I've owned these Platinum Tech Ratcheting Wrenches for about two years now and they have quickly become one of my go-to tools. The offset box end makes them great for nuts or bolts tucked away in tight hard to reach areas that you can't quite get a 3/8 or 1/4 ratchet with a shallow socket into and the 180 degree flex-ends allows for even greater accessibility but there are occasions when using the wrenches in a confined space that the offset box-end can restrict access of the wrench, whereas a flat non-offset ratchet wrench would work well for the job. It depends on the application but more often than not, I found it's an advantage to have. The body of the wrench feel strong and rigid but the ratcheting mechanism inside sort of sounds cheap as it rotates, this hasn't mattered though, as I've used these to break loose some very stubborn bolts and have yet, to have one break. One of the drawbacks of this set is the location of the directional switch, when ratcheting in a tight area the switch can accidentally get pressed against something and reverse direction. In this case—If there's enough room—I tend to just keep ratcheting but keep the rotations short so the switch does not get pressed but if there's just not enough room, I'll unfortunately have to switch to a different tool. One other issue is that over time, debris will eventually work it's way into the switch mechanism and jam it in-between the two positions, making it freewheel or just difficult to flip the switch; I found this mostly with the 10mm/8mm wrench(which I had to warranty once). There are all kinds of useful applications for these wrenches and one of the most common for me, is gaining access to automatic serpentine belt tensioner. They're especially helpful where tight access won't allow you to use a serpentine belt removal tool. Another area they've been a great help is in loosening window regulator bolts—primarily when a regulator is jammed at an inconvenient point. And lastly, braking lose/tightening water pump pulley bolts on traverse engines, where the lack of clearance between the pulley and frame can be a challenge. But I've used these wrenches for everything from confined interior work to heavy suspension work and they never let me down(knock on wood).
The wrenches have a spherical splined twelve point design. One tip: I personally wouldn't use these wrenches on a fastener that is slightly rounded(anymore than 25%), as it risks rounding the bolt even further and makes the wrench difficult to remove from the rounded fastener. At that point, I would stop and grab a 6-point socket, wrench or find other means to break loose the fastener.
This set is priced well too, comparing them to other competitive ratcheting box-end wrenches—not an true comparison since nobody I found has double box-end flexible ratchet wrenches like these—whether it's Snap-On, MAC, MATCO or Cornwell tools, they are anywhere $60 to $150 less expensive. They do come with a limited lifetime warranty. You can send back the wrench that broke to the place of purchase and they will return a replacement wrench to you.
Overall, they're great. These Platinum wrenches are used daily by our shop .
~Purchase Link~
Pros
Length/Leverage
Offset 180 Degree Flexible Ends.
Solid Design.
Competitively Priced.
Cons
In a confined area, directional buttons can get pressed accidentally.
