Review: GearWrench mm Flare Nut Wrenches

[Deltona_Dave]

Bought a set of GW flare nut metric wrenches for home use. I had an online gift cert from Amazon. At work I have a set of Matco's for comparison.

The GW's are made in China by Danaher (sp). They have incredibly thick jaws, so when you put some muscle on them, the jaws do not flex or open up, allowing the nut to round off. The overall finish is very good and seem to be well made. The Matco's jaws are a little thinner, and I have had them flex.

These GW's were considerably cheaper than the Mat's also.

I have several sets of GW sockets and open ended ratcheting wrenches that I use all the time.

For the money, definitely worth the coin.

Dave

 

[bdcardinal]

Funny since Danaher owns Matco, or at least used to when I was buying them every week.

 

[doitmyself]

Deltona Dave,

It seems that for flare nut wrenches, Snap On is the standard that no one else matches (not true for all their stuff).

Do you have any feel for how they compare to the Snappy's?

 

[Deltona_Dave]

Not on the Snappys, I have several Snap On Screwdrivers and ratchets. For the money, these Gear Wrench's are decent for the weekend wrench. For the pros, especially the ones where the employer pays for tools, Snaps are the best, matco are a close second.

Dave

 

[Merkava_4]

Like this?

 

[SIXSPEED]

I recently bought a set of Craftsman metric flare nut wrenches which are very similar ... also made in China. They are thick and worked well for replacing a brake proportioning valve and master cylinder on my Honda Accord.

 

[Deltona_Dave]

Merkava, yes those are what I bought. For the average DIY, they seem to be a good value.

Dave

 

[eljefino]

thanks for the review.

Any problems with the thick jaws and clearance?

I use these flare nut wrenches from NAPA, forget the brand, that are so thick in the jaws I can't get in some places. But they still flex.

I figure it's just one of those "not engineered for the rust belt" situations.

So I routinely cut lines to fit a 6 point socket or maul things with vise grips, then reassemble with normal open ended wrenches. I can get enough torque on new fittings with those, so the flare nut wrenches just stay in the drawer.

 

[vaboom123]

Maybe I'll have to give these a try for at home. I also agree the Snap on ones are the best. I use those at work and have a craftsman set at home right now. The craftsman set didn't work out for me very well and just wants to bend/risk stripping out bleeders

 

[Deltona_Dave]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
thanks for the review.

Any problems with the thick jaws and clearance?

I use these flare nut wrenches from NAPA, forget the brand, that are so thick in the jaws I can't get in some places. But they still flex.

I figure it's just one of those "not engineered for the rust belt" situations.

So I routinely cut lines to fit a 6 point socket or maul things with vise grips, then reassemble with normal open ended wrenches. I can get enough torque on new fittings with those, so the flare nut wrenches just stay in the drawer.


So far, I have not had clearance issues with the slightly thicker jaws. I had to use a dead blow hammer to loosen an oil cooler line and it did not slip or flex at all.

I think they are a good value for the money.

Dave

 

[sciphi]

The more recent HF flare-nut wrenches are surprisingly good. I've beat the daylights out of mine replacing every line on my old Buick, and they were up to the task of removing old, rusty fittings with a little assistance from my friend PB Blaster. I've also used them on old, corroded brake bleeders without issue. Clearance and flex were not issues. Maybe I got lucky, as I heard they could be hit or miss. For the $10 or whatever they were, they were a steal.

 

[Vikas]

But they look ugly and fat! I have them but not used them yet.