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crow foot wrenches

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Boost Creep

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just curious what you would use them for? i see them around alot and people talking about them here but i have no clue what they would be used for. is there something that makes em easier to use than standard wrenches or something?
 
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rsanter

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getting the hard lines off the side of a transmission while in the car

some brake lines in a car

getting at some of the fittings in a racecar (cramped space)

I also use them with a 3/8 breaker bar as a backup line wrench when you need 2 of the same size for something

bob
 
P

Packard V8

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Bob is referencing crow's foot line wrenches. They come in regular open end and line versions. Think of them as a line wrench or an open end with an infinitely variable "L" or "Z" in it. Used with a breaker bar, they are a flex handle wrench. Used with an extension, they will reach places nothing else will go.

I've got some in 3/8"dr up to 2" which were used to reach hydraulic and electrical cable fittings down inside aircraft wings and fuselages. With the appropriate extension and a ratchet, it is possible to apply enough torque in a space where it would be impossible to swing an open end wrench.

thnx, jack vines
 
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rsanter

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yes, didnt specify that
I have both the line and standard crowsfoot wrenches
I use the line style ones way more than the standard ones even when I have to deal with regular bolts

bob
 
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Sterff

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Who makes a good set of crow foot wrenches? Will the Craftsmans work?
 
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crewchief888

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Sterff said:
Who makes a good set of crow foot wrenches? Will the Craftsmans work?
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as long as you dont need anything bigger than 7/8's or so.
CM and most other tool suppliers dont have anything bigger than 1"
all mine are SO from 9/16" to 1 1/2". some open end, some flare nut, 3/8 and 1/2 drive depending on what i needed them for.
i have SO line sockets for fuel injection hard lines in several sizes too. the metric ones i needed for one model of engine to get the return lines off, never used them again after that.

:beer:
 
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garfunkle24

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Crows feet are really handy to have. I needed some large metric ones which IIRC Mac and Snap-on didn't have. I bought some from V8 tools which seem fairly nice for the cost.

V8 Tools website: http://home.att.net/~changent/pg2.html#7917

This is the set I bought: http://www.amazon.com/pc-Metric-Jumbo-Crowfoot-7917/dp/B002SL8RXQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1267229130&sr=1-2

They also have a large standard set for a reasonable price: http://www.amazon.com/V8-Tools-Piece-Crowfoot-Wrench/dp/B002XMQZT8/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1267229453&sr=1-2
 
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crewchief888

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cruiser808 said:
Damn - that must have been poetry in motion. :yikes:
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yea it was, but the other alternative was to spend a couple hours removing tubelines and hoses, and dumping hyd oil everywhere to even get an anglehead wrench on the fitting i was after.
the crowsfoot broke in 2 pieces, one still attached to the breaker bar, i never did find the other part of it. :wtf:
i never would have broken it if i could have gotten an air hammer on the fitting to shake it loose., my SO air hammer had siezed up and was being repaired, the other air hammmer i had with me didnt have enough balls to do anything.

:beer:
 
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cruiser808

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crewchief888 said:
yea it was, but the other alternative was to spend a couple hours removing tubelines and hoses, and dumping hyd oil everywhere to even get an anglehead wrench on the fitting i was after.
the crowsfoot broke in 2 pieces, one still attached to the breaker bar, i never did find the other part of it. :wtf:
i never would have broken it if i could have gotten an air hammer on the fitting to shake it loose., my SO air hammer had siezed up and was being repaired, the other air hammmer i had with me didnt have enough balls to do anything.

:beer:
Click to expand...

I certainly concur, my friend. You gotta do what you gotta do to get the job done. Acceptable losses. :thumbup:
 
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crewchief888

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cruiser808 said:
I certainly concur, my friend. You gotta do what you gotta do to get the job done. Acceptable losses. :thumbup:
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yep, i'm a field service tech, it was snowing and blowing that day long, i had worked 10 hrs that day, and got called back out at 11pm
i was tired, wet, cold and pissed off anyway. all i wanted to do was get the leak stopped so i could get back in my truck and head home and get a couple hrs sleep before i had to get back in the next morning.


:beer:
 
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cruiser808

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:lol_hitti
crewchief888 said:
yep, i'm a field service tech, it was snowing and blowing that day long, i had worked 10 hrs that day, and got called back out at 11pm
i was tired, wet, cold and pissed off anyway. all i wanted to do was get the leak stopped so i could get back in my truck and head home and get a couple hrs sleep before i had to get back in the next morning.


:beer:
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Been there, done that. Hell, early in my career, I lost a damn dozer in the Pacific Ocean. :lol_hitti
 
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Chris83

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I always find I don't have the size I need when I am doing a job lol. But mostly I use them for power steering lines on steering racks where I can't get a wrench at.
 
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Moose-LandTran

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C'mon, then. Where's this story?
emot-devil.gif
 
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cruiser808

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Moose-LandTran said:
We're still waiting for this story...
emot-ese.gif
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Okay then. Years ago I was a project manager for a sand nourishment project. One of the techniques in a project such as this is to move sand from the bottom of a beach with heavy equipment up to the escarpment and eroded upland areas. Well, the sand in this particular part of the beach had larger grained sand sizes then I had estimated with an earlier sand sample analysis. Thus, the beach composition was not as hard packed as predicted and the dozer operator got the machine stuck at the splash zone at low tide. No way it was coming out. The tide eventually came in and by nightfall, the dozer was 3/4 submerged in the ocean. The next day, we pulled it out, but the damage was done. I am still known in some circles as Aqua Man. :mad:
 
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Moose-LandTran

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Haha! That's great. :lol:

We have an apartment in Spain, and it seems every year they tow a huge pipe out with a dredger, and pump sand to extend the beach. It doesn't work as the sand they pump up is very fine and washes away quickly. They do it for a couple weeks a year, and by the following year it's back to how it was. If they used coarser sand it might make a difference.


Aqua Man... :lol:
 
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cruiser808

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Moose-LandTran said:
Haha! That's great. :lol:

We have an apartment in Spain, and it seems every year they tow a huge pipe out with a dredger, and pump sand to extend the beach. It doesn't work as the sand they pump up is very fine and washes away quickly. They do it for a couple weeks a year, and by the following year it's back to how it was. If they used coarser sand it might make a difference.


Aqua Man... :lol:
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Moose - that's another way to nourish a beach, but it is alot more expensive than the dozer method and requires an adequate offshore sand source that can be "mined" without any adverse impacts to offshore reefs and ecosystems. Beach nourishment is almost as much art as it is science and engineering.
 
L

Lhorn

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getting the hard lines off the side of a transmission while in the car
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Bingo. This is literally the only thing I have used them for, but I can't think of another commonly available tool that would have gotten the job done.
 
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cruiser808

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Lhorn said:
Bingo. This is literally the only thing I have used them for, but I can't think of another commonly available tool that would have gotten the job done.
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Lhorn - you hit the nail on the head. Some diesel cars have oil lines just like what you're describing that can only be loosened and tightened with a crowfoot. :thumbup:
 
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JayL

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Rack ends ..... (crowfoot with long extension) so these can be easily accessed from under the front fender w/ tires removed.
 
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cruiser808

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JayL said:
Rack ends ..... (crowfoot with long extension) so these can be easily accessed from under the front fender w/ tires removed.
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Hi Jay - not sure of your specific vehicle application, but generally yes, a crowfoot with a long extension has served me well in the past. :thumbup:
 
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porschedude996TT

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I have a set of inch crows feet in 3/8" drive made by MAC. I bought them when I was working on Aircraft and used them often. At work I work on missiles we use them all the time. I think it is because both aircraft and missiles both have very tight quarters and some things can only be tightened or loosened with crows feet. There are also ratcheting crows feet and extended lenght crows feet. I have the extended versions.
 
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Titus

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I was in Harbor Freight today and they are now selling a swivel flare nut crowfeet set. Never seen anything like it... Makes me wonder who they copied it from.

97952.gif
 
W

wreckercologist

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Moose-LandTran said:
32mm low-profile socket?
Click to expand...

I've done the same thing except I used a 1 1/4" socket when swapping the oil on the boss' SSR.

Titus said:
I was in Harbor Freight today and they are now selling a swivel flare nut crowfeet set. Never seen anything like it... Makes me wonder who they copied it from.

97952.gif
Click to expand...

I don't know if VIM is the OEM but they sell something similar:

http://www.vimtools.com/product_detail.asp?id=CFB100

I've also seen something like these on Ebay before too.

:beer:
 
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Titus

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