Do Spline Drive wrenches and sockets ****? whats your experience with them?

[jerseykat1]

Put together a video on what I have experienced on 2 different flex-head spline drive ratcheting wrenches. GearWrench 120xp and EZ-red wr5ml. Click the pic for my site with extra pictures or direct Youtube link below picture.
http://autofixpal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/spline-drives-****-1-e1489817690676.png

 

[M_George]

I have a short set of spline sockets that came with a Kobolt twist ratchet I got for Christmas several years ago. They just seemed like a novelty. Never used them but looking forward the following this thread.

 

[gdocktor3]

I've had excellent luck with spline box ends. I have Matco, SK, Proto and Expert spline box end ratchet wrenches, 3/8" shallow SK spline sockets and Kobalt pass thru spline sockets. I originally thought they were gimmicky as well, until I bought the Matco ratchet wrenches and saw they had the spline design. IMO they're perfect for service trucks and field techs. One set of wrenches/sockets to cover numerous fasteners saves a lot of much needed space and money.

 

[cvairwerks]

Use splines all the time at work. Sockets, straight ratcheting and offset ratcheting wrenches are in our boxes. Some tasks take all three to complete.

 

[Fedwrench]

I don't think they **** but, I also think you have to ensure you're using the right size wrench to prevent damaging the fastener. I have spline end ratcheting wrenches.

 

[-OSIS-]

They work great i use them for low torque applications. I have huskys, the open end 'ratchets' too. Super handy wrenches for installing brake lines faster.

 

[jerseykat1]

They work great i use them for low torque applications. I have huskys, the open end 'ratchets' too. Super handy wrenches for installing brake lines faster.

I've seen the wrenches your talking about In HD.. How well do they work on the open end?

Also check this out for easy brake line repair or any line.
http://autofixpal.com/oem-tools-flex-head-ratcheting-flare-nut-wrench-set-3-piece-set-22061/

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[jerseykat1]

I mean don't get me wrong THE EZ-RED set works and has not rounded or slipped off anything yet, but the GW set just feels my positive even at angles I would expect it to not work well at.

I may invest in the GW extra long 120xp set.

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[-OSIS-]

Buddy what you just linked is a way better solution. Thanks I'm going to check these out. The husky ones are 'tricky' not the easiest to use.

 

[ssdave]

I don't do youtube video's since I don't have sound on my computer. Will somebody put in a few sentences what is wrong or right with those wrenches?

 

[Buckgnarly]

I mean don't get me wrong THE EZ-RED set works and has not rounded or slipped off anything yet, but the GW set just feels my positive even at angles I would expect it to not work well at.

I may invest in the GW extra long 120xp set.

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The GW extra long 120s are freaking sweet, LOVE my set!

 

[Bobioz1]

They ****. Especially on non reversing ratcheting wrenches.

 

[jerseykat1]

The GW extra long 120s are freaking sweet, LOVE my set![emoji106]

I'm putting them on my short list. Lol

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[General Geoff]

I like properly sized sae and metric spline tools. They get a bad reputation from the crappy "universal splines" that claim to work on multiple fastener sizes with one tool.

 

[Teenager with old tools]

I have the husky 10 13 and 15mm deep well sockets that are the spline ones and they seem to fit pretty well


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[JoJoSnap]

depends on applications u work on.. for oil drain plug thingy, it can smoothen the head round which *****! Wouls have be nice if there is 6 point ratcheting wrench besides sk one (not kissfist sk.. Im more of wright and craftsman industrial dude here)


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[T45]

I like properly sized sae and metric spline tools. They get a bad reputation from the crappy "universal splines" that claim to work on multiple fastener sizes with one tool.

Good point.

The "true" aerospace-grade spline tools iare engineered (ie, and certified) to work on standard hexagon fasteners.

I did some research on this in another thread to confirm it. But you absolutely cannot mix and match metric/sae or metric/e-torx with them and expect correct results--that is a complete marketing fiction.

They are really made for undersized fasteners (hence light weight), which is the whole point of spline drive--its for higher grade applications, where power to weight is critical.

As a result, the spline tool is basically expected to deal with the higher fastening torque of actual spline drive. a 7/16 spline needs to be a higher quality tool than a 7/16 hexagon as a result. So I strongly suspect they work better when made with high-hardness heat treatments.

The whole point is, if you are buying really cheap tools with spline drive, you run the risk of getting mass market quality, when the design really needs to be manufactured to a higher standard.

Think about that for a minute when you hear all of the complaints.

 

[Cjcycles]

I bought a cheap set of double box Taiwan made kobalts on sale at lowes. I really didn't expect much. They have exceeded my expectations. I would trust them not to round off a fastener over a raised panel 12point craftsman. I recently bought a set of double box spline snap on. I'm impressed so far. Looking forward to getting more time on them.


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[Strouty]

I have a 3/8" drive SK set and I don't particularly like them. I do like my 120 xp wrenches, but they are a bit grabby and the hardware takes a licking sometimes.

 

[Sugarfryz]

I have a set of Cornwell extra long 8-19mm ratcheting spline drive wrenches, I'm personally not a huge fan, I just don't think they're that great quality, I've noticed they tend to round things.

A co worker of mine has a real cheap brand of spline drive and swears by them. To each his own

 

[4Kings]

depends on applications u work on.. for oil drain plug thingy, it can smoothen the head round which *****! Wouls have be nice if there is 6 point ratcheting wrench besides sk one (not kissfist sk.. Im more of wright and craftsman industrial dude here)


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Tekton makes some nice 6 point ratcheting wrenches

Good point.

The "true" aerospace-grade spline tools iare engineered (ie, and certified) to work on standard hexagon fasteners.

I did some research on this in another thread to confirm it. But you absolutely cannot mix and match metric/sae or metric/e-torx with them and expect correct results--that is a complete marketing fiction.

They are really made for undersized fasteners (hence light weight), which is the whole point of spline drive--its for higher grade applications, where power to weight is critical.

As a result, the spline tool is basically expected to deal with the higher fastening torque of actual spline drive. a 7/16 spline needs to be a higher quality tool than a 7/16 hexagon as a result. So I strongly suspect they work better when made with high-hardness heat treatments.

The whole point is, if you are buying really cheap tools with spline drive, you run the risk of getting mass market quality, when the design really needs to be manufactured to a higher standard.

Think about that for a minute when you hear all of the complaints.

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[jerseykat1]

Tekton makes some nice 6 point ratcheting wrenches



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The tekton ratcheting wrenchs are not bad, but personally still prefer the GW 120xp over them. I both sets.

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[wxm]

Interesting. I have been eying on the GW spline XL sets, just could not decide go with the do the open end or double box end...

 

[dnschmidt]

Kabo in Taiwan holds the patent for spline drive and I doubt that most of the major tool companies on Earth are paying them a royalty to use it because it *****. Spline is good and the universal adoption by SBD, and a host of others seems to back up that opinion. To me it's analogous to flank drive when Snap-On invented it. It was so clearly smart that as soon as they could everybody and his brother copied it.

 

[kythri]

They are really made for undersized fasteners (hence light weight), which is the whole point of spline drive--its for higher grade applications, where power to weight is critical.

I thought the "whole point" of spline drive was to drive the relatively rare spline fasteners, and the "universal" fit on hex or other fasteners was a by-product that everyone's marketing department have been continually hyping all crazy-nuts like?

 

[Brorex]

I don't do youtube video's since I don't have sound on my computer. Will somebody put in a few sentences what is wrong or right with those wrenches?

The wrenches had plastic retainers that broke easily to hold in the Wrench mechanism. He replaced them with metal snap rings and said no complaints now.

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[tvtaurus]

I purchased a set of spline drive double box end ratcheting wrenches recently. However I haven't had a chance to use them yet.

 

[T45]

Kabo in Taiwan holds the patent for spline drive and I doubt that most of the major tool companies on Earth are paying them a royalty to use it because it *****. Spline is good and the universal adoption by SBD, and a host of others seems to back up that opinion. To me it's analogous to flank drive when Snap-On invented it. It was so clearly smart that as soon as they could everybody and his brother copied it.

Wrenching Configuration, Spline Drive Threaded fasteners, SAE Aerospace Standard 1159A

--ie, the actual spline standard--was published in 1970/71.

Anything with patent claims is marketing ********, AFAIK

 

[dnschmidt]

I actually don't believe that spline drive fasteners and spline drive sockets and wrenches are the same thing. The idea behind the fasteners was that it would enable the heads to be smaller and still be able to be driven to high torque because of the huge surface area (same idea as Torx). Spline drive fasteners normally never have heads bigger than 13mm (At least I've never seen one that did since small head size was the reason for it's invention to begin with.) I really don't believe the two are related. The spline drive sockets and wrenches were designed to work on the flats of nuts rather than the points like flank drive. I could be dead wrong here but that's what I have been told.

 

[mrborohachi]

Jerseykat1 how well are the GW open end working. You didn't touch on the fact they're SO Flank Drive style.

 

[cheechi]

i have a set of combo wrenches in sae & metric from kobalt when the 'universal' spline craze first started. They were cheap and I bought them 'in case' but now that I need another kit in the basement, the idea was they were better than nothing. They do not fit well on most fasteners.

I have the 120xp flex head xl in metric. Owned them for at least a year and have still yet to use them. Guess I haven't had a need for flexes other than locking flex ratchet.

 

[shockwave]

With 6 point fastener I have no issues with them they latch on very tightly and grab

And as for 12-point e-torx I have not tried on them I usually use correct socket/wrench for these especially e-torx

 

[T45]

I actually don't believe that spline drive fasteners and spline drive sockets and wrenches are the same thing.

I know you're not trying to argue just for the sake of it, but let me assure you they designed the SPLINE WRENCH when they design the actual SPLINE FASTENER...they were engineered together.

BTW, if you read the spec above, you'll see its for a "wrenching configuration", which is, in other words, covers the spline box end wrench for spline drive.

Wrenching Configuration, Spline Drive Threaded fasteners, SAE Aerospace Standard 1159A

--ie, the actual spline standard--was published in 1970/71.

If you go to the snap on catalog, you will see a pretty large selection of aerospace spline (all SAE) at astronomical prices. The reason for that is that the areospace grade spline wrench is truly designed to be abused--by definition you have that wrench built to apply torque to levels which would damage normal fastener heads.

The need to apply large torque loads using smaller, lighter hardware was why spline was invented (ie, out of necessity). You could always use hex or bi-hex by upsizin the bolt head to take the requisite torque...but the price to pay for this is weight, which is a problem for NASA and others who calculate power/weight and fuel consumption based on mass (eg escaping gravity).

So, that is the story with Spline. They first tried to use 12pt bi-hex wrench on spline hardware...but that failed. So they used spline-specific wrench for spline-specific bolts. The poltics of having single-use tools was a non-starter, so the reverse engineered the Spline standard to ensure the Spline-specific wrench could also be used on hex and bi-hex standard hardware (consolidation prize).

That's why all of this "other spline" stuff confusing. Because there is a true, high quality spline standard. And that spec will work on good quality hex hardware.

But my guess is that (aerospace spec) is not what many companies are building to, hence the modifiers "unviersal" etc on spline drive tools.

 

[ssdave]

The wrenches had plastic retainers that broke easily to hold in the Wrench mechanism. He replaced them with metal snap rings and said no complaints now.

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Thanks! I had the problem with the retainers coming off when I first bought ratcheting wrenches over 20 years ago. The retaining rings were steel, but would bend and deform the groove and come out. I warranted them out several times, but eventually just sold the newest warrantied ones and gave up. Recently bought Proto spline reversible ratcheting sets to try again. I think the technology has improved, plus going to Proto from Gearwrench probably will help.

That experience really soured me on Gearwrench, didn't buy any more tools from them for years. I had bought the ratcheting wrenches because their price wasn't too outrageous, and they were guaranteed. Those wrenches brought home the fact that a guarantee for a tool that just fails again and again isn't really worth much. I recently bought an interchangeable shank ratcheting screwdriver set that was well recommended here, and I am still unimpressed. Not really looking to experiment again, two items that the users really talk up here have been real losers when I tried them. Either my needs are different, or I have unrealistic expectations.

I haven't worked the Proto hard yet to see how they hold up.

 

[cheechi]

pardon my ignorance. I'm assuming that ratcheting wrenches are not FOD certified/specified unless they say so.

That means the 120xp wrenches most likely are made to the 'universal' spline drive. Yet people like it and that must mean that it works, at least in the non aerospace world.