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What wrenches for road box

decableguy2000

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Nov 4, 2012
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Looking for suggestions for a set of wrenches for a road, junk yard box. More than likely no SAE sizes needed as most vehicles I deal with are 2000+. Socket set is covered.
Lots of options. Not sure if I should go with ratcheting, long pattern, std length fix box end, DBE, etc. budget of 150 or less.
 
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kbeefy

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Harington, Eastern Washington
I'd start with whatever set you have.

After that I think standard combination wrenches are the most versital, followed by ratchet wrenches for speed.
I also keep long pattern ratchet wrenches in my 'go to' wrench drawer.

All other wrenches live in the 'other' wrench drawer, and it only gets opened on special occasions.
 

Lucid Moments

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Gainesville, Ga
For a road box I would definitely look hard at non ratcheting standard length combo wrenches. I find the price to value of Tekton fits me best but there are plenty of arguments to be made for several different brands. Standard length non ratcheting combo wrenches give you the most versatility. They won't work great in every single case but will be able to do more in most cases than any of the alternatives.
 

2Busy

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Williamson Cty. Tennessee
My truck box has sets of Crescent combo wrenches, metric and SAE. Decent wrenches considering made in China and India—the fit and finish is pretty good. And very inexpensive (wouldn’t feel bad if I lost one or even left a whole set somewhere). Bought them new on eBay.
 
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Gurp

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So.Ohio
Tekton is great quality for the money and the sets cover more than just 8-19mm
With some of the money left over in the budget grab a cheap set of ratchet wrenches. Gear wrench stuff goes on sale fairly often for a good price.
My gear wrench ratcheting are 7 years old and I paid like 30 bucks for them on sale.
 

geartow

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ohio / pa border on I80
For a road bag mix and match garage sale is best deal. Craftsman wrenches are now cheap at pawn shops . Honestly harbor freight wrenches used For there intended purpose will serve the purpose .
 

f121

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UK
I keep a Facom 440 set in the car, really pleased with these, nice wrenchs to use and decent storage. Obviously check the skip sizes aren't an issue:
EBC1E4AE-4A77-4188-9648-0D5B6B2449BC.jpeg
 

KnurledNut

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I have never understood the logic of having cheap wrenches in a road box.
When you only have access to one set, I want the best I can possibly have.
But, I work out of a mobile kit all the time.

I need SAE too, so I keep:
Snap-on standard length metric FD+ to 18mm + Williams 21
Snap-on short pattern SAE, with one standard length 3/4
Snap-on Stubby 7/8 and 15/16
SO and Cornwell flare wrenches in small sizes
Assorted crowsfeet regular and flare
Snap-on 10° DBE 7/8&15/16
Snap-on 6-point 10° DBE 1/4&5/16
Extra long DBE flex reversible ratcheting 14mm/17mm
8mm & 10mm ratcheting combos
4”, 6”, 10” adjustables

Ill grab extras if I know i need them, which is most often more extra long flex ratcheting DBE’s, or deep offset DBE’s.

Probably forgetting some.
 

Mytoolsupply

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Central Ohio
I keep a Facom 440 set in the car, really pleased with these, nice wrenchs to use and decent storage. Obviously check the skip sizes aren't an issue:
EBC1E4AE-4A77-4188-9648-0D5B6B2449BC.jpeg
How do you like the wrench rack on the Facom set? Does it do a pretty good job at keeping the wrenches together if it gets tossed around in a road box?
 

Busted_Knuckles

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Northwest Illinois
I have never understood the logic of having cheap wrenches in a road box.
Here is an example, I work in the woods, and fields mostly, any idea how easy it is to loose tools in those enviroments ?

Ive got Flank Drive Plus in my tool box, but dont have the $ to replace those when I lose them out in the back 40.. I almost NEVER step foot out of my shop with any of my " good " tools, Im old enough to have learned this lesson so many times.

Whats funny, I managed to hold onto a set of 3/8" Costco China sockets shallow and deep, SAE and Metric from Costco, for near a decade without losing a one ! And that set was around $20, Chicom garbage, but somehow I never lost a socket, I even used the plastic supplied display rail to hold them.
 
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sk farmer

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nd
i am in the anything but tekton camp. go to almost any store, ace, menards, hd, lowes, etc, even hf. grab their house brand that has the sizes you need. walk out the door for less than 50 bucks and never look back.

don't get me wrong, i like and use good tools but for a road box. as long as the box end has some sort of anti slip feature most wrenches are good enough.
 

rockinacummins

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Wapanucka, OK
If I was gonna have one set of wrenches in my truck, I’d get a long pattern set of combination wrenches. Preferably with anti-slip open ends.

I really like my Carlyle’s which fit this description, but they’re a bit over your budget. I also have Tekton standard pattern wrenches that I have no complaints about.
 

f121

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How do you like the wrench rack on the Facom set? Does it do a pretty good job at keeping the wrenches together if it gets tossed around in a road box?

I really like the facom rack, it holds the wrenchs tight and is easy to hold under an arm while carrying my road box and socket set. It's had a fairly gentle life so far, living under the seat in the car, but has been my goto set of wrenchs when I'm working mobile. I'll update in a decade once I've abused them some more. I also really like the design of the 440 wrenchs, they're lighter than the average wrench but feel very strong, the ring end has depth like a box wrench and the open end has a slight angle...all in they are a bit unusual but work very well.
 

f121

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UK
I have never understood the logic of having cheap wrenches in a road box.

Because you can buy perfectly effective wrenchs for not massive amounts of money, and cry much less when you loose them or they get stolen.

My Chinese 6-32mm wrench set was $50 in 2011. I've used the hell out of them since, beaten them with hammers, jumped on them, doubled them up. None of them have failed. There's no question, they are not as nicely made as my snap on flank drive + set or as nice in the hand, but they were around 1/6th the price for a lot more wrenchs. If the Chinese set gets stolen out of my truck or I loose them, I'll shrug.
 

Dakotadadv8

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Long road trips will take essential tools for my vehicle, just need access to parts store if needed. Will take the best tools that I have no need to buy additional tools.
 

joel63

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Oct 9, 2012
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Central FL
I have never understood the logic of having cheap wrenches in a road box.
When you only have access to one set, I want the best I can possibly have.
But, I work out of a mobile kit all the time.

I need SAE too, so I keep:
Snap-on standard length metric FD+ to 18mm + Williams 21
Snap-on short pattern SAE, with one standard length 3/4
Snap-on Stubby 7/8 and 15/16
SO and Cornwell flare wrenches in small sizes
Assorted crowsfeet regular and flare
Snap-on 10° DBE 7/8&15/16
Snap-on 6-point 10° DBE 1/4&5/16
Extra long DBE flex reversible ratcheting 14mm/17mm
8mm & 10mm ratcheting combos
4”, 6”, 10” adjustables

Ill grab extras if I know i need them, which is most often more extra long flex ratcheting DBE’s, or deep offset DBE’s.

Probably forgetting some.
There's always something that's left behind or not anticipated.
 

Dig Doug

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Apr 16, 2018
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1,097
I’d probably go husky or icon non ratchet full set.

then look for a Christmas deal at depot / lowes for some husky /kobalt ratchets

I think I saw a 20 pce stubby and standard mm/ sae for 30 bucks
 

charbar

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Midwest
Ebay or find deals.

Right now Tooltopia has Sunex long combination wrenches on sale. Been meaning to grab a set of metric and standards for another road box myself.
 

Al Borland

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Jan 20, 2016
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Fixed combo wrenches, Home Despot Husky. Cheap and replaceable individually.
Socket set, HF or HD (depends if you want a blow mold case)
Get decent screwdrivers and some channellocks or knipex cobras
Duct tape. tool bag.
cell phone
AAA card
Done.
 

KnurledNut

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My Chinese 6-32mm wrench set was $50 in 2011. I've used the hell out of them since, beaten them with hammers, jumped on them, doubled them up. None of them have failed. There's no question, they are not as nicely made as my snap on flank drive + set or as nice in the hand, but they were around 1/6th the price for a lot more wrenchs. If the Chinese set gets stolen out of my truck or I loose them, I'll shrug.
So if you’ve already had them for 11 years and never lost one or had them stolen, whats the chances that will happen?

I understand the concerns, but I do feel those things are overrated, unless a person is prone to losing stuff, leave things laying around, or work with others that borrow stuff. None of which are issues I deal with.

Just my preference. To each his own.
:beer:
 

Coach James

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Sandhills of North Carolina
What are you planning to fix on the side of the road? Work backwards from there.
I agree with this. I cut my stuffed tool bag down to one tool roll. It holds a general use mix of tools so I can do simple things like change electrical outlets to a car battery. Beyond changing a battery or belt, I'm not doing much else on the side of the road/in a parking lot. The four wrenches I carry are old C-man raised panels.

A buddy still carries a large tool bag for car repair in his trunk. He bought a set of Husky SAE/Metric combos for it. Used it several times between his and other people's cars with zero problems.

Coach
 
OP
D

decableguy2000

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Nov 4, 2012
Messages
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My kit already contains a Dewalt socket set, a couple of adjustable wrenches, tire plug kit, need nose, dykes, electrical tape, small pry bar. Just looking for a wrench set. I look at the Sunex as I have few of their products with no complaints.
 

f121

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UK
So if you’ve already had them for 11 years and never lost one or had them stolen, whats the chances that will happen?

I understand the concerns, but I do feel those things are overrated, unless a person is prone to losing stuff, leave things laying around, or work with others that borrow stuff. None of which are issues I deal with.

Just my preference. To each his own.
:beer:
Heh great logic! I'm also a firm subscriber to Murphy's law.
 

190Octane

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Jul 22, 2022
Messages
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Honest question: why would you want a full set of wrenches as opposed to a socket set, maybe a pliers wrench, and possibly a crescent wrench?

Is it because the regular wrench set should have a better grip on a stuck bolt?
 

anndel

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Oct 28, 2015
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Hawaii, USA
I have Tekton metric wrenches, old US Made Craftsman sockets and Tekton 3/8" and 1/4" roto-head ratchets.
 

Boogerman

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aspen cove hill
I have never understood the logic of having cheap wrenches in a road box.

Because you can buy perfectly effective wrenchs for not massive amounts of money, and cry much less when you loose them or they get stolen.

My Chinese 6-32mm wrench set was $50 in 2011. I've used the hell out of them since, beaten them with hammers, jumped on them, doubled them up. None of them have failed. There's no question, they are not as nicely made as my snap on flank drive + set or as nice in the hand, but they were around 1/6th the price for a lot more wrenchs. If the Chinese set gets stolen out of my truck or I loose them, I'll shrug.
If had wrenches abused for 11 years and work good, be good candidate to keep in road box, but would be huge loss if lost; can always replace cheap tools inexpensively, but known indestructible wrenches not a minor loss like random cheap tools. What they cost originally not relevant, if they somehow incredibly good, they valuable. Replace stolen with another cheap set, may be good, may not be. Take your chances, sometimes win, sometimes lose.

In general, cheap wrenches not already tested not good gamble to work well and last. In road box where can't just go get another spare wrench, need things can count on. If haven't had cheap wrenches for 11 years and tested already, best probability is get good wrenches, better chance they work good than untested cheap ones. Or, put known good wrenches from home box in road box, and put new cheap wrenches in home box to use and test for years before know can count on them.

I not cry if lose good tool at jobsite where needed. Remember how many times could complete job well, because had right tools and they worked. Remember how much money made doing jobs successfully. Never have wished that I had spent all the years doing jobs with cheap tools instead.

Last year, had wrench in an odd size supplied by a manufacturer to install a piece of equipment. Cheap wrench, broke, no backup that size. Drove half day to nearest town, not available. Had go further, finally found one bigger town. Cost downtime day, cost $1500 or so salary and travel, cost $3000 lost revenue for a good day work. Came home, had my crew guy order 6 good tools that size; 2 to leave at job next time, 2 him and 2 for me. Cost 5% of the lost time to buy 6 good tools, wish we had known to buy BEFORE job, not after. Normally would have test fit install at shop, but machinery drop shipped to location nearer install site for us pick up. So, didn't anticipate odd tool needed.

To OP Question: Something like this; shop around can get less money:

1668058156881.png
 

richfinn

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Jan 29, 2011
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4,810
Location
Leeds, Yorkshire, England
Looking for suggestions for a set of wrenches for a road, junk yard box. More than likely no SAE sizes needed as most vehicles I deal with are 2000+. Socket set is covered.
Lots of options. Not sure if I should go with ratcheting, long pattern, std length fix box end, DBE, etc. budget of 150 or less.
Just keep your eyes peeled for a deal on a set of decent quality metric combos (probably the most versatile).

Avoid super cheap as they will be too bulky at the box end.

I dropped on a new set of Stahlwille 14s a few years ago for around £150 sizes 6-22mm (I added a 24mm) they come in a decent fabric roll which is a good way to store them for a roadside kit.

They have a slight crank at the box end which I wasn't sure about, but it turns out to be more of an advantage than a hinderance for automotive work.

If you ever lose one they are easily replaced individually.

Stahlwille make a bunch of other different styles, and all pretty affordable compared to tool truck stuff

I also carry a set of Mountain XL flex head ratchet wrenches too (fairly recent purchase) and they are very useful

 
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