When you’re starting out, a fitsall (adjustable wrench) can be a necessity. Heck, I couldn’t afford every single wrench size at first. So an adjustable comes into play for the sizes you don’t have, in a pinch. Certainly, you have to use it judiciously to avoid creating more problems than you solve. You learn that the hard way
That being said, I’d say I have at least three complete sets of tools along with hundreds of specialty tools and all the boxes and such to house them. I can’t recall ever throwing out a tool and so I know I have a number of crescent/adjustable wrenches. But you know what? I also have this jumbo version of it (24" I think). That, along with a giant version of slip joint pliers have bailed me out numerous times where all the other options I have failed. Last time I recalled it was able to loosen a cap on an antique drum trap. Therefore, I refuse to dis my giant adjustable wrench and its smaller brethren.
My “sheet metal” wrenches come from old motorcycle tool kits over the years. These occasionally save my bacon as well…
Yeah I don’t ever get rid of any of my tools. In fact I’m still looking for my 12" adjustable wrench that I lost over 20 years ago. I’m hoping it will still turn up. I remember using it on my trailer hitch, then going to the store and when I returned it was gone. So its either on the road somewhere or someone stole it. I was hoping there would be an ad in the paper: “FORD (found on road dead) 12” genuine Crescent wrench. Call: xxxxxxxx to claim."
Speaking of ‘sheet metal wrenches’ and motorcycles I have a box end wrench 3/4" and 13/16" that was with an old Harley that I bought and I wondered if it was from the factory. It seems that it fit quite a few commonly loosened nuts and bolts. The wrench was pressed and punched from ~3/16" steel plate but still in one piece and I’ve had it 55 years. In recent years it’s been used as a weight to throw a line over tree limbs to pull them down.
LOL, I like that one! Thanks for the chuckle.
I find adjustable wrenches very usable, but I cannot remember ever using one on a car. The idea just seems somehow wrong.
I have a couple of tool chests. My first was a Craftsman chest which consisted of a base cabinet and a top cabinet. Worked fine for years. Then I started to outgrow it.
Looked around for either add-on or replacement. Ended up buying a Husky chest from Home depot that’s double the size of my Craftsman chest. Their Christmas special was extremely hard to beat. Less then $300. And this is a good quality set for the home owner.
I recall using a large crescent wrench to hold the rack when loosening the inner tie rod end and as a weighted lever to pretension timing belts and also to loosen the spin off fans from water pumps. I have several that are mostly used for plumbing work but a large, really well made aluminum model has occasionally come in handy. Sometimes a man must call on McGyver and use whatever gets the job done.
LOL, I have a Craftsman-Husky-Craftsman stack in my basement.
I have a lower cost stack in my garage, and to be honest it works just as well. I don’t even know offhand what make it is, but it wasn’t expensive.
I like Husky stuff. My best crescent wrenches are Huskys. I bought hem to do plumbing work. I wouldn’t hesitate to get Huskys again.
It’s always fun to go to races and see those things scattered around like litter. One low-budget race team has more money in their tool rollers than I have in all of my cars.
A buddy and I used to joke about metric crescent wrenches being needed for metric fasteners. I found my 200mm one at a swap meet when I was living in California. I returned to Oregon a couple years later and presented it to my buddy. We had a good laugh.
Not exactly staying with the wrench and tool cabinet theme. I just got around to removing some Craftsman tools from a blister pack without cutting my hands. It had: pliers-needle nose pliers-linesman pliers-wire cutter-small channel lock. I am really disappointed and wish I had returned them even if they were a Christmas gift.
The only question is how much do you plan on using them.
To help answer that question,
How old is your car? How RELIABLE is your car?
Do you have a regular mechanic?
How comfortable are you with with mechanical things?
Do you know your limits? Do you know when a project is beyond your skills?
Can you troubleshoot a car issue?
Do you have a space to actually WORK on a car?
But that was expensive