When I bought my wash, I went to HF and bought a wrench set up to 1-1/4 and also bought several sizes of adjustable wrenches and pipe wrenches. I keep them at the wash. That was over eight years ago...Not a single one has let me down...If I was running a construction company and used one daily, I'd look for better quality.
Recommendation for an 18" adjustable wrench
- Thread starter OurTown
- Start date
wash4me
Member
2Biz is right. You don't need great tools for carwash work. If you want to get particular there is RARELY a case where you should use a crescent instead of an actual wrench. Less busted knuckles, rounded fasteners and less cussing with wrenches. Buy a complete wrench set including the bigger sizes.
Greg Pack
Wash Weenie
I use adjustable wrenches mostly. I keep an 8" in my pouch and a 10" and 12" in my tool bag. Its a lot lighter than a full set of wrenches. A decent one definitely has less slop in the fit and seems to work better than the poorly made ones. I have very few problems with slipping and rounding. But I also don't overtorque fittings.
OurTown
Well-known member
I could not imagine having all those huge wrenches at the wash. We do keep a set of combination wrenches that go up to 3/4" though.
OurTown
Well-known member
I agree and can actually get a tighter fit with a good crescent.
MEP001
Well-known member
I also keep a set of SAE and Metric combination wrenches, but I rarely use them, especially the normal day-to-day stuff like changing hoses. If I need to change a hose/gun/swivel I need at least three different size wrenches, and they're not even the same at both ends.
A good crescent won't round off a brass fitting unless it's overtightened, in which case an open-end wrench will do the same thing.
A good crescent won't round off a brass fitting unless it's overtightened, in which case an open-end wrench will do the same thing.
They all fit in small tool box that fits under the work bench. I measured some of the bigger items like the unloaders when I got the wrenches. I also bought a screw driver and tool belt (Sort of) that fits over the rim of a 5 gallon bucket. The screw drivers fits in individual pouches on the outside and bigger stuff fits in the center in the bucket. The tool box and bucket doesn't really take up that much room and contains enough tools to work on anything at the wash. It would be really frustrating if I needed to work on something at the wash and I didn't have the right tools. Even though I only live three blocks from the wash!
