Large Wrenches, 1 Inch+

[PoorOwner]

How does everyone feel about large wrenches.. good to have or use an adjustable wrench instead?

I feel this 1 1/2" wrench is massive in my hands.. first picture still doesn't show the scale but stack it against the tire gives a better scale.

I am not sure if I will have a chance to use it especially SAE.. nope, I am not sending it your way I love a large piece of machined metal.. (Damn, I am starting to sound like Merkava)

 

[toolfreak]

I use them quite a bit, I have snap on combination wrenches up to 1 5/8" and quite a few snap on angle wrenches up to 1 7/8". I also have the craftsman set up to 1 1/2". The problem with adjustable wrenches is they are so bulky that they will not work in alot of tight spots.

 

[PoorOwner]

I use them quite a bit, I have snap on combination wrenches up to 1 5/8" and quite a few snap on angle wrenches up to 1 7/8". I also have the craftsman set up to 1 1/2". The problem with adjustable wrenches is they are so bulky that they will not work in alot of tight spots.

What kind of vehicles do you work on??

 

[toolfreak]

I work on heavy equipment, mainly caterpillar but some other brands too.

 

[PAToyota]

I've got combination wrenches up to 2" and I think I may have a size or two larger than that - comes from working on heavy equipment, farm machinery, and such...

 

[billymade]

The diesel body shop I worked at; most guys had Snap-On up to 3"! Just like anything else, it is nice to have the right tool for the job. On normal size cars, trucks; the drive train is usually where you would use the larger sizes. The old maxim; "you can never have too many tools", comes into play here to certain degree, if you want to spend the money thats fine but if you aren't swapping large components (trannys, axles, engines etc.) or work on trucks and heavy equipment; you probably won't run into the larger sizes. If you actually need the large sizes; they are usually in a high torque situation, in that case having a wrench or socket is imperative to get things tight and to work safely.

 

[krusty the clown]

i have wrenches to 1 1/4" it covers 90% of what i need for automotive use. but i do have sockets to 2".........1 7/8 is the largest i have used, thats the size for ford s.d. rear axle pinion nuts.

 

[Jason_D]

........1 7/8 is the largest i have used, thats the size for ford s.d. rear axle pinion nuts.

and 2500/3500 Dodge truck axle nuts,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Coach James]

I use an adjustable only when I don't have a box or open end the right size. I have combo wrenches up to 1.5". Mainly for the gymnastics equipment in our gym.

Coach

 

[wilbilt]

"Old School" front ends required up to 1 1/4" on a regular basis. I still have wrenches to 1 5/16" and sockets to 1 3/4".

These days, I usually use them on trailer balls...

 

[Uncle Buck]

My 1/2" socket set SAE goes to 1 1/2" with my combo wrenches going to 1 1/2" as well. I do not even recall where my 3/4" set ends, but it is way north of the 1 1/2" size. I have like sizes of metric Proto combo wrenches I have never used, but that is the great part of buying used stuff so cheap, you can always get your money out of them if you really want to.

I think my words to the wise for home wrenchers would be to buy complete sets to 1 1/4" SAE and the metric equivelent, and for everything larger just start looking used and sooner or later you will start finding trade brands in huge sizes really cheap. That was how I added all my really big stuff. In the sizes north of 1 1/4" I consider really cheap to be the $10.00 per each neighborhood for brands like Proto.

 

[bchee]

I bought my brother a 2-3/8" combination wrench from Northern Tools for like $30 for Christmas. It was a gag gift, but I think he liked it. He leaves it in his living room as a conversation piece. Everytime I go to his place I like to hold it.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Everytime I go to his place I like to hold it.

Is it just me or did that sound wrong?

 

[bchee]

it's just you, pervert

 

[Jason_D]

Yes, VERY wrong

 

[krusty the clown]

i thought perverts used chickens

 

[Uncle Buck]

i thought perverts used chickens

Oh lord Krusty, do you want me to start with you too? Ya just left er wide open didn't ya!

 

[billymade]

The HITS just KEEP on COMING!!

 

[Brandon_Lutz]

We us a lot of inch and larger sizes on the farm. Mostly on things like the implements, combine, tractors and our dozer.

I'm looking to get the craftsman pro 5 large combination wrench set piece set in the future in both standard and metric as I know on our Kobelco Excavator there are bound to be some large, metric size fasteners on it.

 

[PoorOwner]

Just for fun I looked up large wrenches set at HF to see how much they cost

Here is the SAE set, some reasonable sizes

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=925

Then here is the Metric set with odd size selection,

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=33284

When I did the conversion, they are the mm of the inches size.

Where is the torpedo icon!

 

[PoorOwner]

craftsman pro metric skip from 25mm straight to 30mm (biggest) like they didn't even try Maybe some are covered by SAE close enough.. but lets not go there..

 

[eschoendorff]

Like Krusty, I have wrenches that go up to 1 1/4", but I only buy them if they are a deal too good to pass up. I just don't have a huge need for huge wrenches at this point in my life. But I will buy them if the price and the brand are right....

 

[Fedwrench]

I use 1 1/16, 1 1/8, and 1 1/4, for some Air conditioning line fittings. Rest of the time they gather dust. I wouldn't want to use an adjustable wrench for fear of damaging the fitting.

 

[wilbilt]

I just don't have a huge need for huge wrenches at this point in my life. But I will buy them if the price and the brand are right....

I really don't need them these days, either.

I can remember a day when I used a large wrench as peace of mind.

The Rodney King riots were happening down in LA. I was at work here in NorCal and some idiot decided to visit his former high school with a gun and start killing people across the river in Marysville.

We had the radio on on the shop and were listening to the events unfolding. It was reported that people were rioting in Marysville, it's like everyone had gone crazy.

My vehicle was down, so my wife had come to pick me up from work with the kids in the car. We had to go through Marysville to get home. I grabbed a big wrench from my box and laid it on the floor of the car.

As we were headed home, there were groups of people running around and someone had set a car on fire in the street.

I guarantee that if anyone had approached our car acting scrappy, they would have caught a 1 3/4" Superrench right in the chops.

I just looked it up...it was May 1st, 1992. People died. It was a terrible day.

 

[lbgradwell]

I guarantee that if anyone had approached our car acting scrappy, they would have caught a 1 3/4" Superrench right in the chops.

Good choice for bustin' heads... But would you have applied the box or open end?

 

[wilbilt]

Good choice for bustin' heads... But would you have applied the box or open end?

I doubt if I would have even thought about it. It was a crazy day.

Strange how talking about big wrenches made me remember it.

 

[BrianAltenhofel]

I just looked it up...it was May 1st, 1992. People died. It was a terrible day.

April 26 1992
There was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you?
You were sittin' at home watchin' your TV
While I was participating in some anarchy

--Brad Nowell, Sublime

Sorry... just the references to the riots and Rodney King got that song stuck in my head...

--------------------------------

Anyway, those large wrenches come in handy working on larger stuff, but you generally don't need them on a modern car. My Intrepid required a 1 1/2", though, to remove the valve covers.

As for a place to find them cheap: farm estate sales. Generally, a box with about 15-20 large wrenches goes for $10 or less around here.

 

[Uncle Buck]

As for a place to find them cheap: farm estate sales. Generally, a box with about 15-20 large wrenches goes for $10 or less around here.

I never found a bargain at a farm sale yet, in my area if you bought 15-20 large wrenches for that price they would be a combination of broken wrenches and rusty HF with peeling plating!

 

[Brad54]

I've got at least two of every wrench up to 1 1/8. I don't work on anything big, just hot rods, etc. I have reached for the bigguns many times: pinion nuts, front wheel castle nuts, etc. Worth the money.

-Brad

 

[Canadian Charlie]

I biggest wrenches I have are a 32mm and a 1 1/4"


I don't need any bigger

 

[djjsr]

Are the HF wrenches as good as Snap-On for bonkin somebody over the head? Should I get the set so I can match the size of the wrench to the size of the person?

 

[dxdexter]

I have 3/4" drive sockets up to 2" and wrenches (both open end and combination) up to 1 1/2". I rarely use anything over 1 1/4" anymore, but would never want to be without, just in case the need arises.

When confronted with a nut larger than 1 1/4",I confess to reaching for my 18" adjustable before anything else, just in case it will work and I don't have to hunt for the right size.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

my largest wrench is 41mm. it's a dual size that's also imperial, but i can't remember what size it is in imperial. my largest socket is 65mm, which is little over 2-1/2" which is used for hub nuts on some Ford and Iveco commercial vehicles. the 41mm wrench is for hub nuts too, i put the ring end on the nut and use a trolley jack to lift the open end to loosen/tighten the nut. not the best method, but it works.

 

[justinmc]

I've got up to 1 1/2" in sae and 25mm in metric. So far I haven't found much need for any of the really big ones but few times I have I've been glad I have them. Its like a good set of line wrenches (Snap On ahem! ) you don't use em much but the couple of times they save your **** they are worth it!

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I think my words to the wise for home wrenchers would be to buy complete sets to 1 1/4" SAE and the metric equivelent, and for everything larger just start looking used and sooner or later you will start finding trade brands in huge sizes really cheap. That was how I added all my really big stuff. In the sizes north of 1 1/4" I consider really cheap to be the $10.00 per each neighborhood for brands like Proto.

I have to agree. Buy your sets to about 1-1/4" and pick up odd used ones above that, unless, of course, you are working on tractors or trucks.

I have a bunch of large odd wrenches, early Proto, Williams, Plumb, whatever looked nice on the used tool truck that used to come by at work. This guy bought new and used surplus stuff from the Aircraft manufacturers and from Government auctions and has a truck full of stuff. He is still in business (he is the third generation of the business, which is probably 50 years old now) but he hasn't come by work for a couple of years now. Guess I need to call him.

I have a Industro 2" combination wrench, which I bought new (old stock) from him for $10. I use 2" at work quite a bit so it stays there. Most of the large wrenches were under $5 each.

Charles

 

[wilbilt]

He is still in business (he is the third generation of the business, which is probably 50 years old now) but he hasn't come by work for a couple of years now. Guess I need to call him.

I have been thinking it is probably difficult for businesses like that these days. Trying to get decent prices at flea markets, etc. has become harder due to the vast amount of cheap tools available from the likes of HF and Cummins.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I have been thinking it is probably difficult for businesses like that these days. Trying to get decent prices at flea markets, etc. has become harder due to the vast amount of cheap tools available from the likes of HF and Cummins.

The grandson who now operates the business told me that he does alot of mail order business (Clinton Aircraft tools) and I figure he might just be satisfied with that. I think he still attends large fly-ins and such with the truck. His grandfather was a Delta Air Lines pilot, DC-3's to 747's. I bought some stuff from the Grandfather in the early '90's before he died, I really liked the old man, spend quite a bit of time in the store, a real junky place with lots of neat stuff. The son did a sorry job of running the business (he was already retired from some line of work) and did more to run the business off than to keep it. The grandson is very personable and a wheeler-dealer like his grandfather. He originally wanted $25 for the 2" Industro, and after a couple of weeks of my admiring it, He finally said "you really want that wrench don't you?" and I told him, yes but not at that price, the toolroom had one I could check out any time, so he said "ten dollars and its yours", so I bought.

Charles