SAE Wrenches - Where Used?

[BQuicksilver]

Did rip me too hard, but I've gotta ask where you guys really need SAE wrenches?

I'm sure some older cars use them, but almost any newish american car uses metric fasteners. When did cars switch over? I don't own a single SAE wrench and am not too inclined to ever buy one from my experience. I've had a few fasteners from home projects be SAE, but I do have SAE sockets and some knipex plier wrenches which cover any need I've ever had there.

It seems my combo wrenches really only come out on auto repairs, and I haven't had any car with SAE fasteners roll in here yet.

I'm all for having more tools, but I like to have tools I'll use. Where do you guys use your SAE wrenches?

 

[ears]

Out of 24 trucks at work, only three use metric.

 

[air]

My 74 Corvette was SAE, I sold it 3 years ago. I haven't used one of my SAE wrenches since.

If you don't have any SAE stuff now, just get some Craftsman stuff just in case I guess, cheap enough.

 

[mrholeshot]

Most US Built engines up to 1997 were SAE. Most Domestic Vehicles used a combonation of the 2 well into the 90's.

 

[May Pop]

Most AMERICAN autos before 1984? Many other AMERICAN made products. Many parts on Jeeps made still. They also are interchangeable with some metric sizes.

 

[Diesel-Mech]

Heavy trucks, Aircraft and HVAC are mostly SAE.

 

[SCscoutguy]

Every vehicle I own uses SAE so I use them all the time. I can fix just about anything on my Scout with a 1/2",9/16" and 5/8" wrench.

 

[airbuff101]

They were last used on Wagon trains.
They had lots of fractions that were hard to remember.
Most people that used them are dead now.
I have a couple big ones that I use to smash spiders with.

umm. How old are you BQuick?


Old Rob

 

[whitetoy]

Still use SAE on some vehicle bolts. I mostly use them on mowers and farm equipment though.

 

[BQuicksilver]

Great replies, thanks.

I figured older US made autos were SAE, I just wasn't sure about when that transition came.

Rob, I'm 35, but really not a classic car buff.

 

[larry_g]

Industry is a lot SAE. I also have a large tool kit and the metric **** fits in one small drawer. The tractors, backhoes, and most of the trucks I have are SAE. If its a newer rig then it goes to the shop where warrenty work is done. I stay with the old stuff I understand. I can still file a set of points, set the dwell, and various other things that you may have not been exposed to.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[crewchief888]

most of the const eq i work on is a mix of sae and metric.

my harley is all sae, truck and wifes saturn are all metric,
the oem stuff on my s-10 is metric, anything i bolt on gets sae hardware.

cuz thats what i have the most of, and it's more readily available.



seems like back around 1980 or so was the 1st time i ever saw anything "metric" on a US made vehicle.
1st time i ever saw a torx head screw i was like wtf?

 

[supertooljunkie]

I just changed an oil pump on a 1990 Ford E-350 van with a 460 in it. I thought it would be about half SAE and metric. It was all SAE. Engine and chassis.
US made industrial equipment, pumps, electric motors, gearboxes, are still SAE.

 

[Damian]

I've been wrenching 15 years and some of my SAE stuff has a 1/4" layer of dust on them. Unless you're working on pre-1990 stuff, you won't use a lot of SAE.

 

[VegasBruce]

All my vehicles are old, except the Harley and it is SAE also.

 

[SK Guy]

I have tractors and farm equipment...So I'm using SAE on most of the equipment and older tractors.

 

[Fedwrench]

I recommend that everyone with tools maintain a set of 3/8 drive sockets and combination wrenches in 5/16 to 7/8. That will cover about 90% of the fasteners used on older cars. A 1/4 socket comes in handy once in awhile and if doing ac work, a 1 1/16, 1 1/8, and 1 1/4 wrench is needed for most accumulator lines. My sae stuff gathers dust but, it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

 

[mrholeshot]

because my shop work on a lot of vintage vehicles and muscle cars the SAE got used a lot. You better not try to go to work in an independant shop without them.

 

[airbuff101]

Great replies, thanks.

I figured older US made autos were SAE, I just wasn't sure about when that transition came.

Rob, I'm 35, but really not a classic car buff.

I was just corn-flaggered by the question at first, is all.
They still get used lots outside the realm of automobiles.
60-70 years ago they used several more in-between sizes as well, broken down by 32nds! 17/32,19/32,25/32,31/32........That had to ****.
Rob

 

[mrholeshot]

I60-70 years ago they used several more in-between sizes as well, broken down by 32nds! 17/32,19/32,25/32,31/32........That had to ****.
Rob

I still have quite a few 32nds. Some of the ones I still use are 9/32 and 11/32

 

[MrMark]

Most of the stuff in a house or related to being a homeowner is SAE, including appliances. Think funiture, construction fasteners, garage door, gate hardware, plumbing fasteners and fittings, elec fittings, lag bolts, pretty many things. The only thing that I would pull out metric on is a car, and unless it's a german (and I am assuming a Japanese car) it will be a mix. I believe to this day.

 

[kams1973]

I work in oil & gas and all I use is standard SAE tools. When I was working as an A&P every tool in my box was SAE.

 

[Old Donn]

Just got in from the garage, used SAE on the old Chevy pictured left and my '80 Harley. Got a surprise about a month back. Changed the water pump on my '02 Chev Astro. Figured all the fasteners would be MM, and they were, EXCEPT for the 4 bolts actually holding the pump. They were 9/16". Like Fedwrench and Air mentioned above, a set of Cman SAE combos and a 3/8" drive socket set would be inexpensive insurance.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I work on so many different kinds of things constantly that I could not survive without both SAE and metric. At work, it's an industrial manufacturing environment, so it's mostly SAE. I got a leg up on metric in the late 60's when I started working on Honda motorcycles in my back yard, and now all my cars are metric also.

 

[wafrederick]

up to 1995,GM drain plugs on the 3800s,3300s,350s,305s and the 4.3s were 9/16".Went to 15mm in 1996.Starting in 1999,GM bellhousing bolts are metric including the starter bolts on the 4.3s.Hollander shows the 4.3 as differant 1999 and up which is a huge lie,only differances are the bellhousing bolts and starter bolts are metric including the motor mount bolts to the block.I have three 1 3/16 sockets on hand,a deep and shallow impact and one chrome shallow socket.Use them on older 4x4 truck transfer cases when doing fluid level checks during an oil change.Fit on some fwd axle nuts too.The GM 3800s are half SAE and Metric.

 

[pep]

Did rip me too hard, but I've gotta ask where you guys really need SAE wrenches?

Say what?

The only place I've seen the other kind of wrench is on aircooled VW and Datsun 510's. I still have trouble with the newfangled numbering system.

 

[Skin]

Most of the stuff in a house or related to being a homeowner is SAE, including appliances. Think funiture, construction fasteners, garage door, gate hardware, plumbing fasteners and fittings, elec fittings, lag bolts, pretty many things. The only thing that I would pull out metric on is a car, and unless it's a german (and I am assuming a Japanese car) it will be a mix. I believe to this day.

Appliances are metric these days. Same with furniture. As more and more is imported its all going metric. If you dont have older vehicles outdoor power equipment and plumbing are at least two areas where someone should own sae though.

 

[chevy302dz]

Appliances are metric these days. Same with furniture. As more and more is imported its all going metric. If you dont have older vehicles outdoor power equipment and plumbing are at least two areas where someone should own sae though.

Not really, all my new (within the last year) appliances and anyone elses that I've helped move or work on (not more than 3 years old and up to last week) have been SAE. I know that there are metric appliances but plenty are still SAE and will remain that way for some time.

 

[Mr_Rich]

I remember back in the early '80s the metal plating chemical company I worked for sold what was basically blue paint appropriately named "Metric Blue". This was used by the OEMs to coat the fastener heads on cars to show which were metric.

Rich

 

[otis66]

All vintage american cars are standard...SAE

 

[Avgas]

Never worked on an aircraft that used metric fasteners

 

[Dust]

All RWD Jeeps up to 2010 had 1/2" bolts holding the differential cover on. I do not know about the new Grand Cherokee.

 

[BQuicksilver]

The original thread was asking about needing SAE wrenches, but i think it has become "do you need SAE anything". I have a ton of SAE sockets. I just don't see the need for SAE wrenches.

I can say with confidence that any newer american car I've worked on has no SAE bolts. It's not a mix at all. Of course all the Japanese and Euro cars are 100% metric.

Still good to have some sockets for sure. Just wanted to see where I might run into an SAE fastener.

 

[oldwino]

Guess I'm a dinosaur...I bought a bench top drill press at HF this weekend and as I knew I didn't have any metric tools I picked up a set of 3/8 metric sockets (never had a use for them before) to assemble it. I do have some metric screwdrivers and cresent wrenches thou

Don't have much new stuff here...even computer is steam powered!

 

[Steevo]

I have six American made tractors, and every nut and bolt on every one of them is SAE.

 

[MrMark]

The last American car I had was 2002 GM and it had a mix of SAE and metric like GM has always done.

Now, it may be that American cars no longer use SAE fasteners at all (other than the Jeep example cited above) but I am going to be very sceptical.

Is it true that American cars no longer mix SAE and METRIC?

If you need the sockets, you need the wrenches, that much is obvious. That is simply an access issue and if you have an SAE fastener to deal with what are you going to do when the socket doesn't work.

 

[javiermar]

I work on gas turbines for a living, and in my work truck I have nothing but SAE with the exception of one 5.5mm Allen wrench.

 

[blazsawgras]

old model vehicles use sae. i use sae and metric equal amount in my shop.

 

[BQuicksilver]

The last American car I had was 2002 GM and it had a mix of SAE and metric like GM has always done.

Now, it may be that American cars no longer use SAE fasteners at all (other than the Jeep example cited above) but I am going to be very sceptical.

Is it true that American cars no longer mix SAE and METRIC?

If you need the sockets, you need the wrenches, that much is obvious. That is simply an access issue and if you have an SAE fastener to deal with what are you going to do when the socket doesn't work.

Obviously I haven't had a wrench on every bolt of every US made car. What I can say is that I've not turned an SAE bolt on anything built since 2000, and that they're a exception if you find them. I can say there wasn't a single SAE bolt on my 2002 or 2005 corvettes which have been extensively dis-assembled.

I never grab a combo wrench unless a ratchet can't hit the fastener (ratchet much faster of course), so fasteners needing a wrench are the exception as well. Odds of that one rare SAE fastener being an access issue doesn't justify SAE wrenches IMO for modern automotive repair. Of course if that ultra rare situation arose you also have a decent shot at a metric getting by.

Now if you work on big equip/HVAC/etc mentioned above I'm sure an SAE wrench set is an absolute must.

 

[MrMark]

SAE wrench set is 10 dollars. OK, 70 dollars for Craftsman professional at Cripes or on sale. You have had two Corvettes and you are worried about an SAE wrench set? I have a feeling that Corvette had plenty of SAE fasteners on it. How do you know it didn't have SAE unless you tried each fastener to see which one fit better? Did you do that?

I know on any GM car I have ever had - and that includes up until 2002 and three corvettes - you literally had to check each fastener with metric and sae to see which one fit better. The guys in the shop could tell you off the top of their head which was which because they had done the jobs repeatedly. This was always an annoyance with GM cars.