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Williams Breaker Bar Disappointment

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Dr.JohnnyFever

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I bent a 3/4", made-in-USA breaker bar today. I was putting about 200 lbs of force on the end of it.

I was able to flip it around and bend it back to mostly straight.

Very, very disappointing though. It makes me think that some of the rumors about them using soft steel are true.
 
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AndrewH

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Dr.JohnnyFever said:
I bent a 3/4", made-in-USA breaker bar today. I was putting about 200 lbs of force on the end of it.

I was able to flip it around and bend it back to mostly straight.

Very, very disappointing though. It makes me think that some of the rumors about them using soft steel are true.
Click to expand...

The better question is, was it able complete the job at hand? Or did you have to go get a different tool? I find it strange that it bent, I'm positive that I've put more than 200 lbs of force on my 24" Proto breaker bar with no issues, even if it does start to bend it always snaps back after the pressure is removed.

Andrew
 
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3baygarage

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The head detaches from the handle when the button is pressed in. Warranty may be possible on the handle if you can find a Williams dealer.

I don't think they would purposely make Williams "softer" or weaker as they are mainly used in industrial settings. Who knows though.
 
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Dr.JohnnyFever

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AndrewH said:
The better question is, was it able complete the job at hand? Or did you have to go get a different tool? I find it strange that it bent, I'm positive that I've put more than 200 lbs of force on my 24" Proto breaker bar with no issues, even if it does start to bend it always snaps back after the pressure is removed.

Andrew
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Yeah, I was able to finish the job.

I was completely astounded that it bent that easily also. It may have to with how it is made. The handle is nice and beefy, but its diameter gets substantially reduced to go inside the head.

I am kicking myself for not bringing it home with me to take a picture of how the head is made. I left it at the shop, 10 miles away.
 
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Dr.JohnnyFever

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3baygarage said:
The head detaches from the handle when the button is pressed in. Warranty may be possible on the handle if you can find a Williams dealer.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I had no idea it did that when I bought it. It is definitely a week point.

My question is, why would you want to separate the head and handle?
 
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nicksnothereman

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Dr.JohnnyFever said:
I bent a 3/4", made-in-USA breaker bar today. I was putting about 200 lbs of force on the end of it.

I was able to flip it around and bend it back to mostly straight.

Very, very disappointing though. It makes me think that some of the rumors about them using soft steel are true.
Click to expand...

Better to bend than to break with a lot of stuff. You know...so you don't end up at the emergency room when you end up shanking yourself.
 
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Wakefield

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Should a 3/4" breaker bar be able to develop 1000 ft. lb. of torque?
If it bends like taffy (no springiness) then I would suspect it didn't get heat treated.
If it is like the Snap On 3/4" stuff the handle and head come apart because the same handles can be used with a ratchet head. Mix and match handles and heads. Although I understand thicknesses have changed over the years so the handles and heads need to be from the same periods to fit each other.

Dinky little 1/2" drive Williams does lugnuts OK.
 
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CJM8515

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Disappointing indeed. I woulda never imagined it would bend like that. Amazing it didnt snap.

Not sure how much torque it really is, but I often use a1/2 drive 2ft breaker bar with deep impact socket to get off stubborn lugnuts while in my tow truck. Im sure stepping on it with my 200lbs fat **** is probably about the same torque and its a cheapo companion one I snagged in the sears for like 10 bucks. Sometimes I use a cheater bar with it too. Never bent.

Id see if you can warranty it.
 
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devoncoolman

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My snappy 36" 3/4 breaker bends like crazy but snaps back when i get off it. Mine is the older model with the smaller handle so it flexes pretty good.
 
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Givl Reggin

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Sounds like yours didn't get heat treated right. The heat treatment process typically produces variable results from part to part, especially when done in large batches. Since it was bent once (and then bent back!) the metal at that point has been weakened and is more prone to breakage - I would get it replaced at the first chance you get.
 
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bobcatdan

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**** happens, get it warrantied and go on with life. I'm pretty sure Williams still uses the slightly smaller diameter bar then the newer SO, but I'm not 100% sure. Not that should matter any. I've seen one guy snap the SO 36" bar right off. He was more impress he did it then piss off. I know my 3/4" Cornwell ratchet had a slight bend in, I don't care.
 
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Adam.C

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Givl Reggin said:
Sounds like yours didn't get heat treated right. The heat treatment process typically produces variable results from part to part, especially when done in large batches. Since it was bent once (and then bent back!) the metal at that point has been weakened and is more prone to breakage - I would get it replaced at the first chance you get.
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Heat treat can vary based on method and the discipline of the workers. I think a lot of Chinese made tools (including bluepoint) look like good tools, but are either made of questionable steel or are treated poorly. No way to tell which is the culprit here.

I can say this tho. Bending and bending back has work hardened that tool and created a local hard spot. That tool will very likely break next time you put a big load on it. Be careful and wear eye protection.
 
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Adam.C

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bobcatdan said:
**** happens, get it warrantied and go on with life. I'm pretty sure Williams still uses the slightly smaller diameter bar then the newer SO, but I'm not 100% sure. Not that should matter any. I've seen one guy snap the SO 36" bar right off. He was more impress he did it then piss off. I know my 3/4" Cornwell ratchet had a slight bend in, I don't care.
Click to expand...

A tiny difference in diameter makes a huge difference in bending strength. Radius to the fourth power. Ditto for torsion.

Some manufacturers make tools super beefy for this reason. Seems like the imports (not trying to bash imports) make stuff stout to account for dirty steel and poor heat treat control.

I noticed my Snap On extensions are quite slender. My guess is Snap On engineers choose better materials so they can get away with smaller cross sections that can make some tools nice to use.
 
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Dr.JohnnyFever

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Givl Reggin said:
Since it was bent once (and then bent back!) the metal at that point has been weakened and is more prone to breakage - I would get it replaced at the first chance you get.
Click to expand...



Yep. I no longer trust it for anything serious. I will be purchasing a Proto shortly.
 
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zengarage

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I bent mine too. No cheater bar. I have the ratchet head on though not the breaker head.
20131216_125040_zps823900b1.jpg
 
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Dr.JohnnyFever

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3baygarage said:
That thing is toast. If you send it to me I can dispose of it properly. ;)
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I don't know that it is toast, but I sure don't trust it.

It was bent more yesterday, but I was afraid to put my full weight on it, so I only bent it a little today.
 
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Dr.JohnnyFever

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In retrospect, if I had realized that it was made with the reduced diameter end, I probably wouldn't have bought it.

I haven't really examined it in detail before, I just grab it and use it.
 
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BDT/NWMN

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That bar and drive end a fairly recent purchase??

It still has it's new sparkle; so I have doubt that it has lived a prior life of cheater bar slavery and hydraulic press straightening that would account for a weakened state...

Dang thing should not be bending...

Ok, there are three of you guys to nag at to get your bent tools replaced: :lol:
Dr. Johnny Fever, Zengarage, Bobcatdan,,, anyone else to add to the list??? Events like these are what warranty is for: defective tools.....
 
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Givl Reggin

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Adam.C said:
Heat treat can vary based on method and the discipline of the workers.
Click to expand...

I'm aware of a couple of methods of heat treating... one involves tossing parts in a bin - the bin can be anythign from the size of a shopping cart to the size of a dump truck - and putting it into an oven... the other way involes a conveyor line where tools are layed out end to end and passed through an oven. The conveyor method produces more consistant results, but can't do the volume of the bin method. I'd be curious if they are using any other heat-treat methods today.
 
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Dr.JohnnyFever

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BDT/NWMN said:
That bar and drive end a fairly recent purchase??

It still has it's new sparkle; so I have doubt that it has lived a prior life of cheater bar slavery and hydraulic press straightening that would account for a weakened state...
Click to expand...


I bought it new from Tools Delivered last summer. It bent the third time I used it.



BDT/NWMN said:
Ok, there are three of you guys to nag at to get your bent tools replaced: :lol:
Dr. Johnny Fever, Zengarage, Bobcatdan,,, anyone else to add to the list??? Events like these are what warranty is for: defective tools.....
Click to expand...


I don't know about the other guys, but for me, the hassle factor comes into play.

Williams wants you to send the tool to either a distributor or mail it to them. I sent a message to Tools Delivered last night asking if they were the distributor in this case and got a reply back this morning with the name of my local distributor.

So, I can drive 1 hour round trip to the distributor, or I can pay shipping to Williams. Because of the size and weight of the handle, it will probably cost me $12 - $15 to mail it.

The handle was just $44 to begin with.

This is why people end up with a pile of tools they should warranty out, but never actually do.
 
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