Tekton 3/8 flex ratchet or. . .?

[Tallpilot]

Just curious, but how has GW's 84T ratchet for example, gotten worse?

Fill me in. Where and when did they cut costs? 1 year ago? 3 years ago? 5 years? I've bought the same 84T, 1/4" flex headed GW ratchet at those intervals, and all of them are exactly the same. Unless I'm confused nothing has been changed, no pennies pinched.

Not sure it has. It appears to be about the same as its always been. It's hardly their signature product though and you purposely chose it as an example because it's about the only thing that hasn't changed.

They have pushed the 120xp as the hot new thing; plenty of threads here about them just not being as robust as the 84t. Which makes sense as it has less Matco DNA in it. I like the 84t and hope they keep selling it. I imagine it will be orphaned at some point unfortunately.

Wrenches are their flagship product (it's even the name of the trademark). After the Bain acquisition they moved quite a bit of production to China. The metal got thinner and failure rates went up (see the thread here with weights and measurements). The warranty department also got quite surly and even though it says "lifetime guarantee" on the package the rigamarole in getting service makes it not worth the hassle.

I don't hate Gearwrench. I do hate Bain and pretty much hate Apex so I avoid their stuff when there are reasonable alternatives.

In the midwest, we have a grocery store chain, Meijer, which has a dedicated Tekton aisle. Yeah, in a grocery store, that's the only place you can find Tekton stuff.

Almost everytime we went there, I would kill time at Tekton aisle when wife was doing grocery shopping. That counts as hours of playing with Tekton.

Tekton tools are often very nicely packaged, generally with shiny chrome. The quality level is good, on par, sometimes slightly better than store brands from HomeDepot, Lowes, Menards. But there is just not much to write home about.

As a tool junkie, I have more than 30 ratchets, ranging from no-name cheapie to Snap On. Same with sockets. Also, as a watch collector, I'm familar with what to look for when judging the workmanship.


Now, back to the topic: Why I think Tekton is "obviously" lower quality than GearWrench?

• GearWrench sockets have knurling, double marking, part number engravings. There is a difference in the chrome especially in the recessed areas and the inside finish.
• GearWrench uses Cr-Mo for impact sockets like all professional brands, Tekton uses Cr-V.
• GearWrench ratchet direction selector has solid feel, and the ratcheting is not clunking.

Workmanship is a feel, hard to describe. I think Tekton is a run-of-the-mill Made in Taiwan tools, aiming towards DIY crowds. Good quality? Seems so, but just not as good as GearWrench.

Calling Meijer a grocery store is similar to calling Lowe's a hardware store. They carry quite a bit more than food. Publix or Safeway are grocery stores. You can't buy a ceiling fan at either but you can at Meijer. Your assertion that Tekton ***** because you can buy their ratchet at a place that also sells milk is a strawman attack.

Your points above refer to the old product line not the new one. Which apparently have not yet made it to brick and mortar retail channels. Check them out when they do.

They will probably refresh the impact sockets after they finish the chrome line. Let's see what they do. But I am of the opinion that the Cr-V impacts are more durable especially when used on modern high powered impacts. I don't want something so hard it destroys my anvil but I also don't want something so soft that the drive end is visibly deformed after just one use; that's ridiculous.

In any case they are active in the community, listening and improving their products. They also have a warranty system that's at least as good as Craftsman of old. Take a look at their USA made angle wrenches and show me something Gearwrench makes thats anywhere close to as nice.

https://www.tekton.com/angle-head-open-end-wrench-sets-keeper

All that being said I don't really like their flex heads. The locking detents are not very strong. But I have found I prefer locking flex; many people seem to hate them.

 

[Yarpo]

Not sure it has. It appears to be about the same as its always been. It's hardly their signature product though and you purposely chose it as an example because it's about the only thing that hasn't changed.

Nah, I chose that one because I've actually bought three of them, and I wanted to know how it had been beaten down by Bain over the last 5 years. How about their chrome sockets? I've bought a lot of those in the last 5 years, I keep getting the same, knurled, dual stamped, made in Taiwan sockets. Since they've valued engineered so much, I'll buy ANOTHER set tomorrow off amazon and I'd be willing to bet the cost of the set, it'll still be made in Taiwan. Just because a ratcheting wrench was their flag ship product 20 years ago, doesn't mean it still needs to be. Maybe the profit was marginal at best on those and it made sense to "value engineer" those and ship the wrenches off to China, who the **** knows. Half this board acts like they sit in on Bain/Apex's/GWs meetings tho and it gets a little tiring. I could care less that a few of their products are made in China, I just don't buy those ones.

They have pushed the 120xp as the hot new thing; plenty of threads here about them just not being as robust as the 84t. Which makes sense as it has less Matco DNA in it. I like the 84t and hope they keep selling it. I imagine it will be orphaned at some point unfortunately.

I googled Garagejournal, GW 120xp and most the threads seemed relatively positive. I too prefer the 84T however.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=321664
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=323740
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=254698

The 120 xp set on amazon also has better reviews, actually.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BTEXPDK/?tag=atomicindus08-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V5G7LU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

The 120 xp stuff has an 81%, five star rating and the 84T has a 75% five star rating so I'm not getting the same vibe you are. Lets just say this was the case however, users should go into new products that are the hot new thing, like say Tektons new, heavily pushed 90T stuff with a little skepticism before touting it as "better than x" well before its seen a few years use, ya?

Wrenches are their flagship product (it's even the name of the trademark). After the Bain acquisition they moved quite a bit of production to China. The metal got thinner and failure rates went up (see the thread here with weights and measurements). The warranty department also got quite surly and even though it says "lifetime guarantee" on the package the rigamarole in getting service makes it not worth the hassle.

I don't hate Gearwrench. I do hate Bain and pretty much hate Apex so I avoid their stuff when there are reasonable alternatives.

I know most their wrenches are now made in China, as well as their impact sockets, but every tool I buy from them is still being made in Taiwan, so I'm curious what "quite a lot" refers to. I think I've asked this same thing in 20 threads on this board, but I'll be damned, nobody can give me an answer Hell, I've got quite the list somewhere of made in Taiwan stuff I've purchased in the last year or two alone. Care to give me a list that includes more products that are made in China?

84T 4 piece flex ratchet set, 4 piece spark plug socket set, serp belt tool, semi deeps in 1/4" and 3/8" SAE and metric, XL double box end wrenches, 5 piece XL double box end wrench add on set, E torx sockets, deep e torx sockets, torx sockets, long torx sockets, 3 piece protected lug nut socket set, extensions in all three drive sizes, 8 piece screwdriver set, 7 piece pick set, 1/4" metric sockets in shallow/deep, 3/8" metric sockets in shallow/deep, two piece(1/4 and 3/8") 84T long reach ratchet set, 27(?) piece 1/2" socket and ratchet set, the complete 1/4" and 3/8" combo deal from tool discounter, all made in Taiwan. There's probably a few tools I've bought that I'm forgetting too...

(All sockets referenced above are 6 pt, I did have someone tell me in the past that they had received a few 12 pt made in china chrome sockets, but I could not confirm nor get part numbers from them)

Your points above refer to the old product line not the new one. Which apparently have not yet made it to brick and mortar retail channels. Check them out when they do.

They're still not knurled tho, but they fully necked down the shoulders so its kind of a wash, no? Also are they stamped on both sides with large markings? Their sockets are nice for the money but I think his points are pretty valid until they revamp their impacts. They started out behind and are now playing catch up unfortunately. That said its great that they have an excellent warranty and I'm glad to see Dave active on these forums.