Triple square sockets

[Inabox85]

hey everyone.
last week I had my first experience using triple square sockets. I bought both a titian set and a , Lisle set. below is a link to a youtube review I made.

This is only my 5the or 6tg video in over a year. I'm definitely not a problem youtuber lol.

please watch and enjoy. comment hear or on the video.

 

[Richard Cranium]

thanks for posting.

 

[Inabox85]

No problem. My video has almost 50 views. I think that's awsome.

 

[rick carpenter]

It's good you got the stubbies too. I bought a set of four long bits a while back to remove the door on my Jetta (RIP!). The 'proper' way was to remove the front qtr panel to access the door hinge bolt. BS on that! I just cut the right one down and used a ratcheting wrench.

 

[nbpt100]

Thanks for posting. Where are Triple squares mostly used? I have not run into any applications for them so far.

 

[stonesfan68]

Thanks for posting. Where are Triple squares mostly used? I have not run into any applications for them so far.

German cars use them, particularly Audi, VW and Porsche.

 

[nbpt100]

German cars use them, particularly Audi, VW and Porsche.

Thanks. Leave it to the Germans to create more specialty fasteners and therefore more tools to buy.

I believe as a work around you can use a hex or "Allen" key wrench in some of these.
Assuming you get a good fit and the fastener is not overly tight.

 

[pi_guy]

I believe as a work around you can use a hex or "Allen" key wrench in some of these.
Assuming you get a good fit and the fastener is not overly tight.

WRONG

you going to have issues
not a good idea unless you want to practice welding a nut to it for removal

 

[JohnK007]

Nice job on the video James! You got a "Thumbs Up" from me. Your sales tax kinda blew me away. Good grief!

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Thanks. Leave it to the Germans to create more specialty fasteners and therefore more tools to buy.

I believe as a work around you can use a hex or "Allen" key wrench in some of these.
Assuming you get a good fit and the fastener is not overly tight.

Chrysler is using some new twisted square on seat bolts... so it ain't only the Germans.

 

[LXCam]

Your hands are too clean and there's no scares. If you're gonna review tools and want to be taken seriously might I suggest you load up the garbage disposal with old nasty grease and stick you hands in there and come back after the wounds have healed.

 

[toolman9w]

Chrysler is using some new twisted square on seat bolts... so it ain't only the Germans.

Mortorq.

 

[dnschmidt]

These are an evil invention of the Third Reich. I can't get TOPTUL to put 18mm sockets or wrenches in their sets (who gives a damn if the American's need them) but if I needed triple squares they have these in every variety known to mankind. Why the Germans can't use conventional allen screws or bolts amazes me. These have no known purpose in life other than the creation of more special tools which seems to be a German passion.

 

[nbpt100]

These are an evil invention of the Third Reich. I can't get TOPTUL to put 18mm sockets or wrenches in their sets (who gives a damn if the American's need them) but if I needed triple squares they have these in every variety known to mankind. Why the Germans can't use conventional allen screws or bolts amazes me. These have no known purpose in life other than the creation of more special tools which seems to be a German passion.

I bought a used VW last year and it is the last Germain car I will every own. A nice driving car but... More damn specialty tools (VAG-) and pricey specialty fluids. They don't want anyone but a dealer to work on their cars.
In the owners manual under checking the brake fluid level it says take it to the dealer. Not an exaggeration. It would not even tell you what kind of fluid to use. I did find out it was DOT 4 but there was no easy way to know.

WRONG

you going to have issues
not a good idea unless you want to practice welding a nut to it for removal

Thanks. I have never tried it. I have only read about people doing it. That is why I said: "I believe......

Chrysler is using some new twisted square on seat bolts... so it ain't only the Germans.

Was that introduced under Daimler or Fiat ownership?

 

[dutchgray]

Thanks. Leave it to the Germans to create more specialty fasteners and therefore more tools to buy.

I believe as a work around you can use a hex or "Allen" key wrench in some of these.
Assuming you get a good fit and the fastener is not overly tight.

The USA has invented a whole heap of fastener types over the years so blaming it on the Germans is a bit unfair. They do like to do things their own way though.

 

[dogdog]

The USA has invented a whole heap of fastener types over the years so blaming it on the Germans is a bit unfair. They do like to do things their own way though.

Yup only those German cars uses them...those German cars love being a PITA... and keep the lisle sets, you'll needed those long reach more than those short and stubby.

 

[Inabox85]

Your hands are too clean and there's no scares. If you're gonna review tools and want to be taken seriously might I suggest you load up the garbage disposal with old nasty grease and stick you hands in there and come back after the wounds have healed.

lol that's to funny. but you'll need a different way for me to nasty up my hands. we don't have garbage disposal in canada. (I mean some people do but there not common and even illegal in some places) but seriously I'm a chef for my day job so cleaning of the hands is fairly important.

 

[LXCam]

lol that's to funny. but you'll need a different way for me to nasty up my hands. we don't have garbage disposal in canada. (I mean some people do but there not common and even illegal in some places) but seriously I'm a chef for my day job so cleaning of the hands is fairly important.

A chef huh, k - you get a pass.



I'll freely admit I'm a sawfood guy (I saw food under the truck seat so I ate it) but when it comes to someone fixing my meal well...........

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

I bought a used VW last year and it is the last Germain car I will every own. A nice driving car but... More damn specialty tools (VAG-) and pricey specialty fluids.

Don't give up German cars. As you said, they are fun to drive. They are an absolute blast!

 

[nbpt100]

The USA has invented a whole heap of fastener types over the years so blaming it on the Germans is a bit unfair. They do like to do things their own way though.

Maybe to someone in the Europe it seems unfair. I would like to know what fasteners you are talking about.

When the US manufacturers started to use Torx heads a bunch of tool makers got on board and mass produced them. Even Homeowner grade brands make them and sell them in Wal-Mart.

I don't see that with the Triple square and the specialty tools Audi/VW has for changing a timing belt and other repairs. I look through my VW Bently manual and I see so many applications where it says use tool VAG xyz. I am not saying they are not available but they are expensive and not so plentiful. Thank God for the internet or you could be really stuck in some cases.

The other thing about the Germain manufacturers is that they go out of their way to make it hard for you to work on your own car. As I said above they won't even tell you want kind of brake fluid your car requires. I have done business with other manufacturers from that region and they were very secretive and overly protective in similar ways. It may be cultural.

If anyone disagrees, chime in. I would like to be wrong.

 

[Carquest]

VIM makes some fairly nice ones that are relativley inexpensive

 

[dutchgray]

I would like to know what fasteners you are talking about.

Well Phillips and all the variants, Torx and all the variants, and loads of the tamper resistant types, all American.
If you lot had left it to us Brits, we would probably still be using hex for everything.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

If you've been around euros... then triple square (XZN) is nothing new. How about American cars with mixed SAE and metric! Newer cars, regardless of COO are becoming more difficult to work on. More electronics, crammed engine compartments, poorly designed from maintenance perspective. Nothing really hard about working on my older MB or BMW... but every car is unique.

 

[L.Cheapo]

Triple square has been around a long time. My 1970 and 1973 VWs use them on the CV shafts! (that's the only size I own!)

 

[Infinia]

Triple square has been around a long time. My 1970 and 1973 VWs use them on the CV shafts! (that's the only size I own!)

indeed my 1st car a 1970 Opel used them on the head bolts.

 

[dnschmidt]

If we would have left it to the Brits we'd still be using Whitworth. Got you there (snap!).

 

[nbpt100]

Well Phillips and all the variants, Torx and all the variants, and loads of the tamper resistant types, all American.
If you lot had left it to us Brits, we would probably still be using hex for everything.

The benefit of Torx is they can take more applied torque than a socket head cap screws of similar size. They also work good with automation in a production environment. They have been around since the late 60's. What does a triple square offer over a Torx or is it a "me too" product that effectively does the same thing but is different enough to require different tools.

Is the economy so bad in the UK that you guys can't get Phillips head screw drivers? My sympathies. Maybe leaving the EU was not such a good idea? Just kidding!

Tamper resistant or Security fasteners are suppose to be a pain in the **** to remove or require an expensive and hard to get tool. That is the point! Otherwise they don't serve their full purpose. Yikes! They work so good I bet the Germans invented many of them.

BTW you can get a security fastener driver kit at HF for about $10 and even less with the 20% off coupon.

 

[dutchgray]

The benefit of Torx is they can take more applied torque than a socket head cap screws of similar size. They also work good with automation in a production environment. They have been around since the late 60's. What does a triple square offer over a Torx or is it a "me too" product that effectively does the same thing but is different enough to require different tools.

Is the economy so bad in the UK that you guys can't get Phillips head screw drivers? My sympathies. Maybe leaving the EU was not such a good idea? Just kidding!

Tamper resistant or Security fasteners are suppose to be a pain in the **** to remove or require an expensive and hard to get tool. That is the point! Otherwise they don't serve their full purpose. Yikes! They work so good I bet the Germans invented many of them.

BTW you can get a security fastener driver kit at HF for about $10 and even less with the 20% off coupon.

I'm not saying Torx is not good, just that its American whilst the XZN is the German way of doing the same thing.
We don't use Philips screws very much here, apart from dry wall and some sheet metal screws designed for screw guns. We use Pozidrive which is better in every way.

We don't have HF but I do have a kit of cheap security fasteners, if they don't break when you use them your lucky.

 

[Adam.C]

Back to the subject, those sockets look like cheese. And the money you spent on them would have been better spent on a Snap On set from ebay. Round a triple square and you are screwed. Don't cheap out on bit sockets. When socket head screws strip, they are very difficult to remove. I wouldn't even bother with Vim or any one piece product. And I've never seen security triple squares on any VAG product.

In the future, when you make a tool review, wait until you've fixed 20 cars with that tool. Your thoughts on the silver paint that will probably wear off in 6 months, just aren't relevant. And I could care less that the stampings are different.

Lots of 20-30 yr olds are making tool review videos of tools they just bought. And because they have no experience with the tool, they don't even review the right feature(s).

Kudos for the mention of the need for a deep version. I have stubbies and long versions for exactly this reason; Years of swapping Porsche half shafts. You have to squeeze the cv boot to get to the fasteners. Better if you have a long bit. Extensions aren't always a good solution, since the chrome socket is often in the wrong place. Long bot sockets, regardless of maker, are always weaker than stubbies, thus the need for both sets.

 

[nbpt100]

I'm not saying Torx is not good, just that its American whilst the XZN is the German way of doing the same thing.
We don't use Philips screws very much here, apart from dry wall and some sheet metal screws designed for screw guns. We use Pozidrive which is better in every way.

We don't have HF but I do have a kit of cheap security fasteners, if they don't break when you use them your lucky.

Pozidrive has evolved out of a Phillips head and is a better design. Agreed!

That cheap security fastener kit you have is probably made in the same Chinese factory as the one sold at HF and branded as Warrier. Which by the way does include PZ bits. I use them so rarely the kit has worked out ok for me so far. It I needed them more frequently i would certainly get something better.
As an fyi:
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=security+kit

 

[dnschmidt]

Pozidriv is an interesting subject. Here is a product produced by the American Phillips Screw Company that nobody in America ever uses that is omnipresent in Europe. I guess no man is a prophet in his own land. Too bad, it is vastly superior to Phillips.

 

[shockwave]

Triple square xzn either way I only see them on vw/Audi and Mercedes and get 1/2 drive if available on vw toureag rear caliber bracket broke 3 adapters of 1/2 to 3/8 since I only had an 18 in 3/8 drive the require a lot more force to break free

And be weary Toyota head bolts offer double hex that closely resembled xzn aswell

 

[Cone Assassin]

I wonder if people in Europe complain that they are using ratchets and the bases of their sockets have fractional 1/4" 3/8" and 1/2" square drives

Triple square isn't bad, then again my tools deal with more VW/Mini stuff. My newer Mini has a lot of inverse/male torx headed bolts which I recently had to buy tools for. Fortunately my grand cherokee (mid 90's) for the most part uses metric fasteners because my fractional sized sockets are extremely limited and I don't own a good complete set of fractional wrenches! Either that, or i'm just using 13mm on 1/2" hardware, 19mm on 3/4", 10mm on 3/8" heads, etc and don't even know it.

 

[kblee27]

Pozidriv is an interesting subject. Here is a product produced by the American Phillips Screw Company that nobody in America ever uses that is omnipresent in Europe. I guess no man is a prophet in his own land. Too bad, it is vastly superior to Phillips.

In Singaore, seldom see pozidriv as well. Mostly just the regular phillips.

 

[Inabox85]

Back to the subject, those sockets look like cheese. And the money you spent on them would have been better spent on a Snap On set from ebay. Round a triple square and you are screwed. Don't cheap out on bit sockets. When socket head screws strip, they are very difficult to remove. I wouldn't even bother with Vim or any one piece product. And I've never seen security triple squares on any VAG product.

In the future, when you make a tool review, wait until you've fixed 20 cars with that tool. Your thoughts on the silver paint that will probably wear off in 6 months, just aren't relevant. And I could care less that the stampings are different.

Lots of 20-30 yr olds are making tool review videos of tools they just bought. And because they have no experience with the tool, they don't even review the right feature(s).

Kudos for the mention of the need for a deep version. I have stubbies and long versions for exactly this reason; Years of swapping Porsche half shafts. You have to squeeze the cv boot to get to the fasteners. Better if you have a long bit. Extensions aren't always a good solution, since the chrome socket is often in the wrong place. Long bot sockets, regardless of maker, are always weaker than stubbies, thus the need for both sets.

thanks for the constructive criticism. but I will probably never fix 20 cars with these. I'm just a weekend warrior. I only know one person with a German car so I dought I'll see tripple square again anytime soon.