Tekton prototype small engine kit

[KnurledNut]

This kit is begging for a 16mm/21mm spark plug flip socket. The 6” extension could be used as the tommy bar.
Also some form of a basic 13mm/19mm scrench would be super useful. Which would double as a pry tool. Wanna get creative? Replace the slotted tip for a bit holder. Now you have a T-handle driver for additional torque.
And I would include a couple deep sockets for most common carb stud nuts.

Not enough room, you say?
Start by getting rid of the duplicate sockets, 4 & 5/32, 5.5 & 7/32, 8 & 5/16, 9 & 11/32, 11 & 7/16.
Make the mini extension wobble plus.

 

[1/4atatime]

This kit is begging for a 16mm/21mm spark plug flip socket. The 6” extension could be used as the tommy bar.
Also some form of a basic 13mm/19mm scrench would be super useful. Which would double as a pry tool. Wanna get creative? Replace the slotted tip for a bit holder. Now you have a T-handle driver for additional torque.
And I would include a couple deep sockets for most common carb stud nuts.

Not enough room, you say?
Start by getting rid of the duplicate sockets, 4 & 5/32, 5.5 & 7/32, 8 & 5/16, 9 & 11/32, 11 & 7/16.
Make the mini extension wobble plus.

Ok now those changes have my attention a freaking spark plug socket would be awesome in a on the go kit

 

[four.cycle]

^ If you're targeting the MOTORCYCLE market, one would do well to completely refigure the thing. How much SAE do you need to work on a current-day motorcycle?

I don't think their intent was to target any one particular market niche, but rather to fill a need for something which takes up less space.

If you went with "MOTORCYCLE", you'd be wanting to include stuff like chain breakers and tire spoons, no? You would end up with a completely different animal.

 

[KnurledNut]

I don't think their intent was to target any one particular market niche, but rather to fill a need for something which takes up less space.

Sure it was. Its a small engine kit.
“The goal of this set was to create a compact and portable solution for maintaining a wide range of yard equipment and powersports machines such as chainsaws, lawnmowers, four-wheelers, and outboard motors. If you do a lot of your own wrenching, this set should always come to mind first since it has the bulk of the tools needed for simple tasks. Think of things like carburetor cleaning, plastics removal, brake components, chain guards, fuel systems, switch assemblies, or intakes. Having a set like this on the trail or weekend trip can save your day. We focused a lot on the size. It had to be true that it could fit into integrated and existing storage compartments like a UTV or boat glove box, snowmobile or motorcycle bag, or ATV storage bin.”

 

[BroncoAZ]

The email they sent out for those not on the mailing list:

“We are excited to tell you about Tekton prototypes.

Tekton prototypes are experimental items made in small batches based on the personal vision of a Tekton employee, usually a product designer or engineer. We make them quickly using available resources, which may involve piecing together parts of existing Tekton products or using in-house fabrication equipment. The person in charge of the prototype also makes descriptions and graphics for the website.

Prototypes are intentionally experimental items, and you take the item as it is. We will not accept returns unless we sent you the wrong item. We may be able to provide some support help, especially with questions, but we will not typically be able to replace broken tools. You will, however, earn the usual 10% back in Rewards when buying a prototype item. We will also provide an opportunity for you to give feedback to our product development team, since the prototypes may lead to regular production items that will be added to our official lineup. In some cases, we will give out extra Rewards for the best feedback we receive.

New Prototype Coming Tomorrow, April 2nd - 50 Sets Available
1/4 Inch Drive Small Engine Socket and Bit Set
Check out the video below for a full walkthrough of the set from Josh H., one of the product developers.

Want to be notified when this set is available? Sign up for text alerts to get a same-day notification for all Tekton releases.”

I’ll stick with this. The use of universal spline sockets saves a bunch of duplication. I bought a bunch of these kits back when they were $32.

 

[KnurledNut]

I’ll stick with this.

Beta has a set that uses dual size spline sockets like that. Expensive but very functional and compact.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Beta has a set that uses dual size spline sockets like that. Expensive but very functional and compact.

 

[Ohio Andy]

Beta has a set that uses dual size spline sockets like that. Expensive but very functional and compact.

What is "dual size spline"?

Nice looking set. Metric only.

Last time I used my car kit, I had to remove a license plate bolt on a Toyota Camry.... And it was SAE put on by the Toyota dealer.

 

[KnurledNut]

What is "dual size spline"?

Nice looking set. Metric only.

Last time I used my car kit, I had to remove a license plate bolt on a Toyota Camry.... And it was SAE put on by the Toyota dealer.

Just what it sounds like. Metric and SAE equivalents in one socket.

 

[Ohio Andy]

Just what it sounds like. Metric and SAE equivalents in one socket.

Interesting

I looked here

Assortment of 11 hexagon sockets, 21 bits and 7 accessories, in plastic case 900/C39N – Beta Tools

Beta Tools products are made using the most advanced technologies to ensure a high quality standard over time. Discover Assortment of 11 hexagon sockets, 21 bits and 7 accessories, in plastic case 900/C39N Beta Tools now.

www.beta-tools.com

It only listed metric and I expected it to mention dual spline. Is that the right set? 900/C39N

 

[KnurledNut]

Interesting

I looked here

Assortment of 11 hexagon sockets, 21 bits and 7 accessories, in plastic case 900/C39N – Beta Tools

Beta Tools products are made using the most advanced technologies to ensure a high quality standard over time. Discover Assortment of 11 hexagon sockets, 21 bits and 7 accessories, in plastic case 900/C39N Beta Tools now.

www.beta-tools.com

It only listed metric and I expected it to mention dual spline. Is that the right set? 900/C39N

https://www.beta-tools.com/en/assor...WD*MTc0MzY1Mzg4MC4xLjEuMTc0MzY1MzkwMS4wLjAuMA..

 

[Ohio Andy]

https://www.beta-tools.com/en/assor...WD*MTc0MzY1Mzg4MC4xLjEuMTc0MzY1MzkwMS4wLjAuMA..

Thanks 900/C39U

 

[DarryT]

Just what it sounds like. Metric and SAE equivalents in one socket.

The Sunex set uses these also. Not everyday garage tools, but great emergency trunk sockets.

 

[Ohio Andy]

The Sunex set uses these also. Not everyday garage tools, but great emergency trunk sockets.

SUNEX TOOLS 9732 44Pc 1/4" Dr Mini Dual Flex Head RATCHET W Socket & Bit Set

The sunex (made in China) is much cheaper at about $50 as opposed to $150 for the beta made in Taiwan.

 

[bwringer]

Overall, I really love the idea of releasing prototypes like this and giving customers a chance to try them out.

 

[finn]

Ok now those changes have my attention a freaking spark plug socket would be awesome in a on the go kit

I doubt you’ll ever need the spark plug socket now that plugs go over 150k miles.

As to the guys hoping the plastic cases wear in so things are easier to pry out, don’t hold your breast. I have a Crescent set that I keep in the shed mostly for installing a dock section in the spring and removing in the fall. That $25 set has to be eight or more years old and I still have to pry out the sockets. I guess the positive is that the sockets and ratchet don’t fall out of their dedicated location if you open the blow mold container upside down.

 

[mike93lx]

I doubt you’ll ever need the spark plug socket now that plugs go over 150k miles

This set is marketed as small engine service. Mowers definitely don't run 150k on a plug

 

[finn]

This set is marketed as small engine service. Mowers definitely don't run 150k on a plug

In that case, they’ll need several different size plug sockets.

Maybe that’s why if apparently failed the market focus group testing.

In fairness, though, it sounds like people are going to throw them behind the seat of their vehicle, for the most part.

 

[mike93lx]

In that case, they’ll need several different size plug sockets.

Maybe that’s why if apparently failed the market focus group testing.

In fairness, though, it sounds like people are going to throw them behind the seat of their vehicle, for the most part.

What group testing did it fail? I must have missed something.

 

[finn]

What group testing did it fail? I must have missed something.

Texton said it was a prototype set, and it now sounds like they are now disposing of them. That implies, although it’s not explicitly stated, that the marketing focus group evaluation determined the product was a non flier, at least for now. Or else, perhaps they just made a limited run to see how well they sell, and those who snap them up are, in effect, the focus group.

New product introductions always have market research hurdles to pass before the product goes in the sales catalog offerings for regular stocking. That doesn’t mean the tools are bad, just that there is / is not not a sufficient market to support assembling say, ten thousand kits that may sit in a warehouse because of lack of consumer interest.

Much more cost effective to assemble focus groups of potential customers, get feedback, and then decide if it’s a good or no go.

I can’t speak for Tekton, but I assume that’s the path they followed and decided to cut bait.

Why else would they assemble fifty kits of existing tools, and call it a prototype kit?

All the focus groups I have been involved with have pre screened participants, though. That’s probably not a must.

 

[mike93lx]

Texton said it was a prototype set, and it now sounds like they are now disposing of them.

I didn't read it that way at all.

Felt to me like they made a prototype and are gaging response so said prototype with this sale

 

[Ohio Andy]

I didn't read it that way at all.

Felt to me like they made a prototype and are gaging response so said prototype with this sale

They had a glitch and sold a bunch more than were available and are now ordering more of those cases to fulfill the extra orders for people that managed to buy one after the first 50 were filled.

 

[mike93lx]

They had a glitch and sold a bunch more than were available and are now ordering more of those cases to fulfill the extra orders for people that managed to buy one after the first 50 were filled.

Sounds like the market spoke

 

[finn]

I didn't read it that way at all.

Felt to me like they made a prototype and are gaging response so said prototype with this sale

In a nutshell, that what I said is a possibility.

It’ an ad hoc marketing focus group.

 

[Fedwrench]

I view the limited prototype kit as field testing. Sell 50 sets and email the peeps to report back on the good, the bad, and the ugly. The peeps that coughed up $90 would love to tell you about their set and how they use it/modify it. Tekton could even make a Tekton Field Tester T shirt to send to the peeps that provide detailed feedback on the set.
I'm just happy they sold out as fast as they did that, I missed it

 

[lardy1]

I strongly suspect that a similar kit will be offered at some point. Like others, I see this as a probe into the market. I do think it's overpriced but I may not feel that way if I had a need for such a kit.

 

[KnurledNut]

I doubt you’ll ever need the spark plug socket now that plugs go over 150k miles.

In that case, they’ll need several different size plug sockets.

The equipment I maintain doesn't have odometers. Watt-hour meters, yes.
Spark plug removal is necessary for maintenance, not just replacement.
My suggestion above about a simple two-sided thru hole tubular wrench would take up minimal room and the 6" extension doubles as a tommy bar. (Or a dedicated one could be stored in the wrench.) A scrench would cover the 3/4" plugs and make the chainsaw guys happy.

As it sits, nothing in this prototype kit makes it small engine specific other than the name. Its basically just a socket set in a fancy case that is sized to be sort of compact, with unnecessary duplicate sockets that are taking up space for essential tooling.

No hate here, just constructive feedback.

 

[drtyler]

I doubt you’ll ever need the spark plug socket now that plugs go over 150k miles.

As to the guys hoping the plastic cases wear in so things are easier to pry out, don’t hold your breast. I have a Crescent set that I keep in the shed mostly for installing a dock section in the spring and removing in the fall. That $25 set has to be eight or more years old and I still have to pry out the sockets. I guess the positive is that the sockets and ratchet don’t fall out of their dedicated location if you open the blow mold container upside down.

Many of the new direct injected turbo engines require plug replacement every 40k miles.

 

[RTM]

To me, small engine maintenance is a weird "niche". Most of the folks I know who actually own small engine things and do their own maintenance on them do maintain many other vehicles also, and have boatloads of tools.

I knew many other small engine owners that pay someone to do all maintenance on the watercraft (jet ski, sea doo, etc). I knew one guy who wanted to be a more independent motorcyclist, and a buddy got him set up with extras in a roll for travel.

Seems to be two different sets, with very little overlap, in my experience the last 40+ years.

 

[CallumRD1]

This product inspired me. I not infrequently find myself wanting a small set of 1/4" sockets on-the-go but didn't have a great way of doing so. I designed this little case to hold a set of shallow inch and metric sockets, selection of extensions (3/4" mini, 2" wobble, 3", 6"), 1/4" bit socket, 20 1/4" bits (Phillips, slotted, inch and metric hex, 1/4" square adapter), and either a flex-head or standard ratchet (they fit in the same slot). The case is 97 x 180 x 29 mm (3.82" x 7.09" x 1.14") and weighs 860g (1 lb 14 oz) fully kitted out. While it's not a direct equivalent to the Tekton toolkit, it contains all the sizes I want to have on-hand in a compact kit and is only 40% the volume, comparing to the case dimensions on Tekton's web site.

 

[Beerhippie]

All of my German cars came from the factory already with a basic set of tools. Just a few in most cases but some are rather comprehensive.

Do you have this one?

 

[Roert42]

I’m liking the idea of having a mixed socket set with the overlap deleted.

Have them all in order from smallest to largest regardless of metric or sae. In 6 point, so when you are using a socket slightly too large you still have a chance.

5.5, 1/4, 7, 8, 3/8, 10, 7/16, 13, 9/16, 15, 5/8, 17, 18, 3/4.

would do any of the things you might me dealing with on the side of the road. Plus save a bit of weight space on the stuff that’s close enough/ almost never needed.


Plus half the time I’m not sure if I’m working an SAE bolt or metric so I’m jumping back and forth between the two, deciding what one fits best on that 25 year old rusty bolt.

 

[Ohio Andy]

This product inspired me. I not infrequently find myself wanting a small set of 1/4" sockets on-the-go but didn't have a great way of doing so. I designed this little case to hold a set of shallow inch and metric sockets, selection of extensions (3/4" mini, 2" wobble, 3", 6"), 1/4" bit socket, 20 1/4" bits (Phillips, slotted, inch and metric hex, 1/4" square adapter), and either a flex-head or standard ratchet (they fit in the same slot). The case is 97 x 180 x 29 mm (3.82" x 7.09" x 1.14") and weighs 860g (1 lb 14 oz) fully kitted out. While it's not a direct equivalent to the Tekton toolkit, it contains all the sizes I want to have on-hand in a compact kit and is only 40% the volume, comparing to the case dimensions on Tekton's web site.

Looks nice... Is this a prepackaged set?

 

[L.Cheapo]

This product inspired me. I not infrequently find myself wanting a small set of 1/4" sockets on-the-go but didn't have a great way of doing so. I designed this little case to hold a set of shallow inch and metric sockets, selection of extensions (3/4" mini, 2" wobble, 3", 6"), 1/4" bit socket, 20 1/4" bits (Phillips, slotted, inch and metric hex, 1/4" square adapter), and either a flex-head or standard ratchet (they fit in the same slot). The case is 97 x 180 x 29 mm (3.82" x 7.09" x 1.14") and weighs 860g (1 lb 14 oz) fully kitted out. While it's not a direct equivalent to the Tekton toolkit, it contains all the sizes I want to have on-hand in a compact kit and is only 40% the volume, comparing to the case dimensions on Tekton's web site.

That is all kinds of awesome. Well done!

 

[CallumRD1]

Looks nice... Is this a prepackaged set?

Nope. Just the tools I wanted to put together and had available.

 

[mikey03]

5.5, 1/4, 7, 8, 3/8, 10, 7/16, 13, 9/16, 15, 5/8, 17, 18, 3/4.

honestly I do something similar for my road kit except

why go 5/8 instead of 16? 5/8 is something like 15.9 its smaller than 16 so wouldn’t fit but a 16 could be a slight sloppy fit on 5/8 unless you never expect to see 16 at all and do come across 5/8 on the reg

also missing 12mm and 1/2” which is 12.7 and in a real emergency could use 13mm for 1/2 I guess

also if your scrounging up singles to put this together 7/32 inch is the same as 5.5 according to my chart so could use either one for this tbh and also same 19 and 3/4 could use either one whichever you got handy

might be cheaper to buy a metric kit and add in singles of 1/4 and 3/8 and 7/16 and stick with 16 and 19 metric

but don’t try to use 11 for 7/16 honestly it won’t work 7/16 is 11.1 and my metric rethreaders are 7/16 and a 11 socket won’t fit

 

[Roert42]

honestly I do something similar for my road kit except

why go 5/8 instead of 16? 5/8 is something like 15.9 its smaller than 16 so wouldn’t fit but a 16 could be a slight sloppy fit on 5/8 unless you never expect to see 16 at all and do come across 5/8 on the reg

also missing 12mm and 1/2” which is 12.7 and in a real emergency could use 13mm for 1/2 I guess

also if your scrounging up singles to put this together 7/32 inch is the same as 5.5 according to my chart so could use either one for this tbh and also same 19 and 3/4 could use either one whichever you got handy

might be cheaper to buy a metric kit and add in singles of 1/4 and 3/8 and 7/16 and stick with 16 and 19 metric

but don’t try to use 11 for 7/16 honestly it won’t work 7/16 is 11.1 and my metric rethreaders are 7/16 and a 11 socket won’t fit

My theory was exactly that. Why have a 13 and 1/2” when you have a 13. Why have an 11 if you have 7/16. Why have a 5/16 if you have an 8.

If you have two sizes that are close, keep the slightly larger of that two and stick with 6pt to avoid the slop being an issue. Keeps the socket count low.


I’m think of a set for for SAE and DIN metric for working on my 25 year old Fords. So not a large use for 12 or 16, but doesn’t really matter.

 

[Ohio Andy]

but don’t try to use 11 for 7/16 honestly it won’t work 7/16 is 11.1 and my metric rethreaders are 7/16 and a 11 socket won’t fit

I just returned a proto 1/4 metric set because it was missing the 12 mm, but oddly included a 7/16.

I bought it off Amazon as used like new.

I have lots of sockets but almost all of them are 6 point. I wantrd to add some 12 points to my collection

 

[rust in the eye]

Do you have this one?

Nope, no VWs here.
I regrettably sold one of these with the car: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/ferrari-tool-kit-2/
^ that's a cheap one too!
It's crazy the lengths some go to when wanting everything for a concour restoration. I'm sitting on a few BMW kits that are getting expensive, not that expensive but still silly money for what they are.

 

[Beerhippie]

But of course--VW gets a hubcap for the tool kit, Ferrari gets a peasant-skin briefcase....