Back in the early part of this year I decided to get a Crunch whilst I still could. In the UK pretty much the only place with any stock was Amazon. So I placed the order (princely sum of £149!). It arrived and looked OK. However due to being extremely busy at the time I didn't check it out any further.
On later investigation, the Crunch sadly did not seem to have undergone a very good QC process. When closed the handles left a big gap on one side and when viewed from the end clearly leaned that way. Additionally, the tools were extremely difficult to open or release using the lock, even by Leatherman new tool standards.
Unfortunately, my opportunity return it to Amazon had expired (entirely my own fault, although a warranty claim would be pointless as there weren't any in stock to replace it with anywhere - warranty claims for Leatherman products purchased via Amazon now lie with Amazon not the UK distributor)
Fast forward a few months and I've been fortunate enough to pick up a mint, pretty much NIB Crunch from 1999. The contrast between the 2 is not subtle. The unused Crunch from '99 knocks the later version into a cocked hat, alignment perfect, tools, all spot on.
Having now acquired a decent example, I decided to take a closer look at the newer Crunch. It seemed like filing down the bump slightly on the pivot (designed to keep it closed) would help alleviate the alignment issue. Which it did. However, it also meant it didn't then stay closed very well 🤣
Not wishing to be beaten I decided to make another similar 'bump' the other side (on reflection I probably should have done this to start with). I chose to drill through and use some 2.5mm brass rod to create a similar retaining 'bump'. Unfortunately the first attempt was poor as I used an unsuitable drill bit - I thought it was a carbide bit - I was wrong! So having made somewhat of a mess of that I filled that in with JBWeld (yes, yes I know!)
This time it worked OK. So, for your amusement, I offer the terrible outcome of my hacking! It needs further peening (I may also drill out the JBWeld 'scar' and put another brass bump in - quite like the colour contrast actually!)
Whilst this may appear quite poor, it does however close perfectly now and I'm happy enough, having also oiled the tools and release mech I now have a useable Crunch. (I might still dismantle the tool side to improve the release mech)
However, it did somewhat throw into question Leatherman's QC which I have found a bit iffy on some of the more recent stuff compared to older tools. Especially at the prices we're talking about.
Mint/NIB Crunch from 1999:
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