Best Adjustable Wrenches
on reverse) are handy for sizing nuts, pipe and tube diameters. Four thread knurl and non-protruding jaws provide greater capacity; minimal head width improves performance in confined spaces. Longer jaws grip better, Thinner jaws give greater access in tight spaces. Precise jaw design grips tight the first time, every time.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This seems to me to be the perfect adjustable wrench for bike work."
"saves me trips back to the truck and isnt wieghting my tool bag down."
"Excellent wrench."
"It's easy to work in tight spaces and still get some leverage."
"Well made compact adjustable wrench fits nicely in a tech bag and addresses most applications well."
"This excellent wrench and some penetrating oil succeeded where other tools failed to loosen two Kohler brass under sink lavatory faucet mounting nuts."
"Love the new upgraded handles!"
"The best part about the wrench is the capability to tighten it very snug around your fitting or bolt, without it coming undone (or slipping) It has very little play, unlike most other adjustable wrenches."
The Craftsman 2-piece strap wrench set is a must-have tool set that no home owner, do-it-yourselfer, or professional should be without. The 2-piece strap wrench set includes one large- and one small-handled 16-inch strap wrench. The large wrench manages items up to 6 3/8 inches in diameter.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If yo u don't know what these are useful for, you probably don't need them."
"BUT it is too big for \those very tight "coke" bottles."
"Really good quality, I expect to have these for the rest of my life."
"Great tool for those times when nothing else works."
"I bought these to put some torque on screwing pipe together for a steampunk lamp project."
"Work well, already used them more than I thought I would just having them in the toolbox."
"These are good for light work but when I really needed to tighten something down they just slid."
"These worked well to remove the water filter from my refrigerator."
The design of the 6-Inch Bionic Wrench multiplies your hand's gripping force, so you can more easily tighten/loosen bolts. You can develop ratchet-like speed by fully turning the 6-Inch Bionic Wrench, release the grip while still on the bolt, reposition wrench, tighten grip-repeat until finished. You can develop ratchet-like speed by fully turning the 6-Inch Bionic Wrench, release the grip while still on the bolt, reposition wrench, tighten grip-repeat until finished. Winner of 2005 Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice Award , Chicago Athenaeum design award, International Forum Design Award, red dot international design award.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I think this is a good product, however, I didn't realize it wouldn't work on getting the hose coupler tightened up on the outside spigot."
"A meat tool to add to your tool chest."
"Bought for my dad."
"Perfect tool for our ATV!"
"bought three for xmas gifts and everyone loved them."
"They could be useful for light use but I have trouble giving it enough torque to work on car bolts and nuts."
"It's really small."
"Had to return it due to small size."
Best Pipe Wrenches
A handy addition to any toolbox, the RIDGID 31100 Model 818 Straight 18-Inch Aluminum Pipe Wrench is a plumbing wrench that offers professional strength and quality in a convenient, lightweight tool. The aluminum pipe wrench has a sturdy I-beam handle with quickly adjustable full floating forged hook jaw. This 18-inch straight pipe wrench is ideal for pipe diameters of 1 inch to 2 inch with a capacity of up to 2-1/2 inches, and is suitable for all types of pipe work. 18-inch (450 mm) pipe wrenches are ideal for pipe diameters of 1 inch (25 mm) to 2 inch (50 mm) with a pipe capacity of up to 2-1/2 inches (65 mm).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I have used Rigid tools and products over the years in my line of work several times."
"This 18" aluminum pipe wrench arrived quickly (I ordered a Wednesday afternoon & it arrived by the following Monday afternoon) and in great condition."
"Although my brother was gifted the standard Heavy-duty 24-inch Pipe Wrench, I took a chance on the lightweight Aluminum 18-inch wrench....trading "heavy duty for heavy-duty light" HE LOVED IT...WISHED I HAD SENT BOTH SIZES IN THE LIGHTWEIGHT."
"What's to say if you work with wrenches daily like I do you need a quality light weight wrench."
"Great pipewrench, strong and light."
"Deserves its high reviews."
"Got these for my husband, who is a plumber, and he was astonished with the difference in weight from the old iron pipe wrenches."
Best Torque Wrenches
Correctly tightening fasteners to a vehicle or equipment manufacturer's torque specifications ensures parts are properly secured without being damaged. When the preset torque value is reached, a reliable mechanical operation inside the handle produces a click you can hear and feel, alerting you to stop applying force. Built for consistent performance and years of dependable service, the mechanical design doesn't need batteries, and the allsteel construction has no plastic parts to break or wear out. Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Now, that may be great for lugs and such but there are some really hard to get to spots on my car that require greater than 100lb torque specks (one I know off the top of my head is 146 ft lbs)."
"Only used it for a little while but so far so good."
"I regularly use it at the higher torque settings and it works great and is easy to use, see, and adjust."
"This is a really good wrench. I just did the job this week and used this to tighten the axle bolt to 140 lbs."
"One of the two retaining bolts at the head of the wrench fell out the first time I used it."
"This thing is one serious wrench."
"Good enough for what I need it for, which is primarily torquing lugnuts."
"LOVE this thing!!!"
Best Box Wrenches
This cleverly designed tool has a pair of spring-loaded handles and a circular head thats fitted with six hardened steel jaws. In addition, the genius of attacking a bolt/nut on all 6 flat sides removes the stress and strain on the corners of the bolt. This, coupled with the superior gripping action of the jaws, allows the user to complete their work without the wrench slipping off and damaging the bolt. Soft rubber handle; hardened steel laminate with black oxide coating.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Handy and easy to use, especially for someone like me with no great hand strength."
"Really like this company's products; flexible and easy to use."
"Still I believe this wrench is better and more desirable and is made in the USA (it was featured on the nightly ABC news segment made in the USA)."
"Didn't really have the "grip" I was looking forward to while disassembling my power tower and because of the not-so-good grip, it actually stripped some of the nuts/bolts."
"One tool does it all, well made."
"I was intrigued with the story of the inventor, and how Sears decided to cut him out of the loop. and source from China."
Best Socket Wrenches
The Stanley 92-824 Black Chrome and Laser Etched Socket Set includes 69 pieces that meet or exceed the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) specifications for combination wrenches, sockets, and ratchets. The laser etched sockets provide hi-visibility markings, making it easier to read compared to standard marked sockets. What's in the Box 30 1/4-inch sockets, 33 3/8-inch sockets, 1 3/8-drive pear head ratchet arm, 1 1/4-inch pear head ratchet arm, 1 3/8-inch spark plug socket (5/8-inch), 1 3/8-inch spark plug socket (13/16-inch), 1 1/4-inch extension bar (3-inch), 1 3/8-inch extension bar (6-inch), blow molded case, and color graphic sleeve. About Stanley Sockets and Ratchets Stanley sockets feature the proprietary Max-Drive design, a unique radius corner design which provides 15 percent more torque, making it easy to tighten fasteners and simplifies the turning of rounded corners. 69-piece black chrome and laser etched socket set meets or exceeds ANSI standards for sockets and ratchets.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Both sets have a few sizes the other does not have but are very similar (the Stanley has a few smaller sockets and a ¼” wrench, the Crescent has a few larger sockets). The case supplied with the Stanley set is very poor, the sockets can be almost impossible to remove without breaking your nails. Although this is a pretty nice set for the money but I found a much better set for about the same amount of money: Crescent CSWS10 3/8-Inch Drive Socket Wrench Set, 52-Piece. The case for these sockets is much better, everything fits nicely and sockets are easily removed as they are not ‘clamped in’ as with the Stanley sockets."
"Like others have said, this is a good set of tools."
"The black chrome look is nice, not that looks are important when using a ratchet set, but they do look nicer than the usual chrome socket sets I have seen. The black chrome does make it very easy to see what the socket size is so you don't have to search or squint for sizes like you might on a chrome set."
"The case is awful and frankly black was a bad idea as if a socket is dropped inside of a work area it becomes a pain to locate."
"The tools come packaged in such a way to where the lid of the case is actually not attached to the bottom and is behind it, to display the sockets sitting inside the case. After this, every single socket had to come out of the case to remove stips of foam padding from between each socket, and the plastic of the case. The "snapping" mechanism that holds the sockets in the case make removing the sockets difficult, and putting them back in, as equally difficult, most times using a screwdriver to "pry" each socket out of its correct place in the case."
Best Open-End Wrenches
Style: Tri Pack. Chrome vanadium gears and low friction UHMW bushings.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"After my husband bought a generic version of this tool, which promptly failed him, I bought him this Original and oooooh so much better Tite-Reach Extension Wrench."
"So far so good on some tigth area inlike this tool."
"You won’t use them every day but when you do you’ll be very glad you’ve got them."
"I have only used them a couple of times but they are really nice to have when you are working in tight places."
"Great for hard to reach places!"
"The cause is either too much slack in the chain or the designer didn’t allow for such slack and didn’t design in enough clearance. The red lines show the drive side and slack side of the chain."
Best Combination Wrenches
Classically lean and quietly refined, TEKTON Combination Wrenches provide a sure fit on fasteners and multiple options for working around obstructions or in tight spaces. This versatile storage solution has a folding handle that saves drawer space and nonslip grippers that lock wrenches securely in place when you're on the move. Open end is angled 15 degrees so the wrench can be flipped over to engage fasteners twice as often in tight spaces.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Comparing Craftsman, DeWalt, Tekton, and Stanley (these were the black chrome versions, as I didn't have a regular chrome Stanley wrench handy) side by side it's clear the DeWalt is thicker than all but the Craftsman and has some nice features like the stamped hashmarks for grip, the anti-slip groove on the open end, and the open end is fashioned to grip better. The Tekton looks like a very nice wrench, I will see how it holds up, but side by side the DeWalt takes first place, Tekton second, Craftsman third, and Stanley last."
"Knowing I'll have whatever size is called for was worth the extra money to buy this set over many others."
"Nice set of wrenches."
"Much better quality than they used to be,i own snapon,mac,matco you name it.these have come along way,I bought them for home use.don't let the price fool you.these are very decent quality."
"Disassembled my car's rear brakes and wheel bearing hub assembly with these."
"Very high quality set of wrenches."
"Very good I definitely recommend, I have used for 6 month no problem at all no bend no stichi some scratches but thats all and the sizes are the best they dont skip any like others brands trying to steal your money by skipping sizes and then selling them in high price."
"I own a lot of Snap On tools myself and these look and feel as good as them at much better price."
Best Hex Keys
Long Arm Ball Hex Key Wrench Set allows up to a 25-degree entry angle so you can easily reach around obstructions. (13) long arm hex key wrenches (inch): 3/64, 1/16, 5/64, 3/32, 7/64, 1/8, 9/64, 5/32, 3/16, 7/32, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8 inch (13) long arm hex key wrenches (metric): 1.27, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 8, 10 mm. Long arm wrenches provide extra reach and greater torque.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you have a poorly made set of wrenches they will reveal themselves when you work with the smallest sized ones."
"This set of standard and metric "Hex Key Wrenches" (I always called them Allen wrenches?)."
"They are packaged together and the wrench holders are color coded for metric/US measurements."
"You do not need to buy another wrench set again."
"I was hesitant about the TEKTON brand."
"Just got my set today and they look like great tools for the money and for home use."
"Despite Tekton being a "cheaper" brand, these have worked great for me."
"Bought these for work... Had really high hopes for them since they had basically a 5 star rating. It has a flat in the middle of the ball which doesn't let it engage the way it should all the way up to the advertised 25 degrees."