Sunex COO disappointment

[BroncoAZ]

I was looking for a filler item at Jegs to get free shipping on an engine stand and ended up ordering a set of Sunex Flare Nut wrenches, part number 9809a, cost was $34. I also do need a set of flare nut wrenches for my travel toolbox where I’m helping a buddy build a factory 5 car. The Amazon reviews were generally decent, several complaints that the wrench heads were bulky. They arrived today and as soon as I opened the box and the smell hit I knew I was going to be unhappy. The stench was worse than Harbor Freight, my new wrench set says “Made in India” on the box. The most of my Sunex tools are COO Taiwan, I have an offset wrench set that is COO China, so I figured these would be China as well. If I’d known these were India I would’ve purchased the China made GearWrench instead.

COO aside, the heads on the wrenches are bulkier than my old US made Craftsman Professional, but at the same time they are radiused corners and fit the fasteners reasonably tight. The chrome isn’t great and there are plenty of visible grind marks in the heads. These were shipped directly from Sunex in SC. For what I paid they should get the job done, but I’m still debating on sending them back and getting something better rather than contaminating my box with these. I would like SK, but the similar set is $170+.

 

[finn]

You wanted inexpensive tools, and that’s what you got. Functional and inexpensive seems to have fulfilled your requirements.

If you wanted USA made, you should order the SK and pay the price.

Am I missing something?

It’s not 1952 anymore.

 

[bob15]

If you are already questioning them, you will probably never be happy with them. I would send them back.

Look on e-bay for the sets you want. There is 3/8-7/8 SK sets for ~$50 with free shipping.

 

[rijndael]

Send them back.

 

[Wamsutta]

Those aren't grind marks. Those are hot forge marks where the punch press comes down and punches out the opening size while the wrench is still red hot. A more modern way of doing it is where the rough opening is hot forged and then the final opening is done by cold forging on several wrenches stacked up on top of each other at one time; that eliminates the hot forging marks. I'll give you one guess at which brand that would be.

 

[jgromada]

Lol send them back, but get the Snap On then, you deserve to spend 10x as much

 

[BroncoAZ]

You wanted inexpensive tools, and that’s what you got. Functional and inexpensive seems to have fulfilled your requirements.

If you wanted USA made, you should order the SK and pay the price.

Am I missing something?

It’s not 1952 anymore.

You are correct, but I didn't figure Sunex would send out something COO India and this ****** of a finish. If I wanted this level of tool I would've gone to Harbor Freight or Home Depot.

I'll look into sending these back and getting something better, but I'm guessing shipping will be $10+ to return them.

 

[Professional Tool User]

You know they are really cutting costs when they have stuff made in India. I'd rather buy it from Harbor Freight. As far as I know, even HF only has a handful of Indian made items and flare nut wrenches are not one of them.

 

[WhataTool]

I'm no COO snob, but those are obviously not acceptable.
No reason Sunex couldn't have made these in TW like most of their tools.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Indian made line wrenches......I'd rather roll the dice with an adjustable wrench!

 

[81turbota]

All the Indian made wrenches I’ve used are grade A garbage. Return them. Line wrenches are no place to skimp!

 

[outofbounds]

Curious if you felt the need for a full line array of SAE & Metric Line wrenches, as you cited a specific project (Factory 5...Cobra?) . Maybe Ebay for a quality used set of USA made SAE gets the project done and gives a foundation to acquire the metrics another day.....

 

[visionguru]

I'm no COO snob, but made in India wrenches look bad. Surprisingly, I saw quite few brands offer wrenches from India, to save a few pennies?

Here is a 24mm / 22mm line wrench bought in China. USD$ 2 shipped. Obviously, the quality is too high to generate enough profit for the brand.

 

[Skin]

Those aren't grind marks. The broaching die is worn out. For $3 a wrench or whatever I'm not sure someone can justify high(er) expectations.

 

[Wamsutta]

Fast forward to 3 minutes and 30 seconds. You'll see the flare nut wrenches being made. This company has been making wrenches for over a hundred years. You don't replace experience like that overnight in a little shack in India.

 

[American Locomotive]

While I don't think that finish is really acceptable - what do you really expect? You paid $3.77 per wrench, and that includes shipping + the pouch they came in. For the price I'd be more concerned about whether or not they actually worked decent enough than the rough finish on the ends.

The Gear Wrench 6 piece set literally costs double that per wrench. So I'd expect a lot more.

 

[Steve_P]

The ends are broached to final size. This is standard for any tool of reasonable quality; it's not unique to Snap On. The Indian ones appear to be broached as well. Just not done very well

 

[RKA]

I know you have other doubts about them. I could get past the cosmetic stuff if they performed. But it seems like there is barely any meat at the open end just beyond the reliefs for the corners. There should be a little more so it can contact the flats properly. And whether or not these would spread...honestly, I would have the same concern if it was stamped China.

 

[Wamsutta]

The ends are broached to final size. This is standard for any tool of reasonable quality; it's not unique to Snap On. The Indian ones appear to be broached as well. Just not done very well

Watch the video as you'll see that Snap-on gets to the final size using a cold broach method with a very strong hydraulic ram and lots of cold, water based cutting fluid.

 

[RedneckWelder]

China’s gotten halfway decent a lot of times (especially when companies like Sunex source tools from them) but India is a shitshow still

 

[lardy1]

Sunex is a pretty well respected name. What's up with this stuff?

 

[Wamsutta]

India is where China was back in the 1980s.

 

[mfewtrail]

Turn some nuts with them and see how they fit + perform...

 

[1982fxr]

I don't have any Sunex but wouldn't have expected that.

No way I would piss with line wrenches from India.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

In Arizona, I'm sure those will be more than fine. The edges look rough from the forging, but have you used them yet? They're $34 for a set of wrenches.

 

[Keelhauled]

I enjoy OP's avatar vis-a-vis the post.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I’ll end up buying a set of SK flare nut wrenches when Circle C Supply gets them back in stock. I like to buy full sets so I never run across a project I don’t have the tools to complete. These are for my travel toolbox, so not my primary stuff used at home. I knew these would be a cheaper set, but they had decent reviews on Amazon and I didn’t realize Sunex made junk in India.

I enjoy OP's avatar vis-a-vis the post.

My avatar was in response to the crybabies here that couldn’t handle the anti union avatar I had before and cried to the mods to make me change it, it has nothing to do with these wrenches. For some reason people can have pro union avatars, but I can’t have this.

 

[Wamsutta]

I have everybody's avatar turned off. I don't need to be getting hot and bothered when I'm reading about tools.

 

[B_Bimmer]

I am with the fellow who would prefer an adjustable.

 

[81turbota]

I’d still send them back. Most Harbor Freight line wrenches look better than that if you inspect them prior to purchase. If you want a cheap travel set, I’d rather have the HF ones over the Indian Sunex.

Count me in the crowd for new/used SO or SK.

 

[1982fxr]

In Arizona, I'm sure those will be more than fine. The edges look rough from the forging, but have you used them yet? They're $34 for a set of wrenches.

It's snows in Flagstaff...

 

[woody 73]

You buy something and cry as hard as you can from all the pain that is coming out of your body; then you use them and pass them on to the next person.

You buy something and dance in the streets from all the pleasure of saving a ton of money, then when you are in dire need of fixing something and the tool breaks or fails in some form or another, then you can start screaming from all your pain.

Take you pick cry once or cry later...

 

[2001ZR2]

I just got the SK 376 set for $77 plus tax from Clark's Tools but they are local to me.

I have the HF wrenches and the next line I break loose with them will be the first the wrenches spread. For less than $20 for a set of 5 I keep them as reminder to do my homework.

 

[cptn_zippy]

India is where China was back in the 1980s.

...Japan——>Korea——>China——>India——>????....

It will only continue.

J

 

[Jaysreal]

This company has been making wrenches for over a hundred years.

Eh, they've just come up on their 100th, and if I recall correctly; in their early years they only produced 1/2" drive "handles" and sockets. Their set was called the "Snap-on Wrench" right? But it was nothing like the modern open end "wrench" we know of today.

Isn't SK technically the oldest one around today anyways?

Sent from my ASUS_I01WDX using Tapatalk

 

[rijndael]

Isn't SK technically the oldest one around today anyways?

Stanley has been around since the 1800s.

 

[Jaysreal]

Stanley has been around since the 1800s.

History spanning two centuries? Now that's interesting!

Sent from my ASUS_I01WDX using Tapatalk

 

[BMack37]

Yeah, those are garbage.

TBH, Gearwrench flare nut wrenches aren't great, they have a super thick head too(GW finish is a LOT better). Most of the flare nut wrench sets have pretty thick heads, Sunex looks to be the thinnest head (Of Asian-made) based on pics. I want to say there was a Chinese brand that showed some at SEMA that were nice, maybe Capri

 

[m6z]

That blows. The stubby wrenches I recently purchased were around $25 a set, nicely finished and made in Taiwan.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[vssjim]

I’ll end up buying a set of SK flare nut wrenches when Circle C Supply gets them back in stock. I like to buy full sets so I never run across a project I don’t have the tools to complete. These are for my travel toolbox, so not my primary stuff used at home. I knew these would be a cheaper set, but they had decent reviews on Amazon and I didn’t realize Sunex made junk in India.



My avatar was in response to the crybabies here that couldn’t handle the anti union avatar I had before and cried to the mods to make me change it, it has nothing to do with these wrenches. For some reason people can have pro union avatars, but I can’t have this.

If you want a inexpensive set that works the NAPA Carlyle's are good and Taiwan made. In another post on the GJ page there is a comment say Circle C is going to no longer carry SK Tools. The posting member said SK raised the pricing and the owner of Circle C will not restock anything after it is sold out. Sorry to tell you this as I have bought a lot of SK through Circle C as well.