Splined Universal Sockets (Why?)

[arbadacarba]

Is there any good reason to use a universal socket? On a standard bolt?

I recently bought the Canadian Tire FULL socket set and got these Black Chrome universal sockets. I'm not sure if I should take up the space in my tool chest or leave them in the box in storage.

Why do these things exist? Is it just for oddball fasteners? Or are they intended to replace 12 point sockets?

 

[rockwithjason]

they exist to cover a multitude of fasteners with one tool. i know some guys that have them in their road boxes

 

[AmericanPreferred]

If they are like the ones I had, (Kobalt) they are pretty much useless. They were marked sae, and mm and would round the corners off either one.

 

[JJThrasher]

They're handy if you have a spline drive fastener to deal with.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[MN Falcon]

I played with them in Sears about a year ago. They had a display to show how the one tool would work on Hex, Spline, Torx, 12pt. Possibly others but those are the ones I remember. I thought they worked well on the spline (since that is what they are designed for) but I really didn't like how loose they felt on any of the other bolts. They probably would work most of the time, but I would rather have the right tool for the job. I could definitely see why someone would want something as universal as possible in a road box, though. I haven't yet seen a spline, maybe I am sheltered, but I have run into E-Torx several times so I bought some of those sockets.

 

[arbadacarba]

If they are like the ones I had, (Kobalt) they are pretty much useless. They were marked sae, and mm and would round the corners off either one.

That's my deepest fear. I can screw things up all on my own. I don't need my tools to help me do it.

 

[gsmornot]

I bought the Craftsman set for less than half price. They were on the clearance rack because the outside cardboard was missing. Everything inside was in tact. With that said, I have not used any of them yet. Haven't needed to but have them for spline bolts when the time comes.

 

[AmericanPreferred]

Doesn't 12 point fit splined? Only splined I have encountered (high performance rod bolts) were torqued with a regular 12 pt with no slippage or rounding.

 

[Kracin]

there is one good reason to want splined sockets...


square drive for plugs on things like gearboxes etc, but i service gearboxes a lot. and sometimes you cant get a wrench in some spots to get a square drive plug/cap off.

but i still won't buy a set, because i don't see them having the same strength as other sockets/wrenches, due to their contact points being so small unless put on a spline type fastener

 

[Exceller8]

They **** for regular bolts!

 

[Loscaldazar]

If they are like the ones I had, (Kobalt) they are pretty much useless. They were marked sae, and mm and would round the corners off either one.

The Kobalt dual marked ones are junk (as they are both SAE/Metric, and anyone knows that they can't possibly be the correct size for either). Sure they work on low torque bolts, but anything rusted in grab a real socket in the proper size.

The CMAN ones are actually better as they are metric or SAE, not both, but I still don't trust them as much as a flank drive style 6 point socket for hex bolts. Made in China however (as is most of CMAN stuff these days).

 

[4x4gearhead]

So far, all of these "universal" sockets I have used seem to loosely fit everything, but not fit any one fastener well. I dont even bother with them, I have a kobalt set personally but have used the craftsman ones also and found them to be unusable in some situations/sizes. I have mine in the toolbox at work, and if I didnt have some space to waste, they'd go in a box in the garage. Not trying to bash those of you who have good luck with them, just my .02

 

[Kracin]

So far, all of these "universal" sockets I have used seem to loosely fit everything, but not fit any one fastener well. I dont even bother with them, I have a kobalt set personally but have used the craftsman ones also and found them to be unusable in some situations/sizes. I have mine in the toolbox at work, and if I didnt have some space to waste, they'd go in a box in the garage. Not trying to bash those of you who have good luck with them, just my .02

best reason i could assume anyone would want them is if they wanted a set for "everything" and didn't want a huge clutter of tools somewhere like a car, truck etc...... at that point i would probably buy a full box set of sockets/wrenches found in this type and throw it in the back of a car and call it a day. emergency kit and nothing more... hell, if you strip it with one size, the next size down will probably fit perfect now! lol

 

[sanddrag]

Universal Sockets: Rounds off any kind of bolt!

 

[pipsters]

I have had a different experience. A rounded bolt can be difficult to remove with a 6 point socket. Using a splined socket, the corner bites into the socket and removes the bolt.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67985

 

[G_P]

They will probably work great on a bolt that was installed yesterday and never has been outdoors.

Once a few years of rust have done its work it will just round the bolt off.

 

[AmericanPreferred]

there is one good reason to want splined sockets...


square drive for plugs on things like gearboxes etc, but i service gearboxes a lot. and sometimes you cant get a wrench in some spots to get a square drive plug/cap off.

but i still won't buy a set, because i don't see them having the same strength as other sockets/wrenches, due to their contact points being so small unless put on a spline type fastener

You can round off square with splined too, better off with 8 point on square.

 

[MattPersman]

I have some matco spline wrenches long suckers that ratchet I don't know how different the splines are but these surely don't round off bolts they grip like crazy

 

[AmericanPreferred]

To answer the second part of the op's question. I believe they exist to sell us more tools. Leave them in storage before they cost you more money and headaches.

 

[Flatintoone]

I thought it was interesting that most of tool development history was focused on making tools fit fasteners better, then these came along...

 

[sk farmer]

i will be the voice of dissent. if you have specific sized spline sockets or wrench in sae or metric sizes they will do a good job. i would avoid the ones that fit both sae and metric.

kind of like the old 6 vs 12 point arguement. guys kick and scream that 12 point sockets junk yet the vast majority of their wrenches are 12 point and they rarely complain about them and seem to think they are fine.

i have played with those test boards like sk used to promote their spline wrenches and sockets and they work. in the vast majority of case i beleive the spline socket will perform as well as any other if they are of good quality.

if you expect a 5 dollar no name set of sockets, 6,12 or spline to perform like like 50 or 100 hundred dollar brand name set you will probably be disappointed. i think the hate of spline sockets is over rated.

 

[N.I.]

I recently bought a set just to use with hand taps and am more than happy with them so far.

I have found the odd one that doesn't fit, but between standard metric and SAE 12 point sockets and the spline drive I can generally find one that works.

 

[quattrojon]

I have a set of S.K 3/8 deep metric spline sockets, and they are a damn fine set. No problems with rounding at all.

 

[oilfieldtrash4]

I have a set of S.K 3/8 deep metric spline sockets, and they are a damn fine set. No problems with rounding at all.

I believe the issue is they are using universal sockets. One size fits more than one.
And I agree using spline is kick ***.

 

[rmsg0040]

Spline wrenches and sockets are great, but dont cheap on em

I got the matco xl flex wrenches, sk g-pro wrenches, and 1 ATD platinum wrench and they are excellent

Ez red has em too

They are all made by Kabo

I got the craftsman spline sockets and they are okay

 

[TwoInch]

i would suggest againsts using them for square plugs. very little contact, and with only 4 of them, and soft material generally its just a bad idea.

the non universal metric/standard in one socket type are fine though for regular fasteners.

 

[shoturtle]

If it is a dedicated metric and a dedicate sae. Then they work well. If it a both covered by the same set of sockets. Avoid them like the plegue. I use metric spline allot. And they are handy for etorx, 12 and 6 point. And they do not round off the head.