"Palnut" hex screws? Palnut driver?
- Thread starter 90zcar
- Start date
rlitman
Well-known member
It's for turning these from the inside (the right image), when they're in a recess.
Like any nut driver, the tool is hollow to leave room for the stud inside.
Like any nut driver, the tool is hollow to leave room for the stud inside.
MaineGuide
Well-known member
Hate those damn things.
wvrailroader
Well-known member
Hate to resurrect an old thread, but I ended up with both of those palnut sockets in a box of stuff I got at an auction. I put the part numbers in the Snap On catalog and they came up as palnut sockets. At that point, I was wondering just what in the hell is a palnut? I searched here and lo and behold, I have been educated lol. I had seen them before but didn't know what they were called. I guess next time I have the right tool for the job.
"Palnut" hex screws? Palnut driver?
Awesome. Mind posting a picture of them to help educate some others?
These must be really a rare use thing or they are called something else because not much of anything that looks similar comes up to that on eBay or search
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Awesome. Mind posting a picture of them to help educate some others?
These must be really a rare use thing or they are called something else because not much of anything that looks similar comes up to that on eBay or search
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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1badbird
Well-known member
You deal with them quite a bit at a bodyshop. Other than that I've never came across them. I have those sockets and I gotta say I hardly ever used them.
Provincial
Well-known member
Palnuts were used on aviation engines as a locking device to discourage plain nuts from backing off. I use the word "discourage" instead of "prevent" because tests later showed that they were ineffective at that task.
I always used a box wrench on the outer hex, and Pratt & Whitney factory tools did too.
Later on there was a stamped, self-locking hex nut that had a similar internal hex. They were nicknamed "McNamara" nuts because Robert McNamara was Secretary of Defense and demanded all sorts of cost-saving designs be adopted, whether they worked or not. It was designated NAS679. These are actually quite strong. They could be torqued with a wrench that looked quite like the Snap-On Palnut socket, but I have only seen a couple of these sockets "in the wild", and that was at Boeing Surplus 30+ years ago.
I always used a box wrench on the outer hex, and Pratt & Whitney factory tools did too.
Later on there was a stamped, self-locking hex nut that had a similar internal hex. They were nicknamed "McNamara" nuts because Robert McNamara was Secretary of Defense and demanded all sorts of cost-saving designs be adopted, whether they worked or not. It was designated NAS679. These are actually quite strong. They could be torqued with a wrench that looked quite like the Snap-On Palnut socket, but I have only seen a couple of these sockets "in the wild", and that was at Boeing Surplus 30+ years ago.
countryroad82
Well-known member
BINGO!!! Give the kid a kewpee doll!
I hate these little sumbitches with a passion. If you want to see one in action, pull your grill out of your car/truck. Most cases these are helping hold the grill emblem, along with double sided tape. There are other weird spots I see them, sometimes in interiors, sometimes on bumper covers, sometimes put in places just to piss you off and waste time trying to keep the things from spinning and come off. If you are really wanting to see where these things were used the most, look no further than pretty much any old car from the 40s-80s. If it has trim or emblems, most likely they are held on by a form of these.
I'll try to remember to take a pic of a piece of trim for you. But yes the tool is just a glorified socket. So a socket, or nut driver will do the same job as the palnut driver.
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Richard Cranium
Well-known member
I just couldn't picture them until you said they held on emblems, and then the light came on. Thanks for the education...
GM used Palnuts to lock the nuts on engine connecting rods, in the fifties, etc. Must have installed millions of them while I worked at an engine rebuilder in Edmonton during the early sixties. We just used a regular socket with a speed wrench and gave it about a quarter turn. You developed a feel for it after a while. We never had any failures.
ttpete
Well-known member
I've seen them on cylinder base nuts, and they go way back, probably into the 1930's. Willys used them over con rod nuts on the earlier Jeeps, and I never bothered to use them on re-assembly. The NAS679 nuts I always knew as "jet nuts", and have seen them used in auto racing.
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four.cycle
Well-known member
not to be confused with "speed nuts" (but those are in another box out in the garage.)
Dorman SK28 Connecting Rod Lock Nut (Pal Nut) Service Kit_01 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Dorman SK28 Connecting Rod Lock Nut (Pal Nut) Service Kit_02 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Dorman SK28 Connecting Rod Lock Nut (Pal Nut) Service Kit_03 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Dorman SK28 Connecting Rod Lock Nut (Pal Nut) Service Kit_04 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Dorman SK28 Connecting Rod Lock Nut (Pal Nut) Service Kit_01 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Dorman SK28 Connecting Rod Lock Nut (Pal Nut) Service Kit_02 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Dorman SK28 Connecting Rod Lock Nut (Pal Nut) Service Kit_03 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Dorman SK28 Connecting Rod Lock Nut (Pal Nut) Service Kit_04 by four.cycle, on FlickrInteresting collection.... I believe the ones we used were PN-3, but do not remember the supplier. We used a lot of things that came in plain brown wrappers, like Perfect Circle piston rings.
Interesting that your collection is from Dorman, many people regard them as a "johnnie come lately" outfit that is cleaning up the aftermarket, when in fact they were the OEM. Another example are MOPAR door hinges used in the 60-90's.
Interesting that your collection is from Dorman, many people regard them as a "johnnie come lately" outfit that is cleaning up the aftermarket, when in fact they were the OEM. Another example are MOPAR door hinges used in the 60-90's.
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Strouty
Well-known member
We use plants on towers, not as common now, but I can remember using them all the time. They were used to lock a regular nut not a bolt, a lot of manufacturers use anco lock nuts (they have a wire that digs in as it turns), but these rip up the galvanized coating so the threads end up rusting and making a mess. I forgot that they were used on cars, I can however remember putting on hundreds of them the wrong way and having to remove them and install them again. We never had clearance issues so we just used the next size down socket or an adjustable wrench.
wvrailroader
Well-known member
I thought they were some kind of oddball security hex sockets when I got them. I guess I will hold on to them, even though I may never need them. If I have learned one thing during the time I have been on GJ, it's that I don't really ever have to need a tool to buy it
four.cycle
Well-known member
lilredex said:
Dorman's been around forever.
They were still "traditional" hard parts/nuts and bolts/bulk bins up into the 1980s.
When the "Help!" line was introduced in the mid-1980s - blister-packed automotive service items - it caused a change in the industry. Mass-merchandiser retailers and huge auto parts store chains can't deal with bulk hardware. Dorman stepped up to the plate and started catering to that market.
I gotta tell ya: trying to maintain an accurate inventory of thousands of line items - all on paper - is a real pain. How'd we ever manage without computers?
Dorman AS43 Expansion Plug (Freeze Plug) Assortment 01 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Dorman AS43 Expansion Plug (Freeze Plug) Assortment 02 by four.cycle, on FlickrSteinmetz
Well-known member
They were used to secure other fasteners. Used on connecting rod nuts in the old days.
four.cycle
Well-known member
they are also used as the fastener itself in some applications:
earlier Briggs & Stratton "Quantum" engine with primer bulb mounted on side of fuel tank: inner half of primer bulb is secured with a "Pal Nut":
shown as item #353A (B&S # 696824) (shows as "lock washer", but it's actually a "Pal Nut" securing that plastic primer bulb assembly to the tank.)
http://www.partstree.com/parts/brig...n-engine-rewind-starter/fuel-tank-assy-hoses/
actually fairly common on older mechanical devices.
earlier Briggs & Stratton "Quantum" engine with primer bulb mounted on side of fuel tank: inner half of primer bulb is secured with a "Pal Nut":
shown as item #353A (B&S # 696824) (shows as "lock washer", but it's actually a "Pal Nut" securing that plastic primer bulb assembly to the tank.)
http://www.partstree.com/parts/brig...n-engine-rewind-starter/fuel-tank-assy-hoses/
actually fairly common on older mechanical devices.
Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
NAS679 nuts are very different from Palnuts. NAS678 nuts are a heavy stamped nut with full machine screw threads in them and are a primary fastener used in aircraft applications.
Provincial
Well-known member
NAS679 nuts are very different from Palnuts. NAS678 nuts are a heavy stamped nut with full machine screw threads in them and are a primary fastener used in aircraft applications.
Yes, but do you have the internal-wrenching sockets to fit?
