This Gearwrench Upgrade Tool Set – technically a stubborn fastener-removal starter kit – is on sale at the fantastically low price of $52.99.
This is a great price! If I didn’t already have a couple of sets, I’d buy more at this price!
Update 11/10 – It’s back on sale for $52.99!
Update 9/19 – The price has gone back up to $80.60.
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This set was first published on 9/16/22, and updated on 11/10/2022.
You might be thinking “but I don’t need all that.” Sure – buy it for just the ratchet and pliers, and use the rest if you can. I use the ratchet and pliers regularly, and tossed the other tools into my “in case of a problem” tool box.
I bought a set for personal use last October, when it was $90.62 on Amazon. I bought a set for a reader giveaway last March, when it was $79.78 on Amazon.
Last April, it went on sale for $69.20, dropped to $49.99 for a few hours, and then went back to $69.20.
This is a great kit, and $53 is a fantastic price. Going by what we’ve seen happen in the past, it might not stay at this price for very long.
Pricing Analysis (Updated 11/10)
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The 90T ratchet is valued at roughly $43 (Home Depot) and up. The PitBull AutoBite pliers (8″ and 10″) are valued at $16 and $22 respectively (Amazon). The 2pc impact extraction screwdrivers are valued at ~$24 (Amazon). The Bolt Biter extraction sockets (8pc set) are valued at around $28 (Amazon).
I wanted the ratchet, the pliers, and the extraction screwdrivers, and felt that $90 was a decent price. At the time, $99 seemed to have been the set holiday season price, and so I snagged it when it temporarily dipped on Amazon.
$53 is a great price, and I’d buy it again without hesitation.
What You Get
Gearwrench markets this as a screw and bolt extraction starter kit, but I see it as more of a general upgrade kit with some extra extraction goodies I might or might not need.
The first sockets I bought were good to have. After that? Bonuses on top of getting additional ratchets and pliers at a nice discount.
The ratchet is 3/8″, 90T, and cushion-gripped, and the AutoBite pliers have a neat self-adjustment mechanism that’s simply but very effective.
I don’t think that this set has very good visibility, which is a shame, and would explain the periodic super-low pricing. At just under $53, you get a lot more than what you pay in value, making it easy for me to very enthusiastically encourage you to get in on this deal.
Amazon says the price “was $64.99.” (They say this is based on the “90-day median price paid by customers for the product on Amazon.”) That may be, but it was a lot higher than that.
A couple of readers got in on this deal the last time I posted about it, but so far I don’t think anybody has had a negative thing to say. (Please chime in about your experiences with this kit so far!)
Nathan
to add to this – if you have a need for an extraction socket in this size range and you don’t have nice pliers – get this kit.
I thought the pliers were a little flimsy at first is that there is some slop in the joint – but they do autosize and grip very well. These are the only pliers I have that have an auto size mechanism so I’m not used to that operation. but having used them a few times it’s been very nice to the point where I have grabbed these over my previous go to pliers.
Example pulling the support wire from Ford Escape brake calipers – not a hard job by any means and something you don’t need auto size for – but once they griped, they held well and solid despite the need to twist and pull that wire out.
TLDR – nicer pliers than I thought they would be and will continue to use.
the sockets I’ve not used but they are smaller sizes of the bitter sockets I use for lug nuts and suspension work. IE 19mm, 21-22 mm etc. these are smaller and if you ever had to get one it’s worth having in the box. OH and yes you can use them on impacts or by hand. and it might not look like it but yes they will grip and turn by hand.
If you don’t have a high tooth minimal backlash 3/8 drive ratchet this is a nice ratchet to have. I personally don’t like it because the handle doesn’t fit my hand well – that’s personal feel. I gave it to a friend of mine and he loves the thing. Fitment is a such a personal feel issue, this handle is their new ovoid handle where it’s thinner overall but has a bit of a squashed circle. It’s a bit too narrow for my hand and I also have other ratchets. LIkewise it’s not a quick release and I’ve gotten to love that feature so I gave it to a friend of mine that hates QR ratchets.. Drive wise – clean engagement, good socket retention, thin enough head, smooth action and little wobble. Again what I don’t like about it is not the fault of the ratchet but my personal preferences.
I’ve not used the screw drivers but they appear to be quite strong and have a demo-strike plate on the back.
Nathan
OH and Thank you Stuart for the kit. I wouldn’t have thought about buying this otherwise – but for the price point especially above – if you need one or 2 of the items get the kit.
Forgot something on the sockets – they are between sizes also and span SAE and Metric. IE some of them like the 10mm will work around that size range and I think its marked that way. so if you have an oddball nut or bolt head that’s not in your socket stack but you have that set you can still turn them out. It will possibly mar the head a bit but might not damage them. Not really their usecase but it would work out. And you can drive them with the hex in the back – that’s a nice feature sort of like a quality spark plug socket. so if you’re in a tight spot you could grab the back of that socket with a larger wrench.
Stuart
You’re welcome!
Funda
@nathan,
What would you recommend for a “high tooth minimal backlash 3/8 drive ratchet”?
Nathan
I like the tekton on the cheap end and they come in a QR model – which is a key thing I like. that’s preference again but they do sell both versions and the tooth engagement is clean and solid.
High end I like MAC over snap on. And I owned a SK LP90 that I loved but it’s not QR but golly it’s smooth. Gearwrench and their knock offs (like carlye at napa) are good middle road items. I even like the autozone duralast made in india items – if you need something now for the price.
I used to love the SK product for the price point/quality but I can’t recommend them now. but if you can get one their DT 80 and other line is very good. again no QR though.
EU side – I have/had Stahlwille which is the german version of say Snap on. I like HAZET and I’ve never had a wera but I honestly expect they are all very very similar. In fact I suspect someone makes all their sockets in the same factory. Ratchet though Stahlwille 80 tooth QR is a nice piece – spendy though.
On thing that I think level set the field was moving to 72+ tooth as that required the bearing surface and the movement to have less wobble and backlash. Put another way I have a Stahlwille ratchet that is something like 34 teeth (I know, you’d think 36 but it’s not) now I don’t think you can break it and it’s light, handy – but the wobble is terrible. Cheapo autozone 72 job – smoother, less wobble but heavier and you can indeed break it. Well don’t try to take truck lugnuts off with a 3/8 drive ratchet and if you stay near the ANSI ratings they will all be fine.
I’d by Tekton before I bought HF Icon. The Craftsman V series I’ve played with are nice but for the price I would go elsewhere. Also if you don’t wrench all the time – don’t waste the extra money on the “comfort grip” or the plastic overmold. It’s nice though and my favorte go to ratchet has it. (Carlyle, locking flex head 3/8 72 tooth – gearwrench knockoff).
sorry probably more than you’d want to know – and I can’t stress this enough personal preference. It’s like handguns or other things of feel. I hate Glocks – not that I think they are badly made, not that I think they are cheap – they don’t fit my hand right or feel right. But by jove for some people they are the awesomesauce. Me I love my FN product.
Nathan
LOL Wall of text – it’s a slow news day.
Nathan
again I can’t stress this enough. that gearwrench ratchet is in no way bad. it doesn’t fit my hand well and I had other options. If I hadn’t had other options I’d have kept it. But my buddy doesn’t have a quality ratchet and hates anything with a QR. why I don’t know I love the QR. anyway it fits his hand perfectly and he loves it. SO I don’t want people to think they didn’t do their homework on ergonomics or designed it wrong.
First thing he said liked was how well it fit with his grip and didn’t feel like it would roll in his hand. For me, I felt I had to grip it too tight as it was narrow to me – vs the extra girth of my other ratchets.
Funda
Nathan,
I enjoyed the wall of text! I don’t use tools a lot but am beginning to buy better tools as I learn about them (Knipex pliers wrenches and pump pliers, Irega/Channellock adjustable wrenches, Vessel ball headed drivers and bits, Wera Torx wrenches etc) because of the high quality engineering and ratchets are next on the list. I even bought Pozidriv bits after learning about them here 🙂
I’ve ordered the set in the article and, if the ratchet doesn’t work for me, I will try one of the standalone ones.
Dave+T
I probably don’t need additional removal tools, but you compelled me to order the set. I guess it doesn’t hurt to have plenty of backups.
AL
Never had ‘demo’ sockets. This seems smarter than hammering on a too-small socket and praying it doesn’t shatter.
Ordered this set. Thanks for sharing.
fred
Looking at some old inventories – I see that we had this style of socket on hand for many years. Called Turbo Sockets – ours were from Hudson Bearings (a company you don’t normally associate with socket wrenches). They claim to have been the originator of this style of socket – over 30 years ago.
https://www.hudsonbearings.com/products/turbosocket/
Scott F
I bought this for $49.99 in April, and while I’ve hardly used any of the tools I’m glad I did anyway… The auto sizing pliers are cool, but I just don’t go for them over my Cobras – I keep the smaller pair inside for occasional use and the larger in the garage. The ratchet lives in the house, rarely used because I have 5 others already that are equally good.. Demo screwdrivers are nice, I haven’t “needed” them yet for impact style use or actual demo, but I keep them in the easy-reach tray and use the Phillips regularly. The extractor sockets…… I totally forgot these existed when I had a use for them, and by the time I thought about them I had stripped too much material off the head for it to bite.
… And those extractor sockets are why I bought the set!
None of these tools are ones you can ‘really’ have too many of – pliers, screwdrivers and ratchets are always useful. For $50 or slightly above, this is a no brainer.
Troy
Back to $69.99 as of this morning.
Stuart
Thank you, and Bill.
I’m now seeing the Amazon-direct price as $80.60. I’ll keep an eye on it, but I suspect that inventory numbers prompted the algorithm to adjust.
Nathan
still not a bad deal if you need the pliers or the ratchet. In that ratchets aren’t cheap these days.
bill
As of 9/19/22 price is 69.99.
Matt+the+Hoople
The 20 piece screwdriver set is on sale again… $56.38 currently. Deal of the day: GEARWRENCH 20 Pc. Phillips/Slotted/Torx Dual Material Screwdriver Set – 80066H https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KHSYKQH/