6 point vs 12 point wrenches

6 point vs 12 point wrenches

What do you use, Veeky Forums?

whatever they use at the garage I take my car to

12 point because sometimes you simply don't have the room to utilize a 6 point

Didn't we have this thread yesterday but about socket bits

Ratchet spanners for the win

Not if you can't fit it in

should depend on the type of nut/bold and it's condition.
rusty, chance of rounding it? better use 6point.
normal condition? 12 point is faster.
that's the theory behind this choice.
now the real world:
12 point is more expensive. people usually buy 6 point and it works just fine.
people who spend the extra cash for the 12 point are unlikely to come across rusty/shitty bolts that need a 6point so they do everything with the 12 point.
I use 12 point.

I buy a bunch of weird extensions just so I don't have to use the 12 point bolt lathe

...

6 point because that is what bolts are

Same, i have a set of both but i only ever use my 12 points. Its just slightly more convenient. Plus everything i work on i keep in good condition, im not worried about rounding it and if i am, its getting a new bolt.

Why not a combination of both?

>only 2 point

12 point. Never even seen the 6 point untill now

>now the real world:
>12 point is more expensive. people usually buy 6 point and it works just fine.
What for fucks snakes are you talking about?
This is how anyone with any experience knows Veeky Forums is full of a bunch of fucking retards.
You have to go far out of your way to find 6 point box end wrenches these days, and the 6 points are more costly than the 12's. 12 points are the normie standard.

12pt because that's what the gear wrenches are.
Also 12pt fits 4pt hardware

>18 point wrench

12, because that's what they had at home depot.

Use the right tool for the job, I bet you like "universal" box ends that fit 600 different fastener types, even though all they really do is round hex heads and you end up never running into anything else.

6 point for everything that requires some torque, 12 point for everything else because it doesn't matter and it's more comfortable.

I'm not buying some expensive bullshit to turn square heads.
I have a full set of gearwrenches, why would I need some 600 in one crap.

Also I live in California, and don't really know what rusted bolts are.

I don't get this meme of california cars don't rust.
If you're near the ocean your car will rust. Desert cars don't rust much, but the majority of the population lives by the coast.

Also if you ever encounter a tight or stuck square you're going to see that a 12point will just turn it into a round.
I honestly have no idea where you're finding all these squares though.

I've had to do squares for other non auto stuff.
Plumbing fittings like em.

And even my 79 doesn't have that much rust, and I'm 10 miles inland.

Loosen with a six point then put one of these on it to get it out.

Black iron pipe plugs are square head, you're right. Same with plastic plugs, but I doubt a giant 12 point boxend would work on an ABS clean out, we just use slip joint pliers.
As a plumber I only use box end wrenches for toilet nuts.
Everything else is an open end for a constant size I deal with all the time, like a 3/8th compression fitting calling for a 5/8th wrench, or 90% of the time, I use an adjustable.
I guess b tank regulators are squares too, but if you put anything other than the correct wrench on those you'll cock them up.

Utilities also like to use square heads for some reason. The metal guards they put on over telephone cables as they go up the pole from underground are, or at least used to be, held on with 4 point fasteners normally. Doing dig safe stuff, I'd have to pull at least one or two fasteners at the bottom of the guard somewhere so I could get an inductive clamp around the cable, so I could mark out where it went. Some of those bolts were a good 4" long or better, or were combo hammer/screw fasteners, where you could bash them in with a hammer then unscrew them out if you ever had to remove them.

Used vice grips for a while, got sick of that, bought a set of 8 point sockets. Don't think I've ever used them on anything else since then. Though if you really need to crank down on a heavy duty beam clamp for some reason, they come in useful for that too. Or just put the socket on an adapter and use an impact on them, that works great as well.

We had this thread yesterday.

why put a switch on there if you can just flip the wrench?

7 point obviously

Flipping the wrench only works if the wrench is flat. I have a few cheap Husky wrenches from Home Depot that are like this.

Typically, more expensive manufacturers use the switch on ratcheting wrenches because the wrenches are not perfectly flat; they are usually angled about 15 degrees so you can use them without scraping your knuckles.

> Rounding a bolt with a 12point
Why do I keep hearing this meme? If you buy quality 12point you'll never round shit ever. In fact I've had times where 12 point helped me take off a rounded bolt better than a 6point. 12point is so much more convenient in many ways. You can use 12 point on torx, square, etc. They're pretty GOAT so long as you get quality shit.

Only trust 6 point for tough jobs. 12 point will round off bolt heads a lot easier.

Nigga I have Snap-On at my disposal 12 point will round shit off. Are you working on stuff that isn't rusty?

I work on both, every weekday and never rounded a bolt with a 12point. Only time i came close was an old rusted to shit diff cover. But all i had to do was clamp it down and turn for the boxend wouldn't slip off

ants.jpg

Not that user, just yesterday I was working on a car with a 12 point and the oil drain plug wouldn't fucking budge and it started to skip i.e. round off the bolt. I went and bought a 6 point and it stuck fast and I was able to remove the plug.

What are 8 and 4 point bolts?

Nobody uses 6 point combo wrenches, I've seen maybe 2 in my life actually in the hands of another tech

>>ocean
>>rust

It's not the ocean that rusts cars, unless you drive IN the ocean. There's no such thing as "salt air", at least not in any quantities that actually causes damage by itself. Salt doesn't magically float on the breeze near the sea. It's in salt spray (roads near water in the wind...) and on the beach, if you drive your car there.

I have 40 year old cars that have spent their lives a hundred yards from the sea. No more rust than anything else.

In cold weather, near the sea or not, road salt for ice control is what chews cars up.

> not using the other end of you're box wrenches

sure is pleb in here

6 point whenever possible. I've stripped 10.9 with 12 point

Who cares? Just put the damn thing on and apply torque.

>not using the swedish nut rounder

We already have a thread on this subject.

>swedish nut rounder
I thought all sweds are the ultimate kuks who no longer have any nuts to round.

But is it left handed?

Nice thumb detector

That's about sockets and not wrenches

I have never seen another mechanic use a 6 point spanner, where would you even buy something like that? Like yeah, 6 point is good for torque, but if you've got quality spanners and are using them correctly, there is no reason they should be rounding anything off. Pic related, shame you can't buy these anymore.

Those look fucking wrong with the 6 point. I use 12 point on everything and never had a single problem. Your nuts must be made of shit material or need to be replaced anyway.

I've not seen the 6 point kind in years

drain plugs are square much of the time

My drain plug has a dumb hex thing

I use 6pt on 6pt heads and 12pt on 6pt heads that are stripped.

Usually cunts strip bolt heads by using 12pt on 6pt heads that are in good condition.

Example: My old cars sump plug was stripped because some cunt used a rattle gun on it with a 12pt socket.

True, but drain plugs aren't supposed to go on tight at all so a 12pt is fine unless you took it to a shop and the guy there torqued it on with an air wrench.

So you can use a pipe wrench/cresent/polygrips without problem

Good luck finding a 6 point combo wrench set at a reasonable price. They've pretty much disappeared, particularly from Europe.

Best wrench set i've used is a set by stahlwille, well made and very tight to the flats, even at the box end, i've never rounded anything off with them. Nearly all good 12 point sockets and wrenches these days have some form of flank drive profile, where the tools grips the sides of the fastener. A good 12 point will make just as much contact with a fastener as a 6 point.

The difference is if the fastener starts to round, much more material needs to be moved out of the way before a 6 point fastener can turn fully, less needs to be moved before a 12 point will.

Get good sockets and use common sense, if the bolt is badly rusted or old/poor quality use a 6 point. If its in decent condition 12 point will be fine.

Sometimes small bolts that were not stiff are now stiff after 30+ years

I have had 6 point bolts using a 6 point spanner of the correct size round off.

> Also factory wheel brace brake on factory nuts.

Those were made by Facom, and still are. They're called the 440 series.

We're talking about male square, not female you goof.

You go around making yourself look like a retard.
6 point box end wrenches were fairly common ~30 years ago.
And if 12 point doesn't round, tell my why impact sockets are almost all 6 point.
I'll wait for you to come up with your reason.

turns out they are only on the shitty old cars I have
hex are the normal type

Well, the normal type is dumb then, a female hex means you have to use a tiny(8 or 10mm in my case, can't remember) hex key to turn the damn thing. I had to make myself a tiny cheater bar to unscrew it and put it back tight enough so it won't leak.

I think I've seen one hex spanner in my life.

If your using a breaker bar on a oil drain plug your doing something wrong.

I hope you don't work on any cars with an aluminium sump..

Who is doing that?

>tfw the gearbox and differential share the same oil though a conduit in the prop shaft

offset hex wrench

I know techs who put them on with an impact gun, always cringe when i see that.

I've came across plenty of plug held into an aluminium sump with silicone sealant due to being over tightened.

>And if 12 point doesn't round, tell my why impact sockets are almost all 6 point.
Because it's high carbon steel and the manufacturing process is simpler for a six point, you dolt.

when it comes to cars made before the 80s the drain plugs type installed can be a little random

honestly if you have a hex nut for your wheel bolts and a set of 12 point combination wrenches you're fine. Not letting your bolts get stuck is ten times more important than what kind of wrench you are using anyway.

Audi are notorious for having the sump threads strip. Your meant to replace the entire plug with a new part when you pull it since it includes a captive washer to seal. I've worked on at least 20 odd that have had the bolt damaged by some shit oil monkey attempting to rip the washer off and fit a copper one. Then over tightening and stripping the treads since it wouldn't seal properly.

Remember on an ali sump the threads themselves deform around the plug to prevent the oil coming through, i tighten them to 20Nm max and that's more than enough, if doing it by feel use a stubby spanner to limit the torque.

Shit that's awesome, il be able to replace my missing 8 and 12mm.

>Have to replace an entire plug just for a washer

Doubting this somehow...

Hes right, its part number N90813202. Drain bolt with captive washer seal.

Cost like $1 from the dealer so not exactly expensive.

>captive washer
wew

>ali sump the threads themselves deform around the plug to prevent the oil coming through
interesting
I assume it would have a different thread pitch than what steel sumps use

Are all audi's meant to use this? the plug in mine looks different.

No. There are a good few different types, some that do need a crush washer and some of the newer types are plastic and seal with a rubber o-ring. Keep to the type you have.

Britool still make 6 point spanners, they cost about £40 for a set of 12. Not bad but the quality isn't great. I prefer 12 point box ends on spanners since they only need half the amount of swing to grab the fastener.

>not using flexible head ratchet spanners

fucking disgusting, 12 point on a torx bolt is fucked and they make square drive sockets for a reason

Don't they all?

I mean, for RWD vehicles I guess, I have a civic so it's just one big box bolted to the engine...

I thought it more common on cars with a live axle

I've had to use a breaker bar on plugs quite a few times.

Some people really over tighten the plugs to the point that a standard ratchet won't budge them.

No. It's not common at all, it would put the driveshaft off balance, and how's the fluid meant to move across the U joints? And of a wheel bearing fails, it doesn't just contaminate your diff with metal, it now gets in your gearbox as well. Fucking terrible idea.

>not having a set of both 6 and 12 point and using the correct tool for the job at hand