Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...

[Doofus]

mercedeslimos said:

tight fart said:

These are good, they turn your 10,13 & 17mm ratchet spanners into 1/4,3/8 & 1/2" ratchets.
Great for tight spaces.

Where did you pick those up? could have done with those recently doing a 2.0 HDi oil filter

Are they much lower profile than a normal socket wrench?

[psi310398]

wong said:

SNIP
Padded knee inserts in trousers are great when you are kneeling down making Ikea furniture and in the loft.

I just nick my wife's yoga mat.

[Doofus]

psi310398 said:

wong said:

SNIP
Padded knee inserts in trousers are great when you are kneeling down making Ikea furniture and in the loft.

I just nick my wife's yoga mat.

I always find my knee pads are in the wrong place (the pockets on my work tousers are too low), so I use a piece of high density foam about a foot square.

[Teddy Lop]

Doofus said:

psi310398 said:

wong said:

SNIP
Padded knee inserts in trousers are great when you are kneeling down making Ikea furniture and in the loft.

I just nick my wife's yoga mat.

I always find my knee pads are in the wrong place (the pockets on my work tousers are too low), so I use a piece of high density foam about a foot square.

I had that, wear a short leg trouser which puts them bang in the right place.

Mats are fine but 50% of the time you don't bother cos its in the van and it's only a 2 minute job which of course you're still fking around with 30 minutes later.

Had my knee go funny in my early 20s, just kind of collapsed a couple of times from underneath me, so have worn knee pads more or less religiously ever since and touch wood, been okay. Knee joints simply aren't designed for er, kneeling.

[Dont like rolls]

Teddy Lop said:

Doofus said:

psi310398 said:

wong said:

SNIP
Padded knee inserts in trousers are great when you are kneeling down making Ikea furniture and in the loft.

I just nick my wife's yoga mat.

I always find my knee pads are in the wrong place (the pockets on my work tousers are too low), so I use a piece of high density foam about a foot square.

I had that, wear a short leg trouser which puts them bang in the right place.

Mats are fine but 50% of the time you don't bother cos its in the van and it's only a 2 minute job which of course you're still fking around with 30 minutes later.

Had my knee go funny in my early 20s, just kind of collapsed a couple of times from underneath me, so have worn knee pads more or less religiously ever since and touch wood, been okay. Knee joints simply aren't designed for er, kneeling.

Padded inserts in Lidl works for me, I cut up an old Hi-Density work mat to make the pads a little better than those supplied, works a treat.

[tight fart]

Doofus said:

Are they much lower profile than a normal socket wrench?

The 3/8 is probably 4mm slimmer, also a spanner can give more room than a ratchet.

[Nealio]

tight fart said:

The 3/8 is probably 4mm slimmer, also a spanner can give more room than a ratchet.

These 'vortex' sockets are even shallower, I have this Halfords set, don't use it all the time but every now and then it's worth its weight in gold.

Edited by Nealio on Monday 2nd March 09:24

[ou sont les biscuits]

Doofus said:

mercedeslimos said:

tight fart said:

These are good, they turn your 10,13 & 17mm ratchet spanners into 1/4,3/8 & 1/2" ratchets.
Great for tight spaces.

Where did you pick those up? could have done with those recently doing a 2.0 HDi oil filter

Are they much lower profile than a normal socket wrench?

Halfords sell something similar, the only difference being a knurled ring on the end that alows you to spin up the nut with your fingers. Are they much lower profile than a low profile normal wrench like a WERA? Not really. But a spanner might be a bit shorter than a standard ratchet handle. They are probably things you'll use once in a blue moon, but will be grateful to have when needed. £11 is a couple of pints of beer in my local.......

https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/sockets-...

[Pat H]

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive torque wrench?

Got to tighten the rear hub nuts on my daughters Swift to 175nm and my current wrench only goes halfway...

Don't fancy spending £90 for a Halfords Advanced tool, but equally don't want to buy something completely crap.

Ta.

[Watchman]

I have lost one of my 1/4 inch drive Halfords pro sockets - the 10mm one - and you can't buy them singularly. So irked about this.

[Dog Star]

Nealio said:

These 'vortex' sockets are even shallower, I have this Halfords set, don't use it all the time but every now and then it's worth its weight in gold.

I used to have on eof those; it got stolen along with my Yamaha R1, my KTM, my speedboat engine, all my Snap-on and Blue Point, all my power and air tools, chain saws and, er, everything really.

Also - read the small print on your insurance - turns out that there's a maximum £2000 claim limit if your garage is a detached one. That cost me a few quid.

[ab5w]

Pat H said:

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive torque wrench?

Got to tighten the rear hub nuts on my daughters Swift to 175nm and my current wrench only goes halfway...

Don't fancy spending £90 for a Halfords Advanced tool, but equally don't want to buy something completely crap.

Ta.

I've got a silverline one that was inexpensive and has worked fine for anything I've used it for: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-633567-Torque-...

[skwdenyer]

Dog Star said:

I used to have on eof those; it got stolen along with my Yamaha R1, my KTM, my speedboat engine, all my Snap-on and Blue Point, all my power and air tools, chain saws and, er, everything really.

Also - read the small print on your insurance - turns out that there's a maximum £2000 claim limit if your garage is a detached one. That cost me a few quid.

Ouch

[jakesmith]

ab5w said:

Pat H said:

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive torque wrench?

Got to tighten the rear hub nuts on my daughters Swift to 175nm and my current wrench only goes halfway...

Don't fancy spending £90 for a Halfords Advanced tool, but equally don't want to buy something completely crap.

Ta.

I've got a silverline one that was inexpensive and has worked fine for anything I've used it for: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-633567-Torque-...

I have that one too, seems perfectly fine

[darreni]

The Teng stuff is good value on Amazon at about £50.

[robwilk]

Heads up a good price for a dewalt impact driver and batter if you already have a charger £106 at amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B07HFSKS...

[ben5575]

jakesmith said:

ab5w said:

Pat H said:

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive torque wrench?

Got to tighten the rear hub nuts on my daughters Swift to 175nm and my current wrench only goes halfway...

Don't fancy spending £90 for a Halfords Advanced tool, but equally don't want to buy something completely crap.

Ta.

I've got a silverline one that was inexpensive and has worked fine for anything I've used it for: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-633567-Torque-...

I have that one too, seems perfectly fine

Same here.

[dickymint]

ben5575 said:

jakesmith said:

ab5w said:

Pat H said:

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive torque wrench?

Got to tighten the rear hub nuts on my daughters Swift to 175nm and my current wrench only goes halfway...

Don't fancy spending £90 for a Halfords Advanced tool, but equally don't want to buy something completely crap.

Ta.

I've got a silverline one that was inexpensive and has worked fine for anything I've used it for: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-633567-Torque-...

I have that one too, seems perfectly fine

Same here.

175nm = 4 and a half white knuckles

[rxe]

Yes, 175 NM is FT, as opposed to VFT.

FT is a good hard tug on a breaker bar.

VFT is proper swinging on the breaker bar, or use of a scaff pole. VFT is rarely used on cars!

[Yabu]

Watchman said:

I have lost one of my 1/4 inch drive Halfords pro sockets - the 10mm one - and you can't buy them singularly. So irked about this.

I’ve managed it in the past,
You can if you find someone helpful enough in Halfords, they can source them as they offer the lifetime warranty, explain you’ve lost one and would like to buy just the one you are missing