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what is the best bargain in long metric wrenches

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wild cowboy

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I want a nice set of well made long handle polished metric wrenches, that do not leave any sizes out - at least not in the 12mm-19mm range

they do not have to be at the harbor frieght price, but I am not going to pay the brain damaged tool truck ridiculous price either

how about 80% of Snap-On quality but at a serious price?

I am used to shopping at Costco, not Tiffany's, people!!
 
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vaultdweller

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I'll second the Armstrong idea. You can put together a decent set from cripedistributing on the cheap. They'll be a bit mixed as far as finish goes, but a great set nonetheless.
 
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bob15

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ihateminimumwage

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Williams SuperCombos are the best wrenches I've ever used, sold my Snap On wrenches and replaced them with Williams. Made in the USA by Snap-On, have the Flank Drive + style of open ends, and also sold re-badged as CAT wrenches.
7mm-21mm with no skipped sizes.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DO16QY/?tag=atomicindus08-20

DSCN1836_zps3317fcc3.jpg


For a good "Bargain" set, Gearwrench or Craftsman Industrial. Personally I'd go for GW after getting an open end set for the ol' lady's truck box. Really nice fit and finish. Heard nothing but good about Carlyle as well.
 
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jim1987

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Carlyle on eBay
A seller had them for $40 shipped. 10-19 I believe it was. Or gearwrench. Easy to find a bogo. What are you saying is long pattern though? Gearwrench long pattern are only as long as regular snap on. Snap on long pattern is like a gearwrench XL pattern.
 
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c-hawk19

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ihateminimumwage said:
Williams SuperCombos are the best wrenches I've ever used, sold my Snap On wrenches and replaced them with Williams. Made in the USA by Snap-On, have the Flank Drive + style of open ends, and also sold re-badged as CAT wrenches.
7mm-21mm with no skipped sizes.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DO16QY/?tag=atomicindus08-20

DSCN1836_zps3317fcc3.jpg


For a good "Bargain" set, Gearwrench or Craftsman Industrial. Personally I'd go for GW after getting an open end set for the ol' lady's truck box. Really nice fit and finish. Heard nothing but good about Carlyle as well.
Click to expand...

Agreed on the Williams supercombo's. Although they are not super long they are quite a bit longer than Craftsman raised panels and they are beefy and feel great in the hand.
 
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wild cowboy

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Appreciate all of the suggestions, but most of these are still up at the stupid price...........ugh!

it's a friggin wrench, not a cell phone - lol
 
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zoso

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Most of the suggestions are much more reasonable than "the brain damaged tool truck ridiculous price." 10-22mm from snap-on is $459.

In addition I'd much rather pay the money for a quality set of wrenches than any cell phone.
 
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bob15

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wild cowboy said:
Appreciate all of the suggestions, but most of these are still up at the stupid price...........ugh!

it's a friggin wrench, not a cell phone - lol
Click to expand...

I guess you want a wrench that is sold cheap and made with slave labor and inferior steel.

How much does steel cost?
How much does it to heat the metal for the drop forge?
how much does it cost to finish polishing the wrench?
A nice chrome finish isn't cheap....how much does that cost?
How about a worker's labor cost? Maybe you do, but i do not work for free. Labor costs money.


Oh, and how much does a Iphone sell for? 200, 300 400 dollars? For something you can drop and break it and be out several hundred dollars.

Want a cheap wrench set?

Make your own.

Or start your own wrench company and see how much it really costs.

bob
 
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Davefr

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zoso said:
In addition I'd much rather pay the money for a quality set of wrenches than any cell phone.
Click to expand...

^^^ What he said. Quality wrenches will last several lifetimes. You'll toss the cell phone in a couple years.
 
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n8n

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wild cowboy said:
Appreciate all of the suggestions, but most of these are still up at the stupid price...........ugh!

it's a friggin wrench, not a cell phone - lol
Click to expand...

What do you consider "stupid price?"

Granted, I'm a cheap bastid, but if you need to rely on your wrenches... quality counts. Not just ergonomically, but in the alloy of steel used and methods used to form it etc. so you end up with a box end that is dimensionally tight to the fastener and is hard enough not to round off when used on hardened bolts.
 
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wild cowboy

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look, I like Snap-On quality, but they have a shameful crazy markup, so how about keep the Snap-On quality, but at a slender Costco or Harbor Freight margin, as in 15-25% of the Snap-On price!

like a cost + 10% kind of deal
 
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bob15

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wild cowboy said:
look, I like Snap-On quality, but they have a shameful crazy markup, so how about keep the Snap-On quality, as in 15-25% of the Snap-On price!

like a cost + 10% kind of deal
Click to expand...

Snap On: OEXLM710B $510
Armstrong: 52-671 $ 137

75% less

What more do you want?
 
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fitz11

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wild cowboy said:
look, I like Snap-On quality, but they have a shameful crazy markup, so how about keep the Snap-On quality, but at a slender Costco or Harbor Freight margin, as in 15-25% of the Snap-On price!

like a cost + 10% kind of deal
Click to expand...

I think you have unrealistic expectations. All the sets posted for under $200 seem very reasonable.
 
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wild cowboy

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fitz11 said:
I think you have unrealistic expectations.
Click to expand...

No, I am just tired of paying ridiculous markup just to get quality

then everyone says "tools are an investment" and no one is arguing that, but I don't want to pay 5 times what my "investment" is worth!

and also, just because a tool is "made in USA" it seems that folks are automatically assuming it is Snap-On quality - before I even pay the $137 price, it had better be every bit the tool the Snap-On is, or now we are compromising quality, when what I am trying to compromise is the ridiculous mark-up!
 
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JDSV

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fitz11 said:
I think you have unrealistic expectations. All the sets posted for under $200 seem very reasonable.
Click to expand...

I agree with Fitz. Most the of suggestions provided are very good. I know for myself it comes down to the following sets...it will just depend on how "spendy" I want to be. For a hobbyist as myself I do not think the price on any of these sets are out of control.

http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=WRI751

http://www.toolsdelivered.com/Williams-MWS-10A-Hand-Tools-Wrenches-Combination-Metric-Sets

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/161243445174?lpid=82

All these meet your criteria. They contain sizes 12-19 with no skips, and are shiny like Snap-On, but much much less than Snap-On. On top of that, they have a pretty good track record here on Garage Journal, there are many threads on all of these with people having positive experiences, even in a professional environment.
 
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Davefr

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wild cowboy said:
and also, just because a tool is "made in USA" it seems that folks are automatically assuming it is Snap-On quality - before I even pay the $137 price, it had better be every bit the tool the Snap-On is, or now we are compromising quality, when what I am trying to compromise is the ridiculous mark-up!
Click to expand...

Take a deep breath and re-read the thread. You've been given at least a half dozen suggestions of high quality wrenches that range from slightly below to slightly above SO but at substantial savings.

I don't know what more you're expecting.
 
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wild cowboy

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OK, can someone rank the quality of these wrenches

Snap-On
Armstrong
Wright
Williams
Carlyle
NAPA
Craftsman
SK
KD
Proto

now this deal is at least low markup - I like this cripe place


PS - the Canadian wrench suggestions seem to be a good deal, but I am not in Canada and the shipping would be really high!
 
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Davefr

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wild cowboy said:
OK, can someone rank the quality of these wrenches

Snap-On
Armstrong
Wright
Williams
Carlyle
NAPA
Craftsman
SK
KD
Proto
Click to expand...
Opinions will vary:

Wright
SO
SK
Proto
Williams
Armstrong/CM Industrial
Gearwrench
Pittsburg Pro
CM Chinese Lobster Claws
 
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absolutelybillsmood

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The suggestions so far are good especially Williams and SK... but for if you want cheaper, I think Stanley is worth a look. I think they're better than Chinese Craftsman and Pittsburgh.
 
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CJM8515

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Have stanley, 8-21mm I believe (or maybe its 20). Laugh at m if you want but I purchased them at walmart and have yet to have an issue with them. better than HF by a large margin. NONE of them have had an issue and Im not easy on my tools. I have an even cheaper set that are not even polished,t hey are rough stanley chrome ones and they aint ever had an issue either-keep'm in my roadbox.

I love snap on and so forth, but the prices they charge are insane, even the williams set I think is $$$.

Edit: These http://www.ebay.com/itm/STANLEY-87-...-SET-8-20-MM-FULLY-POLISHED-NEW-/251491555464
 
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Mohawk Dave

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I think there should definitely be more discussion about the Carlyle. I know they are new and not everyone has them yet, but they really are great. I drank the SO Kool Aid, and everything is getting upgraded to SO, but not the wrenches. I bought the Carlyle and like them just as much, maybe more, than my few SO FD+ i have. Just my 2 pennies...
 
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