Best Crowfoot Wrenches For Hard To Reach Fasteners On Your Engine

posted in: Articles, Hand Tools | 0

crowfoot wrenches
Click here to see examples of crowfoot wrenches.
Imagine a world where every bolt was easy to access with the most basic of tools. You never have to use an extension or swivel socket. We’d never have to bend our bodies in to the worst positions imaginable just to reach that one stubborn bolt. Working on cars would be so much easier.

Well, that world doesn’t exist. Bolts will always be hard to reach, and sometimes, you’re going to have to bend up like a pretzel to reach them. On the bright side, there are tools that can make things a lot easier though.

Crowfoot wrenches are like a cross between a traditional open end wrench and a socket, and they are perfect when you have limited space to work around a bolt or nut. Since they aren’t a socket, they have a much lower profile and can get in areas that sockets can’t. Crowfoot wrenches also give you some angle adjustability to make applying torque easier when you are working in a tricky position.

Crowfoot wrenches are also very handy when you need to apply measured torque to a nut that is unreachable with a socket. Instead of making a guess about how much torque you are applying, you can do it the right way using the torque wrench you already have.

The Best Crowfoot Wrench Set

tekton crowfoot wrenches
buybutton
Just like traditional box and open end wrench sets, there are qualities that separate the good crowfoot wrenches from the bad. Strength, finish, sizing and fit are all just as important with a crowfoot wrench as with traditional wrenches such as combination wrenches.

After trying many different sets, and being disappointed with more than a few of them, we finally found or favorite. Our pick for the best crowfoot wrench set is the Tekton 2580 3/8-Inch Drive Crowfoot Wrench Set in Metric, as well as the Tekton 2575 3/8-Inch Drive Crowfoot Wrench Set in Standard. Other than metric/standard sizing, both sets are identical and each comes with 10 individual wrenches.

Just like the traditional wrenches we have from Tekton, these crowfoot sets are made with quality in mind. The forged and hardened steel is plated in a smooth chrome finish to resist rust and corrosion.

Tekton throws in a steel wrench organizer rail to keep the set together and organized until you need to use them. For some reason, crowfoot wrenches can disappear in a tool box, so having a dedicated rail just for them makes keeping track of them much easier.

Every size in each set fit snug on the correctly sized bolts. This is very important with an open end wrench design. Tekton built these wrenches with a good amount of material around both sides of the wrench, and as such they are stout enough that you are unlikely to bend these wrenches even with heavy abuse. That said, if the wrenches ever do malfunction over time, Tekton backs them with a lifetime warranty.

In the metric set, you’ll get all the common sizes from 10mm – 24mm, and in the standard set, you’ll get the common sizes from 3/8” – 1”. If you need larger sizes than what comes in the kit, there are jumbo kits available from Tekton as well.

When we use a crowfoot wrench, we use one of these two great sets from Tekton. We have been very impressed with them and highly recommend both sets. The price is right, the tools are high quality, and they have a lifetime warranty. That is all we need from our hand tools.

Like with many tools, we found the best price at Amazon thanks to the competitive pricing. Overall we think that the Tekton makes the best crowfoot wrenches around and that you’ll be highly satisfied should you choose them. Happy wrenching!

To see more pictures, read more reviews, and get the current price, click here.