Why aren't dog bone wrenches popular nowadays?

[qqzj]

8 common sizes on a handle, rotating head and hard to lose. Seems a great idea to me. But they're getting rare now. Why is that? Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[bonneyman]

I think it's a holdover from old when folks couldn't afford overflowing sets of tools. Plus cars and such were simple and easy to fix with minimal tools. So a pocket tool with 8 different size hex holes on it would work on low torque bolts for whatever drove into the shop. Sort of like the ubiquitous farmers pliers back then. Everyone had a pair then - now, they're collector pieces. JMHO.

Nowadays cars are so damn complicated they need 4 computers to run them, and those that work on them need an ever increasing number of specialized tools. Plus mechanics have tool trucks show up with 10,000 and 1 tools in shiny boxes and all can be have if you sign on the dotted line.

 

[SeisMec]

I'm not sure bone wrenches have ever been popular with anyone other than grease monkeys doing an endless series of oil change. Too many places where X hex size won't fit because of the other hex sizes stuffed on to the same end of the wrench.

Amazon has no shortage of obscure brand bone wrenches.

 

[justanengineer]

I was actually amazed a decade or so ago when Cman started remaking them. A few had come into my shop in antique lots and gone back out in buckets of random/Chinesium tools that the wife sells on Craig’s for me occasionally. Personally I always thought they were a fairly useless novelty.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[510ebl]

I'm not sure bone wrenches have ever been popular with anyone other than grease monkeys doing an endless series of oil change. Too many places where X hex size won't fit because of the other hex sizes stuffed on to the same end of the wrench.

Amazon has no shortage of obscure brand bone wrenches.

I received one by Craftsman as a gift maybe ten years ago. I only use it for oil changes for some reason, it lives in the drawer with all of the filter wrenches. At least I am not alone in that!

 

[B_Bimmer]

Bloated piece of junk that is guaranteed to frustrate and almost never have the size you need, what's not to love?

 

[Fedwrench]

Probably because, it might sound appealing, might look good on paper but, it ***** in application.

 

[Kscardsfan]

Probably because, it might sound appealing, might look good on paper but, it ***** in application.

My experience with them as well. Kind of like the Craftsman pocket socket. Neat idea, useless in execution.

 

[Mechanical Noise]

Dog bone wrenches will make a big comeback when Harbor Freight does a deep dive into the Father's Day gift market like Craftsman did.

 

[joe_padavano]

Probably because, it might sound appealing, might look good on paper but, it ***** in application.

^^^THIS!

These are gimmick tools and belong in the clearance bins at Tractor Supply and NAPA (which is where you usually see them).

 

[SeisMec]

Dog bone wrenches will make a big comeback when Harbor Freight does a deep dive into the Father's Day gift market like Craftsman did.

My mom could not understand why the screwdriver/flashlight she got dad for Christmas sat in the drawer and never saw use.

 

[BukitCase]

My son (old enough to know better) bought me one years ago (DeWalt branded, IIRC) - I'm pretty sure he just didn't have the money for a REAL tool...

Built my first SBC 60 years ago, so I tend to stay away from tools thought up by desk jockeys... Steve

 

[Dumber than lumber]

8 common sizes on a handle, rotating head and hard to lose. Seems a great idea to me. But they're getting rare now. Why is that? Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

Are you serious? Who would use those abominations, unless they had no choice?
Did SnapOn make them? How about Craftsman?
Those are for children of single digit ages.

 

[darkzero]

Personally I always thought they were a fairly useless novelty.

Same here. But to be fair I've never used one. They just seem too bulky & cumbersome to use.

 

[bob15]

Were dogbone wrenches ever popular?

I always considered them a gimmick.

 

[RTM]

Too short for real leverage, too fat for many applications. What’s not to hate?

 

[ike]

i just don't see the need for them. my bionic wrench and gator socket cover all my needs.

 

[X1 Mike]

Great Fathers Day gift.











If you hate your father.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[qqzj]

Didn't expect so much hate for such a tool. I thought it is a good idea to bring one in the car. A local guy is selling a Craftsman one. You guys might have saved me $10. adios!

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[darkzero]

Were dogbone wrenches ever popular?

I think junkyard dog mechanics liked em.

 

[justintendo]

nowhere near as useful as stubby ratchets
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=475296

 

[slowtwitch73]

Just needs to be rebranded as 'tactical multi tool'.

 

[icthruu74]

I used to have one in the seat bag of my 10-speed 30 years ago...

 

[McFarmer]

Local mechanic uses one for oil changes, has all the sizes right there.

 

[BFHtime]

i just don't see the need for them. my bionic wrench and gator socket cover all my needs.

This is one of the funniest posts I have seen in a while.

Thank you

 

[guitarbutt]

As I discovered on here and put to use in real life, very handy for oil changes. Saves time and can do that effectively, assuming an idiot gorilla didn't use an impact gun to torque the drain plug back in

 

[driftpin]

Reading the responses, if you change oil all-day long, the 'dogbone wrench' is your go-to, for all the different sizes you may encounter.

icthruu74's comment about "I had one in my 10-speed's tooolbag," at-least gave me memories of my time when a bicycle was my primary means of transportation. However, I don't think I ever bought one, or asked-for one, though with three older brothers, I have vague memories of one of these somewhere in the tools on the workbench. The shape of the tool prevented it from being used on many fasteners. With the apparent utility of it for oil-changers, I didn't see much-use for it now, or then.

I'm trying to think of another 'nearly-useless tool,' and I suppose some of the 'multi-tool designs' come to-mind. I carry a Leatherman micra on my keychain and I find that useful. One multi-tool I think doesn't fill the bill, is the one like a credit card which has stepped spacing for use on nuts, which would have so-many interference issues, it would be discarded in-frustration, from trying to make it work. https://levergear.com/toolcard/?gcl...-IGdGT4onGAZ3sIbcv-PvStebnKEOPOxoClOMQAvD_BwE What other useless tools are out-there? The Gator-Socket was already-mentioned, along-with the Bionic Wrench. The former I know-of, the latter, I'm gonna have-to google. I did. Oh, that-thing!

Here's a tool I found when searching for the Bionic Wrench. You wear it on your finger. I can actually see where that might be suitable for starting nuts in confined spaces.
https://www.youmagine.com/designs/finger-wrench-digit-spanner

 

[jmarkwolf]

Now THIS is a dogbone wrench!

I use to work on my bicycle with one of these when I was a kid.

Still have a couple.

 

[demarpaint]

Now THIS is a dogbone wrench!

I use to work on my bicycle with one of these when I was a kid.

Still have a couple.

I used them as a kid on bikes as well. By today's standards they're total garbage imo.

 

[pepi]

Apparently they were not worth a ****, and they were not. Easy to see why just look at the picture. Self explanatory cheap castings .

 

[AA/FC]

I keep this handy tool hanging on the wall in my shop, just in case...

I'm not sure if that is Japanese, or Chinese writing on the package, but it came from the "100 Yen store" in Japan about 15 years ago.

It has a little bit of a dog bone shape to it.

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

I'm still waiting for the updated version of the dogbone wrench that features 8 sizes of E - torx. Then it still won't fit anything due to it's bulkiness!

 

[anndel]

I have them in my 3 vehicles emergency tool boxes. Uncle gave me 2 Craftsmans for Christmas presents back in the 1980s and I bought another a couple years later.

 

[rickpaulos]

My mom could not understand why the screwdriver/flashlight she got dad for Christmas sat in the drawer and never saw use.

And now all cordless drills have lights built in. And those are great.

 

[Skin]

Local mechanic uses one for oil changes, has all the sizes right there.

Problem with this is the leverage. Dog bone wrenches are only ~10". Oil plugs and oil filter housings are often fairly [over]tight. Most drain plugs also have torque specs of around 20ish foot pounds. You can use it for LOFs but a ratchet and a handful of sockets on a rail is more practical.

 

[anndel]

Deleted, wrong thread.

 

[Jweebothee]

Problem with this is the leverage. Dog bone wrenches are only ~10". Oil plugs and oil housings are often fairly [over]tight. Most drain plugs also have torque specs of around 20ish foot pounds. You can use it for LOFs but a ratchet and a handful of sockets on a rail is more practical.

Agree, dog bones seem useful, but in application…… they really ****, too bulky, I prefer my long handle rat and sockets

 

[demarpaint]

I used them as a kid and found them to be total ****, got rid of them and I'm not looking back.

 

[Mikeske]

Never used one and never owned one. I have seen them in the late 1970’s in a scrap metal bin in the Air Force if I remember correctly. At least there they can be sent back to China and melted down for something useful like a beer can opener.

 

[Ton ton]

I find that these goofy wrenches break too easily. Of course you can't warranty them. I would use them if they had decent steel.