Ken-Tool: "Wherever Tires Are Changed"

Private Lugnutz · Feb 1, 2021

I found this ugly, bulky, forged piece of fat *** multi-wrench at the flea market the other day and it led me to a few discoveries, including the fact that we didn’t have a Ken-Tool Manufacturing Company thread. (We do now!)

Staying with the wrench, for a moment, it's kind of hard to read with the cadmium finish, but it reads "G-15" and "FORD AND MANY OTHERS" over "KEN-TOOL AKRON, O."

It nearly weighs in at 2 lbs (1 lb 11 ozs., to be exact).

My first thought was, ‘Not a wrench for weaklings’!

My second thought was that it wasn’t finished. There were no openings. I thought maybe it came off the line too soon, inadvertently, or as a reject, perhaps because it failed a QA check.

My third thought was, ‘It sure as hell looks like a drain plug wrench. But WTF was the company that everyone knows as ‘the tire guys’ (I mean, their slogan is “Wherever Tires Are Changed”) doing selling drain plug wrenches?

Private Lugnutz · Feb 1, 2021

A 1950 catalog with a rather Space-Agey looking cover solved the riddles. They did make drain plug wrenches, and, while these G-15 models do show up with through-hole openings (like most female drain plug wrenches...) later, they were initially designed like this, at least as late as 1950.

Private Lugnutz · Feb 1, 2021

I have pretty much ignored Ken-Tool as a collector. This drain plug wrench is not the first Ken-Tool tool I have ever seen at a flea market, but it is the first one I have ever decided to bring home. As it turns out, Ken-Tool has a very interesting history!

They got their start, in 1925, as the Kennedy Tool Company, funded by Cornwell CEO J. Frank Kemmerline (alluded to by GJ member MR. X in a post on the Herbrand thread linked here).

Their middle period was just bizarre. In 1938, a Plumb/Plomb-like Cornwell lawsuit prevented Kennedy Tool Company founder and namesake (John A. Kennedy) from using his own last name as a trademark or as a company name (hence the shortened Ken-Tool!) for the new company he started after a rift with Kemmerline on the direction the company should take. In 1958, Ken-Tool was so dominant in the market that they were able to buy Kennedy Tool Company back from Cornwell! Talk about a long, persistent, and dramatic Tou-friggin'-che! :lol:

In 1970 they had the (dis)honor of being one of the original three companies (along with Crescent and Weller) that comprised Cooper, one of the earliest conglomerates that ruined the independent spirit of US tool manufacturing forever. And that’s about as far as my interest goes, but I will add that after a long bout with Warren Tool (the era when they also owned Columbian vises…), in 1994 they finally gained their independence again.

Their website has a nice article on their history (with at least one glaring error), from which most of my summary was derived, linked here, but you really should watch the video version, which includes a rapid-fire timeline of their logos and lot of period photographs of their facilities and tools, linked here.

Private Lugnutz · Feb 1, 2021

I was keenly interested in this section of their website history...

"The forties brought World War II, and new challenges as U.S. industry geared up for the war effort. During the war, Ken-Tool developed a special tool to remove tires from the rims of B-29 bombers. This was a unique and costly problem for the Air Corps because of the tremendous heat generated when landing in Northern Africa. Before this tool was developed, planes were literally grounded in the desert because there was no way to remove their tires, which had actually cured themselves to the rims. Lydle received his first patent for this rim tool and was awarded the Army E award by the war department. A second E Award was earned by Ken-Tool for manufacturing forged firing pins for large guns, and an unprecedented third E Award was given for developing special tire and wheel tools for jeeps and other military vehicles."

...frankly, because Ken-Tool just doesn't have that big of a name in the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) community, especially not among WWII tool collectors.

I was already suspicious of the third E Award rationale (jeep on-board toolkit rim tools did not include Ken-Tool, and 2nd echelon service tools were provided by Kent-Moore and Miller) and then Provincial and Old Radar pointed out in the Garage Sale thread, where I first reported this tool, as always, linked
here, that B-29's were not stationed in North Africa.

I will have more to say on this later.

Private Lugnutz · Feb 1, 2021

I've been doing a little digging online to avoid digging snow outside.

Ken-Tool Manufacturing Company was established with $100,000 capital on July 11, 1938. They TM'ed "KEN-TOOL" on September 8, 1942. For first use, they claimed "Ken" since January 1938 and "Ken-Tool" since February 1941. (How weird is it that the guy who first invented a tire iron for removing tires in 1920, and formed the first company in 1925, couldn't cite those dates associated with his own last name due to the weird split from and legal entanglements with the Kennedy Tool Company, which Cornwell owned!)

Private Lugnutz · Feb 1, 2021

Returning to the topic of the website company history wartime claims.

First of all, I confirmed that they did indeed receive three (3) Army-Navy E Awards.

I started looking into this one...

"During the war, Ken-Tool developed a special tool to remove tires from the rims of B-29 bombers. This was a unique and costly problem for the Air Corps because of the tremendous heat generated when landing in Northern Africa. Before this tool was developed, planes were literally grounded in the desert because there was no way to remove their tires, which had actually cured themselves to the rims. Lydle received his first patent for this rim tool and was awarded the Army E award by the war department."

Again, according to Provincial and Old Radar, it couldn't have been B-29's in North Africa. It was either B-29's in Asia, or some other aircraft (i.e., B-17's, B-24's, B-25's, and B-26's) in North Africa. I am willing to forgive them this error.

Based on the hint provided by the emboldened line, I think they have to be referring to this patent (D139,420, granted Nov 14, 1944). It's the only patent granted to John E. Lydle during WWII.

Does anyone recognize it?

I have asked some WWII colleagues to ask around with warbirds and see if we can identify it.

Private Lugnutz · Feb 1, 2021

I also think I have this one figured out..

"...an unprecedented third E Award was given for developing special tire and wheel tools for jeeps and other military vehicles."

For context, before I jump into the tool itself, there is nothing unprecedented about winning three (3) Army-Navy E Awards. Staying just with hand tools, Plomb Tool Company won four (4) of them. Bonney Tool and Forge won three (3). South Bend Lathe Works won four (4). Springfield Armory and Remington won four (4) each. IBM won seven (7) and Fafnir, the ball bearings company, won a whopping twelve (12). * But I can forgive their hyperbole. They are justifiably proud of their contributions to the war effort.

Ken-Tool was awarded a patent (2,344704) on May 13, 1941 for a special tire iron used, in the terms of their own patent and marketing, "for removing pneumatic tires from so-called safety drop center rims." See Pic 3. And their catalog images and description of this tool (see Pic 2) matches the images and description of a 41-I-775 tire iron in WWII manuals (see Pic 1). This was actually their second such tool. The first, patented in 1941 (2,241,886), based on the same tire tool that put the company on the map in the Antique/Brass Era, was overly complicated, with interconnected levers and screws.

They had a contract worth $81,000 with the US Ordnance Dept to make these 41-I-775 tire irons in 1945. See Pic 4. They were issued to 4th echelon tool-sets, which were located deep in the rear. I don't own one. And the only versions I have ever seen were postwar. See Pics 5 & 6.

One last comment on this: I can forgive them for associating the most popular and iconic vehicle of WWII, the jeep, with their "special tire and wheel tools", but note that Willys MB and Ford GPW jeep combat wheels did not have drop center rims. They had split rims. You remove the tires by deflating them, removing the rim nuts, and pulling the two pieces apart.

* Thanks to Steve (gpw_42) for the handy E Awards statistics.

Farmer J. · Feb 1, 2021

Reading that was more interesting than shovelling snow.. Nice thread Lugz, and good research too.

theoldwizard1 · Feb 1, 2021

Segue - Removing/installing tires on to drop center rims

is 25% muscle, 25% tools and 50% technique.

One of the (several) different mistakes that people make when removing/installing tires is only having 2 "spoons". A third smaller one is handy.

Private Lugnutz · Feb 1, 2021

theoldwizard1 said:
Segue - Removing/installing tires on to drop center rims... [ ]...is 25% muscle, 25% tools and 50% technique.

One of the (several) different mistakes that people make when removing/installing tires is only having 2 "spoons". A third smaller one is handy.

Interesting you should say that. Their c. 1920 Pacific Rim Tool had three arms.

Removing split rims is 25% muscle, 25% tools, and 50% is your life insurance policy up to date?!

Private Lugnutz · Feb 1, 2021

Farmer J. said:
Reading that was more interesting than shovelling snow.. Nice thread Lugz, and good research too.

Thanks, J. Check out the Lugzsonian thread later. I just got a wonderful surprise outside.

Provincial · Feb 1, 2021

Jeep "combat" rims are very safe to inflate compared to truck split rims. The Jeep rims are held together by many studs/nuts, which are easy to inspect and unlikely to suddenly fail. The truck rims are held together by a large ring that fits in a groove formed into the main part of the rim. After the tire is installed on the main rim, an outer rim is slipped over the extended part of the main rim, followed by this retaining ring. The ring has some spring tension that helps locate it in the groove, but the design relies on a recess in the outer rim to lock the retaining ring in place.

It is possible to not get the retaining ring seated properly, and if the tire is inflated with it not seated, the ring and outer rim fly off at high velocity. This happened (and still does) more often than one would think, and often with fatal results. OSHA requires split rims be inflated in a strong cage to catch the flying parts if this happens, but this is often ignored. It is rare to see split rims still in use on a large truck, but it is still the standard for large tires on heavy equipment, like front end loaders and scrapers.

I am seeing more of the lock ring tire irons at sales lately. They have a little hook built into them to snag the ring and extract it, along with sort of an L shape. I find that these can be modified into specialty pry bars, and they sell for very little.

TRWham · Feb 2, 2021

Private Lugnutz said:
...

Again, according to Provincial and Old Radar, it couldn't have been B-29's in North Africa. It was either B-29's in Asia, or some other aircraft (i.e., B-17's, B-24's, B-25's, and B-26's) in North Africa. I am willing to forgive them this error.
...

There was early consideration of operating B-29s out of Africa into Europe so maybe they (USAAF) were just preparing for the possibility even if it never happened. And later, Twentieth Air Force B-29s were ferried through North Africa to bases in India. They were then forward deployed to bases in China from which they bombed Japanese targets first in China and elsewhere, then later Japan.

MR.X · Feb 3, 2021

Private Lugnutz said:
...........

They got their start, in 1925, as the Kennedy Tool Company, funded by Cornwell CEO J. Frank Kemmerline (alluded to by GJ member MR. X in a post on the Herbrand thread linked here).

Their middle period was just bizarre. In 1938, a Plumb/Plomb-like Cornwell lawsuit prevented Kennedy Tool Company founder and namesake (John A. Kennedy) from using his own last name as a trademark or as a company name (hence the shortened Ken-Tool!) for the new company he started after a rift with Kemmerline on the direction the company should take. In 1958, Ken-Tool was so dominant in the market that they were able to buy Kennedy Tool Company back from Cornwell! Talk about a long, persistent, and dramatic Tou-friggin'-che!

Lugz....thanks for the credit.....Here's a random Kennedy Tool I picked up locally years ago.

Private Lugnutz · Feb 3, 2021

Whoa! Dude, that is old. That is not only pre KEN-TOOL Mfg Co (1938), that is pre Kennedy Tool Company (1925). That has to be the tire iron John A. Kennedy was making onesy-twosy before Cornwell staked him in 1925. Nice. Thanks for posting.

MR.X · Feb 3, 2021

Private Lugnutz said:
Whoa! Dude, that is old. That is not only pre KEN-TOOL Mfg Co (1938), that is pre Kennedy Tool Company (1925). That has to be the tire iron John A. Kennedy was making onesy-twosy before Cornwell staked him in 1925. Nice. Thanks for posting.

There's a photo of the same style 'Kennedy Tire Iron" online that looks like it's stamped "Mfd. by Marquette Mfg Co. St. Paul Minn"

Private Lugnutz · Feb 3, 2021

I think he was using multiple shops all over the country to make them. That was the problem. He didn't have his own set-up for mass production. I think that all stopped when Kennedy Tool Co was formed in 1925.

Private Lugnutz · Feb 14, 2021

Thanks to a tip from a guy on G503.com, I found an example on eBay of a tool that includes the piece in the patent diagram in post #6. It is a levered foot that gets pinned to a hook iron. I'm still not sure if this is the "the special tool to remove tires from the rims of B-29 bombers" for which Ken-Tool won their first Army-Navy E Award. It would have to be a lot bigger, I suspect. And with more bead-breaking oomph.

Private Lugnutz · Apr 2, 2025

Just cross-linking a Ken-Tool battery terminal clamp spreader, reamer and post cleaner posted on another thread here.

jmessick92 · Nov 24, 2025

Here's one I found a few weeks ago

Private Lugnutz · Nov 24, 2025

Nice find. @MR.X has one made by a different company, but mentioned seeing the one you just found, and we briefly discussed it upthread. Those were made, as best as I can tell, after his patent, and before Kemmerline of Cornwell staked the Kennedy Tool Co.

Milton Shaw · Nov 30, 2025

A story about safety cages. I was visiting another Firestone store and they had a new employee changing a split rim. They warned him to use the cage and just a few moments I saw him inside the cage and the tire sitting on the ground outside being aired up by him in the cage. We did stop that and get it reversed before he killed someone. I have a lot of Ken Tools as my dad used to sell them and had split rims on some of his trucks we had to change sometimes.

no704 · Nov 30, 2025

Changed the tires on my 1970 Bluebird school bus/rv. Had about 3 different styles of locking rings. Those were fun puzzles to figure out! Had about 150’ of hose with a locking filler to pop the beads on. Would assemble the wheel/tire laying down. Then turn on the compressor. Five sat just fine. Last one would not pop. Called a buddy that had been a roadside tire tech. He watched the system come up pressure and not seat. He just walked up to it with the tire hammer and gave it a smack! Seated!

Ken-Tool: "Wherever Tires Are Changed"

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