What size sockets needed for general maintenance and upkeep

[Agvg]

18mm very common on cars, if you run large series its logical to save money. Torx is very nice to use vs umbraco and philips etc.

 

[Egon]

Opp's!

Forgot the pipe wrench and vice grips. The steel pipe wrenches are stronger than the aluminum ones for using a snipe.

 

[PILOON]

So you buy a nice set of SAE and metric on sale and naturally discover gaps in sizes.
You discover that you have no choice but to fill the gaps only to find the 'gap sizes' will cost as much as the whole set did.
That's life.

LOL, I still have some British sized sockets from when I owned an old MG
Then comes aviation tools, and don't ask what some super special tools cost.
A guy could retire on the contents of a well equipped tool box. LOL

 

[Silvic]

Yes the gaps in sizes is most inconvenient. Just recently I need a 47mm open end wrench. I had it in socket size but not in open end. Looked everywhere for one. Looked at many sets and asked. Sometimes you just have to buy a standalone wrench or go Crescent.

 

[Agvg]

Always nice to have an excuse to buy more tools.

 

[motownbrowne]

Always nice to have an excuse to buy more tools.

True that! Luckily with those very large nuts, adjustable crescent-type wenches actually stand a chance, especially if you've got a big high-quality one. Which reminds me... That's a wrench in currently lacking. It'd be nice to find a big old USA-made adjustable or maybe 2 at a pawn shop or something. An 18" and a 24". Unfortunately, the used ones have often been pretty abused and new ones cost a pretty penny for a decent one.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Never can have enough hand tools, except when you have to dig thru all of them to find the one wrench you are looking for....

This is only one of the reasons that I ask my brother in law to bring his equipment to my house to wrench on it. His meager assortment of tools are jumbled together in ammo cans, boxes and bags and never a complete set of anything including combo wrenches. I keep my tools well organized and in a specific spot in my tool boxes so that I can instruct anyone on how to find a certain tool. Mostly I do this so that I can find them (early Alzheimer's or the CRS syndrome you know).

I have collected tools for many years and have assortment of brands from Proto, Craftsman, Harbor Freight, etc. Due to the CRS, I have 3 sets of metric ratcheting combo wrenches and non in SAE. They are pretty much useless anyway since the housing is so thick that it wont go on most nuts that a normal combo wrench fits easily.
I do find that the 3/4 drive socket sets from HF are very useful and even when used in my HF 3/4 drive impact gun, they have held up. I got a set of them in SAE and Metric several years ago when they went on sale for around $60 each IIRC. I don't need them much but when I do they are a life saver.

One thing I had to go buy from Auto Zone was a hex head socket to fit the oil drain on my LS tractor. I just didn't have any Allen wrenches nearly big enough to fit that bolt. I think it was 17 mm or 19mm, very large in any case and **** for tight.

Another thing I have found many uses for is the HF security bit set. With all the different screws in use, I find this little set to be invaluable.

 

[motownbrowne]

This is only one of the reasons that I ask my brother in law to bring his equipment to my house to wrench on it. His meager assortment of tools are jumbled together in ammo cans, boxes and bags and never a complete set of anything including combo wrenches. I keep my tools well organized and in a specific spot in my tool boxes so that I can instruct anyone on how to find a certain tool. Mostly I do this so that I can find them (early Alzheimer's or the CRS syndrome you know)..

Not that my BIL has any equipment, buy his rusty tools are stored the same way. Thrown loose into a bucket. It's frustrating to see. There's not much more satisfying to me than putting all the sockets and wrenches I used back in their right place in the toolbox.