Flexible Head Ratchet Spanners

[CaptainP 2]

I'm after a set of flexible head ratchet spanners from 8mm - 19mm with no gaps. I've been pricing up the options and have basically narrowed it down to 3 manufacturers that are in my price range. Before I take the plunge and buy a chocolate set of spanners does anyone have any opinions of Silverline or Bergen? Halfords do a pretty decent set which is currently half price but it has several spanners missing and to add them would make the set quite pricey. These would only be purchased for occaisonal use at home on the 205..... in other words nearly every bloody weekend!

Cheers

Steve

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Silverline - Chinese crap. A good friend of mine worked for them and all the tools of theirs that I used didn't last.

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

If they are only for occasional use, could you not just buy them piecemeal in the sizes you need?

 

As some of the sizes in the set you will never use.

 

On a 205, you will probably want the following

 

10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19.

 

I must have 3 or 4 9mm spanners, I don't think I have ever used any of them. 12 and 14mm are used a lot on Jap cars, not on Peugeots. 15mm is another that is rarely used on stuff I have worked on.

 

Peugeot do like 16 and 18mm, 17 and 19mm will also be useful.

 

You cannot really go wrong on the Halfords tools, they are good. I have also had Bergen stuff in the past that has been decent enough for the money.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Tom Fenton

[GilesW 41]

Just get the Halfords set.

 

I have them. They cover the main ones you will use, so the 'inconvieniance' of not having teh others will be really really infrequent (never?).

 

Also due to the way all flexible ratchet head spanners work you won't really be picking them as a first choice of tool, as tehvarious angles they work at can easily damage nut/bolt heads, slip, and puts teh spanner hinge under lots of stress.

 

They are really handy to have though, especially for those really awkward bolts so definatley buy some.

[cRaig 273 1 Cars]

Ive got the halfords flexi head set, and like people have said, for the ammount of use/abuse they get, there are absolutely fine and do the job perfectly. Im certainly happy with mine. Ive had a buy a couple of inbetween sizes, but thats mainly for working on my girlfriends V70, rather than the 205.

[welshpug 1,657]

I used to have a selection till my tools got nicked, but at the moment I have a worn out Halfords 10mm which I do need to replace, an 11mm for the intermediate driveshaft bearing carrier bolts, and a 16mm.

 

13mm would be handy, I prefer the fixed head ones as the floppy ones tend to be, well floppy

 

tbh I hardly use them on my car these days as I've had almost every nut and bolt off they wont be stubborn on the threads unless they're Nyloc.

[BlueBolt 156]

Agree with the halfrauds stuff being alright for value, it's also life time garuanteed isn't it?? I know it always used to be...??

[welshpug 1,657]

it is but their guarantee doesn't cover ratchet mechanisms

[Ryan 99]

My friend has the Halfords set and they're very nice, well worth the money IMO.

 

Silverline make nothing but crap.

[rallysteve 22]

I have the Halfords set, they put up with an unbelievable amount of abuse, only ever broken one of them which was replaced FOC under warranty. Also they are currently half price £39.99 for the full set which has a useful bit holder that fits the 10mm and 3/8 drive adaptor which fits the 13.

 

Cheers Steve

[1 FAT PUG 39]

my mate has the halfords ones and says there mint, could always pop and see a snap=on man see if he has them on offer as sometimes they do, but for my bluepoint ones i think i paid about 95 quid, wasnt halfords made by draper or something.?

[JoshGti 8]

I have a draper expert set, I bought some when they first came about a few years back and whilst the ratchets put up with loads of abuse the heads went really floppy quite fast so got chatting to a draper rep and he agreed to take them back. The replacements are faultless.

 

I also have fixed head in 8,10&13mm as they take a lot more abuse and you not need a flexi head all the time!

 

They are however a lot more expensive than most.

[harryskid 193]

A 1900 head bolt was more than a match for my halfords tool, bolt stayed put, tool went !

[shalmaneser 26]

A 1900 head bolt was more than a match for my halfords tool, bolt stayed put, tool went !

 

You did up your head bolts with a ratchet spanner? I guess it's OK if you just make a tick noise with your mouth when you hit the required torque...

[welshpug 1,657]

You did up your head bolts with a ratchet spanner? I guess it's OK if you just make a tick noise with your mouth when you hit the required torque...

 

the ratchet will do that as it breaks, well before the head bolts are torqued up

[MiniGibbo 142]

Another vote for halfords here.

[Fox 3]

I've got the halfords set, I bought them about seven years ago when they had a few more in the set. They are ideal and I'm sure are guaranteed for life.

 

I snapped a 1/2 inch drive torx bit, I was being a bit silly and practically swinging off it, took it to Halfords and they opened a pack and handed me a new one! No paperwork required.

[harryskid 193]

You did up your head bolts with a ratchet spanner? I guess it's OK if you just make a tick noise with your mouth when you hit the required torque...

 

It was the crap halfords adptor for my torque wrench !

[layton1985 5]

got a mountain of tools and I started to stock up on Halfords advance to the point were I wont buy anything else I have the swivel heads had two sets of those and the non swivel I also got the full ratchet set which I use for everything I do mechanically, wouldn't ever buy draper like a hobbiest tool maker nothing lasts at all, the socket set is really good, had to add a few deep sockets to it tho like the 16, 18 etc

 

This is only my opinion and from my experience, its good to have a full matching set of spanners, I started off with a spanner in all kinds of makes at first, buy a good set once and save money.

[BlueBolt 156]

I bought the £100 kit from halfrauds a course of years ago, nothing has gone so far and I've only had to get a few extra bits to add to it, few bigger spanners and already had the flexi head ratched spanners along with needing the occasional 6 sided big socket (22mm) and hub nut sockets and bits, always gone for the halfrauds stuff tho... Pretty much the only thing (IMO) they sell in there worth getting at their prices...

[harryskid 193]

I bought the £100 kit from halfrauds a course of years ago, nothing has gone so far and I've only had to get a few extra bits to add to it, few bigger spanners and already had the flexi head ratched spanners along with needing the occasional 6 sided big socket (22mm) and hub nut sockets and bits, always gone for the halfrauds stuff tho... Pretty much the only thing (IMO) they sell in there worth getting at their prices...

 

I got one, Made in China nuff said !

[harryskid 193]

I can remember now it was the halfords star shaped bit that broke on the head bolts as i was taking the head off. We had a discussion on the forum about halfords tools and most people at the time said halfords tools were crap!

[stu8v 68 1 Cars]

Never had any issues with britool or facom and they come with if you break them they replace them warrenty.

 

I feel snap-on are a bit pants and over-rated, too big and bulky

[Lan 24 1 Cars]

I can remember now it was the halfords star shaped bit that broke on the head bolts as i was taking the head off. We had a discussion on the forum about halfords tools and most people at the time said halfords tools were crap!

 

there torx bits aren't up to much but as for the rest of there tools there more than adequate enough for the home user, plenty of guys in my work use halfords tools (there never going to be Beta or Snap-on) but they take some serious abuse and have no problems whatsoever and for the money and the guarantee you can't really complain

 

and there isn't much not made in china in someway

Edited December 11, 2011 by Lan

[Matt Holley 11]

I've never found snap on torx bits any better than halfords ones, I remember breaking a T40 halfords torx bit at work so borrowed a snap on one and broke that aswell, only upside is the snap on man will raplace it with no issues, thinking about it I'm sure the guy I worked with went through more bits with snap on than I did with halfords.

 

Halfords ratchet spanners are ok but as with any ratchet spanner they don't like being abused, you need to crack off the nut with a normal spanner for a longer life, I've gone through a few 13mm and 10mm ones.