Crowfoot vs flare nut crowfoot

[hairtrigger]

I was wondering, why would you need a regular crowfoot socket set if you already have a flare nut crowfoot socket set? I mean, wherever you would want to use a crowfoot like on a stud or turnbuckle (jam nut etc) you would be able to slide a flare nut crowfoot onto it. So why two sets? Is there something that the normal crowfoot set is better suited for?

 

[xj31]

I would say its for ease of use. Same as a wrench. I use a crowfoot when I need it, but an open end is usually easier to put on and take off a fastener.
And I have them all. Crowfoot, open end, standard and metric.

 

[hairtrigger]

But what I'm saying is, I already have the flare nut crowsfoot sockets. Why would I need to get a regular set? Is there anything they are better suited to do? I use my flare nut crowfoot sets for torquing tie rods jam nuts. Works fine.

 

[crewchief888]

all depends on what you're working on.

if you havent found a use for an open end crowsfoot, you probably dont need them.
i have a couple flare nut crowsfeet, bought them for a particularly PITA hyd tubeline/ hose on a dozer that was slightly beyond my reach. i could get to it with a crowsfoot, and 36" extension, or pull the ROPS and fuel tank.
i had already started to round off one tubeline nut, so i got a couple flarenut crowsfeet to do the job.
i use open ended crowsfeet on a lot of hyd hose and tubes, that could be considered "inaccessable" by any other means.

 

[xj31]

I know what you are saying and I agree. You don't need to get anything. I have a lot of tools I don't need. I just know the open ends are easier to use on stuff that they don't slip on. They just speed things up for me. By your logic, I would assume that you don't have any open end wrenches either. You don't need those, right?

 

[plinker]

The main difference is the open end crowfoot is straight vs the flarenut crowfoot is slightly off set. It can be helpful to have both.

 

[hairtrigger]

I don't have any flare nut wrenches, only open ended. I only work on suspensions (no brake lines as of yet), just struts, tie rods, ball joints, trailing arms. Up north you can find a lot of people that have bad suspension parts because the roads **** and the chemicals they put down eat stuff up pretty bad.

But I bought the flare nut sockets because they were cheaper than the open ended crowsfoot sockets, and more complete. Doesn't make any sense. But if I don't really need them I don't need them. Just don't wanna run into some situation where I DO need them and gotta run to the store and **** out $50 to $80 on a set of open ended crowfoots.

 

[hairtrigger]

all depends on what you're working on.

if you havent found a use for an open end crowsfoot, you probably dont need them.
i have a couple flare nut crowsfeet, bought them for a particularly PITA hyd tubeline/ hose on a dozer that was slightly beyond my reach. i could get to it with a crowsfoot, and 36" extension, or pull the ROPS and fuel tank.
i had already started to round off one tubeline nut, so i got a couple flarenut crowsfeet to do the job.
i use open ended crowsfeet on a lot of hyd hose and tubes, that could be considered "inaccessable" by any other means.

Never thought of using one on an extension to get at something. Great idea though.

 

[kruegdr]

Theyve saved my **** on a lot of brake fittings where normal brake wrenches couldn't reach or I couldn't get enough torque to them. I haven't had a need for the non-crowsfoot, and the crowsfoot that I do have have served well. Just picked up the northern tool set of english ones with a gift card. I've had a KD USA metric set that I got from Cripe which was great.

 

[diesel research]

Never thought of using one on an extension to get at something. Great idea though.

tat is one of their MAIN purposes. Combine a wide variety of "connectors" extensions, flex and or indexing ratchets to create funky shaped wrenches to reach hard to reach places.

A crowfoot won't always fit over a threaded rod to access some jamnuts.

If someone says "you don't need ___ tool" as an overall blanket statement, chances are they simply do not have enough experience to encounter such a situation. Sometimes it just takes longer than average human lifespan to find the use. That is not the case with open end crowfeet though.

I have encountered multiple different types of fasteners that a box end/socket/flarenut would not fit on. That leaves you with options like pipe wrench, adjustable, open ends, or ratcheting split wrenches.

 

[Old Donn]

The fill plug on my old Chevy's differential is an 11/16" square head with a collar around it. The only way to get at it is with either a double square socket or an 11/16" crowfoot. Doubt a flare would work on a square head, but I never tried it either.

 

[crewchief888]

Never thought of using one on an extension to get at something. Great idea though.

thats pretty much how i use all of mine.
they sometimes come in handy as a "super" stubby wrench

 

[regguy1]

thats pretty much how i use all of mine.
they sometimes come in handy as a "super" stubby wrench

We've used them on extensions for trans cooler line tube nuts for years, one employee used one with an extension and a universal, actually worked well for certain situations

 

[4x4gearhead]

I use regular open end crows feet for hydraulic lines, a lot of times the flare nut style open end wont fit over the collar of a straight hose crimp/hose.