GEARWRENCH 30 Piece 12 Pt SAE/mm Ratcheting Combination Wrench Set| 86702

Why it's worth it

Thirty wrenches cover 1/4 to 1 inch and 8 to 24 mm, so one box handles nearly every fastener on a car, a truck or a mower. The box ends push on the flat faces of a bolt instead of the corners, which is what keeps a tired fastener from rounding off.

One box covers nearly every bolt you'll meet. The range runs 1/4 inch to 1 inch in SAE and 8 mm to 24 mm in metric, which is the working span for cars, light trucks and small engines. That matters more than it sounds. Buying metric now and SAE later means two purchases, two storage solutions, and a gap you tend to discover halfway through a job with the car on stands.

The box ends are shaped to spare chewed-up fasteners. Off-corner loading puts pressure on the flats of a hex head rather than the corners, and the corners are exactly where a bolt rounds off. If you've ever fought a fastener that a previous owner already mangled, you know why that geometry is worth caring about. It won't rescue every ruined bolt, but it buys you a real margin.

From our review of 8 ratcheting wrench sets, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +One box covers nearly every bolt you'll meet
• +The box ends are shaped to spare chewed-up fasteners
• +Thin heads reach where fatter wrenches stop
• +The small stuff is done right

What to know

• –Nothing in this set flexes
• –It's heavy, and it wants room