These ratcheting wrenches from Gear Wrench are simply one of the greatest designs I’ve seen for box or open ended wrenches.  I’ve wanted ratcheting wrenches for quite a while, and now I think this is the type of set I’ll save my pennies for. 

The ratcheting head allows you to get into tighter spaces than a socket set.  That would have been helpful replacing the thermostat housing on a BMW 528i this past weekend.  While I did have an appropriate box or open end wrench that could get into the space, every time I did get it on the bolts I needed to turn, I could only turn  a little bit before I had to remove the wrench and again search for the bolt I could not see. 

The head of these wrenches have another additional feature that makes them great.  The “flex head” on these wrenches allows you to adjust the offset.   What does that mean?  It means that if you have a really tight space to get into, you can try different angles for sending the wrench in. 

I’ll still keep a set of non-ratcheting wrenches around for really high torque situations, but these would definitely save some time working on the BMW or Dodge Caravan.  Both vehicles have seriously cramped engine compartments where these wrenches would come in handy. 

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