I've probably mentioned here already but one of the best things I treated myself to was a makita 400nm impact gun, total savage at removing stuff but you've got to be careful refitting stuff as it will strip threads for fun
Best metal for socket sets?
- Thread starter AnthonyH
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Best metal for socket sets?
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
I have had some halfords stuff and it is OK in metal quality but the ratched driver fell to bit and they wouldnt replace it becuase it was no longer a line they sold so the warranty is only for as long as the tools life. Their ratchet spanners have been excellent though.
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6 point sockets are 'flat' drives and fit a nut properly and drive along the entire surface of the nuts or bolt heads.
12 point only put the power through the corners of the bolt head and are much more likely to round the nuts off especially as they wear, I have never had a 6 point socket slip or break, but I have had slipping and breakages with many 12 point sockets. I probably couldnt put that much force on them now. The 12 points make it easier to 'find' a nut in a confined space. I will never again buy a 35 click ratchet. Mine are all 72 tooth jobs and I find its worth paying for the extra quality. In tight spaces a finer ratchet makes a big difference.
My last bought set is a Facom set 10 to 34mm and was bought cheap on eBay. Well half price at around £85 isnt really cheap, but it will easily outlast me. the ratchet didnt work properly which may be why it was half price. I stripped the ratchet head and wire brushed the teeth thoroughly and it has worked perfectly since. I have a power fix 1/4 inch drive set which has been excellent apart form a cheap ratched driver which failed quite quickly. A Halfords professional driver have been substituted and must be well over ten years old now. It gets a lot of use on all sizes up to 13mm. Im pretty sure ity came from Aldi or Lidl. Both sets have a highly polished chrome type finish and have resited scratching and rust
I still have my 20+ year old ratchet and it's still working well. If if died and they would not replace it, I would not be too upset, as it has more than paid for itself many many times over, But a bit annoying that they guarantee something for life but for life means as long as they make it not as long as an actual person's life.
I agree with buying 6 sided sockets and now I won't get 12 sided alternatives because they are so much more likely to round bolts
vexorg
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For 99% of jobs a decent set of 12 pointed chrome vanadium sockets will be fine. It's only the rusted or high torque bolts you need these impact type for. A bit of common sense needed on what to use when. Impact sockets wouldn't be my first choice for general maintenance.
I always buy a decent quality set, as said previously depends how much you value your knuckles, I've never gone wrong with tengtools got a 1/2 inch set that over 15 years old and they have been faultless,
vexorg
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I'd never use a impact gun for refitting nuts or bolts. I'd gone for the dewalt one, dcf899 I think, they do make life easier.I've probably mentioned here already but one of the best things I treated myself to was a makita 400nm impact gun, total savage at removing stuff but you've got to be careful refitting stuff as it will strip threads for fun
This was what screwfix had in stock and I'm the kind of person who when I'm buying something, I want it now
I guess I was deprived growing up and it's nice to be able to get the gear you struggled without for years....
I think Bergen, US Pro and Neilsen are probably one and the same? their products certainly look almost identical so probably all sourced from the same manufacturers? Anyway, I find them robust and good value for money.
Although many of my workmates bought into the Snap On "thing" I went, mostly, with Britool. Not quite so "Nice and shiny" (as rainman Ray would say) but just as competent - I'm talking about the "real" Britool stuff made before they sold out the brand. Since coming "off the tools" as a way of earning my daily bread I've bought stuff like the Bergen and Neilsen brands and find it more than adequate. The Snap On product is indisputably very well made and their big "thing" was always that they had a lifetime guarantee and would replace broken tools FOC. I think the guarantee actually stated that it was dependent on the tool being used for the purpose intended - so putting an 8ft pole on a ratchet wrench handle and then claiming for stripped teeth in the ratchet would, in theory, be refused. Have to say though that I've never heard of the local rep refusing to replace a broken tool of any sort. Mind you, I think that's part of their pricing model - charge so much for the tools that you can afford to always hand out a new one for a broken one? Of course lifetime guarantees are now "the norm" for many quality brands so that aspect isn't so important now. I think also that just having that sticker on your tool stack confers indisputable "Willy Waggling" rights on the owner. I'm sure if you turned up for your first day in the shop at a Main dealer with almost any other make of tools in your box many would tend to look down on you? Next time you're near a very smart Snap On labeled tool stack just sneak a quick look inside. Bet they're not all Snap On!
Because time is not really a factor for me now a days I tend to put stuff like sockets back into their storage slot rather than leaving them lying around which makes it much easier to pick the right size first time. I like the idea of the nail varnish though - Does she know this is why she's buying so much nail varnish though?
Mine is a Clarke Pro also bought from Machine Mart. I've noticed there are two common designs of "end" for power bars. One, like mine, has the two legged "yoke" as part of the handle whereas the other type has the "yoke" as part of the articulated square drive. I prefer the type, like mine, which has the "yoke" (who knows if it's called a "yoke", but you get the meaning?) because, over the years, I've seen a number where the square drive end has been damaged by applying "silly" forces to the handle. I've seen a number of the type I have where the square end has sheared but I've seen a couple of the other type, where the "yoke" is part of the articulated end, where the end of the bar itself broke off. This, of course renders the tool unrepairable whereas with the type I have, if the square drive shears, it leaves the handle undamaged and, in the case of the Machine Mart product, you can just nip into the store and buy a repair kit.
That saying went through my mind but I didn't quote it because I couldn't remember who to attribute it too! As you say, leverage will always win - but not always in a good way!
Totally my approach too. Having spent a number of years working in Tyre fitting (a similar operation to today's Fast Fit stores) I've had a "generic" air wrench at home for many years which is just about strong enough to do wheel bolts. What many folk don't know is you can set up a "rattle gun" to specific torque values. However most don't even try because it means researching the torque values for individual vehicles and you just don't have the time. Even if you do, most air guns are rated to work at 90 psi and the typical workshop air supply will be anywhere between 120 to 150 psi. Makes an absolute nonsense of trying to calibrate the gun!
So it's no wonder wheel nuts end up over tightened and sometimes with stripped threads. No. In my opinion, like you Vexorg, air wrenches are absolutely "Magic" and great time savers, for removing wheel nuts/bolts and other tight fixings but should never be used to fully tighten when reinstalling. I splashed out a few years ago and bought a relatively expensive and VERY powerful Chicago Pneumatic air air wrench. It can "do" something over 1000nm in reverse for removing stuff and is wonderful for undoing really tight wheel bolts, crank pulley bolts and the like - absolutely "monsters" them! Interestingly it has a "gentle" setting for installing stuff you later would prefer to torque tighten like wheel nuts, however I prefer to just spin them on by hand before using the torque wrench. Bit of a recent change for me as I've tended to just do up wheel nuts/bolts until they're "nice n' tight". After so many years you definitely get a "feel" for how tight is tight enough. However what with alloy wheels etc being now the norm I'm tending to always actually torque wheel nuts.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
You have it there not to fully tighten. I have a pretty lightweight Ryobi impact gun, it does around 180Nm if you really work it. Its only the size of a small electric drill so good for things like the Pandas drop links. I use it all the time to run things up but as its a variable torque on the trigger a light squeeze does little more than nipping things up. Wheel nuts you can give quite a bit more.. 2nd stage seems to be about 50lb/ft so ideal leaving the last bit for the torque wrench. Im so used to it now I can get the wheel nuts so its really just 1/8th of a turn to torque them. Disadvantage of this tool is its not got the power to undo as much as I would like. Saying that, it does get the caliper bolts out of Pandas which needs a lot of muscle otherwise.
You boys and your breaker bars. LOL I have the short bar from my original Hilka socket set and a couple of bits of iron water pipe with screw on straight couplings that stop the threaded ends chewing up my palms. Has the advantage of being telescopic. ALl this torque of the different types is tempting me to spash out though.
I have a makita impact driver though not as powerful as the one mentioned above, great for winding nuts on and off rapidly but I’d not use it for a final tightening
I also got recently, an electric ratchet which is brilliant for winding things on and off, brilliant on small fastenings and things like clamps and brackets and smaller fastenings
I also got recently, an electric ratchet which is brilliant for winding things on and off, brilliant on small fastenings and things like clamps and brackets and smaller fastenings
I think there's a case to be made for both. With a breaker bar, even if you've got to use a piece of pipe with it, you have a sense as to whether it's going to undo or shear. The impact wrench, not so much so. However it has the advantage of imparting shock to the workpiece which may well break away a corroded fixing which might snap if a slow steady increasing pressure is applied as would be the case with a power bar. The impact wrench is very handy, if you manage to get an initial movement of the fixing, to then soak it with release oil then run the nut/bolt in and out and in and out a few turns at a time until it finally winds all the way out. This also creates heat which further helps the process.
I've been sorely tempted to buy a powered ratchet wrench - I'd probably go with air as I have the compressor. I seem to get on just fine with my hand tools though so I'm resisting as of now - a battery condition tester is far more tempting and then a Super Capacitor type jump start pack, both of which would have been ever so helpful last weekend when my youngest boy's wifes car's battery failed. On the other hand I managed to jump start it and we drove it to his local Halfords where they used a sophisticated Yuasa battery tester to definitively condemn the battery, all FOC. I've now had experience of this FOC testing service they offer at both my local Seafield branch and his Straighton branch and I can strongly recommend it if you suspect you may have a weak battery. I was then able to buy a new Yuasa battery for almost exactly what one from Tayna would have cost me by using my Halfords Trade Card. I've said this before, if you can qualify for one of their trade cards then there's big savings to be made at Halfords folks. Getting back to tools though, the trouble is I could just go on buying all this stuff and never run out of more stuff I'd like - and the manufacturers keep on coming out with more "tasty" stuff all the time!
vexorg
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There are certain bolts I'd not be happy with a ratchet on, like hub nuts, where you can have a 3 foot bar, and full weight bouncing on the end of it to get it to move.
At the garage I use, I recently had a new tyre fitted for the multi, and he did it while I waited. Initially used a breaker bar to 'crack' the bolts, then the power wrench to remove. When refitting, ran the bolts up with the wrench, (I thought, Oh no!) but he then did the final tightening with a manual torque wrench. He said he always sets the power wrench slightly lower than the final torque, then uses the manual wrench to get them 'dead right'. Said you get a feel for the right moment on the manual one, just before it 'clicks' Quite impressed, considering the 'fast fit' wallahs just 'gun it up' and let it go like that..
I would say that a battery ratchet has its advantages in getting it into smaller spaces and tight spots. No wires or pipes to have to feed into it. The makita one has its down side the reverse switch it fitted to the head which means taking it out switching it and then putting it back rather than some others that you can flick a switch on the handle. The switch on the makita is very similar to a normal ratchet in that it’s mechanical. That said it’s plenty powerful and so far I have never needed to change the battery while using it.
It shares the same batteries as my impact (LXT battery type) my intention is to also get some woodworking tools that use the same batteries.
I’m not overly bothered about car battery tools, I have a modern smart charger and a old 6 amp dumb charger with cars needing the battery coding in these days if it fails I’m likely going to have to get a garage to code it. On the likes of my old mk1 Punto the battery is so basic and small it’s no hardship just to change it should their be a problem
Yeah, I know, it's an indulgent luxury. Probably won't get much use but I still want one. Actually, thinking "sensibly" now. I'd be better spending the money on that capacitor jump start pack I've fancied for about the last two years.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
I do agree, the bar in question is like a 10 breaker, no ratchet. I do worry that the hinge pin will shear one day but its taken a lot more force over the years than I am capable of exerting now so hopefully it will be good. Ratchet handles have limits and some are easily broken. I must have gone through 5 or 6 over the years, so I treat them with caution even though the current one is way the best quality.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
I might invest in a reasonable bar as I have to look at the rear brakes on teh Pandas at some point. Maybe I can find a second hand one. I dont suppose it will be getting a great deal of use. There would be no pint trying my little impact gun on the rear hubs as they will be done tighter than it t can go.. All this torque remonds me of my last company Vectra. They did a service and did the wheels up so tight I turned the crank handle whhel brace until it looked like a cosrk screw before resorting to my short breaker and 5 foot of scaffold pole. Even that was taxing. We had a few word and they unwillingly supplied a new wheel brace. Just as well I check these things or I could have been caught out out of hours in the middle of nowhere. This reminds me I need to undo and re torque the wheels on the new Panda. (which is still changing names... will it be Daisy?? Not really a name for a Panda I think. It needs something muscular lol) Im actually expecting this to be good as everything else bar the duckbills has been. They have even treated the rusty air intake bracket under the bonnet!
