Wright Tools
- Thread starter ScottVA
- Start date
Bockscar
Well-known member
SILVERPLATE
Well-known member
We have a store in Fort Worth that has a huge selection all on wall display boards, very impressive.
cmaple
Member
Just picked up a Wright 4478 1/2 inch drive torque wrench at a flee market for $35. I hardly ever come across Wright tools at garage, estate sales in my area.
woody 73
Well-known member
Yes indeed from "AHIA" as they like to say.
lbpd716
Well-known member
Isn't Wright part of the Snap On group?
Bockscar
Well-known member
measuredtwice
Well-known member
Wright makes a lot of USA made tools. But like many companies, they also sell and distribute tools made elsewhere.
The Cougar Pro line is a cheap import. Based on the name, the intended market is 35–55 year old women.
In addition to their own tools, their catalog also has a lot of stuff from other brands that they distribute. Here's a link --> http://www.wrighttool.com/documents/Wright_CAT92.pdf
The Cougar Pro line is a cheap import. Based on the name, the intended market is 35–55 year old women.
In addition to their own tools, their catalog also has a lot of stuff from other brands that they distribute. Here's a link --> http://www.wrighttool.com/documents/Wright_CAT92.pdf
Wright is made in USA. They round out their line up with contracted screwdrivers, punches etc which are all USA sourced.
The second tier brand they sell, Cougar, was all USA until Danaher went away and then they had to source that line from Taiwan.
Everything I've ever owned from Wright has been top notch.
The second tier brand they sell, Cougar, was all USA until Danaher went away and then they had to source that line from Taiwan.
Everything I've ever owned from Wright has been top notch.
RedneckWelder
Well-known member
Wright is real good stuff.
The Fall
Well-known member
100%.
four.cycle
Well-known member
Wright / Wright Tool Co., Wright Tool & Forge Co., One Wright Drive, PO Box 512, Barberton, OH 44203 / http://www.wrighttool.com/ / http://alloy-artifacts.org/wright-tool-forge.html / http://alloy-artifacts.org/wright-tool-forge.html#history / http://toolarchives.com/index.php/node/334 /
Yes, they are still in business, and still in Barberton, Ohio.
They are a contract supplier for the U.S. Military, and re-tooled to manufacture a redesigned "open gear" ratchet because the modern-day "RHFT" sealed-head ratchets couldn't hold up in desert environments.
They are amazingly helpful on the phone. They do not sell directly to consumers - you will have to source their product from Wright distributors. (Zoro, "Circle C Supply", and Harry Epstein had the best prices on some 3/4" drive stuff I needed a couple months ago.)
Products are backed up with an amazing warranty. When I told the nice lady on the phone I thought that my 6400 (3/4" drive) ratchet was a bit wonky, she insisted on sending me a repair kit at no charge, even though I explained to her it was second hand and the set contained a two-foot section of steel pipe in the box when I bought it.
==
in other news:
Several years ago (before I joined GJ), Larry, a buddy of mine was in need of some larger tools to work on another friend's motor home.
I poked around on Craigslist and found a Chinese-made 3/4" drive set up near Covington for only $25 bucks. Cheap.
I drove up and paid the man and brought it back to the shop and dropped it off so it would be there next time the motor home needed work.
A few days later, the motor home was back, and out came the socket set.
Larry popped a great bit socket onto the breaker bar, put it onto one of the wheel nuts, and leaned into it.
The socket exploded, tossing him back about two feet where he landed on his back.
The socket and breaker were returned to the box, the box was put back into the shop, where it served as a great doorstop for the next few years until IJ (the shop owner) sold it to some fool for $10 bucks.
After several more months had gone by, I was cruising through Craigslist ads again and found a listing for a "socket set". The ad didn't include a lot of detail, but I could tell from the photographs that it was good-sized stuff.
The seller was only about 5 minutes away from me, so I drove over to take a look.
What he had was a set of 3/4" drive sockets, most of which were Wright, with a few Proto, Armstrong, and Indestro pieces in the mix. The breaker was Wright. The extensions were Wright. There was no ratchet.
The box was home-made of 3/4" thick pine, with a heavy wire bail for a carrying handle.
I asked him "What's the story on this?"
He replied that he didn't know much about it, other than it had belonged to his grandfather, who was a machinist's mate in the U.S. Navy during WWII, and he was just trying to "make some space" in his tiny house.
I paid him his asking price of $25.00 without asking any more questions and brought it home.
A couple days later, I dropped it off at Larry's house.
Fast forward about a year.
Larry got a gig working for a contractor on his heavy equipment out near Puyallup.
One night I got a phone call from him
"Hey man! Just called to say THANKS for that socket set!"
He proceeded to tell me about his adventures that day, working on some kind of big earth-moving machine.
Apparently he wasn't having much luck trying to break loose one of the bolts, so he told the owner "I'll have to drive home and get my larger tools. I'll be back in about an hour."
When he returned, he asked the owner if he had any pipe laying around.
"Pipe? What kind of pipe?"
"Any kind of pipe, as long as it's got a hole through it about an inch in diameter."
"Yeah, sure, look out there in back behind the barn. There should be lots of pieces out there."
Larry went out and found a piece of steel pipe, but the shortest length was about ten feet long.
Good enough.
So Larry carries the pipe over to the earth-moving machine, puts one of the great big Wright sockets on the bolt, attaches the Wright breaker bar to the socket, and slides the pipe down over the breaker bar.
He then climbs up onto the machine, and jumps down onto the other end of the pipe. Ten times.
The bolt finally came loose.
The breaker and socket did just fine.
Yes, they are still in business, and still in Barberton, Ohio.
They are a contract supplier for the U.S. Military, and re-tooled to manufacture a redesigned "open gear" ratchet because the modern-day "RHFT" sealed-head ratchets couldn't hold up in desert environments.
They are amazingly helpful on the phone. They do not sell directly to consumers - you will have to source their product from Wright distributors. (Zoro, "Circle C Supply", and Harry Epstein had the best prices on some 3/4" drive stuff I needed a couple months ago.)
Products are backed up with an amazing warranty. When I told the nice lady on the phone I thought that my 6400 (3/4" drive) ratchet was a bit wonky, she insisted on sending me a repair kit at no charge, even though I explained to her it was second hand and the set contained a two-foot section of steel pipe in the box when I bought it.
==
in other news:
Several years ago (before I joined GJ), Larry, a buddy of mine was in need of some larger tools to work on another friend's motor home.
I poked around on Craigslist and found a Chinese-made 3/4" drive set up near Covington for only $25 bucks. Cheap.
I drove up and paid the man and brought it back to the shop and dropped it off so it would be there next time the motor home needed work.
A few days later, the motor home was back, and out came the socket set.
Larry popped a great bit socket onto the breaker bar, put it onto one of the wheel nuts, and leaned into it.
The socket exploded, tossing him back about two feet where he landed on his back.
The socket and breaker were returned to the box, the box was put back into the shop, where it served as a great doorstop for the next few years until IJ (the shop owner) sold it to some fool for $10 bucks.
After several more months had gone by, I was cruising through Craigslist ads again and found a listing for a "socket set". The ad didn't include a lot of detail, but I could tell from the photographs that it was good-sized stuff.
The seller was only about 5 minutes away from me, so I drove over to take a look.
What he had was a set of 3/4" drive sockets, most of which were Wright, with a few Proto, Armstrong, and Indestro pieces in the mix. The breaker was Wright. The extensions were Wright. There was no ratchet.
The box was home-made of 3/4" thick pine, with a heavy wire bail for a carrying handle.
I asked him "What's the story on this?"
He replied that he didn't know much about it, other than it had belonged to his grandfather, who was a machinist's mate in the U.S. Navy during WWII, and he was just trying to "make some space" in his tiny house.
I paid him his asking price of $25.00 without asking any more questions and brought it home.
A couple days later, I dropped it off at Larry's house.
Fast forward about a year.
Larry got a gig working for a contractor on his heavy equipment out near Puyallup.
One night I got a phone call from him
"Hey man! Just called to say THANKS for that socket set!"
He proceeded to tell me about his adventures that day, working on some kind of big earth-moving machine.
Apparently he wasn't having much luck trying to break loose one of the bolts, so he told the owner "I'll have to drive home and get my larger tools. I'll be back in about an hour."
When he returned, he asked the owner if he had any pipe laying around.
"Pipe? What kind of pipe?"
"Any kind of pipe, as long as it's got a hole through it about an inch in diameter."
"Yeah, sure, look out there in back behind the barn. There should be lots of pieces out there."
Larry went out and found a piece of steel pipe, but the shortest length was about ten feet long.
Good enough.
So Larry carries the pipe over to the earth-moving machine, puts one of the great big Wright sockets on the bolt, attaches the Wright breaker bar to the socket, and slides the pipe down over the breaker bar.
He then climbs up onto the machine, and jumps down onto the other end of the pipe. Ten times.
The bolt finally came loose.
The breaker and socket did just fine.
Last edited:
ThePostman
Well-known member
Wright 6425, the ultimate 3/4" drive ratchet/breaker bar
G1GRANDEUR
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2009
- Messages
- 2,094
i have that ratchet, but broken gear or something on the head.
wonder they will send me a replacement parts for free as warranty.
ThePostman
Well-known member
So call them
XxToolAholicxX
Well-known member
Still made in America still privately owned by an American family named Wright... Great tools on par with the four tool truck brands or maybe better on some...
mikebaker1129
Well-known member
Matco sourced ratchets made by Wright at one time.
metaldad
Well-known member
i really like the beefed up handles on their larger combo wrenches.
wish they were available on sizes smaller than 1 5/16
wish they were available on sizes smaller than 1 5/16
toddmorr
Well-known member
Really like their combo wrenches, much more comfortable than SO
Sent from my SM-G970U using The Garage Journal mobile app
Sent from my SM-G970U using The Garage Journal mobile app
LNKMK8
Well-known member
Zoro carries Wright, so you can get some pretty good deals using their coupons. Proto as well for that matter.
Ton ton
Well-known member
Nice story.
ptabatcher
Well-known member
As Ton ton said, nice story four.cycle.
I have family that live not far from their headquarters so, I drive by on a regular basis.
Shortly after I graduated college, I had a chance to help them out with, of all things, a PowerPoint presentation. A co-workers cousin was a secretary for their executive team. They were giving a presentation about their Lean manufacturing practices. At that point in my live, I was living in an apartment and things like GJ or caring much for the provenance of my tools were just whispers on the horizon.
Based on what I learned from the short little gig, they are a company deserving of support. Lots of care about their product and company from top to bottom.
Have picked up a few sockets and wrenches over the years from one of the local hardware stores. Nice stuff. Love the satin finish on the wrenches I have. Wish they did sockets with the same finish.
Had a set of combo wrenches on my list for Epstein Days. Alas, had another project go over budget. Will have to wait for next year.
I have family that live not far from their headquarters so, I drive by on a regular basis.
Shortly after I graduated college, I had a chance to help them out with, of all things, a PowerPoint presentation. A co-workers cousin was a secretary for their executive team. They were giving a presentation about their Lean manufacturing practices. At that point in my live, I was living in an apartment and things like GJ or caring much for the provenance of my tools were just whispers on the horizon.
Based on what I learned from the short little gig, they are a company deserving of support. Lots of care about their product and company from top to bottom.
Have picked up a few sockets and wrenches over the years from one of the local hardware stores. Nice stuff. Love the satin finish on the wrenches I have. Wish they did sockets with the same finish.
Had a set of combo wrenches on my list for Epstein Days. Alas, had another project go over budget. Will have to wait for next year.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
The only thing I have against Wright is that they've had the same tool line for about a century and still haven't come up with any long pattern combination wrenches. What they make is very good but they aren't innovators. If you're looking for something designed in the new millennium you'll have to go elsewhere. A Wright catalog from five years ago would be identical to a current Wright catalog.
We use alot of it. Ratchets, socket drives, wrenches mainly in the shops and on the support trucks. Most of it came from a fleet farm next to one of our farms. We used it to replace a other things we had been using. We do not buy much of it anymore since we just do not break it. Usually add only when we add a support truck or shop. We break much more of the cheap stuff we put in the tractor and combine tool boxes. Usually stuff of much more modern design.
Many of the service staff for the large contractor equipment I know use the Wright 3/4, 1", and larger stuff since it is a bargain when compared to snap on and seldom breaks under very heavy use. So more than highly recommended.
We would never sell it at a sale. It goes from one working generation to another. That is why I seldom see it where most people look for cheap tools.
Many of the service staff for the large contractor equipment I know use the Wright 3/4, 1", and larger stuff since it is a bargain when compared to snap on and seldom breaks under very heavy use. So more than highly recommended.
We would never sell it at a sale. It goes from one working generation to another. That is why I seldom see it where most people look for cheap tools.
I bought a set of satin SAE combo wrenches a couple of years ago. One of them had a similar spot. I lightly sanded the rough edge from the peel and made sure it was greasy to prevent rust.
Sloper0204
Well-known member
Why would you when your target market would rather use a socket with extended length breaker bar? If there is a specific use case where long pattern wrenches are needed, why would they need to specifically be Wright wrenches?
I don't know any industrial users that are so hyper aware of a manufacturers "shortcomings" in their product line. Most of them have approved vendors they go through and order whatever will satisfy their need regardless of what brand is stamped on the tool. The only real point of contention is Made in USA and it being a required point on some of the union jobs.
My point being, the only people that have all matching tool sets in the industrial world either had their employer provide them a master set (Proto, Wright, or Snap-On Industrial) and then go through that same vendor for replacements, or have a single vendor supply their tools through the warehouse.
I'll just put a screengrab from the Wright catalogue in here to illustrate the novelty of long pattern wrenches in the industrial settings I'm used to:
dnschmidt
Well-known member
Few of us work in an oil field: THANK GOD!! That actually looks like real work something I've managed to avoid my entire life. Most of the people on Garage Journal work on cars and light duty trucks. Watch any YouTube mechanic like Eric O or Eric the Car Guy and they are ALWAYS using long pattern wrenches. When I sold TOPTUL the super long pattern combination wrenches were my #1 seller by far. There are many places on cars where a socket and ratchet simply will not fit. I'll give you an example. Try to change the serpentine belt on a Hyundai with a 2.4L engine without using a long pattern zero offset box wrench. It's impossible. You've got 7/8" between the tensioner nut that you've got to turn and the frame of the car. Unless you whip out a plasma cutter you're not using a socket and a ratchet on this job and there are many others.
Sloper0204
Well-known member
Which is exactly my point. Wright is an industrial brand, not an automotive brand.
For us a long pattern wrench would be a specialty tool. For our work I do not think anyone has even asked for one. Would not be surprised if one of the guys looked at something went to the junk pile and you heard a torch hiss a hammer bang and they would walk over and pop the offending piece of quicker than you could describe it. For us I really do not want to get a set bigger then 1 inch. How big a cheater can I put on this and not break it. Can I push on it with the bobcat bucket and not break it. Industrial tools rock.
Kscardsfan
Well-known member
You in production?Why would you when your target market would rather use a socket with extended length breaker bar? If there is a specific use case where long pattern wrenches are needed, why would they need to specifically be Wright wrenches?
I don't know any industrial users that are so hyper aware of a manufacturers "shortcomings" in their product line. Most of them have approved vendors they go through and order whatever will satisfy their need regardless of what brand is stamped on the tool. The only real point of contention is Made in USA and it being a required point on some of the union jobs.
My point being, the only people that have all matching tool sets in the industrial world either had their employer provide them a master set (Proto, Wright, or Snap-On Industrial) and then go through that same vendor for replacements, or have a single vendor supply their tools through the warehouse.
I'll just put a screengrab from the Wright catalogue in here to illustrate the novelty of long pattern wrenches in the industrial settings I'm used to:
Sloper0204
Well-known member
Refining maintenance planner now, used to be contractor trash servicing upstream and midstream with primary focus on wellhead equipment rebuilding and recertifying.
You?
Downwindtracker 2
Well-known member
One of my first tools I bought was 1/2 dr set in the late '60s. I broke a couple of the sockets and replaced them with a J.H. Williams and a IR Proto. Both were heavier duty sockets. J.H. Williams isn't the wimpy Snap-On stuff available now.
wafrederick
Well-known member
Wright Tools sponsors youtube subscriber Midwest Tool Review now
vssjim
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Williams was way better on their own as tool company now just a name
dnschmidt
Well-known member
^^^ That be a fact!!!
Kscardsfan
Well-known member
Was an MWD and directional driller for 5 years. So plenty of rig time, not so much on the production end of it.