Murdock

iTrader: (2)

Upon recomendation from a friend, I picked up a $50 set of Gearwrenches at Sears. I like them a lot. The 5 degree engagement is nice for tight spots where you can't get a good swing on the wrench.

The Craftsman brand wrench have a better "feel" and the same 5 degree engagement, but at double the price. The Gearwrench brand came with a lifetime warranty so I decided to try them out.

Humanoid

iTrader: (3)

I like my gear wrenches too. The only thing that I dont like about them is the handle is thin so when you are pulling hard on one the handle kind of cuts into your hand. The sears ones are thicker but still not worth twice the price.

JBSS71

your not supossed to pull hard on them

Pete2k_Z28

JBSS71 is right, they're for speed not torque.

I have a set of Matco gear wrenches and have stripped two of them already by abusing them. Fortionately it's never been a problem getting them exchanged. For tight bolts though, break them with a regular box end then use the gearwrench to speed them off.

Brains

iTrader: (7)

Hey guys, don't be too scared of being rough on these things. I've hit mine with a rubber mallet MANY times and they live.. These are strong, high quality wrenches.. I LOVE 'em...

jmX

Use the other non-gear end of the wrench to break stuff free and the gear part to speed along like said before. They *will break* (I promise) if you use the gear end for really high torqueing.

Tally TransAm

iTrader: (17)

how much better are the gearwrench ones than lets say the ones offered by craftsman like this

minivette

They are alot better than those. The main problem with the ones in that pic is that they have to be flipped over to become reversible. I have run into the problem of not having the room to flip the wrench over and there is no way to tighten the bolt back up so you are left with a wrench that is stuck.
With the reversible gear wrench, you just flip the switch and it is instantly reversible.

Pete2k_Z28

The biggest downfall of those types of ratcheting wrenches is the distance one must turn the wrench between engagements. And the high effort to overcome the ratchet mechanism can be annoying. They're also larger and mroe cumbersom. But they're a LOT stronger if that's what you're after.

Murdock

iTrader: (2)

The 5 degrees of engagement is what I like. I know I've scarred my hands up a few times working on various crap in tight places. Especially at the back of the engine, under the cowl. I hate those weather stripping anchors.

Phil99vette

iTrader: (11)

Gear wrenches are great for the rear intake manifold bolts.
Phillip

Visceral

iTrader: (1)

I put stupid torque on the 10mm gearwrench far too often. I use a thick glove. It hasnt broken on me yet. If it does, I'll have used it thousands of times over 3 years. I'll be fine buying another.

I do like the craftsman ones better, but I'd just look for a 8, 10, 13, and 15 to keep from buying the whole lot. You can almost build an LS1 with those 4

chris

Dope

iTrader: (2)

I bought a complete set if gearwrenches from harbor freight. Sure, they're cheap crap, but they've never broken. And they cost $12 a set.


Dope

Creed

Based on all the good recommendations about the gear wrenches I picked up a set of both SAE and Metric. I got the reversible wrenches with the angled head. I was absolutely loving them until I hit a tight spot and needed to flip the wrench over, but I couldn't seem to get the wrench on the nut. After closer inspection, I realized that they are "capped" wrenches. Meaning that the wrench only slips over a nut/bolt from one side of the wrench because there is a small lip on the other side that you only notice if looking very closely. Now don't get me wrong, I can see how the cap would be nice but jeebus.... what's the point of having an angled head on the wrench if you can only use it from one side. Man did that ruin my day. I was soooo happy to have my killer gear wrenches and then my balloon was busted. I would have paid the money for the craftsmans if I'd have noticed that before I bought the gear wrenches.

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

I like my Craftsman ones. Ever since I bought them, I've discovered I can pretty much use them on anything. Alot of the stuff I was using sockets on, now I just grab that wrench instead.

Maybe you can return them? Or sell them on ebay.

Tony

Damian

iTrader: (89)

I have put some serious TQ on my 15mm and 18mm and never had a problem.

HumpinSS

iTrader: (1)

I have the Crasftmans' with the cap on the end and mine are reversible via a little switch (if you may) on the side of the wrench. Best set of tools for the LS1 since sliced bread

Creed

By "cap" I mean that you can only slip the box end of the wrench over a nut with that "switch" facing up. You can't flip the wrench over so the reversible switch is pointing down with the bolt. It's purpose is to keep the wrench from sliding down past the nut but I would rather be able to flip the 15 degree offset over when I need to.

If you get a set of gearwrenches, stay away from the "capped" ones IMHO.