Crowfoot Wrenches

[Beam]

I have heard people wonder about the usefulness of crowfoot wrenches but after using one for the banjo bolt on a power stroke fuel pump it got me to thinking about how useful they could be. They seem like they could be especially useful on hydraulic lines with the ability to get a lot of leverage and in spots a wrench won't fit. It doesn't seem like there are a whole lot of choices in brands though. I did find a 1/2 inch adjustable crowfoot on ebay made by Sealey but it would be well over 60 shipped from the UK. Does anyone sell a 1/2 inch adjustable in the US and who makes a good crowfoot set?

 

[davesnothere]

Snap-on

 

[pilotman81]

Snap-on

I concur!

 

[bimmerZ5]

for crowfoot set: craftsman, kdt/gearwrench, sunex all offer nice options that are affordable. kdt/gearwrench also offer ratcheting open crowsfoot set.

 

[redwrench60]

^^^^^^^^Then when all these spread and damage the fastener get the Snap On set.

 

[bimmerZ5]

^^^^^^^^Then when all these spread and damage the fastener get the Snap On set.

show me one, but also feel free to pay SO prices too.

 

[Beam]

What about SK? http://www.tooltopia.com/sk-hand-tool-42265.aspx

 

[The Ratchet Man]

^^^^^^^^Then when all these spread and damage the fastener get the Snap On set.

The craftsman set I got doesn't even need to spread to start rounding the fastener. They're so loose to begin with you can already see the fastener rounding off before you put the crowfoot on there.

I've got the SAE and metric sets and all are like a half size bigger than marked. They aren't cheap to begin with but they were USA so I paid the price. All I have now is 2 sets of chrome paperweights.

Snap on for sure on crowfoots...or crowfeet....or crowsfeet...Ahh whatever.

 

[Farmall450]

Blackhawk...

 

[supra90turbo]

I have a 15yr old set of Blackhawk flare crows. Awesome, IMO. They fit perfectly and I have never had any issues.

 

[Beam]

I'm gonna look at the blackhawks, anyone have any experience with SKs?

 

[91bronc300]

This guy likes his Evercraft crowfoot line wrenches from NAPA

I've got the Metric and SAE sets and I like them too. Made in Taiwan.

 

[ChevyEFI]

I didn't use them for years.
But now, I really like the flare-nut ones for transmission and power steering lines.
I buy the ones I need from the SO dealer.

 

[redwrench60]

show me one, but also feel free to pay SO prices too.

Show you one? Not possible. I got rid of my Craftsman crows foot sets years ago because they weren't worth a ****. They were good for light duty but if the job got at all tough they'd spread and slip. Sorry, but sometimes Snap On is just better.

 

[Snapped-off]

A lot of talk here that Snap-on crowfeet are less prone to spreading.

MY personal experience; I used a co-workers snappy's a few times before I got my own, and they didn't take any special effort to spread. I was going to buy SAE from Snap-on, but after actually using them, I just went with a cheaper brand.

I only use them on hydraulic hoses and an occasional O-ring fittings, so there aren't any crazy torque numbers involved.

 

[Beam]

Next time i'm in Napa I'm gonna price the evercraft, There have been times for me where skid steer hydraulic lines have required pipe over a wrench for me and I was thinking that with a crowfoot I could just use a long ratchet to get the best angle, are any of them going take that kind of torque?

 

[redwrench60]

Next time i'm in Napa I'm gonna price the evercraft, There have been times for me where skid steer hydraulic lines have required pipe over a wrench for me and I was thinking that with a crowfoot I could just use a long ratchet to get the best angle, are any of them going take that kind of torque?

For heavier duty applications get the 1/2" drive crowsfeet from Snap-On. That sounds more your speed.

 

[flashkl]

x2 for the evercraft flare crowsfeet. Great value for a set of tools I don't use every day

 

[Puckett_k]

A little off topic but the BEST "adjustable" wrench for tighter than hell and hard to reach hydraulic hoses... An air chisel!

 

[kunkernator]

I own Gearwrench (Taiwan) crowsfeet, and am very happy with them. I believe i got both sets for about $50 on a BOGO deal that Tooltopia has (and still has i believe).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[shocksandstrutz]

kunk - if you have a link for that BOGO crowsfeet set, can you post it, i was looking online and couldn't find it....maybe its over alread

 

[fflintstone]

http://www.cripedistributing.com/al...tric-crowfoot-wrench-set-usa-20565-78-ro.html

 

[Beam]

Well I ended up getting the evercraftsets, My napa wanted a little more but I asked if they would give me a deal if I got both set and they let me have them both for just under 40. I'm still thinking of getting the SKs 1/2 inch sae set but it doesn't sound like anyone here has any experience with them. As as far as the evercrafts go I really like that they came in cases due to how I currently work out of a way to crowded toolbox off my pick up. The metric set has everything with no skipping from 10-19mm but the standard set goes from 3/8 to 7/8 skipping 13/16. I think they will hold up fine considering they are for the smaller sized stuff.

 

[Coach James]

I have the Evercraft in metric and SAE and have no regrets about buying them except I would like a 13/16.

Coach

 

[smothers33]

I'm gonna look at the blackhawks, anyone have any experience with SKs?

yea i bought a set from a guy here last year. i use em alot for hydraulic fittings amd they work great, ut only thing i have to compaare them to are my HF set so that dont say much. the sk are good IMO

 

[mvptrukin]

Speaking of crowfoot--has anybody tried out the Gearwrench ratcheting crowfoot---they are fairly new and have a 'V' cut like MAC tools:
http://www.tooltopia.com/kd-tools-89119.aspx

Wish I could find them individually to try a couple of sizes out.

 

[wjamyers]

Any updates on any of this? The ratcheting gearwrenches, for example?

I got the Evercraft ones after reading this and then this past Sunday I had to put in an oil pressure sending unit in the oil galley plug under the intercooler of a 2002 WRX and realized I needed them straight cut so I could put them on and off at the exact same spot.

So, which straight cuts to get for a shade-tree weekend warrior not living the snap-on lifestyle?

I ended up using channel locks to put the sending unit in. The pressure reads about the same as before when I had it in the oil filter sandwich adapter on the bottom of the engine (that I removed for leaking oil), between 25 and 100 psi.

Can you damage a sending unit if you grip it too hard with channel locks?

After I got it off and then tried to put it back on I realized my TMIC y-pipe is pretty much shot (made sliding it back on the turbo outlet impossible, had to put the Y on by itself and then bolt the TMIC to that in place) so I ordered another y-pipe and I'm going to do it again next weekend. I'm planning on tightening the sending unit properly with the right tool while I have the TMIC off, so I need to choose one of these wrenches, ASAP. Maybe I'll just go with the inexpensive singles you can get from NAPA, but any additional advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wjamyers]

Meh. I just went with the non-ratcheting gearwrenches. And some husky stubbies as back ups in case they don't work. I'll have to redo the TMIC job next weekend when my new y-pipe comes in. Damn CEL came on.