Inexpensive individual wrenches

[sberry]

I don't think a guy needs to invest a lot here but at modern pricing it doesn't hurt to have all the pieces just in case. Sears, Hf, whatever it takes and a guy doesn't need every type and style they ever invented but a complete combo and socket set that includes those more rarely used,,, just in case pieces are worth having. A guy doesn't need dupes and trips of those but it's good to have when something pops up. Fords use 18 a lot. About the only ones I never use is 9 and 11 but it mighta happn.

 

[BajaScout]

I will always recommend the William's Supercombos from ToolsDelivered. Superb on both ends

Those do look nice.


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[mike93lx]

Well you guys convinced me, 9 and 18 are on their way

 

[tym]

Well you guys convinced me, 9 and 18 are on their way

That's how joining GJ will get ya...LOL

 

[sberry]

I csnt recall 9 but I supposed it has been used. 18 quite frequently and 16/17 on occasion. There is similar for 15/16 in metric. 7/8 for some hyd fittings which wouldn't apply to all and for some structural nuts.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I've used metric for 50 years now, the common bolt sizes are 5mm,6mm,8mm,10mm,12mm,16mm and 20mm. And they tell me 14mm,now, thank you Ford. Since ISO didn't standardize until fairly recently,1971, each country had their own ideas about bolt pitches and bolt head sizes. Even you Americans got into the act late with the 12mm,15mm and 18mm bolt head sizes. The common head sizes are 8mm,10mm,13mm, 17mm,19mm,24mm and 30mm. But I've used 9mm and 11mm on French Simcas, 14mm on a Fiat tractor made in Romania,15mm on a Dodge minivan, 12mm and 18mm on a Ram pickup. I've used 21mm in place of a 1/2" Whitworth on old Japanese machinery.

 

[driz]

I've used metric for 50 years now, the common bolt sizes are 5mm,6mm,8mm,10mm,12mm,16mm and 20mm. And they tell me 14mm,now, thank you Ford. Since ISO didn't standardize until fairly recently,1971, each country had their own ideas about bolt pitches and bolt head sizes. Even you Americans got into the act late with the 12mm,15mm and 18mm bolt head sizes. The common head sizes are 8mm,10mm,13mm, 17mm,19mm,24mm and 30mm. But I've used 9mm and 11mm on French Simcas, 14mm on a Fiat tractor made in Romania,15mm on a Dodge minivan, 12mm and 18mm on a Ram pickup. I've used 21mm in place of a 1/2" Whitworth on old Japanese machinery.

Yea and those **** 15 mm mimmic 16 or 17 with rust and inaccessibility. Add some dark shadows and it’s a marriage made in hell[emoji2959]. All those **** sizes are nonsense but if you’re lucky , really lucky you can get 9/16 and 15mm in some dark hard to reach hellhole coated in rust .......on the same casting[emoji24]. Better toss those 12 points and get out the 6s. That’s all I use anymore.
And to think back in 1975 I could look at a bolt head 10’ away and tell you the size. It’s been a long road on the way to the dung pile but we really have arrived and it’s not getting better anytime soon.


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[ChrisLS8]

Just depends on what you work on. With my Nissan project car it's almost all 10,12,17,17,19,21mm and 32mm for axle nuts

 

[Handyandy23]

Back when I only drove Honda's, I always wondered why I had half the sizes I did in my sets. Now I have a Chevy truck and I'm using all those unused sizes from before, and more. The Japanese manufacturers seem to stick pretty well to their standard sizes.

My Chevy is the worst for sticking to a set of sizes "most" of the time, but every once in a while will throw in a random size. Everything is 13mm or 15mm, but then I'll randomly come across a 14mm somewhere. Literally uses almost everything.

For the oddball sizes you never think you'll use, like 9mm, there's German cars.

 

[ChrisLS8]

Yea and those **** 15 mm mimmic 16 or 17 with rust and inaccessibility. Add some dark shadows and it’s a marriage made in hell[emoji2959]. All those **** sizes are nonsense but if you’re lucky , really lucky you can get 9/16 and 15mm in some dark hard to reach hellhole coated in rust .......on the same casting[emoji24]. Better toss those 12 points and get out the 6s. That’s all I use anymore.
And to think back in 1975 I could look at a bolt head 10’ away and tell you the size. It’s been a long road on the way to the dung pile but we really have arrived and it’s not getting better anytime soon.


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Stardardizing to metric in the automotive sector was smart.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Except that they standardized to what ISO should have been in the first place. 14mm and 9/16 are pretty close, if you are packing tools, they are the same.

After finding a good sized rock on last weekends camping/fishing trip, I had to change my transfer skid plate. It had been off before and the bolts, self tapping ??, holes were stripped. I took the easy way out and tapped what had been 8mm to 3/8 UNC. After the estate sale, the next owner will wonder about the 14mm. The bolts supplied with the skid plate were 8mm with 13mm heads, not 12mm. There they go again.

 

[mike93lx]

The wrenches all showed up, so now I'm 100% covered from 6mm to 19 and 1/4 to 3/4. Plus a bunch of 1"+ that I really don't need, including a 1-1/2" that doesn't even fit in my drawer.

Fit and finish on the duracraft pro stuff seems pretty good.

Now onto a new ratcheting set