Should a Craftsman Pro wrench survive this?

[bmwpower]

Had the open end of my new 16mm on the shaft (it's keyed) of the one side of the sway bar link to hold the shaft in place. Then, used my impact to attempt to get the outside nut off. Screwed up the jaws on my wrench a little. I couldn't use the closed end since there was no way to get it on the shaft. I've done this with other wrenches from what I can remember and it's worked fine. This time, I wasn't so lucky.

Ok, so is this abuse? Should it have marred the open end like it did?

 

[OctaneMotorsports]

Maybe we need "impact wrenches"

 

[OctaneMotorsports]

But to answer your question...I have done this with cheap wrenches before with no ill effects...are you sure 16mm was the right size? I can see it being an issue if the wrench was too big and then the bolt kind of "slammed" into it.

 

[bmwpower]

But to answer your question...I have done this with cheap wrenches before with no ill effects...are you sure 16mm was the right size? I can see it being an issue if the wrench was too big and then the bolt kind of "slammed" into it.

May have been the fact that it was an old part with deteriorated metal which made it a smaller size, but the 16mm was the only one that would fit and it fit fine on the new replacement part. I think it may have twisted in the jaws.

 

[kartracer55]

Your basically impacting the open end of your wrench as well. Yeah, I do it all the time at work because, like you said, sometimes its the only way to accomplish something. Im trying to picture the type your talking about, the kind that look like a long bolt with the bushings on top and bottom correct?

You can either use a wrench if it permits, or a pair of vise-grips. Open end wrenches WILL spread if there is enough force. Even Snap-On's spread a bit. As for deforming, it depends. With enough abuse you can screw up the jaws on any wrench. I have seen a few "truck brand' wrenches with knicks and deformations in the jaws from this sort of thing.

Jim

 

[bmwpower]

Your basically impacting the open end of your wrench as well. Yeah, I do it all the time at work because, like you said, sometimes its the only way to accomplish something. Im trying to picture the type your talking about, the kind that look like a long bolt with the bushings on top and bottom correct?

You can either use a wrench if it permits, or a pair of vise-grips. Open end wrenches WILL spread if there is enough force. Even Snap-On's spread a bit. As for deforming, it depends. With enough abuse you can screw up the jaws on any wrench. I have seen a few "truck brand' wrenches with knicks and deformations in the jaws from this sort of thing.

Jim

You got it right:

I probably should have used a set of vice grips in hindsight.

 

[-lecroix-]

Any wrench will deform and chip with enough pressure.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Had the open end of my new 16mm on the shaft (it's keyed) of the one side of the sway bar link to hold the shaft in place. Then, used my impact to attempt to get the outside nut off. Screwed up the jaws on my wrench a little. I couldn't use the closed end since there was no way to get it on the shaft. I've done this with other wrenches from what I can remember and it's worked fine. This time, I wasn't so lucky.

Ok, so is this abuse? Should it have marred the open end like it did?

I have done alot of wrenching, but I do not think I would have chosen that way to accomplish the task. If the part was like the gold colored link and already off of the car, that job would be done at the vice, If the part were on the car and could be reached with another socket and driver I would probably do the job that way, but I would expect an open end to bend when used as you described like as not! That was just one of those kind of things I was always told never to do to an open end though.

 

[ImportTuner]

At least you can still take it back to Sears and get a free replacement ..

 

[ultgar]

You got it right:

I probably should have used a set of vice grips in hindsight.

Try using a low profile 16mm so the wrench is firmly on the metal flats of the sway bar link. I use a Facom 16x17mm 31 series or see what your local Snap-on guy sells in a thinwall profile in this size. I'm sure Hazet made a specialty wrench for the BMW dealers just for this application. SD

 

[eschoendorff]

Your basically impacting the open end of your wrench as well. Yeah, I do it all the time at work because, like you said, sometimes its the only way to accomplish something. Im trying to picture the type your talking about, the kind that look like a long bolt with the bushings on top and bottom correct?

You can either use a wrench if it permits, or a pair of vise-grips. Open end wrenches WILL spread if there is enough force. Even Snap-On's spread a bit. As for deforming, it depends. With enough abuse you can screw up the jaws on any wrench. I have seen a few "truck brand' wrenches with knicks and deformations in the jaws from this sort of thing.

Jim

I actually have a few Snap On wrenches that I got from pawn shops that are a little buggered up on the open end, but still work pretty good. Can you show us a picture of what you did to the wrench?

 

[MarkH]

One of the things I hate about the highly polished tools, You can see what you do to them easier. I looked at our abuse of tools and boxes over the last year to see if we should change buying habits.

On open ends, we had done damage to every brand out there by various types of abuse from too much torque applied to tight just slightly off spec nuts and bolts from reasons ranging from poor manufacturing to rusted smaller.

If the part was like the gold colored link and already off of the car, that job would be done at the vice,

One of the first things we get for any new shop is a good solid vise. Then teaching everyone why it is a daily use tool. I think it is one of the most misunderstood and underutilized tools in many shops.

 

[bmwpower]

I have done alot of wrenching, but I do not think I would have chosen that way to accomplish the task. If the part was like the gold colored link and already off of the car, that job would be done at the vice, If the part were on the car and could be reached with another socket and driver I would probably do the job that way, but I would expect an open end to bend when used as you described like as not! That was just one of those kind of things I was always told never to do to an open end though.

There's no way to get it off the car. The sway bar attaches to the shaft on one end, then a nut. The other side attaches to my strut in the same manner. I probably should have used a set of vice grips since I didn't care about the boot. When I put the new parts on, I used the same wrench - just didn't require the same about the torque to put on the new nut as it did to take off the old one....live and learn.

 

[GDA]

A friend and I replaced all front end items on my E34 M5 last Friday and we did struggle with one real stubborn rusted sway bar link. We attacked them with a 5/8 open end on the ball side and used a 16 on the nut. The 5/8 fit was real snug but did not encounter the problem you had probably since I used all hand tools.

At least you will get a new wrench.

 

[eschoendorff]

O


One of the first things we get for any new shop is a good solid vise. Then teaching everyone why it is a daily use tool. I think it is one of the most misunderstood and underutilized tools in many shops.

Can you elaborate on this?

 

[kartracer55]

Ohhh Yeah I see what you mean. My car has the same set up in the rears and the one side absolutly blew to replace. What you want to do with these, even before you put a wrench on the back side is just blast at it with an impact gun. Sometimes when they go bad they bind up and the binding is enough to at least back the nut off. This is a luck thing, but you always want to try it first. Sometimes you can break them free by giving quick blasts with the trigger. Its that initial hit that works well. The problem is that you dont always have room for a wrench. The worst are the ones with the studs that have the internal hex or torx. They strip out almost every time.

If this doesnt work, Grab the ball joint itself, like on the boot. Ift you clamp it tight enough it will rip through the boot and grab it.

If THAT doesnt work, Then take a cut off wheel, but a slit in the nut as close to the sway bar as you can without touching it, then break it open with a chisel and you can just tap it out. This method has NEVER failed me, but usually vise grips work well.

Jim

 

[Deafautotech]

my tech friend at my work had replaced many stabilzer rods as ball joint inside got make noise as popping. he just grap the his favorite tool is Vice grip plier and torch the nut then use impact wrench (AW5500) he got it remove by few minutes. i did try with torx bit and it broke off easy. oops..... he said just use vice grip and it got job done instead trying to make look nice.....

 

[TNToy]

There's no way to get it off the car. The sway bar attaches to the shaft on one end, then a nut. The other side attaches to my strut in the same manner.

FYI, our swaybar links are similar. I've used a 16mm on a couple dozen of them, and removed them like this. But I used a snap-on... they've held up pretty well so far to this kind of daily abuse.

Whenever a wrench gets really chewed up, I just walk onto the tool truck with it and warranty it. However, I've never had to do it after one such use, much less a couple dozen.

Vise-Grips do work better for this, though. A 4-foot prybar works even better. Brace it against the back of the strut and the side of the swaybar link, lean your weight on it, and the nut usually pops right off with a powerful 1/2" impact that spins fast enough. That works most of the time for me.

 

[chevy302dz]

If the chrome is just knicked it's not really a issue, anything muc more than that I would take it back and say it's defective.

 

[ba614]

I'd like to see a pic of the damaged wrench

 

[kartracer55]

A 4-foot prybar works even better. Brace it against the back of the strut and the side of the swaybar link, lean your weight on it, and the nut usually pops right off with a powerful 1/2" impact that spins fast enough. That works most of the time for me.

Oh man, Thats a great trick. I cant wait to try that out!!


Good stuff

Jim

 

[MAD]

Had the open end of my new 16mm on the shaft (it's keyed) of the one side of the sway bar link to hold the shaft in place. Then, used my impact to attempt to get the outside nut off. Screwed up the jaws on my wrench a little. I couldn't use the closed end since there was no way to get it on the shaft. I've done this with other wrenches from what I can remember and it's worked fine. This time, I wasn't so lucky.

Ok, so is this abuse? Should it have marred the open end like it did?

You should have gotten S-K combination wrenches instead.






sorry... couldn't resist that one.

 

[eschoendorff]

You should have gotten S-K combination wrenches instead.






sorry... couldn't resist that one.

No no no... you guys are forgetting.... you cannot budge ANY fastener unless you are using Snap On wrenches!

 

[bmwpower]

You should have gotten S-K combination wrenches instead.






sorry... couldn't resist that one.

Ban this guy.....