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Ratcheting wrenches! YES!

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terriphill

Darth Vader
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For Christmas this year the boys bought my husband a set of craftsman ratcheting wrenches. OMG why didn't we buy a set of these years ago? Talk about saving time and effort! They fit into those tight spaces you can't get your ratchet into and make the work SO much easier!
 
I've got a set on order right now - should be home when I return.
 
I have a set and love them! Though I also have a friend who refuses to use them in my shop cause then he'll have to buy them for his - he doesn't want to get spoiled.
 
Note that not all "ratcheting wrenches" are created equal. This style borders on useless. I should probably throw my set away, I've never touched them since discovering GearWrenches.

And while these are better, they are still only a pale imitation of the real McCoy . The Horrible Freight versions are thicker and stiffer; still better than nothing tho.

I think I'm up to 5 sets of the genuine GW ones, including short, long, offset, metric, etc.
 
I only have 1, a 17mm Gearwrench that I finally bought for that one almost impossible engine mounting nut behind the fan shroud on wife's Super Beetle. Absolutely the best purchase I ever made for that car. Talks all the swearing out of the job, at least for me. There is still an occasional word from herself when she has to crawl under the car to reach up and over the starter and hold the bolt in while I get that nut started.
 
The Craftsman version is even better than the Gearwrench. The shape and finish are nicer and they come with the Craftsman warranty. Also, economy issues aside, they're made in the USA instead of Asia which is always a plus in hand tools.

You can also get flex-head ratcheting combo wrenches which are even more useful, but the head is a bit larger. I prefer the Craftman version of these as well because they offer a locking flex, so it will hold its position no matter what the angle or level of force being applied is.
 
There is also the open end ratcheting wrench. Not as useful as the box type, but I have found a few areas around master cylinders where they are great. They work well in places where a box won't fit or in tight quarters.
I don't know if Sears carries them, but they have been on the market for a couple years.
 
Another vote for Sears’ ratcheting wrenches!

The matching sockets are also great. At first glance they may seem redundant when you already have a set of normal sockets. But since the ratcheting box-ends fit around them instead of in line you end up with a lower overall profile than with a standard ratchet/socket; really nice in tight quarters.

And or course, they’re all forged with the initials U.S.A.

And speaking of tight quarters, I made a point to get the ones with the reversing lever, not the “flip over to reverse” style.

Imagine for a moment that you’ve wedged yourself in some painfully awkward position to cram your hand into some ridiculously tight space to use your marvelous ratcheting wrench to remove a fastener from some evil little corner. Further imagine that after merrily spinning said fastener with your marvelous ratcheting wrench you find that you’ve backed it into the wall of that evil corner before it came out and that you really needed to remove something else before attempting that fastener.

What do you do? You simply spin it back in right? No problem, just flip the little lever, <span style="font-style: italic">if</span> the wrench has one. If not, well let’s see, fastener wedged against a wall, need to remove the box end wrench and flip it over, uh, um, errrr...

If you want a set and you’re not in an immediate hurry, don’t forget that Sears’s pricing is pretty fluid, especially now. They’re really working the cash flow and seem to have a different sale every few days. I bought mine after a couple months of checking back any time I saw a sale announcement and finally bit when the price seemed to hit bottom (and before it jumped up again).


pc.
 
DougF said:
There is also the open end ratcheting wrench. Not as useful as the box type, but I have found a few areas around master cylinders where they are great. They work well in places where a box won't fit or in tight quarters.
I don't know if Sears carries them, but they have been on the market for a couple years.
Click to expand...

Craftsman 12 pc. Standard and Metric Extreme Ratcheting Wrench Set with Deluxe Roll Pouch

Craftsman 6-piece Standard/ Metric Extreme Grip Wrench Set


or, if you have the big bucks:

Armstrong Ratcheting Flare Nut Wrench Sets

:hammer:
 
Plumbers putty works great for those top bolts on the VW.
 
What's funny is that this is what our old son really wanted for Christmas. So, we caught them on sale at Sears and bought him a metric set (he works on Toyota) He ended buying a SAE set for my husband so now we've got both. :yesnod:
 
Gang don't forget about Lowes. The Kobalt set I have were 10 percent less and although they won't get replaced for free at KMart, er, Sears, I could not beat em - actually tried once. Long story.
 
I've had set of SAE and metric for years and love them, I keep a set of stubby ratcheting wrenches in the boot to get into the hard to reach places (under BJ8 carbs). These are really handy.
 
I bought a set back in the 1970s and they were pretty crude, and too thick to be all that useful.

But I've since gotten sets of both Sears open ended ones and the combination.

The open ended ones seem prone to coming off the fastener, but the combination ones are absolutely great and I use them more than anything else.
 
Steve_S said:
The Craftsman version is even better than the Gearwrench. The shape and finish are nicer and they come with the Craftsman warranty. Also, economy issues aside, they're made in the USA instead of Asia which is always a plus in hand tools.

You can also get flex-head ratcheting combo wrenches which are even more useful, but the head is a bit larger. I prefer the Craftman version of these as well because they offer a locking flex, so it will hold its position no matter what the angle or level of force being applied is.
Click to expand...

iagree.gif
The locking devise, warranty and
labor4.gif
Not Asia!
 
I started buying them...and haven't stopped..Gearwrench..Craftsman..Snap-On. I have the regular length, stubbies..and the best are the ones that are a bit angled on the box end with a flipper switch to change direction. All of my big rollaround boxes have at least one set
 
Jack, you are definitely hooked and now are a confirmed tool junkie. Welcome to the group, we have meetings once a month and I'll gladly be your sponsor! Hi, I'm Bill and I'm a Tool Junkie! Next you have to have a set of these nice little items, which ratchet but are extremely small for tight areas, work great on U joint bolts. Made by Alden. https://www.opentip.com/Bulk-Sale/Alden-Openratchet-Wrench-Sets-p-527536.html
I have the smaller double ended sets in both US and Metric, https://www.ntxtools.com/network-tool-warehouse/CHB12.html can't ever have enough tools. :iagree:
 

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PC said:
And or course, they’re all forged with the initials U.S.A.
Click to expand...


That could well have a double meaning.

Reminds me of a story. <span style="font-weight: bold">Fruit of the Loom</span> set up shop here and happily made undergarments for years. Decided they wanted to make undergarments and lots more money so they relocated to Central America, still shipped from here. The Central Americans decided they too wanted to get paid, so F.O.T.L moved to the Orient. Shipped through C. A. (to keep their CAFTA paperwork in order) to here for packaging to, you guessed it, WallyWorld. Here, they sew in the labels. The labels say <span style="font-weight: bold">Made in the USA</span>. They are not being dishonest. The labels indeed are made in the USA!
 
Although I have plenty of quality wrenches the first
ones I reach for now days are the ratcheting ones.
Those boys are da bomb!
 
As a toolalholic...and being my shop covers about 20k square ft....I have big tool boxes positioned all over the place and every single one of them has at least two types of of the Gearwrench type sets. Regular ..offset for knuckle preservation..stubbies..and a couple of other types. I have Snap-Ons but the Craftsmen and other brands seem to work as well. My knees are shot so when I start a job..especially underneath a vehicle, it looks like I'm nesting. Air hoses and tools, droplites, and numerous sets of handtools in holders..getting old sucks.
 
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