Impact swivil short or deep?

[bigsteve1969]

im trying to decide which to go with. what yall think maybe mid length?

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

I bought impact swivel sockets that are short, and two locking impact swivel adapters, I use, when I need a deep. If you use shorter sockets with them, they tend to still be longer then the purchasable short ones.

 

[mrshaun]

semi deep are starting to be more popular.
most buy shallow and then the impact swivel and do like mr bigger garage and use shallow sockets or even use the semi deep sockets as well.

 

[alamerang]

I'd go with the semideep impact sockets. The shallow sockets are nice but really don't give you any benefit over the semideep ones IMO unless you are doing a lot of close quarters work. I had a friend that had a set of the shallow version and he said the only time he really used them a lot was when he was working at the local Ford dealership as their transmission guy. Now he feels they are more of a "good to have in certain situations tool" than a "must have".

 

[bigsteve1969]

yea im going with semi deep and can always buy a deep if i start needing a certain size often

 

[epmills]

I vote for shallow. If your needing a wobble impact socket its most likely going to be used on "hard" to reach bolts, not a nut on the end of a bolt with too many threads left. In fact now that I think about it, I dont think I have ever needed a long wobble and I work on cars for a living.

 

[Joe H]

My vote is for shallow impact swivels and a set of regular deep impact sockets combined with an impact swivel joint.

 

[alamerang]

yea im going with semi deep and can always buy a deep if i start needing a certain size often

Quick question. Are you going to be using these at work or just at home working on your own stuff?

If you are using them for a living, I would go ahead and get shallow and semideep because they do come in handy and speed up productivity. If not, I would just get a good set of impact swivels and regular short impact sockets. That way you can switch between short and deep impact sockets at will. To me as a weekend wrencher, that would make the most sense and be the best value. But then I am a cheap ******* so....

 

[Fubar]

I bought 'em all.....

 

[Art From De Leon]

My vote is for shallow impact swivels and a set of regular deep impact sockets combined with an impact swivel joint.

 

[Fedwrench]

There will be times when the shallow will fit but the semi deep or deep won't. Although it hurts, you really need to have both sets. I prefer Matcos and their deep swivels are more mid length or semi deep. What drive size are you looking at?
I would only get (depending on what you work on) 1/4 shallow in 7, 8, 10, 13, 15 mm and 1/4 and 3/8. Once you wear out sets of chrome universal sockets, it's easier to use impact swivel sockets on an air ratchet.
3/8 drive as discussed. I wouldn't really recommend 1/2 drive impact swivel sockets. If you got the space to use 1/2 inch drive, you can get by with a regular impact socket and an impact swivel joint. There may be exceptions but, except for my 15, 18 and 24 mm, the rest don't get used. I have found that trying to use a 3/8 swivel joint with regular impact sockets doesn't work too well as it's too long and bulky compared to a one piec impact swivel socket.

 

[bigsteve1969]

using them for work and im gettin 3/8 drive i dont have any 1/4 in drive impact stuff. In 3/8 i got short and deep snap on impacts so thats why im gonna get mid length i figure that will get me good for awhile

 

[sk farmer]

i have swivel deep and love them. i also have straight shallow and deep. i have sk shallow and they are to shallow if there is much ov any thread exposed. if i need a shallow swivel i pop the swivel on them. of my three sets i use the deep swivel most often.

 

[IONH]

My vote is for shallow impact swivels and a set of regular deep impact sockets combined with an impact swivel joint.

Ditto.....

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

I think that you will find that the shallow ones have a much wider range of application...

Adam

 

[sk farmer]

My vote is for shallow impact swivels and a set of regular deep impact sockets combined with an impact swivel joint.

my thought is the opposite. i think the fewer attachments you can use to get the length the better. my deep swivels work much better than a deep socket and a swivel. the shorter sockets on a swivel keep the work up close for more power.the deep socket and swivel lose to much power between the impact and the fastener.

 

[jsaw]

My vote is for shallow impact swivels and a set of regular deep impact sockets combined with an impact swivel joint.

That is what I do

 

[IONH]

my thought is the opposite. i think the fewer attachments you can use to get the length the better. my deep swivels work much better than a deep socket and a swivel. the shorter sockets on a swivel keep the work up close for more power.the deep socket and swivel lose to much power between the impact and the fastener.

The other argument would be that deep swivels don't fit everywhere. So using a shallow socket plus a swivel may also not fit in a location where a deep swivel would.

 

[sk farmer]

i have compared the length of shallow swivels and a shallow socket on a swivel and the differance was minimal. i do however have shallow sk impact sockets and they are very shallow compared to other brands of wich many are deeper. that may explain my reasoning.