set for 7 years now and they’re fine. I agree with you that it’s not worth it buying high priced tools for those seldom used jobs. I also don’t whack them with hammers or use cheaters on them to break nuts loose. That’s what box wrenches are for. Thus as you’d expect I haven’t exactly worn them out if you know what I mean.
In use though I like them. They aren’t overly fat on the ends and ratchet what I consider easily . They even have the bright polished surface and stark size numbers you can actually see at a glance. What else does a guy need besides a name . I’d certainly buy them again.


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[cheechi]

I have the GW XL/120 set in metric and the GW XL (one side ratcheting box other side fixed 12pt box, non flex head) in SAE & Metric. Both are great sets in terms of quality for what you pay, both are not used very often. Between the two I would by the DBE style again, I personally haven't had a lot of situations where both a flex head and XL are both needed. I may be alone in that but for the extra cost I didn't see the return as great as the DBE set.

GW also has a 'secondary' brand SATA that seem to be similar if not exact, if it is offered through that brand may want to look into that as an option.

Another option to consider is Williams (often the same tool 1 for 1 as the equivalent Blue Point), if it's within your price range i will say their ratcheting wrenches are very impressive. Probably not cheaper, but if you want to get something that feels more 'worth' the asking price I usually look at 'what's the most tool i can get for $**' rather than 'what's the least I can pay for x tool' and have not been disappointed there. Also a good brand to consider for your standard combos when the time comes for that.

That said I have been very impressed by Tekton and they have a rep here on GJ if you want to reach out to them with specifics. I would not hesitate to buy a hard line tool from them if you don't need it for every day use (and who knows it may even hold up to every day use also).

 

[Jersey Drew]

Thanks all!

 

[plinker]

I've got a set of these Gearwrenches (long 0* box/ratcheting flex head),

https://smile.amazon.com/KD-Tool-86126-Wrench/dp/B00KMB6A1K/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=86126+gearwrench&qid=1600612730&sr=8-1

They get used a lot and hold up well. The stupid spline that all the brands seem to only offer is the only downside.

I prefer Kabo made ratcheting wrenches, but they can get spendy on the truck. These are a good value.

 

[mille755]

I can recommend these, I also have gearwrench combination, flex in SAE. I would say that fit and finish is much better on the tekton, new gearwrench ratchet wrenches come from China now, or at least the ones in the store do. Neither set have let me down yet. The reason I got the double box end, is it cuts down the number of wrenches in a full set and I don't need anymore open ends, when you go for the ratchet wrenches usually the ratchet end is the end you are using, at least in a non mobile trade.
https://www.tekton.com/long-flex-ratcheting-box-end-wrench-sets

 

[ThePostman]

I have 86126 as well, they see heavy use, and replaced the serpentine tool kit by....gearwrench

 

[Fedwrench]

Gearwrench is a good brand but, I don't feel it as good as it once was. They've consolidated some of their manufacturing in the SATA plant in China, people's Republic of. I liked Gearwrench better when everything was Taiwan made because, the quality seemed higher but, that's just me. The new Gearwrench compact head ratchet set confused me even more when on the packaging they printed "Product of Taiwan, finished in Mainland, China".
I think Tekton is the new, no frills, get the job done, won't break the bank, line of tools with excellent warranty service. Tekton is continuing to evolve, selling better tools, and constantly releasing new product. When you throw in 10% reward points that spend like cash on future orders, and free shipping after you register & order from Tekton.com, i'd only buy Gearwrench if Tekton didn't offer it.

 

[Bannik254]

Bought a few single (7/16, 1/2, and 9/16) stubby ratcheting wrenches from Tekton for work. Pretty disappointed, they haven't broke or anything, they just aren't very good tools, lots of slop, horrible backdrag, whatever angle Tekton advertises is wrong since after it the pawl clicks over you have to swing the wrench all the way back to get it to engage onto the next gear tooth. Horrible to use for daily work. Do not buy.

A guy I work with has X-frame racheting wrenches from SK, now those are quite something. Even makes Snap-on ratcheting wrenches look medicore.

 

[setfocus]

I've got the Kabo made wrenches, "platinum" version. I like how the end sticks out for getting on recessed nuts/bolts.

There's a mountain, HF icon, matco versions and maybe others, they're all the same. The mountain version can be had for $130, for the metric set, on amazon, which makes them affordable

 

[Sdot]

Are the 90T ratchets now all made in china?

 

[Robbie B]

I’ve got a set of reversible gearwrenchs that I hate. 10mm broke the first time I used it. I prefer my older craftsman ones that you have to flip the wrench over to change direction.

 

[Ton ton]

I like performance tool brand flex head ratchet wrenches. Easy local warranty for me. The backdrag is tolerable.

 

[RedneckWelder]

I have been very pleased with my Gearwrench sockets, ratchets, and ratcheting wrenches. They are trying hard to develop a professional brand to compete with the tool trucks.

The only thing I have heard truly bad stuff about is the X-core pinless impact swivel sockets.

 

[Ton ton]

I can buy gear wrench brand off of my local Snappy dealer therefore I consider gear wrench brand ratchet wrenches professional grade.

 

[wtn1271]

Recently bought a set of ratcheting combo (non flexhead) from Capri. The satin finish looks good and is a little "grippier" in the hand than full polish. Only used a few times so far but I am happy with the set.

 

[Fly YX]

I have a old set of Gearwrench ratcheting wrenches that I bought in the early 2000s I think they are ok. The newer ones I have are all SK or snap on that I use on a daily basis. The thing I have against them is parent company Apex that shut down the USA built tools and combined it into Gearwrench but I guess the same thing can be said about Tti

 

[BrandoJames]

I think Tekton is the new, no frills, get the job done, won't break the bank, line of tools with excellent warranty service.

Agree with the above, and I'll go one step further: Tekton is the new Craftsman. For me, it's the top DIYer tool brand. Is Tekton professional quality? No, and they don't pretend to be. But I can see a professional owning a backup set of Tekton for short-term use, while waiting for the tool truck to replace/repair a tool they use daily.

One other point regarding Craftsman/Tekton: today's tool market is way too competitive for anyone to capture Craftsman's former marketshare.

 

[Avenging Bankroll]

nothing

 

[Ign]

Chinese GW all over the map as Fedwrench says. Most GW these days is marginal at best but the brand has always gotten a free pass on this forum because it's affordable and ubiquitous.

Lots of horror stories about trying to warranty GW stuff, particularly if dealing directly with corporate. Any authorized retailer is supposed to help but that's very spotty, esp with mom 'n pop Ace Hardwares or ignorant employees at bigger places like Fastenal or NAPA

OTOH I just had to do a Tekton claim (for an extension, not a ratcheting wrench) and it was painless. Their website has "Tool Help" in the menu and the process is stupid simple. Dave was incredibly helpful.

 

[jgromada]

The tools may be ok , but whoever Quality Controls for them was asleep or drunk !

I bought a 3/8 chrome metric set and I got (3) 6 mm sockets in there (no 7 or 8 mm).
Horrible, unfortunately i can't find receipt so no return (& i didn't notice right away) . But it makes me think twice about buying more Gearwrench.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I like Gearwrench but recently they have moved almost all of their production to China I was at Advance Auto looking at them the other day and even the sockets are Chinese now which is really unfortunate. But their ratcheting wrenches work nicely I just wish they still had the lever to turn so you could switch directions without having to flip it around to the other side. I am a professional mechanic and use lots of Gearwrench tools and they all have worked good. And the warranty is good too my dad destroyed the flex head ratcheting ones one time cause he was angry and I explained what happened and they gave me an entire set free and let me keep the old ones so can’t beat that they didn’t even make me send pictures of them.


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[qqzj]

GearWrench is very good. Personal experience. I replaced stuff before, just an email with a picture. They sent me a postage paid label to mail the broken one back.

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[TangoFoxTrot]

I can't speak to changes with GearWrench, I've really liked their tools I've purchased in the past and would probably be my "go to" if I had to start all over. I thought it was better than my Craftsman Professional USA era tools.

To me, Tekton is closer to something like Harbor Freight's professional line, GW is better imo. If I was going to buy a set of inexpensive tools like Tekton, I would just buy from Harbor Freight's pro line where you can at least get easy warranty support by just taking it in.

 

[qqzj]

GearWrench and Tekton are very comparable. GW is better managed with more promotions to attract budget sensitive buyers. I end up with mostly GW tools because sooner than later they will have a promotion to blow the competition out of the water wrt price quality trade off. The only exception is Tekton s 84 piece 1/2 set. Man, that is a good value that GW can't match.

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[Jersey Drew]

for not much more i found a set of SK x beam wrenches. they are not flex but might be of better quality.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

for not much more i found a set of SK x beam wrenches. they are not flex but might be of better quality.

Yes they are I have some they are amazing just like most things made by SK


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[Mr_B]

GW is in business of screwing the customer on product spec and warranty so don't rely on them and cherry pick what worth having at lowest prices you can get .
One example of ever decreasing quality/tool spec in link .
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8706399&postcount=29

Other examples can be found in socket design of full length shouldering
even the later made 84T ratchets not as smooth and trouble free as early production .
They quite happy go with garbage if saves them few cents a piece and couldn't give a toss on good tool design and innovation if it costing them too much margin.
They only keen on innovation and quality when launch a brand ...
Then it a race to bottom as brands battle for market share using every technique besides good ethics and constantly good tools .

 

[M6erfan]

Is GW a good brand? IMO GW offers below avg. to avg. (at best) tools for the most part. Nothing special at all and some are downright garbage. They do have a few decent specialty tools like their serpentine belt set for example. The best thing GW does is marketing.

 

[Jersey Drew]

So i just ordered the tekton non xl flex ratchet wrenches. 6 wrenches give me 12 sizes. And if i feel the craftsman combo wrenches don’t fit the bill anylonger i will get a set of SK or wright tools standard combo box set to replace them. For whatever reason I don’t use wrenches that often, I mostly use my sockets and ratchets.

 

[wayne55]

I bought a set recently that had 2 of the same socket. I just called and explained and they sent me the one I was missing. It took about a week.

 

[ike]

My opinion of anything from an Apex brand is that over time they find ways to make it cheaper, not ways to make it better.

 

[richfinn]

The only things I have are the serpentine belt kit and a few ratchet wrenches

It's an OK kit for what it is to be fair, not exactly tool truck quality but it does the job adequately and it is fairly cheap

I think you can buy better tools generally for similar money from Ko-ken and Stahlwille at least in the EU

Your kind of spoilt for choice in the USA, so it's a maybe from me depending on what your buying!!!!

 

[m6z]

I've got a couple of ratchets and the small sets of metric and SAE ratchet wrenches. and I've never had any issues.

 

[lardy1]

My experience with GearWrench has not been positive. I feel I was sold junk and it was warranted with another piece of junk.

I'll never understand the love of their 84 tooth ratchets. And when the replacement one is as ****** as the one they replaced, it tells me to take my money somewhere else.

 

[bushmechanic]

I bought in when they were first hitting the market.

The funny thing is, my most-used socket set is their pass-through kit. Not sure how it would hold up in a shop, but I've certainly abused it, left it out in the rain (not intentional), and really pushed the limits of what I should on a ratchet.

If they moved from Taiwan to China... That's annoying. Their stuff was solid as hell and just as precise as more well-respected brands.

 

[d.mcfarland]

But their ratcheting wrenches work nicely I just wish they still had the lever to turn so you could switch directions without having to flip it around to the other side.

Those are the reversible style which are still produced, so I'm not sure why you are saying they aren't available.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Those are the reversible style which are still produced, so I'm not sure why you are saying they aren't available.

I haven’t seen them in years I was told by the guy at Advance Auto where I buy my Gearwrench they aren’t sold anymore and I haven’t been able to find any new sets anywhere either and everyone told me they weren’t made anymore.


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[measuredtwice]

I have a handful of Gearwrench that I picked up for a couple bucks when they were clearanced. I paid less than $2 per wrench.

Like ICON and Carlyle, Gearwrench is pricing some new stuff super high. But there always seem to be sales on the ratcheting wrenches.

Most people probably think of the imported stuff but they actually sell a large number of products that are made in the USA (probably rebranded). --> like around 323 items that are made in the USA.

https://www.gearwrench.com/search/page/2/show/50?q=usa

I haven’t seen them in years I was told by the guy at Advance Auto where I buy my Gearwrench they aren’t sold anymore and I haven’t been able to find any new sets anywhere either and everyone told me they weren’t made anymore.


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They still have them on the Advance website. Might just be your store then.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...ratcheting-wrench-set-8-piece-9543/25984326-P