Proper use of geared wrenches?

[amishman]

I have a handful of Craftsman geared wrenches.

Curious, are geared wrenches as strong as regulat box end wrenches or are their certain times when you should not use geared wrenches? Like when you have a nut on, is it OK to break that bolt loose with a geared wrench? Or are they not intended for that.

I would guess if the nut is really rusted on one should not used a geared wrench and use a normal box instead but just curious if basic duty, it is OK to used geared wrenches.

tj

 

[nissan_crawler]

I've used them for everything they'll fit on for 7 years of professional use, but I have gearwrenches. I never use another wrench to break a fastener loose first.

 

[bushhawg73]

I've used them for everything they'll fit on for 7 years of professional use, but I have gearwrenches. I never use another wrench to break a fastener loose first.

I second what nissan_crawler said. I don't cut them any slack. If a gearwrench is in my hand that is what breaks the fastener loose.

 

[autoace]

I use a long box wrench to loosen the fastener, then use the gearwrench to speed it off, if air tools don't fit. This is usually only for suspension and brake bolts though.I'm real picky on tool useage though.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I've used them for everything they'll fit on for 7 years of professional use, but I have gearwrenches. I never use another wrench to break a fastener loose first.

I second what nissan_crawler said. I don't cut them any slack. If a gearwrench is in my hand that is what breaks the fastener loose.

What these guys said. If they are not up to doing the whole job from beginning to end I don't want them in my box anyway. I don't want tools that must be pampered, I have no time, nor money, nor patience for them!

 

[riley.m]

What these guys said. If they are not up to doing the whole job from beginning to end I don't want them in my box anyway. I don't want tools that must be pampered, I have no time, nor money, nor patience for them!

nice!

 

[Merkava_4]

Well when you think about it, the correct way is to use the box end for breaking the fastener free; not the open end; but it's okay to final tighten with the open end if you have to.

That being said, if you have a combination wrench with an open end on one end and a ratcheting box on the other end, that ratcheting box end SHOULD be able to do everything that a regular fixed box end can do; with the exception being the clearance issue.

In the case of the Armstrong fixed box / ratcheting box, then yes, I'd use the fixed box end to break the fastener free and then tighten it back up with the ratcheting end.

That was the post that won me a free set of GearWrench Double-X pliers ... so I must be right.

 

[yellowbox]

i think the smaller sizes are not as strong ....8 mm 9 mm i have stripped out an 8 mm twice .....

 

[gotmud13613]

When I first got mine I thought they were to fine toothed to be breaking fasteners loose but that was taking up to much time, now I just go at em full force

 

[Fedwrench]

On the back side of the label for those Gearwrench sets Sears was selling at Christmas with the stubby geardriver is printed " These are precision tools and are not intended to free frozen fasteners".
Common sense should prevail. I like the older Matco proswing wrenches for this reason. They have a fixed box end on one end to break a fastener loose, and a 72 tooth ratcheting end on the other to speed the loosened fastener off. It's up to you as to how you treat your tools.

 

[Tlag]

I'm just a weekend warrior. My rule is if I can't break something loose, ratchet or ratchet wrench, without adding a pipe or using a hammer, then I switch to a breaker bar or a traditional box wrench.

But then I don't get fired if it takes longer than "the book" says it should.

 

[Uncle Buck]

What these guys said. If they are not up to doing the whole job from beginning to end I don't want them in my box anyway. I don't want tools that must be pampered, I have no time, nor money, nor patience for them!

This post, or essentially the same thing won me a set of the same pliers so I guess I just blew a big *** hole through that theory!

That was the post that won me a free set of GearWrench Double-X pliers ... so I must be right.

 

[Uncle Buck]

On the back side of the label for those Gearwrench sets Sears was selling at Christmas with the stubby geardriver is printed " These are precision tools and are not intended to free frozen fasteners".
Common sense should prevail. I like the older Matco proswing wrenches for this reason. They have a fixed box end on one end to break a fastener loose, and a 72 tooth ratcheting end on the other to speed the loosened fastener off. It's up to you as to how you treat your tools.

They might say precision tool on the box, but I have no wrenches that I store with my precision tools (mics, dials, and gages) so I would dis agree with that assertion. Even if they are the manufacturer of them!

 

[Dust]

I only use my Gearwrenches for speeding off fasteners and bolts that bind up, that my air ratchet can't get to easily. I do a lot of lube work, and to break the oil drain plug loose I just use the box end of a basic Craftsman wrench with a hammer, then take it out by hand. If the plug is crossthreaded or sticking I use my Gearwrench to take it out.

I really like my Gearwrenches, and I don't want to put undue stress on them by busting loose drain plugs. I don't mind about the Craftsman wrench, since that's easy to warranty, but Gearwrenches might be a different story; never tried exchanging one of those at Sears.

 

[nissan_crawler]

Common sense should prevail. I like the older Matco proswing wrenches for this reason. They have a fixed box end on one end to break a fastener loose, and a 72 tooth ratcheting end on the other to speed the loosened fastener off. It's up to you as to how you treat your tools.

IMHO, common sense says if the tool can't do the job, it's worthless.

The way I see it, if a tool in my box can't hold it's own, I have no use for it. By the time you use a regular wrench to get it loose, then switch over, I have two fasteners out with the gearwrench.

If I had to use a wrench to break a fastener loose before using a gearwrench (even if it was a dual boxend setup), I wouldn't own them.

 

[Uncle Buck]

The way I see it, if a tool in my box can't hold it's own, I have no use for it. By the time you use a regular wrench to get it loose, then switch over, I have two fasteners out with the gearwrench.

If I had to use a wrench to break a fastener loose before using a gearwrench (even if it was a dual boxend setup), I wouldn't own them.

Read em from the book bro!

 

[blue302stang]

I use mine just like i would any other wrench and expect them to hold up just as well. I break off torque converter told with my blackhawk ratcheting wrench and another wrench used for leverage.

 

[Diesel-Mech]

Like many of the other guys have already said I give them hell and expect them to keep on ticking and so far no failures, they take up way to much space to be pampered.

 

[RAYJAY]

use mine every day at work, we shock lock everything ( hit the wrench or ratchet with a dead blow hammer) and never had a problem

Jeff

 

[Rickster]

I use a long box wrench to loosen the fastener, then use the gearwrench to speed it off, if air tools don't fit. This is usually only for suspension and brake bolts though.I'm real picky on tool useage though.

I have the Armstrong ratchet wrenches, one end is box end and the other ratcheting for just this purpose. I believe Matco makes a similar style.

 

[Stuey]

For initial loosening or final tightening, I use the open-ended side of my Gearwrenches. I mean, why put undue stress on a dynamic mechanism when a quick flip to use the open-end and then a quick flip back takes an extra what, 10 seconds total?

If I really need to wail on a wrench, I'll pull out something that I can apply more leverage on.

 

[mkdive]

For initial loosening or final tightening, I use the open-ended side of my Gearwrenches. I mean, why put undue stress on a dynamic mechanism when a quick flip to use the open-end and then a quick flip back takes an extra what, 10 seconds total?

If I really need to wail on a wrench, I'll pull out something that I can apply more leverage on.

 

[fotoflojoe]

What these guys said. If they are not up to doing the whole job from beginning to end I don't want them in my box anyway. I don't want tools that must be pampered, I have no time, nor money, nor patience for them!

+1

If a gearwrench is in my hand when it's time to break a fastener loose, then that's what gets used - in some cases, for a particular size, a gearwrench is the only thing I have.

But then, in these cases, I also have a bad habit of using a ratchet when I should really be using a breaker bar.

 

[yellowbox]

use mine every day at work, we shock lock everything ( hit the wrench or ratchet with a dead blow hammer) and never had a problem

Jeff

shock lock ......never heard of that , i guess you could use lock tite on threads instead?

 

[Monte]

I found following maximum torque ratings in a print catalog for the box end of ratcheting wrenches:

1/4" - 20 Newtonmeters
5/16" - 30 NM
3/8" - 70 NM
7/16" - 80 NM
1/2" - 115 NM
9/16" - 160 NM
5/8" - 250 NM
11/16" - 270 NM
3/4" - 325 NM
1" - 500 NM

 

[nissan_crawler]

1/4" 15 ft lb

9/16" 118 ft lbs.

1" 369 ft lbs

a 9/16" head on a bolt is a 3/8" diameter (98% of the time).

Standard torque for a 3/8" grade 5 is 33 ft lbs, for a grade 8 it's 47 ft lbs.

 

[garfunkle24]

For initial loosening or final tightening, I use the open-ended side of my Gearwrenches. I mean, why put undue stress on a dynamic mechanism when a quick flip to use the open-end and then a quick flip back takes an extra what, 10 seconds total?

If I really need to wail on a wrench, I'll pull out something that I can apply more leverage on.

I never use the open end of a wrench unless it's physically impossible to get a box-end on there. Jam nuts/hydraulic lines etc spring to mind.

 

[eschoendorff]

I've used them for everything they'll fit on for 7 years of professional use, but I have gearwrenches. I never use another wrench to break a fastener loose first.

What he said....

 

[reversegear]

I found following maximum torque ratings in a print catalog for the box end of ratcheting wrenches:

1/4" - 20 Newtonmeters
5/16" - 30 NM
3/8" - 70 NM
7/16" - 80 NM
1/2" - 115 NM
9/16" - 160 NM
5/8" - 250 NM
11/16" - 270 NM
3/4" - 325 NM
1" - 500 NM

Can I ask the brand? Those are minimum ANSI torques for box wrenches.

 

[nissan_crawler]

Can I ask the brand? Those are minimum ANSI torques for box wrenches.

Any chance you could show yours? I know damn well they're high, considering what I've put my wrenches through, which is why I never worry about them. If I'm not afraid to put a ratchet on it, I'm not afraid to put a Gearwrench on it.

 

[reversegear]

Not quite sure what you mean. Do you want to see our test results, or pics of our ratcheting wrenches?

 

[nissan_crawler]

I was curious on what the max torque on the gearwrenches was. i have plenty of them, no need to see them. I do want the 1 1/16-1 1/4", though...someday.

Edit: To be honest, I use mine more than my Snap-On ratchets, and the Gearwrenches hold up as well, and most likely better than the ratchets.

 

[amishman]

Not quite sure what you mean. Do you want to see our test results, or pics of our ratcheting wrenches?

I like the look of the socket in your Avatar. Is that a product you represent?

A link to your web site would be cool.

tj

 

[reversegear]

These numbers are from an old test cycle sometime in 2003, all single direction ratchet wrenches:

Size__ANSI__Break
8mm 22 ft-lb 49 ft-lb
10mm 52 ft-lb 76 ft-lb
12mm 67 ft-lb 99 ft-lb
13mm 85 ft-lb 156 ft-lb
14mm 117 ft-lb 189 ft-lb
15mm 148 ft-lb 213 ft-lb
18mm 224 ft-lb 337 ft-lb

 

[nissan_crawler]

Those are some pretty righteous numbers, considering the fastener diameter that goes with them, would have a failure point less than that in almost all cases. That just backs up my theory on not needing a second wrench to break it loose, IMHO.

 

[Monte]

Can I ask the brand? Those are minimum ANSI torques for box wrenches.

The brand is "Garant" , its a brandname from a german wholesaler (Hoffmann Gruppe)
I think they state maximum torque values so they dont have warranty issues...... There is no lifetime warranty in germany (nor allowed, "only" 30 yrs.), but usually only 1 or 2 years....some will "fully" warranty their products (Hazet, Gedore, Padre..) but dont say the years

 

[Coach James]

Why are lifetime warrenties not allowed in Germany?

Coach

 

[Monte]

Why are lifetime warrenties not allowed in Germany?

Coach

Because the law says that the limitation period of every legal transaction is 30 years and its not allowed to extend this only to reduce. So a warranty is like a contract so the maximum is 30 years also.

I think it was invented to protect the customers , because so no company can give lifetime warranty and then go bankrupt after 10 years, while the customer bought this item with the warranty in mind ..........

 

[walrus]

I bought a brand new set of Blackhawk ratchet wrenchs off EBay, used the the 1/2 one 2 or 3 times before it broke. Not to impressed when I went to loosen a soft 5/16 bolt and the wrench just spun. The reversing lever has no feel and the socket just spins in either direction. Have to send it back but that isn't a very good sign for the quality of their tools.

 

[amishman]

I sure could have used a 17mm geared wrench yesterday when pulling my VW engine. I did have a GearRatchet by Gearwrench but once I had the nut off a certain amount, not enough space to get the ratchet off. <grin> So I had to reverse direction and out it back on so I could get the ratchet off and then go at it in little increments with my regular box-end.

I do have some Craftsman geared wrenches but only up to 14mm. I should have got the 7 packed instead of 5 pack a couple years back <grin>

So, I will be buying me some more Gearwrenches soon.

tj