Now I'm a believer in Snap On

[TXNinAZ]

Prior to today, I liked the feel of Snap On hand tools and they are clearly a cut above most other hand tools that I've used. My attitude has been that for a homeowner like myself, the difference was minimal, and certainly not worth the cost difference, even buying used vs new Craftsman, et al.

Well today, Snap On's quality and design saved me a lot of frustration. I had some very rusty bolts on the bottom of a grinder stand that I bought, and my first several attempts were all useless: penetrating oil, Knipex cobra pliers, Knipex pliers wrench, Craftsman 9/16 wrench, hammer whack to break the rust bond. Then I decided to pull out a Snap On flank drive plus wrench that I'm trying to sell. Got all 4 bolts off without a fight, even the one I boogered up trying other tools on. The open end of the wrench immediately bit into the rusty hex head and never budged. I know there are other wrenches out there with a similar feature, but Snap On has been around for almost a century and isn't going anywhere. Color me impressed.

 

[J king]

I just broke a snapon box end wrench and same size socket last week.disappointed in them..will say Snapon replaced with a phonecall tho..
To be honest..I don't think anything would have removed the bolts..rear yoke bolts on a drive shaft...stupid 5/16 bolts..

 

[TXNinAZ]

I just broke a snapon box end wrench and same size socket last week.disappointed in them..will say Snapon replaced with a phonecall tho..
To be honest..I don't think anything would have removed the bolts..rear yoke bolts on a drive shaft...stupid 5/16 bolts..

Yikes- that must have been a ton of torque on them to break two tools.

 

[Askme42]

Why didn't you just use a socket?

 

[TXNinAZ]

Why didn't you just use a socket?

Wouldn't fit on the bolt over the rust.

EDIT: I'm sure I could have wiggled it on there and hammered it in place, but then I'd have a rusty bolt stuck inside my socket if it came off the plate.

 

[James-W]

Several years ago I had a similar problem, couldn't get a bolt out, was rusted in place and wouldn't budge. I welded a piece of heavy duty steel to the head of the bolt and then used a pipe to turn it out. Worked great.

 

[saewoody]

Wouldn't fit on the bolt over the rust.

EDIT: I'm sure I could have wiggled it on there and hammered it in place, but then I'd have a rusty bolt stuck inside my socket if it came off the plate.

When that happens to me I just pop the socket off the ratchet and tap out the bolt (or nut, or whatever) from the hole the ratchet inserts into.


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[1950mercury]

Wouldn't fit on the bolt over the rust.

EDIT: I'm sure I could have wiggled it on there and hammered it in place, but then I'd have a rusty bolt stuck inside my socket if it came off the plate.

That's when you hand tighten the nut back on and pull the socket off

 

[Askme42]

Wouldn't fit on the bolt over the rust.

EDIT: I'm sure I could have wiggled it on there and hammered it in place, but then I'd have a rusty bolt stuck inside my socket if it came off the plate.

No knocking snap on but I'll bet any wrench with a serrated open end like that would of worked.

 

[Askme42]

That's when you hand tighten the nut back on and pull the socket off

The many simple ricks you learn after doing this stuff for awhile....

 

[TXNinAZ]

The many simple ricks you learn after doing this stuff for awhile....

Yep. Lots of ways to the same end result. I had a SO open ended wrench so that's what I went with.

 

[abvw]

I just broke a snapon box end wrench and same size socket last week.disappointed in them..will say Snapon replaced with a phonecall tho..
To be honest..I don't think anything would have removed the bolts..rear yoke bolts on a drive shaft...stupid 5/16 bolts..

Just because a tool is stamped Snap-on doesn't make it indestructible.

You live in the rust belt, you should have known better to use heat. If you were using anything inferior you would have rounded the **** out of those yoke bolts. Be glad you only broke a couple of tools.

 

[tweedlestan]

Maybe it's just me but i would have used the box end.

 

[speed bump]

Interesting, can't say as I remember the last time I used an open end to break loose a bolt I could put a socket or a box end on. The Proto ASD did save my **** one time when my brother rounded a flare fitting and I couldn't get a pipe wrench on it.

A wire brush would have helped your situation tremendously BTW.

As far as getting a socket stuck: if you are in that situation stop before the bolt is all the way out and wiggle the socket off using the ratchet as a lever. If it is hard turning all the way out then spray the exposed threads with penetrating oil and work them in and out until it turns easily.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I've busted snap on ratchets and cracked a snap on socket. On the same bolt i used a craftsman socket and it broke it free. Snap on is quality but it's more so convenient as a mechanic to get tools replaced weekly and have a payment plan so you don't buy outright. That's the appeal of snap on. What turns me off to them is the price, for the same type of tool and just as quality elsewhere it's usually cheaper. But good on you for finding a tool that fit your application, which is what this thread was about. I'd like to get a serrated type wrench set too.

 

[TXNinAZ]

A wire brush would have helped your situation tremendously BTW.

That's actually after using a wire wheel on a die grinder. The remaining rust was on there very tough.

Guys, this was meant to share my realization that there is a difference in the truck brand tools, not to demonstrate my inability to choose the best method to remove a bolt. As I was working, a thought popped in my head about what the flank drive plus was good for, so I wanted to try it first hand. I definitely could have gone for a box end wrench or a socket, but that would have entailed more prep work to get the rust off, and I wanted to try a real-life situation that a design was created for.

 

[Fixin'Stuff]

I just broke a snapon box end wrench and same size socket last week.disappointed in them..will say Snapon replaced with a phonecall tho..
To be honest..I don't think anything would have removed the bolts..rear yoke bolts on a drive shaft...stupid 5/16 bolts..

Yikes- that must have been a ton of torque on them to break two tools.

J king is from Ohio. Those weren't "bolts" any longer. They were just chunks of steel, rust-fused into a solid piece with the yoke. They use so much road salt there that steel doesn't stand a chance. A few years of driving around there and the underside of your ride looks like it was pulled from the ocean.

 

[90zcar]

Awesome man. If that's what makes you like snap on then so be it. Don't worry what anyone else says.




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[shockwave]

Best example I have with the fdp from snap on customer have old Dakota brought in trying to replace o2 sensor himself and could not get to budge and rounded off then went to vise grip and then any socket would slip so tried the fdp and broke free just saying these are great to have

 

[abvw]

I've busted snap on ratchets and cracked a snap on socket. On the same bolt i used a craftsman socket and it broke it free. Snap on is quality but it's more so convenient as a mechanic to get tools replaced weekly and have a payment plan so you don't buy outright. That's the appeal of snap on. What turns me off to them is the price, for the same type of tool and just as quality elsewhere it's usually cheaper. But good on you for finding a tool that fit your application, which is what this thread was about. I'd like to get a serrated type wrench set too.

I don't have a problem with truck brand's pricing structure, and many other techs I know don't either. Tools are not a consumable commodity, you pay only once and enjoy lifetime after sale service. I haven't walked off the truck with a tool that doesn't pay itself in two weeks.

Once you get hooked on a $50/week for life payment plan the price sticker is irrelevant. I don't even ask my dealer for pricings anymore, if I like it/need it/want it, throw it on my account!

 

[Askme42]

That's actually after using a wire wheel on a die grinder. The remaining rust was on there very tough.

Guys, this was meant to share my realization that there is a difference in the truck brand tools, not to demonstrate my inability to choose the best method to remove a bolt. As I was working, a thought popped in my head about what the flank drive plus was good for, so I wanted to try it first hand. I definitely could have gone for a box end wrench or a socket, but that would have entailed more prep work to get the rust off, and I wanted to try a real-life situation that a design was created for.

But the point is wright proto and sk all have wrenches that would of done the same thing and I believe even some of your lower end tools now have the same feature.

 

[TXNinAZ]

But the point is wright proto and sk all have wrenches that would of done the same thing and I believe even some of your lower end tools now have the same feature.

I acknowledged that in my original post.

 

[J king]

I heated the **** out of it! was afraid I was gonna burn up the seal!!

ended up getting two out before tools were done had to grind heads of bolts off to get apart. Easy job turned to ****!

 

[Jarhead0408]

That sucker was nasty wasn't it Tex!?

Thanks for posting this up.

I'll be upgrading my wrenches soon. Snappys are a little on the thin side for me. I think I'll be buying Wrightgrips.

 

[anndel]

I'm impressed and love Snap On tools for the past 30 years to present only my wallet, credit card and checking account don't. My wife tolerates my tools but smurks when I buy a new SO tool. She used to get on my case about if I needed it and why did I have to spend so much on it but now she says ok, especially when her car died on the way to work and AAA towed it home and I fixed it. I told her the Snap On tools did the job! Stupid crank position sensors.

 

[Superbec]

Wouldn't fit on the bolt over the rust.

EDIT: I'm sure I could have wiggled it on there and hammered it in place, but then I'd have a rusty bolt stuck inside my socket if it came off the plate.

steel brushes must be expensive where you live.

the bolt head is rusty, but the threads look pretty clean, the problem bolts have rusted threads...

 

[johninct]

Why do you have the fdp wrench for sale?

 

[Tonellin]

ATF + acetone would have made short work of the bond holding that bolt especially if you were able to knock it loose with a box end...

 

[Adam.C]

I just broke a snapon box end wrench and same size socket last week.disappointed in them..will say Snapon replaced with a phonecall tho..
To be honest..I don't think anything would have removed the bolts..rear yoke bolts on a drive shaft...stupid 5/16 bolts..

Did you have a pipe on it? A Snap On box wrench is good for many hundreds of pounds. How did you apply enough force to break a Snap On wrench? Why didn't you stop before it broke?

Snap On wrenches are among the strongest or the strongest made. In just about every wrench test, they are near the top or #1. Takes something special to break one. You really have to go out of your way. Normal use won't break one.

 

[pepi]

When that happens to me I just pop the socket off the ratchet and tap out the bolt (or nut, or whatever) from the hole the ratchet inserts into.


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TAW-Daw ! There you go, it takes a good mech to know how to improvise.

I could not help but notice the OP orignal or first attempt was using Knipex cobra pliers, Knipex pliers wrench. That says a lot on its own

 

[d.mcfarland]

So you're saying a Craftsman 9/16 was inferior to a Snap On 1/2"?

Not a fair comparison to grip strength...

 

[slow_mow]

So you're saying a Craftsman 9/16 was inferior to a Snap On 1/2"?

Not a fair comparison to grip strength...

No wonder it rounded it off!! LMAO

 

[TXNinAZ]

No wonder it rounded it off!! LMAO

There were two different sized bolts on the plate. 1/2" and 9/16", two of each.

 

[zakmartin]

Chuck Norris could have pulled that bolt off with his fingers. He wouldn't need penetrating oil either; his penetrating stare would have worked just fine.

 

[Kracin]

sorry but as a person who does a lot of stuff with rusted, busted, rounded, etc bolts i have to say.


if you didnt get that little bolt out with a pair of knipex cobras, then you were holding them backwards.....

 

[Kracin]

so odd question, but from the two pictures it looks like you didn't bother loosening the nut at the base of it first..... please tell me you did...

 

[TXNinAZ]

sorry but as a person who does a lot of stuff with rusted, busted, rounded, etc bolts i have to say.


if you didnt get that little bolt out with a pair of knipex cobras, then you were holding them backwards.....

Must have been. By reading these comments, you'd think I must have the skills and intelligence of a squid. Oh well- should have just made a post about how USA made stuff is getting as bad as made in China and how great harbor freight 44" toolboxes are.

 

[kiatech]

sorry but as a person who does a lot of stuff with rusted, busted, rounded, etc bolts i have to say.


if you didnt get that little bolt out with a pair of knipex cobras, then you were holding them backwards.....

I agree.

 

[pi_guy]

Must have been. By reading these comments, you'd think I must have the skills and intelligence of a squid.

Hey do not pick on squid.
Last summer I saw a bucket of squid discharge ink at some guy who stuck his face in the bucket to look. The shots of ink that missed his face rained down on him as he stood there amazed.

Last night was out hunting for them but there was a big striper hanging out under the pier and no squid or baitfish seen.

But being a snap on user and for many years have come to the conclusion that this is very akin to the PC vs MAC or android to iJunk debate.
For years my response was need better tools than what the MAC offered being a database person MAC was left out, and did not get real database ability until they sold out to linux.

And every time there is an absolute statement something comes along to negate it. Squid are nocturnal and best time is midnight high tide, but over on nut island in Boston harbor they are taking squid 24x7.

It is often your choice to what you prefer.
This is a response from some sampling I have done.
Nobody wants a technician preforming a high level repair using Harbor Freight tools.

 

[maxpower_hd]

Prior to today, I liked the feel of Snap On hand tools and they are clearly a cut above most other hand tools that I've used. My attitude has been that for a homeowner like myself, the difference was minimal, and certainly not worth the cost difference, even buying used vs new Craftsman, et al.

Well today, Snap On's quality and design saved me a lot of frustration. I had some very rusty bolts on the bottom of a grinder stand that I bought, and my first several attempts were all useless: penetrating oil, Knipex cobra pliers, Knipex pliers wrench, Craftsman 9/16 wrench, hammer whack to break the rust bond. Then I decided to pull out a Snap On flank drive plus wrench that I'm trying to sell. Got all 4 bolts off without a fight, even the one I boogered up trying other tools on. The open end of the wrench immediately bit into the rusty hex head and never budged. I know there are other wrenches out there with a similar feature, but Snap On has been around for almost a century and isn't going anywhere. Color me impressed.

I have used these wrenches a friend owns and have wanted a set since. I just haven't been in the position enough times to justify the cost. They do work great.