My Mountain Wrench Experience

[tutti57]

I bought the extra long ratcheting wrench set that is raved about about a year and a half ago and have put it through it's paces now.

It is a highly versatile set. Flex heads. Tons of leverage. Reversible. Whenever I did side work at home that is the set I brought home. Great on caliper bolts. The 14mm head is a little bit more loose than the others since it was probably my most used size (a lot of oil changes and brake jobs at the Nissan dealership I used to work at).

I'm not super fond about the reversing mechanism location. When you are turning the wrench it often will bump the button and switch directions.

What I absolutely hate about them is the spline drive. They get stuck on nearly every fastener you use them on. I would rather have them be 12 point. I don't know what the deal is with them. I have SK wrenches that have spline drive and they never get stuck.

It is annoying enough that I brought them home and got a set of xl snap on box ends, not ratcheting, and prefer to use them. Break the bolt lose and switch to something smaller and ratcheting to finish the job. I got the snap ons locally for $100, so I'm happy about the purchase.

The wrenches would be absolutely awesome if they were just 6 or 12 point. Or just splines like my SKs have.

I think I saw another version of them in 6 point, non reversable, by maybe Tekton. That would be the one to get I bet. Non reversible though.



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[RedneckWelder]

I wish other makers of ratcheting wrench had the low profile
offset these do for clearance.

The Mountain/ATDs aren’t the best design (kinda weak in addition to the issue of the reverse button) but that combination of offset, length and flex is great

 

[Shehzada]

I have the RM6 set as well that I purchased after a long consideration a few years ago. I just love the length and the offset....but totally wish it was 6 point.

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[tutti57]

I have the 6 point SK x frame that are super nice but are not flex heads. Still one of my favorite sets. I'm picking up that flex precision tq set that was the Mac flier last month. I like how they feel and that you get a few sae wrenches too so I can bring my other saw set home.

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[visionguru]

....
It is a highly versatile set. Flex heads. Tons of leverage. Reversible. Whenever I did side work at home that is the set I brought home. Great on caliper bolts. ...

I'm not super fond about the reversing mechanism location. When you are turning the wrench it often will bump the button and switch directions.

What I absolutely hate about them is the spline drive. They get stuck on nearly every fastener you use them on. I would rather have them be 12 point. I don't know what the deal is with them. I have SK wrenches that have spline drive and they never get stuck.

It is annoying enough that I brought them home and got a set of xl snap on box ends, not ratcheting, and prefer to use them. Break the bolt lose and switch to something smaller and ratcheting to finish the job. I got the snap ons locally for $100, so I'm happy about the purchase.

The wrenches would be absolutely awesome if they were just 6 or 12 point. Or just splines like my SKs have.

I think I saw another version of them in 6 point, non reversable, by maybe Tekton. That would be the one to get I bet. Non reversible though.

I have the same set and noticed similar advantages and small issues. I've used them often for the reach, flex, and thin profile "socket". My use is mostly fixing my cars. There are situations that regular ratcheting wrenches are just too thick due to the surrounding metal.

For bolts that need big torque, I use the poor man's Snap On XL--Genius. That's what I use for caliper/bracket bolts. You experienced sticking to the bolts probably because you used a lot of torque and the splines bite into the bolt.

I only experienced the reversing lever stuck in the middle (make the wrench non-ratcheting), but never actually reverse directions.

Overall, the mountain set and the Genius are well made and useful. Definitely among my best tool purchases.

The problem with 6 point is: it may not be as easy to put the wrench on bolts in hard to reach places, the surrounding metal thickness could be an issue sometimes. Guess we can't have it all in one tool.

 

[tutti57]

I was thinking that dealing with a lot of rusty bolts could be part of the issue but that doesn't explain why my SK splines don't have the issue.

It's true that the 6 point can be more difficult to fit on fastener heads, as I've seen with my x frames.

I think I'd like to see the same length flex head with 12 point.

Don't get me wrong, the things are still great. I've used them nearly daily for over a year without breaking them. I've used them many times to hold a nut/bolt with my impact on the other side and they always survive. I just wanted to point out my experience for others who might be looking at them.

The genius are a great other option I've heard. I was going to get those until I saw the snap ons pop up in my town for $100. I feel like I couldn't pass that one up!

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[Miss the Pontiacs]

Tutti57

Maybe not worthless but definitely less interesting.
Put up some pics many of us likely haven’t heard of Mountain tools before.

 

[mrjaw14]

So my understanding is that these were originally SK. SK sold this line to EZ Red during some financial woes. Mountain tools owns EZ Red, so now that set is being marketed under the Mountain name. I saw it rebranded around the time EZ Red came out with the locking flex version they sell now. I've been wanting a set for years, but every time I want to pull the trigger they change branding lol

 

[tutti57]

Here are pics of the 8/10 and the set in my home box.

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[Robbie B]

Guy I used to work for had a set. I used them occasionally for serpentine belt tensioners. Liked them a lot. Don’t remember his set being splined. Pretty sure they were standard 12 point.


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[StillTooManyHobbies]

I also have the Mountain 5 piece set and have had the same issue with sticking to a fastener, but being a diy guy I accept that because of their other advantages of length, flex and compact heads.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Nice tools never seen or heard of them before. Thanks for the pics.

 

[Yarpo]

Aren't the mountains the same as the Carlyle and ATD ones? I love mine (carlyle) and they're probably one of my favorite wrenches to use, no issue with mine getting stuck on fastners but a lot of the places I use them in unfortunately ends with me bumping the reverse button.

 

[plinker]

IIRC the S-K spline ratcheting wrenches were made by Kabo. If there is a small brass screw on the box end, it's Kabo (not sure how this applies to the reverseable wrenches).

The current Matco ratcheting wrenches are Kabo and I find the spline drive on them fits better overall and is a lot less problematic then the Gearwrench spline drive wrenches I have. That said, I'd rather have 12pt.

 

[Mattwrotethis]

I have the same set at the shop, and use them at work nightly.

The 13mm head fell off one night while doing a timing cover on a Cadillac CTS, I found the pin, but never found the spring that keeps it from flopping around. I was able to repair it myself using a piece of a spring from an old ballpoint pen.

That's been my only issue with them, those wrenches are a huge time saver for me, and when I'm doing water pumps on Mini Coopers or belt tensioners on Ford Fusions they're an absolute lifesaver.