Sunex Flare Nut Wrenches

[demarpaint]

Many years ago I learned the value, the hard way, of owning a good set of flare nut wrenches. I'll take my chances with a cheap ratchet, I own a few, along with Snap On, SK, and Hazet. But when it comes to flare nut wrenches it pays to buy quality.

 

[Mr_B]

^
that the reality
you can get a totally decent ratchet for 30 bucks but when it comes to wrenches buying the known top performers is wise and with flare nut wrenches even more wise .
Anything lower quality than the Carlyle taiwan examples pretty much waste of time .
Like also mentioned on real rusted fittings good vise grips or cutting line and using 6 point socket real world options .

 

[M635_Guy]

^
that the reality
you can get a totally decent ratchet for 30 bucks but when it comes to wrenches buying the known top performers is wise and with flare nut wrenches even more wise .
Anything lower quality than the Carlyle taiwan examples pretty much waste of time .
Like also mentioned on real rusted fittings good vise grips or cutting line and using 6 point socket real world options .

I've been keeping an eye out on eBay for a 7mm/8mm flare to "finish" the set as it doesn't appear NAPA/Carlyle makes one, but I'm guessing singles aren't that common - haven't seen RXFMS78B on eBay at all. I actually called Snap On to see if I could get a number for the truck guy, but they just pointed me to their site. $23.10 is 100% cool with me, but I feel stupid paying $15 for shipping, and their free shipping kicks in at $200 - lol

 

[Mr_B]

Yes it appears carlyle or welzh only go down to 8mm

15bucks shipping ***** for 1 small item . Even via the truck it more ballache than ever use to be unless lucky with real helpful driver and they few and far between as the business model is a rough ride these days ...

 

[CR888]

If companies like Sunnex cared about your tooling needs they'd either lift their game on important things like flare nut wrenches or not offer them at all. I'm not sure why Sunnex gets mentioned round here so much, what do they do well other than cheap msrp's?...& don't say impact sockets!lol

 

[M635_Guy]

If companies like Sunnex cared about your tooling needs they'd either lift their game on important things like flare nut wrenches or not offer them at all. I'm not sure why Sunnex gets mentioned round here so much, what do they do well other than cheap msrp's?...& don't say impact sockets!lol

...why not say impact? I can't say I've put my set through the wringer yet, but they've been fine for me and haven't heard negatives about them...

I also have a Sunex chrome set that I got to be my trunk/travel set in my old BMW. The sockets seem very nice (not amazing, but nice), though the ratchets haven't impressed me vs. my Icon, Carlyle, Tekton and Snapon ratchets. Handle shape is non-traditional but nice, weight is OK, mechanism is a little buzzy, not sealed and the selector is too easily popped while using, esp. on the 1/4".

 

[stillnostrebor]

My folks bought me a set of Craftsman line wrenches in the 80's, then I bought a set of Carlyles, then I pieced together a set of open/line Snap On combos off of the Bay. None compared to the Snappy wrenches. Not even close.

They and a set of chisels are the only Snap On tools I have, so I'm certainly not a fanboy. These flare nut wrenches are the truth.

 

[lardy1]

The only brand I've ever used are my SK's. They did what I asked them to do every time. I don't ask them to remove original brake lines off 1968 Chevy's.

 

[Handyandy23]

I ended up ordering a smaller 3 piece set of the SK's from Amazon. I had them on my "wish list" and saw e price dropped by 20%, so I jumped on them.

Set covers 9-14mm, which is probably everything I'll encounter on my own vehicles, unless I get into power steering stuff. I'll give them a try, and if I'm happy with them I can add bigger sizes in singles later on. Ended up being around $65 CAD, which seems like a solid deal.

 

[JBradley500]

I won the 11 piece sk set on eBay for 43 bucks a few years back. Can't remember if that included shipping. I think they were only that cheap because the bidding ended at 1030 am on a Tuesday. One of my best ebay snipes to date. Now hold my drink while i pat myself on the back.

 

[Nineeightyone]

I bought Blackhawk/Proto and they've been good to me, though for all I know I could've gotten away with tinfoil wrapped around the nut in question -- you'll never know when a tool is good, only when it's not.

I heard good things about the Blackhawk/Proto, and a set was around $90... Worth the money in my eyes, because I've firsthand seen cheap HF ones let go in a semi-violent fashion.