The hunt for "Spinny Spanners"

[greg]

Hi All,

As my patience for regular spanners is quickly running out, I've decided that I'd like to pick up a few "Spinny Spanners" (i.e. Spanners with Ratchet machanisms).

Sadly I know very little about tools though and was hoping someone could shed some light upon what I should be looking for when buying a "Spinny Spanner", and perhaps even a brand name that I should look out for when making my purchase?

Thanks in advance,
Greg

[ozy1]

if you buy decent ones youll be looking at kingchrome and snapon,

but id look at the super tool ones as i believe on the packet it says made by king chrome or something, not sure on the quality, but someone else will pipe up.

[MQ080]

if you buy decent ones youll be looking at kingchrome and snapon,

but id look at the super tool ones as i believe on the packet it says made by king chrome or something, not sure on the quality, but someone else will pipe up.

spend the $$$ on the kingchrome... the cheap stuff is crap. You get more teeth with the good stuff and it will last hell longer- isn't that what you want?

[bundytunna]

ok
if u want to spend big bucks and have em last a lifetime get snap on
they are like 300 bucks for 4 ratchet ringies
kinchrome are a top brand as well as sidchrome but i am unaware if sidchrome make racthcets
i got me self a set of 5 metric ringies supatool brand for 70 bucks
supa tool are the cheap brand of kinchrome
they are made by kinchrome just labelled supatool
nuttin wrong with em
i got my set from alltools in baysy
dont go to supacheap and get em coz they are a cheap chinese brand and come in really weird sizes
altho they r only 20 odd bucks resisit the temptation to get em coz they r SHIT
really piss weak
really if u want A1 top quality that will last ya a lifetime go snap on or kinchrome or buy the poor mans kinchrome the supatool for only 70 odd bucks

[greg]

Thanks fellas... looks like some pretty solid information coming back here...

So far all my spanners and sockets are Kinchrome so i'm more than happy to stick with that brand... I was just waiting to hear if someone tells us that (for example), brand x is just that little bit better for some reason.

Cheers

[Ruggers]

i use kingcrome for work and they are great dont get the ones button to swap directions as they stuff up and arnt rebuildable. t&e tools also make a good set as do jonesway these are both american brands of course snap on is the bee knees but they have the price to go with it. i would get set kingcrome they are well made. there supa tool ones although made by the company arnt the same quality and you would you would be better to by a kit of them then get the others that you need if not tin the kit its a lot cheap that way

[droopypete]

Greg, when you where at my place on the weekend you should have said someting, I have both snap on and Kingchrome ratchet ring spanners,
I have only one snap-on that I use for scafold clamps at work, the Kingchrome ones are very good quality and will last a lifetime if used properly, and there is the problem, all ratchets that use a micro ratchet (very fine) are NOT designed for high tourque loads and will wear them prematurely, the idea is that you crack the nut/bolt with a fixed ring spanner and then use the ratchet ringy, and in reverse spin it on with the ratchet ringy and tourque it up with someting stronger (yeah, like we are all going to do that ) they are a delight to use, but on the negative the have a larger head than a fixed ring spanner and need to be looked after more, kingchrome also makes an adapter for, I think the 14mm ratchet ringy that clips into the head so you can use it as a 3/8 ratchet for your sockets.
Snapon is the best I have seen, followed by Proto, but both of these are a diferant design to the newer Kingchrome ones,
as Ruggers has said dont get the older ones with the button as I have had these ones too and they are crap, well made, but shit design.
Next time you are at my place remind me, and I may let you touch them
Peter.

[zookjedi]

ah the price for the snap on ones are actually cheaper than the kincrome ones i believe due mainly that if you buy the snap- on set you get 12 spanners 8mm to 19mm for $280.00 where as kincrome i believe you only get five spanners , mind you you probably wont use the 16 and 18mm any ways . T & E tools are well worth a look repco can usally get them in for ya . go to snap-on.com.au for all there tools and prices .

one more thing like droopy pete said they are not hi torque ratchets the teeth are very fine , and although they have a life time warranty (snap-on) they usally won't cover damaged gear sets due to hi torques being applied, unless you get a good dealer .

most of my tools for work are snap-on and caterpillar but for home use id go the supatool they won't break if use as low torque tools. good luck shopping

[Ruggers]

i got teh kingcrome ones for the 16mm but in the set it doesnt come so i had to buy it separate and a mate bought a jonesway set also wanting a 16mm but had to by it separately for my work these are common size but not included in sets but the others still come in handy

[camskizook]

if you buy decent ones youll be looking at kingchrome and snapon,

but id look at the super tool ones as i believe on the packet it says made by king chrome or something, not sure on the quality, but someone else will pipe up.

I bought a set of "supatool" sockets and they were shit...They even had mis-spelt kinchrome on the box....i took them back and bought sidchromes instead

[modman]

i use spanners to take the initial torque to break loose the bolt/nut then supatool ratchet spanners.
they are maybe not as strong as sidi's or snap-offs, but are you a full-time mechanic??
saving dollars on these type of tools is smarter than having the flash expensive stuff.
put the saved money into actually improving your 4by!!

david

[droopypete]

i use spanners to take the initial torque to break loose the bolt/nut then supatool ratchet spanners.
they are maybe not as strong as sidi's or snap-offs, but are you a full-time mechanic??
saving dollars on these type of tools is smarter than having the flash expensive stuff.
put the saved money into actually improving your 4by!!

david

David, in defence of my " flash expensive spanners" I am not a full time mechanic, but I find sh!t spanners are made from shit steel that is either too soft and bends or too hard and cracks, they have unreliable sizing and jaws that are not parallal, that can strip the heads of perfectly good bolts/nuts, they are usualy uncomfortable to use and age badly, whereas a quality tool, (any quality tool) feels good in your hand and helps you enjoy getting grease up to your elbows
I am all for saving money to put in your 4by, but at the end of the day quality tools will last a life time, I have tools that I bought 6 cars ago the cars have all been and gone but the tools are as good as new, and my son will be using them when I am gone, just as I have perfectly good tools of my grand fathers (they didn't have "Supatool" back then)
Peter.

[greg]

Greg, when you where at my place on the weekend you should have said someting

I only made the decision that i was going to need to get some when i was lying under big steve's car trying to get his gear box out...

And when i was trying to undo the annoying bolt that's under the dizzy...

[greg]

saving dollars on these type of tools is smarter than having the flash expensive stuff.
put the saved money into actually improving your 4by!!

evidently you have not seen my car modman - it's so improved that it is no longer improvable...

that's why i now have some money to spent on tools to allow for maintaining it

Thanks for the input fellas.

Cheers

[modman]

dpoopypete, i still have my grandfathers snapon tool kit that came with every rolls royce merlin engine. i'm not one to underestimate the worth of a good tool set and the lasting qualities of the top brands.
BUT, a badly sized tool is a badly sized tool, be it snap-on or supatool.
my ratchet spanners only get lightly loaded, so the wear is non existant.
i use and have broken breaker bars, but in my case i can't justify the snapon ratchet spanners.
(plus the supatool spanners have the right offset to tighten shock pin bolts on the front of rovers )

david

[Rainbow Warrior]

ok
if u want to spend big bucks and have em last a lifetime get snap on
they are like 300 bucks for 4 ratchet ringies
kinchrome are a top brand as well as sidchrome but i am unaware if sidchrome make racthcets
i got me self a set of 5 metric ringies supatool brand for 70 bucks
supa tool are the cheap brand of kinchrome
they are made by kinchrome just labelled supatool
nuttin wrong with em
i got my set from alltools in baysy
dont go to supacheap and get em coz they are a cheap chinese brand and come in really weird sizes
altho they r only 20 odd bucks resisit the temptation to get em coz they r SHIT
really piss weak
really if u want A1 top quality that will last ya a lifetime go snap on or kinchrome or buy the poor mans kinchrome the supatool for only 70 odd bucks

Trouble is some of us are alread past half of our spanner-able lifetime, so really depends on if you like yer kids.

[bundytunna]

well im only a kid so i bought em meself
didint have anywhere near enuf money for sidi or snap on
my old man has all top quality snap on or sidi he got when he was at tech school they have lasted him years and years
i use them now
he never had ratchet ringies so i bought some
i get what all of yas r sayin and i know its true
buy good stuff and itll last ya a life time
buy shit and itll last ya the time ya spent buying it
by the way do sidi make ratchet ringies?????

[camo]

my mate uses kc pro M and loves them heaps cheaper!! got the choice of what ever he wanted (as an aprentice) and picked these as his master mechanic of 30years had a set and had never broke them (the master mechanic got them when he was an aprentice)

[zookjedi]

no matter how good a tool brand is you will always here good and bad stories to both sides , depends if your a back yardy , car mechanic , earth moving , etc . ive split snap-on sockets , chewed teeth of one of my snap-on torque wrenches , twisted the ends of adapters . all snap-on , but in saying tha i believe they make the toughest ratchets , i know a fella with kc tools and did the gears in on his 3/4" ratchet , but he raves about how good they are too. ive got a set of those supatool ratchet spanners (bought many years ago before becoming a mechanic) and i used them on tuesday with out any problem, they didn't miss a beat , now it wasn't no zook either it was a 40litre 5tonne engine i was working on . 9/16" nuts i was undoing , 3/8" threads ,32ftlb torque to 40ftib (whenthey were done up) . i never usally use em but they were worth the twenty bucks i paid for em . ps yes supatool sockets are made from cheese.

[andy & di]

Buy Kinchrome i've used them for20 yrs