What is up with Ratcheting box wrench availability?

[nbpt100]

Why is Tekton still having issues with ratcheting box wrench manufacturing........... Does any one know when they will again have stock? Even other brands seem to have spotty availability in individual sizes. I have been looking to buy some small individual sizes in a 1/2 decent brand and not pay tool truck prices. Under 10mm and 3/8".

 

[AJHD]

What I don't understand is why all these random unknown brands on Amazon seem to be available. But well known brands like Sunex and Tekton are disappearing or have otherwise been unavailable.

I suspect it has something to do with made in Taiwan tools, while made in China tools seems to be wide open. But that's only a theory.
Then again, Snap On made in USA tools have been suffering from availability issues for a long time now.

Sadly, it's not just limited to ratcheting wrenches. I've been buying a lot of tools lately and it's frustrating as hell.

 

[marak]

Santa Claus is out too...still waiting for last year's Christmas present. Not looking good for this year's either.

 

[nbpt100]

Not being able to buy what you want or having to pay a premium to get it is frustrating. I know Covid is still bad in other places around the globe and the Ukrain invaision has a domino effect on economies, but you would think supply chains would be doing much better at this point.

If china does invade Taiwain it could be a disaster for tool supply in general.

Black Friday deals may not be so great if they do not have what you want.

 

[Snapped-off]

I've got an 8mm x 10mm Tekton. I'll start the opening bid at $100.

 

[John McA]

Not being able to buy what you want or having to pay a premium to get it is frustrating. I know Covid is still bad in other places around the globe and the Ukrain invaision has a domino effect on economies, but you would think supply chains would be doing much better at this point.

If china does invade Taiwain it could be a disaster for tool supply in general.

Black Friday deals may not be so great if they do not have what you want.

Its Taiwan. Anyway, I really need that Precision Mathews lathe and mill.

 

[nbpt100]

Today I went into my NAPA and checked out the tool wall. (I have not been inside there for a few months)

90% of the hand tools were Evercraft, which I put on par with Pittsburgh. The only Carlyle stuff was Impact sockets and files. No ratcheting box wrenches of any style. Their tool wall was 100% Carlyle and they had some Evercraft stuff in another Isle. That Isle is now Milwaukee and Craftsman tools. Mostly power tools. I did not ask why, as there was only one worker in the entire store.

Is Carlyle having supply issues? Or are they stockling less because the local clientele want the cheaper stuff and price point is driving it? I do not know but it was a dramatic change.

 

[Al Borland]

Right now, the California ports are backed way up. Ships cannot get in to unload. The Ships are sitting off the coast, wasting fuel/time/capacity due to this. Not sure why they can't unload, but WTF.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Right now, the California ports are backed way up. Ships cannot get in to unload. The Ships are sitting off the coast, wasting fuel/time/capacity due to this. Not sure why they can't unload, but WTF.

Because they're backed up. And every ship that sits there means more downtime.

IIRC I heard a story about some western port, who went from nearly 100 ship backlog, down to 20. Still a problem, but improving. And those containers and ships sitting and waiting, can't be refilled with new goods.

"Just in time" works great, until things don't make it "just in time" and the house of cards falls down.

 

[Fedwrench]

Ask Tekton through their contact us section on their web site. I think Tekton is switching suppliers and that is what's causing the delay but, that is purely a guess on my part.
To be honest, is there that much demand for ratcheting wrenches <10mm? I always thought the ratcheting boxed end was too fat to actually use under 8mm but, that's just me.
I visited the Gearwrench web site and found various 7, 8, & 9mm wrenches available in stock from Home Depot & Amazon. I'm not sure what the issue is. Do you not want Gearwrench?
To me, I'm not buying ships being backed up. I am buying that Taiwan got hit with a pretty bad storm recently and that covid is still prevalent in many places. I also think corporate greed has a lot to do with what gets made and shipped when but, that's just my opinion.
As for Carlyle, they're overpriced, not on sale like they were pre covid so, I don't think they're selling. They also removed some of the best 90 tooth ratchets from their lineup.

 

[GeoBruin]

Because they're backed up. And every ship that sits there means more downtime.

IIRC I heard a story about some western port, who went from nearly 100 ship backlog, down to 20. Still a problem, but improving. And those containers and ships sitting and waiting, can't be refilled with new goods.

"Just in time" works great, until things don't make it "just in time" and the house of cards falls down.

There are currently fewer than 100 ships waiting to unload across the entire US and less than a third of those are on the west coast. There currently only 8 ships in the queue at the combined ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The situation is better than it has been in a long time. I don't know if I would blame that specifically in the context of all the other global supply issues.

 

[BTJHP]

I think Tekton is switching suppliers and that is what's causing the delay but, that is purely a guess on my part.

I don't know that they are switching from their main supplier, but that supplier is different than their supplier of ratcheting wrenches. Here's a picture from Google street view outside the main socket set manufacturer in Taichung. It's from a while back and I'll have to wait for Google to update the street view to find anything more recent.

 

[nbpt100]

Ask Tekton through their contact us section on their web site. I think Tekton is switching suppliers and that is what's causing the delay but, that is purely a guess on my part.
To be honest, is there that much demand for ratcheting wrenches <10mm? I always thought the ratcheting boxed end was too fat to actually use under 8mm but, that's just me.
I visited the Gearwrench web site and found various 7, 8, & 9mm wrenches available in stock from Home Depot & Amazon. I'm not sure what the issue is. Do you not want Gearwrench?
To me, I'm not buying ships being backed up. I am buying that Taiwan got hit with a pretty bad storm recently and that covid is still prevalent in many places. I also think corporate greed has a lot to do with what gets made and shipped when but, that's just my opinion.
As for Carlyle, they're overpriced, not on sale like they were pre covid so, I don't think they're selling. They also removed some of the best 90 tooth ratchets from their lineup.

I preferred Tekton but I am ok with Gearwrench and coincidentally I just bought a 8mm and 1/4 shortly after writing my last post here. I actually bought on ebay. Got a better deal than HD and Amazon. I try to not use Amazon. For what it is worth the COO is China. I was also considering Dewalt but it appeared the only size they make under 3/8 was 5/16 and it was out of stock every where. I assume they are the same or close to as Craftsman.

In the past few weeks I had a need for a 1/4 inch twice while working on some ODPE and that drove me to get more serious about buying something rather than waiting for Tekton to have stock. The 8mm was actually a few dollars cheaper than the 5/16 for some odd reason. It is usually the other way around. The metric is usually a bit more than the SAE. The other sizes I will get when Tekton gets the stock.

Strange times.

 

[Madjik Man]

For what it's worth, Tekton's rep said the ETA for ratcheting wrenches to be back in stock is mid December.

 

[Fedwrench]

Tekton is strange when it comes to their ratcheting wrenches. They stopped offering standard length reversible ratcheting wrenches, which I feel is an essential offering. That was followed by the reversible stubbies disappearing. Followed by, all ratcheting wrenches being out of stock.
Tekton continues to introduce new product in other areas like, comfort grip ratchets in quick release and non quick release trim. Someone on You Tube said they're coming out with flare crowfeet (already on their web site) and comfort grip breaker bars. I would like them to expand their hook & pick offerings. I'll visit their SEMA booth in a couple of weeks and quiz them on what the hell is going on.

 

[CHI_Tool&Die]

Anecdotal, but we have been quoted 9+ months out for many of the raw tool steels we use to manufacture our stamping dies. Our engineers have had to redesign whole sections to utilize less-than-ideal steels and that’s compounding the delays. So shipping and transport might be coming back to normal, raw material availability is still spotty as all hell. Not saying that is the sole cause for Tekton and Carlyle’s spotty availability but’s it’s probably playing a role in it.

 

[dukefx]

What I don't understand is why all these random unknown brands on Amazon seem to be available. But well known brands like Sunex and Tekton are disappearing or have otherwise been unavailable.

I suspect it has something to do with made in Taiwan tools, while made in China tools seems to be wide open. But that's only a theory.
Then again, Snap On made in USA tools have been suffering from availability issues for a long time now.

Sadly, it's not just limited to ratcheting wrenches. I've been buying a lot of tools lately and it's frustrating as hell.

That's my guess as well. Chinese made are easy to get while Taiwanese are having stock issues. Dare I mention Knipex? I literally have to wait 1-2 months for most pliers.

 

[dnschmidt]

A little off topic but maybe not much. I have a relationship with Eclatorq which makes a lot of companies (including all of Stanley Black and Decker's divisions all of Harbor Freight's Quinn and Lowes Kobalt) digital torque tools. They always normally attend AAPEX coming up soon in Vegas and my contact there Daphne told me they aren't exhibiting this year due to Covid restrictions (meaning it might be difficult to return to Taiwan from out of the country.) She said she would see me next year. Apparently, Taiwan is taking Covid very, very seriously and this could explain the situation being discussed here.

 

[Etchase]

Vertically integrated companies have advantages over distributers, in controlling supply chains. Especially small distributers with little buying power, who need to constantly change suppliers to meet price points.

 

[Ton ton]

That's my guess as well. Chinese made are easy to get while Taiwanese are having stock issues. Dare I mention Knipex? I literally have to wait 1-2 months for most pliers.

I prefer channel lock pliers. They have decent availability @ rural king.

 

[lardy1]

Milwaukee ratcheting wrenches seem appealing and are available around my area but their prices keep me away.

 

[dukefx]

I prefer channel lock pliers. They have decent availability @ rural king.

They aren't available over here nor do they have any of the pliers I need.

 

[Texag0842]

I've been waiting on the Tekton 60"x30" cabinet from Tekton for at least a month. The website keeps saying 1-2 weeks....So they're having issues with supply from Canada as well

 

[Ton ton]

They aren't available over here nor do they have any of the pliers I need.

Too bad.