A few weeks ago, as I was strolling through the leftovers of Lowe’s “Special Buy” holiday tool deals section, I spotted these Kobalt gearless ratcheting wrenches for half-off. I didn’t even realize that these wrenches existed — somebody missed a press release at some point.
Stuart’s Note: Err… umm… sorry! More about my hesitation at the end.
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These wrenches have a gearless ratcheting mechanism similar to the Kobalt direct drive gearless ratchet Stuart reviewed and dismantled a few years ago.
Gearless ratcheting mechanisms can come in handy in situations where you need to advance a fastener but cannot swing a wrench or ratchet very far, due to tight clearances or obstructions. Or at least that’s usually the main selling point.
According to Kobalt:
The gearless roller bearing drive will grab the fastener with the smallest movement, allowing you to make the most out of every swing
You can also try to solve this by having finer teeth with a conventional ratcheting mechanism, but finer teeth aren’t as strong. Another way to solve this problem is to use offset pawls like the Gearwrench dual pawl ratchet, which gives you finer positioning without the gearing getting too small to be practical.
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These Kobalt gearless ratcheting combination wrenches are constructed from chrome vanadium steel with a high-polish finish. They have standard 12 point box ends, not the Multi-Fit sockets that come with the ratchet set, so there are separate metric and SAE sets, each with 7 wrench sizes.
The sizes are stamped in large “easy-to-read” markings and the colored rings around the ratcheting end make it easy to identify the Metric and SAE wrenches: red for SAE and blue for Metric.
The Metric set comes with 8 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm, 13 mm, 14 mm, 15 mm, and 17 mm wrenches and the SAE set includes 5/16″, 3/8″, 7/16″, 1/2″, 9/16″, 5/8″, and 11/16″ sizes.
These Kobalt wrenches come with a lifetime “hassle free” guarantee. The SAE and the Metric 7 piece wrench sets are now marked down to $20 both online and in store.
Price: $20
Buy Now (SAE set)
Buy Now (Metric set)
First Thoughts
After thinking about it for a while, I went back to Lowes and picked up both 7 piece sets along with some other special buy items that have been marked down. I’ve been looking for a set of ratcheting combination wrenches for my shop throughout the entire Holiday season, and have been pretty disappointed with the deals. This is the first time I saw something that I thought was at a good price/quality point.
I knew I was taking a bit of a risk on them because they aren’t conventional ratcheting wrenches, but I had picked up the Kobalt gearless ratchet set for $10 when Stuart wrote about it back in December of 2014, and I’ve been happy with the ratchet.
The gearless ratcheting mechanism is a little weird to get used to. For one thing, it’s silent. There is no clicking sound for feedback that the tools is actually ratcheting. And as Stuart mentioned in his teardown, these don’t exactly have o° of swing, as there is a minimal but-not-zero distance they have to be pulled back to advance the fastener
The few times I’ve tried these wrenches so far they’ve worked as advertised. I’ll keep you informed if I have any issues.
Stuart’s Take: I have some hesitations about these wrenches. Reasons tied to limited time and post slots aside, I couldn’t make up my mind about what to say about these wrenches.
1) If there’s a factory defect, or a wrench breaks, will a replacement be available in 2017? 2018? I have been hearing more and more that Craftsman and Kobalt tools from a set must be exchanged as a set. So if let’s say the 1/2″ wrench shows a defect or breaks due to a defect. If only sets are available, you’re only going to be able to exchange or return it as part of a set, and that’s only as long as the set is still available.
2) If one wants to expand with intermediate or larger sizes, will they be available? The SAE set lacks 11/32″ and 3/4″ sizing. What about 1″? But to be fair, most consumer and enthusiast ratcheting wrench sets are small and focus on most-used DIYer sizes.
I have come across some applications where these wrenches might have come in handy. In a recent application where I had to get creative, regular box end wrenches fit, and some ratcheting wrenches might have fit. I don’t think these gearless would have fit, due to the box end wall thickness.
I too will be interested in hearing about how well they work for Ben over time. Personally, I wouldn’t want these to be my first or only ratcheting wrenches. But I also have an affinity towards reversible ratcheting wrenches and somewhat of a strong hesitation towards non-reversible types.
Drew M
I don’t know exact torque rating specifications for oneway needle roller bearings like what are inside these but I know they’re not that hard to break if you put too much torque on them.
I wouldn’t use these for applying large amounts of torque for fear of breaking them.
Benjamen
I agree, but I try never put a large amount of torque on any ratcheting mechanism. I’ll use a breaker bar or a proper wrench to break things loose or torque something down tight.
Of course there’s always that time when you do — and I can appreciate that, but I’m thinking of using these for more household and wood shop tasks then automotive.
Tom
But that’s the thing. If the ratcheting side isn’t meant for heavy torque applications, why put an open end wrench on the other side? With a regular combination wrench, you use the closed end to break a fastener free and then the open end to move it quickly.
Pretty much all of these ratcheting wrenches (including the Gearwrench set that I have) seem to have a ratcheting end and then an open end. That doesn’t make any sense to me. The ratcheting end should be replacing the open end.
Nathan
the reasoning is becasue people will still want open ends for hose or pipe fittings and other bits like that – short of using a proper flare nut wrench. I asked a MATCO guy this years ago. He said their sales training put out to say “Most of you ratcheting end wrenches (non gearless) will take all the torque you can give them – short cheater bar-ing the wrench.”
I sort of get the idea – and I know many that swear by them – I don’t do enough wrenching day in day out to justify buying a quality set but if I did It would probably be the new SK line. While keeping my current combo wrenches.
RestlessJim
Take my input for what you will, but I’ve been a mechanic for 20+ years. I’ve always used combination wrenches exactly opposite, open end to break torque, and the box to more quickly spin out the fastener (when possible).
A typical combination wrench has the box end offset from the shaft, while the open end is in line with the shaft. Which means when you are trying to break loose a tight fastener your force is more directly in line with the head of the fastener.
I’ve found that this makes it dramatically less likely to have the wrench slip off of the fastener head. Which makes busted knuckles dramatically less likely.
And with the box end I’ve found I can much more quickly rotate and reengage the wrench (without looking, even) with less fumbling than with the open end.
So the common ratcheting wrench combination of open end and ratchet end suites how I work just right: break torque with the open end, or torque down with the open end, and quickly run in or out with the ratchet end.
DRT
I know a lot of people say the same thing about the strength of sprag clutch ratchets, but it would be interesting to see some actual test data. They may turn out to be stronger than we think. 1. The sprag design has about 20 points of contact vs. a ratchet pawl has only 1 point of contact. 2. I believe I am correct in saying that most (some?) car automatic transmissions have sprag clutches somewhere in the transmission. If the transmission is in 1st gear, the sprag might have to handle over a thousand ft-lbs of torque. Maybe a transmission mechanic could chime in here, if my understanding is wrong.
John
I’m not a transmission specialist- I work on ski lifts- but among the various types of anti-rollback devices available for our lifts are sprag-type one-way bearings. At my ski are we have several lifts with sprag backstops, including one where brake test torque values are up to 800 foot-pounds, so you’re not far off.
fred
It probably will not happen – but you don’t want to get into a situation where the non-reversible feature lets you get your fingers jammed into a tight spot – or makes the wrench hard to get off the fastener.
Tim
Hmm.
Could come in handy at work.
Are there any other comparable tools to this or are these the only OWB ratcheting wrenches?
Pete
The set return policy is the same at harbor freight as well. I have some of their wrenches that are like these- box end/ ratchet the other.
I am totally going to check these out maybe tomorrow… if theyre nice there goes $40+tax!
Farid
Also, checkout the Steel Grip sockets sets Lowes has for under $10. More about those below.
My gearless ratchet sticks and is hard to reverse. I keep thinking I need to exchange it, but I every time I intend to, it starts working again. I would be a good test of the no hassle replacement policy. Nevertheless, If I had not already bought two sets of Dewalt reversing ratcheting sets and two sets of Grip-tite wrenches, I would consider these.
Over the holiday I bought the Dewalt 10-pc SAE and metric sets from Sears at 40% discount (I think the sale is still available.). The new Dewalt 12-piece sets were not available to buy anywhere, otherwise I would have opted for those.
Anyway, the Dewalt has small ratcheting angle and long panel for extra torque and they helped save the day while I was working on the a suspension part. The reversing feature came in handy exactly due to situation like Fred described.
I also encountered a badly rusted nut in an awkward position. Attempting to bust the nut failed. Now I was left with a badly rusted and deformed nut!
Lowes had the Steel Grip socket sets on sale for 9.99, so I picked one each Meteric and SAE. I was able to use an SAE 9/16 to grip the mangled 14mm nut and back it off.
Steel Grip sockets are made by Grip-tite for Lowes. Stewart wrote about those a while back. While I am skeptical that they are capable of handling extreme torque, I thought they were useful enough that I ordered the Grip-tite combination wrench sets.
Davida1
I personally find that home depot’s “no hassle”, to be much more non hassle than Lowe’s, but it might be a local thing.
Regarding what Stuart noted, about returning 1 item of a set, I once tried exchanging a defective kobalt pliers (that came out of a set) and they gave me a whole run around. So not all “no hassle’s” were created equally, I guess
firefly
I also have better experience with my local HD in general. It’s probably more of a store/manager thing and not a HD vs Lowes thing though.
david
I have tried the Steel Grip sockets, and I like them so far. I have not had to use them to apply high torque yet, but I do appreciate their ability to hold fasteners while I fiddle and fumble them into place. At $10.00 for a set of metric, they have been well worth the cost while working on light auto repairs.
Jay
Have a Husky brand ratcheting double box end wrench set. Been solid so far. Guaranteed forever so if one ever breaks bring it back to the home depot and swap it for a new one free of charge. Paid under $19 and change for a four piece set.
fred
I took a look at them today – at $3 per wrench – they were tempting – but I decided t pass. The wrenches have individual part #’s – but that of-course doesn’t mean that they are available separately – or will be if you need a replacement.
UPC’s for the sets were 099198877402 and 099198877419
my look-up indicates that the OEM is Steelman Tools (J.S. Industries)
fred
A little more snooping around – and it looks like the wrenches may be available individually – here’s the 17mm one that is at least listed on the Lowe’s web site:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-17mm-Metric-Ratchet-Wrench/1000063941?cm_mmc=SCE_PLA_ONLY-_-ToolsAndHardware-_-SosHandTools-_-1000063941:Kobalt&CAWELAID=&kpid=1000063941&CAGPSPN=pla&k_clickID=e020e069-0b01-4ae3-8c90-30ad0202a1cc
Hang Fire
Wrench clearance is a big deal on modern automobiles, which is why you want a ratcheting wrench set as your second wrench set, or maybe third. But you still want a set, because of the speed aspect.
Warranty is a big deal for your primary tools, not so much for the second or third set. I gave up on Craftsman in the late 90’s because I couldn’t warrant a cracked 10mm deep socket for 2.5 years straight. Multiple locations wouldn’t/couldn’t restock the empty peg in individual stock, nobody would crack a set for me. I really needed that socket and it got replaced with an SK set… that didn’t need its first warranty service for another 2 decades.
Austin
Two reasons won’t be buying a set.
1) It’s a PITA to return things to Lowes. I really don’t buy any “lifetime” tools there.
2) I won’t buy any of the non-reversing ratcheting wrenches. They are flat, and I really like the15 degree offset that the other wrenches have.
Dom K
My locoal Lowe’s has this set for $9.99 on clearance both SAE&MM. I grabbed both sets, worth it at that price
Eddie
“You can also try to solve this by having finer teeth with a conventional ratcheting mechanism, but finer teeth aren’t as strong.”
This is not true. The finer teeth on all of today’s ratchets meet or exceed the torque ratings of good ole 72 tooth ratchets from yesteryear.
Stuart
There’s a limit as to how fine you can go. To get to 120 positions, both Gearwrench and Stanley have to use staggered dual pawls with 60T each. Most other brands don’t go finer than 90 teeth. Why? If gears get too fine, they lose strength. I’m open to alternative suggestions or reasons.
Bobby
I bought a set of Kobalt “Limited” Lifetime Warranty ratchet wrenches, anyway my 13 and 12 ratchet end broke. I returned to Lowes who told me that if the manufacturer changed model numbers, that my Lifetime Warranty was no good. She said it must be the same model number, so if you buy today and they change model numbers tomorrow, you would have been better off going to Harbor Freight, which is what I told her. Model number or no model number, it should have been covered, I got nothing back. Lifetime warranty was and is worthless. I will not buy any more tools at Lowes or Kobalt. This was the Sikeston, Missouri store.
Stuart
If in your shoes I would have requested a manager and asked them to substitute the tools for equivalents, and if not available, maybe Craftsman, but that might have been a stretch.
Nikoli
How did you open them.
Stuart
We didn’t. That image of internals is from Kobalt.