Ratchet spanners advice - also Bargain Tool chest alert

[TonyP]

Ok, so according to my wife I'm officially the most difficult person to buy gifts for , however I've been hankering after some ratchet spanners for a while & SWMBO has said I can have a set for Christmas.

She's just bought the set of 9 set of flexible headed ratchet spanners in Halfords on offer for £40, however, as I'm just a hobbyist I'm wondering if the 12 set of ratcheted but non-flexible spanners for £50 also at Halfords would be a better option?, can you get as much 'welly' on a flexible set vs straight spanners?, the 12 set of flexible spanners is £70, so that's an extra £30 for 3 spanners over what I've just been bought.

A bit of a curveball - Lidl have a set of 5 flexi ratchet spanners for a tenner at the moment, I'm not sure of the quality, it seems that Halfords Advance range of tools is pretty well regarded.

Any advise please.

Tony

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... panner-set

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... panner-set

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... et-spanner

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offe ... cleId=8945

[GuidoK]

In essence you can never have too many tools.

But maybe more important, get a full set. That means all the sizes.
BMW's are full of size 16mm for example. The 9 piece set doesnt have that (let alone the lidl set, but thats cheap garbage anyway).
Any set without 16mm is worthless if you own a modern car imho. (nowadays an m10 bolt is just as often 16mm as 17mm)

Flex head or or non flex, they both have advantage and disadvantages. A non flex head is stronger, more slim and has less play (better when you have very little room to swing the ratchet), but the flex head is flexible. And more expensive (for that extra 20 you can also buy other tools)

[Mister T]

The Halfords ones are very good. You don't want to put a lot of welly through your ratchet spanners as you can damage the mechanism, so the flexis are a good choice

[GuidoK]

The ratchet spanner set I have is very strong. I can put way more force on those than for example on an open wrench.
The ones that can change direction are less strong though, but the one way ones are strong as hell.

[Graeme_NI]

Ok, so according to my wife I'm officially the most difficult person to buy gifts for , however I've been hankering after some ratchet spanners for a while & SWMBO has said I can have a set for Christmas.

She's just bought the set of 9 set of flexible headed ratchet spanners in Halfords on offer for £40, however, as I'm just a hobbyist I'm wondering if the 12 set of ratcheted but non-flexible spanners for £50 also at Halfords would be a better option?, can you get as much 'welly' on a flexible set vs straight spanners?, the 12 set of flexible spanners is £70, so that's an extra £30 for 3 spanners over what I've just been bought.

A bit of a curveball - Lidl have a set of 5 flexi ratchet spanners for a tenner at the moment, I'm not sure of the quality, it seems that Halfords Advance range of tools is pretty well regarded.

Any advise please.

Tony

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... panner-set

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... panner-set

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... et-spanner

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offe ... cleId=8945

I picked up a set of the ratchet spanner from lidl at the weekend, they seem to be pretty good quality. A tradesman would probably burn through them pretty quickly but for a hobby mechanic they should be fine. I have bought a few hand tools and power tools from lidl and have always been impressed with them

[Gaffa22]

I have both the Halfords sets they are very good quality, but don't give any ratchet spanner too much teddy or it will break,
the halfords spanners are 72 teeth ratchets so in the smaller sizes the ratchet teeth will be quite small

get a another set of ring spanners for the initial undo of really tight bolts then once cracked undo with the ratchet spanners
The same goes for socket ratchets initial undo with a breaker bar then use ratchet, I have an Autopro 3/8 ratchet and socket set I bought when i was an apprentice mechanic back in 1979 and its still working fine as i have followed the points above.

[TonyP]

Thanks for the replies, I'm tempted to return the 9 piece flexi ratchet set to Halfords & get the 12 piece straight ratchet set AND also get the Lidl flexi ratchet set as that contains the most common sizes of 10, 13 & 17mm for the really awkward to get to bolts, best of both worlds - no?

[Ducklakeview]

I have both sets in the HAlfords one's not bad for the money at all, especially when you consider I also have then in Snap On and they were around six times the price from memory. I use the Halfords stuff for when I work away from my box - As said, make sure you get 16mm, but ALSO 18mm, as it's a common BMW size.

Mike

[TonyP]

I have both sets in the HAlfords one's not bad for the money at all, especially when you consider I also have then in Snap On and they were around six times the price from memory. I use the Halfords stuff for when I work away from my box - As said, make sure you get 16mm, but ALSO 18mm, as it's a common BMW size.

Mike

Thanks, so the 9 piece set I have currently (or will do on Christmas day ) is out then as it contains neither of those sizes & it's not cost effective to buy them individually.

[TonyP]

Just an update & many thanks to those who contributed.

I took back the 9 piece flexi ratchet set & swapped it with the 12 piece set which include all sizes from 8 to 19mm, I also took advantage of the 3 for 2 offer on their modular sets & so decided to replace my cheapo draper set of 1/2" sockets & also my no-name 1/4" socket sets.

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... et-set-1-2

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... et-set-1-4

I'm now seriously tempted with this bundled offer:-

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... awer-chest

Only problem - I cant hide this from my wife

Happy New Year everyone

[Gaffa22]

That chest and roll cab are terrific value for money just buy it and worry about the missus later
better to seek forgiveness not permission

[firebobby]

What a bargain and you get the lifetime guarantee. I have some of their tools and have had no issues with them.

[TonyP]

What a bargain and you get the lifetime guarantee. I have some of their tools and have had no issues with them.

If you are referring to the tool chest then everyone thought so too , I cant seem to locate a bundled priced set within a sensible distance

[Truth]

That chest and roll cab are terrific value for money just buy it and worry about the missus later
better to seek forgiveness not permission

Agreed and done. Both cabinets and 3 for 2 on spanner’s 1/2 inch socket set and 1/4 inch socket set. Happy birthday to me.

[TonyP]

No sooner than I had I posted the above about not being able to get a set then a store approx 20 miles away called me back & said they have the top piece but not the lower but he can order that part in separately & honour the bundled price