Anybody ever broken a wrench like this?

"ChooChooMotherFudger" (choochoomotherfudger)
08/23/2016 at 10:01 • Filed to: None

I was working on getting a stuck bolt out and put this on the bolt side and wedged it so it wouldn’t turn.
Placed ratchet with a 4 foot cheater bar on the other end and pulled. It shot across the floor, just missing me.

I gave up and grabbed the cut off wheel.

Edit: might be worth noting that I had to tap it on lightly to the bolt to get it to fit on the slightly rounded bolt head.

DISCUSSION (34)

Mattbob > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:04

no, but that is impressive.

Captain of the Enterprise > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:07

Nope

My bird IS the word > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:08

I cant believe the bolt didn’t give up first.

Flavien Vidal > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:08

Nope, I buy Facom tools for a reason :)

McMike > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:08

You’re much stronger than me. I just break these.

Kinja'd!!!

Urambo Tauro > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:09

No, but I have broken one of the jaws of an open-end wrench. (It was a no-brand piece of crap.)

What brand was your wrench?

ChooChooMotherFudger > Urambo Tauro
08/23/2016 at 10:11

No idea, nothing fancy though.

ChooChooMotherFudger > McMike
08/23/2016 at 10:11

Nah, I just had a really long leaver arm.

Dave the car guy , still here > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:11

Have only seen a combination wrench break in one spot and spread open. Never seen a break in two places and parts flying. Cheap tool? What brand?

ChooChooMotherFudger > My bird IS the word
08/23/2016 at 10:12

Do you mean brake? It was a M16 so not small by any means.

If you mean turn. It was painted, rusted, and been there for 28 years. I could barely get it to turn without hold the nut at first.

ChooChooMotherFudger > Mattbob
08/23/2016 at 10:13

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.

Archimedes

StoneCold > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:13

I’ve cut one like that on purpose before, but not through strength!

ChooChooMotherFudger > Flavien Vidal
08/23/2016 at 10:13

Haha, this was what ever cheep ones, my dad had in the garage.

ChooChooMotherFudger > Dave the car guy , still here
08/23/2016 at 10:14

Probably cheep and don’t know off the top of my head.
It might be worth noting that it was kinda forced onto the bolt head because it had started rounding.

jariten1781 > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:16

Yep, but I was abusing the crap out of it. Had the open end on a bolt, a socket extension wedged through the box end and was pushing up on the extension with a floor jack for MEGA TORQUE (tm). Due to the potential for catastrophic failure I was hiding behind a wheel and piece of plywood while angled way off to the side...only my hand was exposed. I still have me hand.

My bird IS the word > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:18

break, strip, or turn, usually anything happens before a wrench snaps like that. Bad metallurgy methinks.

ChooChooMotherFudger > jariten1781
08/23/2016 at 10:18

Wow. I hadn’t even thought of using a floor jack. I was getting worried about tipping the car off the jack stands it was on though.

Mattbob > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:18

move the world, break something, it’s all the same...

ChooChooMotherFudger > Mattbob
08/23/2016 at 10:19

Thats what I keep telling people.

ChooChooMotherFudger > My bird IS the word
08/23/2016 at 10:19

Very probably. I did by a nicer one to replace it.

jariten1781 > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 10:25

I've made many ghetto hacked together floor jack torque rigs. It's stupid (due to high potential for damage, injury or death) every time but the bolts will break and you can't argue with success. Bent many tools doing it, but only had one fracture.

ChooChooMotherFudger > jariten1781
08/23/2016 at 10:27

Yeah. I was expecting lots of other things to fail before that thing shot out from there.

lone_liberal > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 11:02

Yes, but it was a cheap HF wrench.

DynamicWeight > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 11:15

12 point wrench for loosening a stuck bolt? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

ChooChooMotherFudger > DynamicWeight
08/23/2016 at 11:18

Are you implying I should have just held it there with the power of my mind ?

DynamicWeight > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 11:21

I am implying that 12 point will round off bolt heads.

ChooChooMotherFudger > DynamicWeight
08/23/2016 at 11:23

It started to, but then ended up having enough grip that instead of rounding it off completely it just failed.

DynamicWeight > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 11:33

Okay, I reread the post and understand better now. I still think I’d try the open end first since it has more contact area, but a cheap wrench would have bent anyway. I guess it’s just a case of cheap tools being cheap.

ChooChooMotherFudger > DynamicWeight
08/23/2016 at 11:35

Yeah, I couldn’t hold it while I did this and the open end wouldn’t stay.

The Stig's former college room mate > ChooChooMotherFudger
08/23/2016 at 12:13

shoulda grabbed the hot wrench. one size fits all.

Kinja'd!!!

just-a-scratch > DynamicWeight
08/23/2016 at 12:21

6-point FTW. The open end is really only grabbing on two corners of the hex. Both the 6-point and 12-point grab all 6 corners of the hex. The 6-point has a larger contact area than the 12-point.

BigBlock440 > DynamicWeight
08/23/2016 at 12:27

No way, the open end will get you a rounded off bolt much quicker than the 12-point end will.

DynamicWeight > BigBlock440
08/23/2016 at 14:19

The only time I’ve had the open end fail me is if it starts bending open. If I have the space, I really like to use two six point sockets. I guess I have an irrational fear of the 12 point because I’ve seen my dad ruin so many bolt heads with them. Plus, on so many used cars and motorcycles, I see the tell tale marks on almost round bolts that let me know a 12 point was used in the past.

Maybe you’re right. Admittedly, here in California, I don’t have to deal with a lot of rusty bolts, so I don’t have a ton of experience. But what I have done, I thought the open end was working better. I’ll keep it in mind.

BigBlock440 > DynamicWeight
08/23/2016 at 14:22

I avoid the open end if at all possible. I’ve rounded too many bolts that way. I agree that a 6-point is ideal, but unless there’s an excessive amount of rust, I’ve found a 12-point to be adequate. I’ve definitely had better luck using a 12-point that the open end.