stubby wrenches

[chappys4life]

Are they useful to have in the toolbox? got an offer from a seller on ebay to pickup a few snap on's for cheapish on ebay (I have bought some stuff from her). 10mm, 11mm, 12mm for $10 plus shipping. I though it was a decent deal but I wondered is it worth it to keep a set in the box?

 

[justinmc]

Are they useful to have in the toolbox? got an offer from a seller on ebay to pickup a few snap on's for cheapish on ebay (I have bought some stuff from her). 10mm, 11mm, 12mm for $10 plus shipping. I though it was a decent deal but I wondered is it worth it to keep a set in the box?

I have a set of stubby ratcheting wrenches.. so far I haven't really used them except for my own morbid curiousity of "wonder how that'd work". Really haven't had a call for them. However there are instances where you'd one some. Smaller sizes (10, 11, 12mm) seem like a good application for them though. Say under dashes, behind panels, etc where you don't have alot of room to swing a standard wrench. For $10 you can't go wrong. I mean.. thats like 2.5 gallons of gas or a couple trips to the McD's.

 

[Lightning]

I bought some recently and doubt they will be used much at least short term. If you have money availble to spend on tools, it is a good investment because they could be useful for some jobs although you will probably use your standard combination wrenches much more often. I would buy only the sizes you will most likely use.

 

[Merkava_4]

I've got a set of Snap-on stubbies; I really haven't used them that much. I use the standard size wrenches the most; but when I have used the stubbies, they've worked very very well. I can't see having the ratcheting stubbies; when you need a stubby, you need one that can get into tight areas without excess bulk like a ratcheting stubbie would give you. I'm kind of biased against ratcheting wrenches though anyway; I just don't care for them much.

 

[krusty the clown]

the 18mm is handy for ps lines, other than that i rarely use them.

 

[paramudduck]

Different leanghs are always handy. Sometimes nothing else will fit, unless you tear half the car off.

I have a set of the stubby gearwrenches that I use all the time. Weird thing is I almost never use the full size set.

Short answer If you have the money and they are sizes you use. For that price two or three times needing them will pay for them.

 

[Merkava_4]

the 18mm is handy for ps lines, other than that i rarely use them.

When I started working on my Buick, their were three sizes I never used before: An 11mm for the front caliper hoses, a 16mm for the parking brake adjuster, and an 18mm for the right motor mount; I was surprised as heck to run into those sizes.

 

[paramudduck]

18mm old Chrysler transmission mounts. K series era.

 

[Merkava_4]

2000-2005 Buick LeSabre: 3 trans mounts and 1 motor mount.

 

[chappys4life]

I have 2 jap bikes and a ford focus...I live with metric

 

[Canadian Charlie]

I have 2 sets of stubbys, one metric and the other SAE. When you need them and they are there they make the job alot easier

 

[vjquan]

I've contemplated stubby wrenches as well, but come to realize that I never had an absolute need for them. If I need something short, I'd just use my 1/4" drive ratchet. I also find it somewhat odd for a larger stubby (e.g., 18 mm) to be really useful since hardly any torque can be applied.

 

[April]

Sears regularly has the GearWrench Ratcheting Stubbies on sale for less than $20/set. For so little, you can earn them back in saved time in just a couple uses, if your time is worth money.

 

[64merc]

I've got a cheapie stubby metric set from HF and a set of SAE ratcheting stubbies from HF. So far I've never needed them but I know they'll save my **** one day. Notice that I obviously didn't want to spend a lot of money on these since they are seldom used.

 

[PoorOwner]

Craftsman Professional make stubbies up to 1" and 22mm. I don't know why they make it go so big, but I have the complete set SAE and metric, I think I have a sickness to keep things like these... because I know many of them will just be sitting around forever.

I don't even know how you can apply torque to 1", it is a little longer than the smaller sizes though. The good news is that it doesn't take up too much space in the drawer.

here is a couple of praise about 1" stubby
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00944110000P?vName=Tools

I suppose, there could be a situation maybe a long wrench can loosen a bolt but not move too far freely and the stubby can take over.

 

[kvom]

I recently bought the SAE and metric sets at the Sears 50% off sale.

I did use the 14mm for a bolt on the underside of my Jeep. I could have used a ratchet, but since I had the holder hany I used the wrench. The fullsize Gearwrench would have been too long.

Anyway they look nice in the wrench drawers!

 

[April]

I just used mine today, mounting a new horn on the inside of the grill of my Mazda Protege5. Full wrenches were far too large, and the ratcheting 10mm stubby saved me when it came to tightening a nut in an area I could barely fit my hands.

 

[TNToy]

I have 2 jap bikes and a ford focus...I live with metric

Why the frown?

Manufacturing SAE-spec fasteners should be illegal in all 50 states. I'd love to only need metric tools, forever and ever.

 

[hamburglar]

Why the frown?

Manufacturing SAE-spec fasteners should be illegal in all 50 states. I'd love to only need metric tools, forever and ever.

This makes good sense if you'd rather own a Camry instead of an L72 Camaro.

 

[Coach James]

I have SAE and metric stubbies. They are useful for plumbing replacing shut off valves, water fountains, supply lines etc.

Coach

 

[Lightning]

Why the frown?

Manufacturing SAE-spec fasteners should be illegal in all 50 states. I'd love to only need metric tools, forever and ever.

Metric is the future and it will not be long before the SAE sizes are completly fazed out. Even today most fasteners on new equipment are metric. Almost all of my sockets and wrenches are metric.

 

[dxdexter]

I have a set of Snap-on SAE and use them infrequently, but they certainly do help out when they are needed. I could live without them.

 

[Fedwrench]

Metric is the future and it will not be long before the SAE sizes are completly fazed out. Even today most fasteners on new equipment are metric. Almost all of my sockets and wrenches are metric.

I was told this 30 years ago in school. I'll believe it when I see it. GM is still mixing SAE and Metric on alot of their engines. You would think that with most everything being made elsewhere in the world today we would have gone metric years ago.

Stubby wrenches are handy and nice to have when space is confined, or you're starting or removing a fastener that needs a little more effort than fingers. I like them. They wouldn't be must have item but, something definitely to be added as you expand your tool inventory.

 

[eschoendorff]

I was told this 30 years ago in school. I'll believe it when I see it. GM is still mixing SAE and Metric on alot of their engines. You would think that with most everything being made elsewhere in the world today we would have gone metric years ago.

Stubby wrenches are handy and nice to have when space is confined, or you're starting or removing a fastener that needs a little more effort than fingers. I like them. They wouldn't be must have item but, something definitely to be added as you expand your tool inventory.

If everything was switched over to metric fasteners, it would hurt the SAE fastener market. I just don't see taht happening. If it was going to happen, it would have happened already....


happen happened happening....

 

[dxdexter]

If everything was switched over to metric fasteners, it would hurt the SAE fastener market. I just don't see taht happening. If it was going to happen, it would have happened already....


happen happened happening....

I would guess the tool companies as well as the fastener manufacturers have a vested interest in keeping both around for quite a while. Limiting tooling just to metric would take a chunk out of their bottom line.

 

[sjotis]

Can be had for about $65 bones

 

[April]

Can be had for about $65 bones

I paid $18 for the 8 piece version of that set, just last week. Only missing the two largest, and least useful, wrenches.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

i use them quite a lot. very handy on european/japanese cars when there's little space. you won't use them anything as much as standard combination wrenches, but the time you need them, they become invaluable.

 

[PoorOwner]

The ratcheting stubbies are too thick in my opinion..

 

[eschoendorff]

Can be had for about $65 bones

I have a set of those, but mine goes down to 6mm! Never saw another set like it....

 

[PoorOwner]

Here is a comparison 10 and 17mm stubby ratchet vs non.. so that's why I would say ratchet is not the final solution..

 

[April]

True, the box end and open end are a bit bulky - the open end, unnecessarily so - especially since you're not going to be able to put a ton of torque on the wrench, anyways.

However, except for the cases where two bolts in narrow confines are spaced closly together, I've not found the *thickness* of the stubbies to be a problem. After all, my hand is wrapped around a very significant portion of it anyways, and is far wider than either end. Are there many cases both where the ratcheting stubbies are too wide, and a normal length, more slender wrench is too long? Maybe I'm just missing something obvious?

 

[PoorOwner]

Depends on what we are working on? something like a toyota everything is scaled down from the older american iron stuff..
for example a something like throttle position sensor, a bolt on each ear.. sometimes it does not allow much space between the plastic casing and the bolt. It's made to let a solid box end or socket to access it and that's it. But when something is made to clear a open end then the ratchet end should clear no problem.

 

[Merkava_4]

If I'm in a situation to where I don't have much room to swing a standard length combo, I'll break the fastener loose with the regular combo and then use the stubby to swing with. There are a lot of instances where you'll break the fastener free, but you still won't be able to back it off with just your fingers; that's where the stubby comes in.

 

[kbs2244]

The only stubby I have is a 3/8 ratchet handle. I got it mostly to save room in my “carry around” tool box that is just packed. Almost all my stuff is ½ drive but I have a few 3/8 spark plug sockets etc and I am always losing the adaptors. It is handy sometimes.
I did just get the “ultimate stubby” on my last HF trip. For less then $10.00 a set of 3 knurled ratcheting mechanisms. No handle, just the working head with a knurled rim. The idea is to use them when you are just twisting a socket with your fingers.
I used one the other day and it was kind of handy. One of those places where you are reaching down in past your elbow to spin on a nut. The knurling let me have a tighter grip and the ratcheting let me tighten it up more than usual before going for the handle and long extension.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I have stubbys in both standard and metric, fixed wrenches and gearwrenches, I rarely need one, but when I do they have no equal. Most of mine have never seen a fastener though I must admit. I still have no regrets though.