street131
Well-known member
I have always wondered how necessary are 12 point sockets.... are they something that is almost a must have is your going to become a mechanic?
12 point sockets, are they necessary?
- Thread starter street131
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krusty the clown
Member Emeritus
deja vue all over again
yep we have discussed this about once a month. there are quite a few 12pt fasteners used. i have a 12mm for ford driveshafts and 13mm, 15mm, and 9/16 for hub bearings. there are more aout there but those will be the most common.
yep we have discussed this about once a month. there are quite a few 12pt fasteners used. i have a 12mm for ford driveshafts and 13mm, 15mm, and 9/16 for hub bearings. there are more aout there but those will be the most common.
TruckTech915
Well-known member
The most common used in my line of work is on drive lines, 1/2". Other then that I hardly have a use for them.
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Search the archives. Everyone has a different opinion and this horse has been flogged to death repeatedly but, it's still ok to ask. My spin, is that if you run into 12 point fasteners, you need them at least in those sizes you encounter. Otherwise, 6 point sockets are vastly superior.
WVU Tuba Dale
Well-known member
Some high end fasteners (see ARP) are 12 point. On heavy trucks, 1/2" 12 point is the standard for drive line fasteners.
arkangel06
Banned
oh sh!t not again!
chadster1
Well-known member
I only stock a few sets of sockets in 12pt. They are rarely used.
Deafautotech
Well-known member
Powerstroke's turbochargers are 12pts on but turbocharger mount bolts are 6 pts....
after you have everything coverd in 6, you need 12. well over 90% of the time 12 pt will work perfectly fine unless you see severely rusted , corroded or damaged fasteners. even then it can be a crapshoot with the six. still, go with 6 and fill in 12 as needed in a set or singles. go find a pawn shop and scrounge through the cman bins to pick the ones you may need.
Merkava_4
Banned
I don't have to rotate a 12 point socket near as far for engagement as I do with a 6 point. "Vastly superior" engagement speed.
arkangel06
Banned
I have 12points and 6points and i use them both all the time.
caper
Well-known member
I have a twenty mm 12pt on order from my Snappy guy now.That's something I never figured I'd need.
Gregster
Well-known member
Those are the sizes I have and I use the 12mm most often for Ford driveshafts. 10mm for VW/Audi pressure plate bolts.
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Moose-LandTran
Well-known member
Gregster
Well-known member
Crank pulley bolt on Audi is about that size in 12 point. I've also seen on some cars there is just one flywheel bolt and it's usually very large/12 point.
Moose-LandTran
Well-known member
Gregster
Well-known member
Moose-LandTran
Well-known member
I was close
The VW-Auto pressure plate bolts are 9mm 12-point.
Don't mean to be rude, i just work on them every day.
Gregster
Well-known member
The shop across the street kept borrowing my 12pt set. Last Xmas I bought the owner a 12pt set from SK and he bought me a power steering pump pulley remover.
krusty the clown
Member Emeritus
PowderKeg
Well-known member
12pt sockets have worked plenty fine for decades and decades. Take a walk thru any fleamarket, auction, or yard sale and take note of the ratio of old USA 12pt to 6pt sockets (in 3/8" drive and up, and excepting impacts). The vast majority are 12pt. Why, because that's what was mostly offered and used, and because they work fine in most instances, except as sk farmer noted - then the gas wrench may end up the better (or last) alternative. Softer metal fasteners like aluminum or brass are normally better removed with a 6pt also, just as it's preferred to use a flarenut wrench over an open end for tubing and such. I may be wrong, but aren't the great majority of ratcheting wrenches 12pt as well?
It really just comes down to personal preference - if ya like 6pt, go for 'em. If ya like 12pt, they'll work just fine, like mine have for 30 years. Ultimately, picking up or building sets of each would give near complete coverage for those less frequent times that only one or the other will work.
I'd be curious to hear from a long-time truck tool dealer about when the preference for 6pt stuff (chromed, not impact) started to rise - seems to me that's only been recently, maybe 10 or so years, if that? Or maybe I'm way off.
It really just comes down to personal preference - if ya like 6pt, go for 'em. If ya like 12pt, they'll work just fine, like mine have for 30 years. Ultimately, picking up or building sets of each would give near complete coverage for those less frequent times that only one or the other will work.
I'd be curious to hear from a long-time truck tool dealer about when the preference for 6pt stuff (chromed, not impact) started to rise - seems to me that's only been recently, maybe 10 or so years, if that? Or maybe I'm way off.
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Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I don't have to rotate a 12 point socket near as far for engagement as I do with a 6 point. "Vastly superior" engagement speed.
It would help if you had a better ratchet with more than 30 teeth like a F80 or FLF80, or a Matco 88, or even a Gearwrench 60 tooth model.
Mickey O
Well-known member
No 12 point sockets are not necessary, please take all of your 12 point Snap On, Cornwell, Mac, Matco, Bonney and other high end 12 point sockets and send them to me, I will personally make sure they are properly disposed of.
bushhawg73
Well-known member
If Chicago is to far you can send them to me in Florida for disposal. I work in a crime scene unit and we have a policy that tells us exactly how to dispose of things. I would make sure that all of the EPA and PITA guidelines are followed when disposing of your unsightly mess. This way you would have a clean record and could buy anything you wanted. Keep me in mind.
well said powderkeg. truth be known a complete set of 6 and 12 point in 3/8 should be a given. i often have two handles of some sort (ratchet, breaker, extension, t-bar, speed handle, etc) in use with the same size socket, hence the need for multiple sets. removing any fastener should not be a problem, espically after it has been broken loose. in my shop tool chest i have a set of sae 3/8 in 6pt, 12pt and a mixed set.
caper
Well-known member
Lower idler gear on International 466egr engines.Needed it twice in the last two weeks.Used a 13/16 12pt but it was sloppy and the torque on this bolt is 482 ft/lbs so I'd prefer not to have it jump as I'm pulling on it.
Moose-LandTran
Well-known member
Lower idler gear on International 466egr engines.Needed it twice in the last two weeks.Used a 13/16 12pt but it was sloppy and the torque on this bolt is 482 ft/lbs so I'd prefer not to have it jump as I'm pulling on it.
I don't think mine will hold up to 482lb/ft..
HillbillyTool09
Active member
What do you want to use them for?
jonlb
Well-known member
I have both and I will say that my 12 pts are craftsman and my 6 pts are cheap sockets so most of the time a reach for the 12 pts and I have never had an issue with them not grabbing.
I would look around area Pawn shops and flea markets. Buy used craftsman 12 points for occasional use. Buy your tool truck sockets in 6 point. They are becoming more common for front wheel bearing nuts. These I would buy better quality.
SK makes a set of 1/4 drive 12 point. Craftsman make 1/2 drive and 3/8 drive.
Walmart had a set of Stanley 1/2 drive 12 point for $18.00.
SK makes a set of 1/4 drive 12 point. Craftsman make 1/2 drive and 3/8 drive.
Walmart had a set of Stanley 1/2 drive 12 point for $18.00.
rsanter
Well-known member
they are of you are using 12pt bolts
bob
bob
speed bump
Well-known member
I keep thinking I need to get around to buying a set of 12 point 1/4" drive socket because I have ran into times when they would be handy but I still haven't
For my sockets I use all the time I have 6 point in 1/4 and 3/8 and 12 point in 1/2 and 3/4 drive and that works great.
For my sockets I use all the time I have 6 point in 1/4 and 3/8 and 12 point in 1/2 and 3/4 drive and that works great.
There is really no drawback to using 12 pt all the time, except the possibility of rounding something off, and IMO an open end wrench is 100 times more likely to round something off than a 12pt socket.
And the biggest argument for having sets of both is that if you are working on something and break a deep 6pt, or lose it, then you have a spare. Years ago my father and I both had 6.2 diesel pickups, and in those days my dad bought every 15mm socket he saw no matter how it was configured. We used them all. I still have 6 or 7 of them and none of them look new.
And the biggest argument for having sets of both is that if you are working on something and break a deep 6pt, or lose it, then you have a spare. Years ago my father and I both had 6.2 diesel pickups, and in those days my dad bought every 15mm socket he saw no matter how it was configured. We used them all. I still have 6 or 7 of them and none of them look new.
georgiadave
Well-known member
In the bigger sizes, an SAE will usually fit a metric, or vice versa. 19MM is very close to 3/4. 20MM is close to 13/16, etc.
I don't have to rotate a 12 point socket near as far for engagement as I do with a 6 point. "Vastly superior" engagement speed.
Right, in tight quarters, 12 pts. are a big bonus. I use 12 pts. alot. High end sockets are more important in 12pt, you want tighter clearance for 12 pt. sockets.IMO
Wascally Wabbit
Member
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2009
- Messages
- 12
I agree, but for anything smaller than 1" or so, I try to use the proper metric size. (More excuses to buy tools)
10mm= 3/8"
11mm = 7/16"
13mm = 1/2"
14mm = 9/16"
19mm = 3/4"
24mm = 15/16"
A lot of times using a metric size on a nut or bolt head that is in bad shape will keep it from rounding off. You may have to tap it onto the hex.
wantedabiggergarage
Member Emeritus
What do you all do for the 12 point sockets? Impact or Chrome?
I bought chrome for general purpose/home use, but I did specifically buy an impact 12mm for driveline as it never gets removed without air. If I started over (not counting the inherited 12 point), I think I might just get that SK impact 12 point set.
I bought chrome for general purpose/home use, but I did specifically buy an impact 12mm for driveline as it never gets removed without air. If I started over (not counting the inherited 12 point), I think I might just get that SK impact 12 point set.
back2class
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2009
- Messages
- 2,723
12pt work on square nuts and 6pt don't. I believe that is a main reason you seem them in the vast majority of older sets. Squear nuts were pretty common on equiptment for the first 1/2 of the last century and designs tend to hold over. They are also easier beacuse as soneone noted they engage twice as fist and working in tight quarters and using clunky ratchets of old or breaker bars (also more used in older days) 12pt just work nicer. So as to why they are the standard in older sets is a no brainer.
Need them....NO
I believe they have a slightly thinner sidewall and there are a few 12pt fasteners out there but if you have 12pt. combo wrenches I see no real reason for them.
Need them....NO
I believe they have a slightly thinner sidewall and there are a few 12pt fasteners out there but if you have 12pt. combo wrenches I see no real reason for them.