Managed to break an impact extension....

[plinker]

Did this last week, Armstrong 12" 1/4 drive locking impact extension. Very interesting break. Not a great pic but gets the jist of it.

Had a Matco 1/4 drive swivel & 10mm socket on one end and a 6" S-K 1/4 ratchet on the other loosening an oil cooler bolt that was apparently tighter then I thought.

 

[FSrepair&fabrication]

that’s an interesting break, I’ve twisted off the male end but never the female. Did it come from cripe by chance? I buy from them a lot and I think some of the Armstrong tools they sell are “seconds” as the quality and finish of some things are not so great, but good enough and cheap enough to stick in a service truck where they will inevitably be lost within a few months.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Wow lol one time I cracked the end that goes on a ratchet/impact but never broke one like that the one I broke was a Craftsman impact extension and I have bent plenty of them also different brands too.


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[setfocus]

I had a little sunex 3" 1/2 drive impact extension break on the female end, was using it on a flip socket for lugs, daily. I was kinda bummed when it broke since I didn't pay for it. The tire supply guy put it on the garage's tab, even tho I tried to give him cash. It lasted about a year. My locking extensions wont fit in flip sockets

 

[Rinspeed]

1/4" and impact don't exactly go together very well.

 

[Mr_B]

He was using a hand ratchet .
To be fair chrome tools generally hold up better in hand use as tempered harder .
1/4" breakages are fairly common if using tools hard in awkward scenarios .

I hardly ever use 1/4" impact unless space dictates it, normally it most nano 3/8 I got as hold up good and transmits the torque better .

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

He was using a hand ratchet .
To be fair chrome tools generally hold up better in hand use as tempered harder .
1/4" breakages are fairly common if using tools hard in awkward scenarios .

I hardly ever use 1/4" impact unless space dictates it, normally it most nano 3/8 I got as hold up good and transmits the torque better .

I agree with you I don’t even own a 1/4 impact and have never needed one as a mechanic. I have only ever used 3/8 and 1/2 impact and the 3/8 is only a ratchet the only impact gun I have is a 1/2 but I prefer using hand tools so the impacts rarely come out unless I can’t get something broke loose by hand.


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[Fedwrench]

that’s an interesting break, I’ve twisted off the male end but never the female. Did it come from cripe by chance? I buy from them a lot and I think some of the Armstrong tools they sell are “seconds” as the quality and finish of some things are not so great, but good enough and cheap enough to stick in a service truck where they will inevitably be lost within a few months.

All of the Armstrong stuff sold by Cripe was bought by them after Armstrong closed. I don't think the tools are seconds but, I do think the Armstrong quality was slipping in its waning days

I'm sorry to hear that you broke your locking impact extension. I have the same locking impact extension set plus extras and they are some of my favorite extensions. Mine aren't new and hopefully will last for many more years. It's just one more tool that won't be easy or cheap to replace when it fails. I have a M12 stubby 1/4 square drive impact that i use daily. It probably depends on what you work on but, there's just so much plastic under the hood that needs to be removed before hitting metal on a late model vehicle. Fasteners are smaller these days too.

 

[Fialaja]

Send it to Apex so they can give you a Chinese Gearwrench replacement

 

[plinker]

I had bought it at Cripe a while back, picked up quite a bit from them. I would agree that the quality had slipped to some extent regarding Armstrong/Allen stuff towards the end. I dont know that I'd say for sure that stuff Cripe had gotten was seconds or not, but nothing really surprises me anymore. I suppose there is a fine line between slipping quality and when that equals seconds (other then cosmetic defects).

I've got the non fuel 1/4 impact (1st gen) and ratchet at work and use them regularly. Most of my 1/4 drive daily use kit is impact though I have full sets of chrome. Neither tool really has over 15-20 ft lb so it's rather hard to break a bolt let alone a socket.

I ended up getting a Matco replacement, 50$ for essentially the same tool.
I did check S-K to see if they had impact grade extensions & didnt see anything.

What actually surprised me was the pawl didnt strip out on the ratchet (BTDT), figured that would have went first.

 

[JiminAZ]

What catches my eye is what appears to be rust spots on the shaft portion of the broken off piece. Picture is out of focus so hard to tell exactly.

If indeed that is rust discoloration and those spots were there when it broke, that tells you that area had been cracked for awhile.

Or if the parts have been laying around for a week or so, it just rusted laying around....

 

[S/RConcepts]

I had a little sunex 3" 1/2 drive impact extension break on the female end, was using it on a flip socket for lugs, daily. I was kinda bummed when it broke since I didn't pay for it. The tire supply guy put it on the garage's tab, even tho I tried to give him cash. It lasted about a year. My locking extensions wont fit in flip sockets

I had the same thing happen to me with the 3" Sunex extensions, they broke in pretty much the same way as the OP pictured- twice, in fact. Ended up using Snap-on ones after that, they held up much better. Granted, this was 15+ years ago, so I can't speak for Sunex's quality today- many have good luck with them.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

I had similar break on chrome 10mm deep socket using air ratchet.

 

[May Pop]

https://www.google.com/search?q=don...69i57j0l7.28634j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[mrjaw14]

I saw a Snap-On and a Cornwell break like that yesterday trying to take a tractor lug nut off. two breaker bars also broke. Milwaukee 1/2 impact took it off. I'd never have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes

 

[Fialaja]

If you contact cripe, maybe they can do something for you...

 

[CGarage]

I saw a Snap-On and a Cornwell break like that yesterday trying to take a tractor lug nut off. two breaker bars also broke. Milwaukee 1/2 impact took it off. I'd never have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes

Did they think to use Kroil or Liquid Wrench prior to breaking all of the tools???