Gearwrench has come out with new 10″ Pitbull pliers with an “Auto-Bite” feature that is said to enable one-handed jaw adjustments.
The new Gearwrench pliers, 82592C, joins their every-growing line of automotive and general purpose hand tools.
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These new 10″ pliers will launch as part of a larger Gearwrench Pitbull line of pliers, which Gearwrench says are their most advance pliers yet.
GEARWRENCH Pitbull line of pliers is GEARWRENCH’s most advanced range of industrial pliers. The Pitbull line of pliers offer the industrial / automotive technician the best grip and cut day in and day out. They are forged from alloy steel and precision machined for long life and durability. The Pitbull pliers offer unique features such as the K9 Jaws which provide a strong grip, even when on a 35° angle and a high leverage joint design which provides up to 35% greater cutting power.
Gearwrench says that with their “exclusive Auto-Bite” lever engaged, squeezing the pliers’ handles together will automatically adjust the jaw pressure to provide a strong grip.
The pliers have aggressive angled teeth for increased grip, more jaw positions – look at the rear to see additional serrations – and also Grip Zone handles for a non-marring grip. I’m guessing the Grip Zone handles are for pulling hoses or other such parts.
A pinch-stop design helps to protect your palm and fingers from getting squeezed between moving parts.
The pliers also have tether loops built into the handle ends, for attaching accessories for increased safety when working at heights.
According to the pliers’ packaging, the max jaw opening width is 2-1/8″.
Features
- Aggressive v-groove jaws
- One-handed operation
- Auto-Bite feature that can be turned on and off
- 2X gripping power with Auto-Bite clamping pressure
- Tether-ready handles
- Slim jaws
- Grip Zone handles for added functionality
Gearwrench PR has not yet responded to our request for pricing and availability information, but we expect for these pliers to be positioned in the same mid-pricepoint space as their current offerings.
If you can’t wait for these pliers to launch, Gearwrench has very many styles and sizes of pliers in their current catalog, and there are of course many other brands to choose from as well.
A closeup of the jaws shows the serrated jaws, and it looks like Gearwrench’s mention of aggressive angled teeth for more grip and added jaw positions for more versatility are spot-on.
See Also: Gearwrench 3pc Adjustable Pliers via Amazon
If you’re surprised at the gold and black handle color scheme, we wrote about Gearwrench’s brand identity changes, which kicked off 3 years ago.
Jaycob P.
Those appear to work a lot like the Kobalt self adjusting pliers, but I imagine higher build quality. I may have to check them out if I see them in stores.
Jared
I’m not sure I understand the Auto Bite feature. Is it that it automatically adjusts for different-sized objects while keeping the grips a comfortable distance apart?
It doesn’t seem like it adjusts jaw pressure from the product imagery.
I also am having trouble grasping what the knob does – I think it allows the lever to swing down. If so, then I assume the pliers work like any non-auto-adjusting pliers when the lever is kept locked? I.e. You adjust the jaw opening manually like channellock pliers, except if you activate the lever.
Stuart
Looks to me that the lever allows for normal operation or Auto-Bite activation.
The marketing language suggests that the Auto-Bite feature self-closes the jaws, but it also looks to create a compound leverage point that amplifies the jaw gripping power without requiring a gorilla-grip.
Gearwrench hasn’t provided any media information yet (aside from paid content I spotted in my search for more details), and it hasn’t reached retailers yet, so there’s no way to get to the bottom of it just yet.
Talk about one-handed operation (almost?) always suggests self-closing jaws.
fred
Maybe they work like the old Craftsman RoboGrip pliers that had a spring mechanism ?
Doug N
Yes, my thoughts also. I still have a couple robogrip pliers. They were licensed to a bunch of companies. Good tool for light duty applications.
Jared
Thanks for the clarification Stuart. I hadn’t thought about the possible compound leverage aspect. If true, that could be a pretty compelling feature at a Gearwrench price point (and presuming the pliers are otherwise good quality).
fred
Danaher – then Apex have certainly “polished” the Gearwrench brand since its modest beginnings. They took what I’m guessing was a waning brand KD Tools (founded in 1920) and morphed it into the Gearwrench brand. As I recall KD sold mostly specialty auto tools through auto parts stores – possibly more to DIY mechanics than to professionals. In their last years KD’s main completion may have been from companies like Lisle and CTA.
The first “Gearwrench” tools that I recall having seen were marked as having been made by Lea Way Tools in Taiwan. Gearwrench’s website speaks about the Ruey Yang Co. manufacturing facility built in 1965 – becoming Lea Way Tool Corporation in 1981- and now being Apex Tool Taiwan. The Gearwrench brand is said to have originated in 1995.
robert gendron
These look like the Knipex 85 01 250 Auto Adjusting Water Pump Pliers.
Stuart
I took a look and you’re right!
Maybe these were inspired by the Knipex and the design is different enough to not violate any IP.
Knipex 10″ via Amazon
TheTool
They might have the same function but they don’t even look the same.
Kizzle
How does this work? Does that little bar move from that bottom arrow up to the top arrow and leverage the bottom jaw half up towards the upper jaw? So the bar becomes the new fulcrum point?
Paul
Is this just a private branded version of Irwin’s adjustable pliers because it looks almost exactly the same right down to the blue and yellow rubber on the handles.
TheTool
Gearwrench is part of the Apex Group. Irwin isn’t part of Apex.