Are SAE tools dead?

[ovilla]

Anybody else find themselves moving their SAE tools to another cart to make room for more metric, hex, torx, etc.?

I work on mostly Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Audi, and an occasional Chevy every now and then and can’t even remember the last time I needed a 1/2 or 9/16 wrench. The other day I saw a great deal on some new Snap On SAE sockets and they didn’t even interest me - and they’re still listed on Offer Up.

Just curious, what are you using SAE tools on and are you still buying any SAE stuff?

 

[southalabama]

Non automotive stuff.

Right now wiring building. Electrical, threaded rod and unistrut all SAE

 

[d.mcfarland]

I think you are saying that the rise in non-hex head fasteners are increasing.

 

[Regnar]

I dont have a single metric tool in my work box. But I only work on a H60's and know that other military aircraft and vehicles are only Standard. I think its just a mater of what field you work in.

 

[fatfillup]

I sell a lot of sae tools, just not to auto guys. A good chunk of my customer base is equipment and big truck mechanics.

 

[cvairwerks]

Probably going to be at least another hundred years before SAE will be on the way out. As long as DoD specs are SAE, it will be around.

 

[bob15]

I don't think so. Probably 99% of what I do uses SAE.

 

[MushCreek]

I'll always use a mix with my tinkering. The only metric things I own are my Miata and my metal lathe. Everything else is old and SAE. I could see a modern day mechanic using primarily metric. There probably aren't many left that can tune up my '72 F-250, though.

 

[Fedwrench]

As others have indicated, it depends on what you work on. In the automotive field, I think SAE faded away more than a few years ago. I haven't bought SAE tools in years. In fact, I can't remember the last SAE tool I purchased

At flea markets, i glance over the SAE stuff even though it might be a good deal.

However, I think D. McFarland made a great point in mentioning that automotive fasteners are changing from traditional hex. I'm finding more Torx use on global platform vehicles. What was once a German car thing is spreading to other brands. For example, a Fusion work received recently came with a Polish made engine, a Korean made transmission, and it was assembled in Mexico.

However, I still have SAE tools because, it's better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them. They are dusty though.

 

[16again]

I have an old car and a new car. That dictates a full set of SAE tools and a full set of Metric tools.


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[IPFreely]

I just bought sae semi deep impacts. I use them on marine diesels. SAE can also be useful on a worn down metric fastener. For instance, a 3/8" sae socket is between 9mm and 10mm. I use what fits best on the fastener.

 

[Stooge]

I recently sort of did the opposite and condensed some of my metric stuff into a separate part of the box since I have been getting away from working on people's daily drivers and work on older cars the majority of the time... but mostly because I need a bigger box or another one, so this helped to make some space for a little bit. At work, its a mix of old equipment/ machinery with sae and new metric stuff, but most of the new stuff seems to use allen head rather than hex.
I think SAE will still be hanging around for a long time in some facet of industry other than automotive.

 

[jgromada]

If it were just based on the batch of my family's cars that i work on I would think SAE is dead too. However this is still plenty of stuff out there like machinery or big trucks etc etc. as mentioned. I may never work on any of them so to get new SAE tools would be a waste.

I still have a bunch of old SAE tools and not planning on getting rid of them. I think a lot of places you can get great tools for practically nothing if that's what you need.

 

[619DioFan]

I own a 95 4runner and a 95 ram pu so I use both sae and metric.

 

[Shane6377]

Most auto mechanics won't use SAE but almost everything else will. As 'just' a DIY'er I use SAE on most of the farm equipment (especially the vintage tractors), plumbing and most household maintenance.
Autos are metric and ATV/UTV's are a mix of both. On a day-to-day basis I still use SAE more often.


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[Nineeightyone]

I rarely ever use SAE, most everything I do is metric. To that effect, I've started trying to use metric fasteners whenever the situation allows, fractional measurement is rarely a thought in my mind so I do what I can to make it easier on myself.

With that said, I primarily do automotive as a hobbyist, and a little bit of carpentry. I find metric to be easier to deal with in general.

 

[seber]

lately I've been working on John Deere lawn tractors. They are a mix of SAE and metric. Overall, I use SAE more than metric.

 

[65k10]

I live on a farm and use SAE more often than metric to the point that I have a small hand carry box that is SAE only for when I'm doing quick adjustments/fixes. While it seems like the tractors themselves have become metric, the implements they pull are usually still SAE.

 

[Ilikeike]

Be pretty boring if you only had metric equipped stuff. No heavy equipment, no building materials,no hot rods,old motorcycles or bicycles, aircraft,miscellaneous shop equipment,how would you tighten concrete anchors or lag bolts when you build stuff ?...

 

[bwringer]

They're dead to me, anyway.

I have an "inch ghetto" drawer in a rarely used box against the wall where all the inch **** goes in case I need to work on a Harley or other farm machinery. Last winter I went through my inch **** drawer and donated all the duplicate inch **** to Habitat Restore.

Further, 99% of what I work on is Asian vehicles, so my primary socket rails, wrench racks, etc. are set up for JIS fasteners. The 13, 15, 16, and 18mm stuff is very seldom used in my world, so it goes on a separate rail in the very back. 9 and 11mm go even further back.

But of course, everyone has a different mix of machinery they deal with, so inch **** will be around for several more lifetimes. And of course if you work on 'merkin and Euro stuff and "mixed" vehicles, you're going to need all your metric stuff.

And of course Euro and 'merkin brands just love to invent weird new fasteners for absolutely no reason, so you'll always need to leave some room in your box for the next stupid fastener head they come up with.


And tool manufacturers will forever continue to fluff piece counts of their sets with useless inch ****.

 

[SILVERPLATE]

I work in auto restoration and it’s nothing but SAE and keep buying SAE tools.

 

[Rabid Badger]

I have the basics in SAE but my current purchasing policy is metric only. If I come across a task that I can't do with my existing SAE stuff I'll buy what I need then.

 

[RedneckWelder]

As a heavy equipment mechanic my SAE wrench drawer is stuffed full and is overflowing into my secondary wrench drawer, mainly due to larger sizes I have SAE only and hydraulic fittings are SAE. Sockets are 50/50 Metric and SAE.

 

[azchrisf]

You'll still find need for both. Working on cars, except for older ones, it's a metric world. But homeowner type stuff like nuts and bolts around the house, electrical, etc. is still majority SAE. Hydraulics and compressed air systems are still mostly SAE too.

It makes sense to keep a set of each.

 

[Tennessee Cattleman]

SAE is alive and well on farm equipment.

 

[The Fall]

95% of the stuff I work on is SAE. I don't buy metric tools unless they're a deal.

 

[oldwino]

Add another to using SAE over 90% of the time. Work on older cars and farm stuff. I finally broke down and bought a cheapie set of metrics for occasional use.

I do have a 10MM socket though (found on road SnapOn at that)

 

[4xdog]

With vehicles ranging from 1962 to 2015, I use inch and metric tools equally. And the house is dominated by inch-based fasteners, too.

I'll be using both as long as I'm ticking.

 

[Astro_Pneumatic_Tools]

Metric v SAE sales around 10 years ago was 60/40, then 65/35 and it held strong there for quite awhile. Now it's more like 70/30 with some categories like male hex being even worse around 80/20 or 85/15.

Of course this is among new tool sales. Obviously someone who works on classics and tractors is more likely to already own or have inhered the SAE tools they use.

 

[lardy1]

Between her and I we have four Harley Davidsons. SAE ain't leaving my shop any time soon.

 

[Dave455]

As some folks have said, it depends what you work on.

I probably use metric about 60% of the time now, so if I’m going to do a job on a vehicle I know is metric, I’ll only take metric tools. All my own vehicles are metric, and if I’m installing new hardware, that’s mostly metric.

The other 40% is split between SAE and (being a Brit) Whitworth.

BSF and BSW threads were obsolescent, as far as the motor trade is concerned, in the late 50’s, but I’m still using them on a weekly basis, either in machine tools, or on vehicles of that vintage. So.. if SAE hasn’t been declared obsolete at all, and despite the U.S. motor trade buying what’s cheapest, the worlds aviation industries have not, it’s going to be with us for a long time!

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I don't think I've used much USS lately.

 

[dnschmidt]

In automotive, after about 2000, SAE is pretty much dead. However one area were SAE will live forever is aviation. Airplanes last forever and most of them are SAE. Also weird stuff that you don't think about is SAE. For example I changed my welding cable on my stick stinger yesterday. The allen bolts that hold the wire to the stinger and the handle to the stinger are SAE requiring me to go to HF to buy some SAE hex bits. Weird **** like that will use SAE until we're all dead. So, eventually SAE will be like external Torx bits are today. Sort of rare but needed.

 

[CoogarXR]

I work on rusty ohio junk. What may have been a 9/16 could have rusted itself into a 15mm, lol.

 

[cvairwerks]

The other 40% is split between SAE and (being a Brit) Whitworth.

BSF and BSW threads were obsolescent, as far as the motor trade is concerned, in the late 50’s, but I’m still using them on a weekly basis, either in machine tools, or on vehicles of that vintage. So.. if SAE hasn’t been declared obsolete at all, and despite the U.S. motor trade buying what’s cheapest, the worlds aviation industries have not, it’s going to be with us for a long time!

Long live the RR Merlin!!!!

 

[chris142]

I work at a shop in Southern California. I still use my SAE stuff on customers cars almost daily. Worked on a Scout last week, have a 72 F250 in the shop right now.

 

[mikeinri]

And tool manufacturers will forever continue to fluff piece counts of their sets with useless inch ****.

The worst offenders are the sets with 40 screwdriver bits, and 20-30 Allen wrenches. How many of those do people actually need?


In general, I agree with the posters above stating that for newer vehicle parts, it's mostly metric. Lawn equipment is a mix, and household stuff is mostly SAE.

I have an old RV that is also a mix. I think everything on my boat and trailer is SAE.

Mike

 

[Dave455]

Long live the RR Merlin!!!!

Haha! Views on that subject are divided! My late Father once flew Canadair Argonauts (basically a licence built, pressurised, DC—4) powered by 4 Merlins. It was the twilight of commercial operations for the Merlin, and people were turning up to record the sound of the things, and saying how awesome they were.

Dad’s view was that while the engine was reasonably built, it was basically built to take a bomber to the Ruhr 20 times, was never designed to be in use nearly two decades after the war, and incorporated about 50 hoses with 100 jubilee clips, the failure of any of which would lead to a shutdown! He was not a fan...!

The RR Dart, on the other hand...!

 

[justjohn]

I do see the big-box-assembly-required stuff moving to metric fasteners but I work back and forth depending on which vehicle I'm working. Having a modified 69 Impala still requires some metric tools and I do still have one set of Whitworth wrenches if the need ever arises.

 

[Professional Tool User]

SAE is still used in construction, heavy equipment, heavy duty trucks, aircraft, and other applications.