School me on Snap On ratcheting wrenches.

[TheGrooveking]

Even though I have almost all of the Gearwrench nearly all of their ratcheting wrenches and some of the Matco box end ratcheting wrenches ( thanks to Matco selling Gearwrench wrenches made in Taiwan stamped Matco to a coworker that was so pissed he sold them for 1/2 of what he paid (still more than Gearwrench at Tooltopia)).

So I am contemplating the Snap On ratcheting reversible combination wrenches, so if you have used them what did you think of them.

TheGrooveking

 

[DirtRoad]

I don't get it, you already have all the ratcheting wrenches gearwrench makes. You need doubles or something?

 

[Skin]

They aren't anything special. The offset of the switch catches on things and will rub against whatever you're working on if you use it backward. Best part about them is the FD+ open ends and their length. Otherwise they just cost a **** ton of money for supposed USA made ratcheting wrenches (no stamp-never had one).

 

[strikeouttruck]

I had a set of gearwrench and blue point ratchet wrenches and had the snap on fd+ reverisible ratchet wrenches for 6 months now used in a pro environment.
Ill say for home use the gearwrench is more than just fine but for pro use its hard to beat the snap ons. I dont think they are really any smoother than the other I have just yet to break one. I cant tell you how many gearwrenches I broke, which is why I went to bluepoint.

Even with the much longer length I have yet to break a snap on gear wrench, where i know for a fact there are certain bolts I gave up using a gearwrench gear wrench because I know it would brake.

 

[Skin]

oh I also forgot to mention they're some of the widest and thickest ratcheting box ends on the market.

 

[Ridge Runner]

At the handle or the business ends?

 

[Skin]

At the handle or the business ends?

the physical box end. Huge comparatively speaking. For access nothing comes close to the Taiwan stuff.

 

[mrborohachi]

I might get some hate on this post, but try the Autozone Duralast ratcheting wrenches they are the easiest to warranty due to store locations. Direction selector is flush with the wrench. Taiwanese mfg just like everyone else. They also have stubby flex heads also

 

[smith627]

Not snap-on but the HD Husky brand (Taiwan) reversible ratcheting wrenches have a smaller head and still seem strong enough. I just got a metric set for around $54 and used a few of them to change water pump on a ford car.

 

[Ridge Runner]

the physical box end. Huge comparatively speaking. For access nothing comes close to the Taiwan stuff.

What do you personally suggest for professional use? I'm actually about to start looking for a set of flex heads, but Snap-on only offers them through Blue Point.

 

[Hiball]

Ive Never Owned (personal) or Swung a Set of them, But DaMN they definitely hold there Value.. Ive bought some Sets 2nd hand over the Years and they dont sit around very long. It seems the Directional levers tend to break off.. Ive seen alot of Used ones that are missing the Lever portion.

 

[Skin]

What do you personally suggest for professional use? I'm actually about to start looking for a set of flex heads, but Snap-on only offers them through Blue Point.

Old GW use to be great except for the razor like beams on the flex models, but something like these http://www.matcotools.com/catalog/product/S7GRFM12/12-PIECE-72-TOOTH-FLEX-COMBO-METRIC-SET/

Even looking at a glace from the photos you can see the difference of how thick the physical box end is compared to the Snap-Ons. Numerically speaking its a few mm. If you use them a lot wide and thick ones will obstruct you once in awhile.

If you need them to be reversible flex I think BP is the only one. Just a point to note here, the Snap-On ones are okay, and may be stronger, but they're fat because they essentially house little dual 80 designs.

 

[dappledachsund]

totally not impressed with snap on ratcheting wrenches. the box end is way to big for a wrench they just sit in my box and never get used. when i need a ratcheting wrench i use gearwrench or the taiwan made mac edge wrenches they work very well never broke one. the six point box end is the best.period. also snap ons fd plus open end is all well and good but honestly i use alot of different wrenches daily and yea some are better than others but i rarely break something loose with an open end and when i do pretty much any of my wrenches will work just fine. i use the open ends of my wrenches alot adjusting tie rods on alignments and on brake lines and such but on brake lines i use flare nut wrenches to break them loose.
basically what im saying is dont let the open end sell the wrench it is a great open end but in all honesty if my mac ks2 open end wont break something loose on the open end the snap ons wont either.

 

[warmpancakes]

i have a full set of sae and a full set of the metric (6 and 7mm arrive tuesday) I like them alot have yet to break one, I just wish they made them larger than 19mm Im thinking armstrong makes them because they both share sizes and armstrong released 6 and 7 mm a few weeks ago and so did snap on

 

[oldtools]

The SO has no "USA" on them, so I suspect they may be Taiwan made. Taiwan make most of the ratcheting wrench.

 

[Skin]

The SO has no "USA" on them, so I suspect they may be Taiwan made. Taiwan make most of the ratcheting wrench.

box says they're made in USA.

 

[TheGrooveking]

box says they're made in USA.

You are correct, the box my set came in did.

TheGrooveking

 

[Polski-Chevy]

You are correct, the box my set came in did.

TheGrooveking

So you bought a set, what do you think of them so far?

I seen them in the "hot deals" this month and was tempted

 

[TheGrooveking]

So you bought a set, what do you think of them so far?

I seen them in the "hot deals" this month and was tempted

I love them! The ratcheting heads are a little larger than the Gearwrench and are longer which I also like. I've only have used been able to use them a few times as that for the last few weeks have been in training. I'll do a follow up report on my comparison to my Gearwrenches.

The monthly deal was something I wasn't aware of until my dealer hands me a Snap On stool, mighty cool.

TheGrooveking

 

[Fedwrench]

I have them at work. I prefer the MATCO versions. I find the Snap on versions selector switch to be too large, probably because it's serviceable. I also find that on some sizes, the boxed ratcheting end is too thick. We've managed to break a couple at work through normal use. If you remove the selector switch, you'll find what amounts to two pawl gears separated by two tiny springs. What I have found is that somehow the little spring moves out of its normal position and gets mauled/tangled in the two pawl gears jamming up the wrench. Only the selector switch is serviceable so, when this happens, the wrench has to be replaced. 15 and 18mm sizes have bit the dust with two different techs in the past year.
The Snap on wrenches do offer more length, a little heft, and the flank drive plus open ends. They are expensive new off of the truck but, are nice wrenches.
As stated earlier, I prefer the Armstrong made Matco versions. However, it's my understanding that those are no longer available and they've been replaced with KABO made in taiwan versions.

 

[devoncoolman]

i have pretty much all of them from craftsmans, gear wrench, mac edge, ez red, black hawk, sk, and others. there all good in there own respects. I use my mac edge flex wrenchs and my sk long double boxes the most. the sk's are the spline drive. the mac's are 6point which is kind of odd for a ratchet wrench but cool

 

[dieselmike]

i use craftsman USA(rebranded armstrong) ratcheting wrenches. every one of them says USA. i have a set of snap on stubby ratchet wrenches. none say USA. that pisses me off.

 

[oldtools]

box says they're made in USA.

Is the box made in USA or the tools?

 

[Skin]

Is the box made in USA or the tools?

older photo from a different thread where the same topic came up

Similarly their newer high perf. ratcheting box wrenches, which also aren't stamped USA, come in a pouch that says specifically 'the tools are made in USA'.

No idea why they don't actually stamp the wrenches.