Crow foot sockets

[_brian_]

As I was reorganizing come tools, I grabbed my 2 cases of crow foot sockets. I have a 10 piece each SAE and Metric USA Craftsman set, VV stamp. I had a quick look at them as I know I don't use them much, and a visual inspection shows I used only 3 of them, and very light use based on the marks.

Makes me wonder, what do people here use their crow foot sockets on? My low usage leads me to believe that I simply do not do the things they are good at, or I am unaware of some of the cases where they can help and I use a different tool instead.

 

[speed bump]

Line fittings are generally the most popular application. I have a bunch of them but as a home user I don't break them out very often.

 

[SeisMec]

What are the open end style used for?

 

[_brian_]

What are the open end style used for?

Yes, thank you. After reading the first reply, I realized I was not specific.

The last time I used an open end style crow foor is to get a bolt in the rear portion of the engine, bolting in rear to front of car direction.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Line fittings, 02 sensors, obscured stuff.

Latest game changer I've found is torque adapters. Takes some thought on the applications, but add in flex head ratchets and you can get some interesting combinations. Got to some very hidden and very tight bellhousing bolts with a 17mm and a 18 inch 3/8 ratchet, after pulling the intake.




EDIT:

Open ends are where-ever they'll fit. Sometimes the line wrench style won't fit a super crusty bolt, but you can chisel enough rust off that power-steering line fitting 2 feet in the depths of the engine to have two clean flats. I use mine mostly as custom offset open end wrenches. Ratchet as the handle, add extensions for depth. It's saved me plenty of times.

 

[lardy1]

I don't need them. But I see Tekton is introducing USA made. Depending on price, I may just have to have them.

 

[plinker]

Crowfeet are a must have for hydraulics. I still use mine often enough to warrant having them at work doing automotive, mainly for odd & one off stuff and sometimes brake lines. They give a good advantage if what you're working on is recessed enough to not get a plain open end wrench on. Take the crowfoot, whatever extension and a breaker bar and instant off set wrench. Torque adapters have been on my to buy list as well.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

I don't need them. But I see Tekton is introducing USA made. Depending on price, I may just have to have them.

so far I use live without them, but I can see they can come on handy.

and still waiting........

 

[_brian_]

so far I use live without them, but I can see they can come on handy.

and still waiting........

This is sort of my opinion. My experiences have shown that although they have not gone unused in the maybe 15 years I have had them, less than a handful of total uses makes me question if they are worth purchasing as a home user.

I wanted to address the line wrench style crow foot sockets too, since I was not specific in my initial question. Would there be a reason to buy both sets, open end and line style? Obviously if you are in a position where you use one or both all the time, that answer is a given. But I would wonder for a DIY person, like me, who grabs one less than once per year, should I consider both types, just the open end or just the line style?

It appears that most are indicating that the crow foot socket, in general, is a specialty tool that is especially useful in hydraulics. I work on a wide variety of things that a home user would come across ... auto repair, fixing my equipment like air compressors and yard equipment, indoor plumbing and electrical, etc. I wonder if a crow foot socket is even someone I would need. It would appear that even in my work on items where a line wrench is required, I have been successful just using my line wrenches. Not that I can recall each and every job, but the condition of my crow foot sockets clearly tell me they are basically not used.

 

[ChevyEFI]

The dishwasher I just installed needed a garden-hose to flare fitting adapter. The adapter installed laterally up front, down low, several inches back from the bottom of the door. To snug it up, an open end crowfoot on a foot long extension, and a ratchet was an easy reach. A traditional 15deg. angle open end wrench wasn't going to work. Angle wrenches would have sucked too.

Flare nut crowfeet for auto use, I just buy snappy. Power steering and trans. line stuff.

 

[SeisMec]

Latest game changer I've found is torque adapters.

This former mechanic realized he'd never googled torque adapter and did. That led to a McMaster-Carr page titled - Tight-Clearance Offset Sockets.

Which in turn led to Ratcheting Box-End Tight-Clearance Offset Sockets

Any thoughts?

 

[Citation]

I used mine once. They were purchased specifically so I could torque down some air conditioning line nuts. I was warned the joint was picky about having the correct torque so I used a crow's foot with my torque wrench. Placing the foot 90* to the wrench ensured the torque matched what the wrench indicated. I haven't used them since.

 

[Odd-job]

This former mechanic realized he'd never googled torque adapter and did. That led to a McMaster-Carr page titled - Tight-Clearance Offset Sockets.



Which in turn led to Ratcheting Box-End Tight-Clearance Offset Sockets

Any thoughts?

These look cool. No metric

 

[crasher98]

This former mechanic realized he'd never googled torque adapter and did. That led to a McMaster-Carr page titled - Tight-Clearance Offset Sockets.

Which in turn led to Ratcheting Box-End Tight-Clearance Offset Sockets

Any thoughts?

I followed your link and expected to be snorting at how much those cost, but actually they seem pretty reasonable for what they are (especially from an industrial supplier that makes most of its money from people who aren't spending their own money).

Or maybe too much GJ is making my tool price radar numb, not sure.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

This former mechanic realized he'd never googled torque adapter and did. That led to a McMaster-Carr page titled - Tight-Clearance Offset Sockets.

Which in turn led to Ratcheting Box-End Tight-Clearance Offset Sockets

Any thoughts?

A few brands make those. I've considered, but if I can get that on something I have other methods. Kind of like my gearwrench ratcheting crows feet. Great idea, but I just don't find myself in situations they work in.





Bluepoint makes a metric set:

https://shop.snapon.com/categories/Ratcheting,-mm-(Blue-Point)/681884

My snap-on torque adapters were basically the same price per-piece, $30-ish dollars. But much like 1/4 drive crowsfoot, you don't use them often, but when you do, they save the day. Or at least let you know you tried literally every option.

 

[dsimatt]

I put one on my locking extension and use that to scratch my back when needed.

 

[Vinny]

Used regularly on torque wrenches where I work. Some applications you can't get a socket on for final torque.

 

[Bessy]

I don't have a great explanation of just how this worked, nor any good photos, but for removing and reinstalling the permanent portion of thr snow blade mount on the front of my Polaris sportsman, I dropped the crowfoot wrench down on-top of the bolt then stuck an extension on a ratchet through a mostly blind hole into the crowfoot to hold the bolt head. From there I could hit the nut with an impact from the front without spinning the bolt. I could get a wrench on the bolt from a different direction, but the crowfoot turned out to be just more simple to get on and off as I recall.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[_brian_]

So I have done some research on my own to better understand these tools. It seems that the best answer is they are a very specialized tool. Two purposes that stand out is places where you use a line wrench like transmissions, brakes, hydraulics (as others have mentioned), etc. and on a torque wrench here you cannot get the torque wrench with a socket to fit (remembering that your crow foot must be at 90 degrees). Aside from that, it seems the uses for them are random and only based on the fact that the fastener is in some sort of hard to reach location.

It seems that I would want to use the line wrench style over the open end style, simply due to grip on the fastener. But as some have pointed out, sometimes you just cannot use the line wrench style due to access or a overly rusted fastener.

I am not sure I would lump torque adapters in with crow foot sockets, but I do see the logic. Torque adapters are extremely useful on belt tensioners, especially on those where the serpentine belt kits have a hard time fitting in like on some of the early 2000 Honda transverse engines. They are also very useful on bolts going into the rear of the engine, allowing you to place the adapter on the bolt, bring out an extension and place your breaker bar on the end and still get the ratcheting advantage.

 

[FSrepair&fabrication]

They are great for torquing fuel injection lines on common rail diesel engines. Otherwise i will use them for unique situations where its the only tool that will fit.

 

[Firebrick43]

When I was a tractor mech I used them all the time on hydraulics. Once I replaced a line under the cab of a magnum tractor with a 36” extension, a crows foot, and some electrical tape. Book and every mech in the shop said the cab had to come off but I did it in 2 hours and flat rated something like 12.

On machine tools we do a lot more hydraulics but it’s packaged different and hydraulic wrenches are more useful but occasionally a crows foot saves you. For some sick reason one particular brand of German machine tools uses hex head bolts to mount their servos instead of Allen cap screws. A 17mm crows foot makes a 2 hour painful nightmare into a five min job

 

[RedneckWelder]

Hydraulics is my main use for the open end style, engine stuff (turbo oil lines and injector line nuts) for the flare. I have the open end style up to 2”, the hoses aren’t “supposed” to be tightened godawful tight even at the larger size but invariably my 3 ft breaker bar gets used more often than not to break them loose. Can’t use angle or combo wrenches a lot of times because of very tight quarters.

 

[Super Mech]

Line fittings, 02 sensors, obscured stuff.

Latest game changer I've found is torque adapters. Takes some thought on the applications, but add in flex head ratchets and you can get some interesting combinations. Got to some very hidden and very tight bellhousing bolts with a 17mm and a 18 inch 3/8 ratchet, after pulling the intake.




EDIT:

Open ends are where-ever they'll fit. Sometimes the line wrench style won't fit a super crusty bolt, but you can chisel enough rust off that power-steering line fitting 2 feet in the depths of the engine to have two clean flats. I use mine mostly as custom offset open end wrenches. Ratchet as the handle, add extensions for depth. It's saved me plenty of times.

Crows feet definitely have their purpose for close quarter work. Even though I don’t use mine regularly, when I do they are time savers. I have both metric and SAE regular and flare nut style.
Like you my new favorite are torque adapters. I just picked up a Carlyle metric set from Napa. Very pleased with it so far.

 

[Odd-job]

A few brands make those. I've considered, but if I can get that on something I have other methods. Kind of like my gearwrench ratcheting crows feet. Great idea, but I just don't find myself in situations they work in.











Bluepoint makes a metric set:



https://shop.snapon.com/categories/Ratcheting,-mm-(Blue-Point)/681884



My snap-on torque adapters were basically the same price per-piece, $30-ish dollars. But much like 1/4 drive crowsfoot, you don't use them often, but when you do, they save the day. Or at least let you know you tried literally every option.

Ah snap on. You have to pay to play! At least as a non professional DIYer.

Pretty sure these would have come in real handy on some Mercedes engine mounts I had to deal with recently.

 

[pi_guy]

They are great for torquing fuel injection lines on common rail diesel engines. Otherwise i will use them for unique situations where its the only tool that will fit.

One of the tools when you need it you need it. They fall into time saver category in many instances, you can take machine 1/2 apart to get access or have the right setup. The large open wrench style has fit in more places that your not going to fit a combo wrench or an angle wrench.

 

[richfinn]

I used flare nut versions on fuel filters mounted to the bulkhead on Toyotas

Brake line fittings on various ABS modulators

Dont use them often, but glad I have them when needed

 

[driftpin]

I've used crowsfoot wrenches (not flared) to open/close a water line valve in a concrete vault in the yard, for the house water service (where the water meter is). A long extension and a breaker bar, Bob's yer uncle!