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Thread: Metric tool rant

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    Metric tool rant

    Why is it that a set of metric wrenches skip 18MM?
    Why is it that a set of metric sockets skip 18 MM?
    I've bought two sets of metric wrenches and do I have a 18MM wrench?? Nope. I have several sets of sockets. I have a grand total of (1) Craftsman 12 point non impact 18MM socket. I know if I put said socket on a rusty bolt or nut the corners get rounded off. Today I was working on my '95 F150. You need two full sets of tools, metric and standard to pull the transmission. Guess what size the cross member nuts are?? 18 MM. Guess what size impact socket I didn't have was?? 18MM. Guess what size impact socket you can't buy locally is?? 18MM. There were several inexpensive sets at the parts house. All skip 18MM. So what do I have to buy? A set of sockets that most will never get used, to get the 18MM socket I needed. How many times will I use a 1/2" drive 10MM impact socket? NEVER, but I now own one. I can twist those off with my 1/4" drive ratchet. I don't need a 1/2" impact wrench to do it. OK, rant over. The transmission is sitting on the garage floor and I own a 18MM socket. If anyone needs a 1/2" drive 10MM deep impact socket I'll make you a good deal on one.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    Now I have to look at my metric sets and see if they came with 18 MM. Can you buy singles off the internet?

  3. #3
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    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
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    That might fall into the category of 'specialty tools'.

    The best way to never have to use it again is to keep it.
    If you get rid of it, within a few weeks, you'll be needing to buy another set to get one.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Winger Ed. View Post
    That might fall into the category of 'specialty tools'.

    The best way to never have to use it again is to keep it.
    If you get rid of it, within a few weeks, you'll be needing to buy another set to get one.
    I believe this falls under "Murphy's Law"
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  5. #5
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    Here is another one 16mm. I think sometimes it is the opposite end of the 18mm.
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  6. #6
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    You mean the sets you purchased do. I have sets from three manufacturers and they are all 8mm thru 19mm with nothing skipped in between.
    Last edited by Finster101; 09-28-2019 at 08:05 AM.

  7. #7
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    I bought an SK metric combination wrench set a year ago that included everything from 8 to 22 mm. There were no skipped sizes. As far as I have read, the SK socket sets being offered don't skip sizes either.

  8. #8
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    Mal Paso's Avatar
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    LOL My Dodge truck was the first one to force 18mm on me. Before that there was nothing between 17 and 19mm.

    Last transmission pull HD had a 200 piece Husky socket set marked down to $90 so I bought it. Has every mm even half mms. All it really means though, is the next tool I desperately need won't be a socket.
    Mal

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  9. #9
    Boolit Master enfield's Avatar
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    8mm 5/16 11mm 7/16 13mm 1/2 14mm 9/16 16mm 5/8 17mm 11/16 19mm 3/4 21mm 13/16 so ya gotta buy a 10mm and a 18mm big deal

    hey, watch where ya point that thing!

  10. #10
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    I have a few sets up to 44mm and a bunch of larger ones that are in the range of 2"+. Have the same sockets in Standard also.

    One of the places I worked at bought any tool you needed. And they let you keep it. Most of the machinery that I had to work on was German. So we had to have them.

    The biggest pain was a coating machine that came in and the hydraulic and air lines and several other things had this stupid British thread. Hated that thing.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Have at least two socket sets in both SAE and Metric and mine did come with an 18mm socket. Having said that I have multiple sets also in both SAE and Metric. Plus wrenches in both flavors. One set is on a cart in the sun room and the other in the garage. Why multiple sets?. Bad legs and prefer working under the carport. At least I get a breeze there. Sockets both regular and deep for the impact gun. Suprised the house hasn't tanken a list to one side with all the tools I've aquired over the years.Frank

  12. #12
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    I will say using standard when it is metric does not convert perfectly and pulled a ford/mercury transmission some years ago inch size is asking for stripped heads do not waste your time use the metric wrench or socket , and yes I have worked on more then one thing where it had both standard and metric , I understand your rant , and have more then a few tools that are so seldom used.

  13. #13
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    Have a standard deep well craftsman set. It has the 18mm, have a plastic box kit I keep in the truck that’s craftsman and it has them also in deep and short sockets.
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  14. #14
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    And I have and end wrench set that doesn't have a 9mm! Have to wonder about the people who package these things.
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  15. #15
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    There are a few metric sizes that are really close to one of the SAE sizes, so some sets sold in the U.S. market skip those sizes in the metric sets.
    I don't believe 18mm is one of the metric sizes that has a SAE twin, so I'm not sure why that size would be left out.

    Speaking of metric tools, there was a time when metric tools were expensive and hard to acquire in the U.S.A. It was not uncommon for people to purchase only the exact metric tool they needed for a job because of the expense of an entire set was hard to justify. It was also common to scavenge junk yards for the tool kits that came with Japanese and German cars to acquire metric tools. It took some time for the price of quality metric tools to equal with SAE tools.

    Fortunately the price and availability of metric tools is now equal to their SAE counterparts.
    However, the OP's rant about the mixing of metric and SAE fasteners on the same vehicle is a valid complainant. Some of the American cars & trucks from the late 1980's and early 1990's were really bad in terms of mixing metric and SAE on the same vehicle.

  16. #16
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    Back in the 60s and 70s my uncle was on a VW Beetle binge,so he went out and bought a set of cheap metric sockets every size but the one size that it seemed almost every bolt needed 13 mm. He squawk,curse and swear about it. So at one point I suggested he go to Sears and get a standard and deep 13 mm socket,nope wouldn't do it too expensive. The 2 new sockets would have cost like 3 times what he paid for the el cheapo socket set I just walked away shaking my head.
    Last edited by DocSavage; 09-28-2019 at 06:42 PM.

  17. #17
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    I tracked down a ratcheting box end 18mm just for those top crossmember brace bolts on my 95 f150. Worth every penny.
    "In God we trust, in all others, check the manual!"

  18. #18
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    Get as Metric adjustable wrench
    or go to your local auto parts house and ask for am 18MM spanner and watch the expressions
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  19. #19
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    I have run into the 18mm problem often enough myself... Just had to go get the individual ones to replace the missing ones in the sets.

    My rant similar to this, is when they attach something that requires both Standard & Metric to R&R the part. Having to change back and forth multiple times.
    Particularly when the part to remove or install has some of the bolts & nuts are in hard to reach places, and ya don't find out that it is metric or standard until you try about umpteen times to get the wrench or socket to fit, & then find out it is not the one you expected it to be.

    Find out it is metric when you tried to use std. & the opposite as well...

    Truly annoying & it is why I know a lot of folks who would like to punch the designers/engineers for their making something difficult when it need not be difficult.

    BTW, ever notice that it seems like more & more you have to remove the spare tire from the trunk to change a headlight & other such ridiculous parts that need to be removed in order to replace one simple part. Removing the battery to change the headlight bulbs on many new vehicles would be one good example. Why they have to attach/bracket so many parts to the water pump is another.

    Yep... I am among those who would like to punch the designer/engineers myself, sometimes, for this idiocy. You know they don't work on their own vehicles when they do this stupid stuff...

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  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    I have to admit my tools are not Snap-On or SK sets. I don't make my living as a mechanic so I never bought a $300 wrench set. I guess I don't make my living as anything anymore as I'm happily unemployed. (retired) I learned when working as an electrician to buy the best tools available and they always served me well.

    The metric sockets I purchased from NAPA about 20 years ago before they went to overseas production. They are fairly good quality but for some reason skipped 18MM. I purchased a set from Home Depot (I think Husky brand) and it also skips 18MM. The Craftsman set I have does include a 18MM 12 point socket. I bought a set of Stanley deep sockets from Wallyworld that skips 18MM. I have a set of Stanley wrenches that skips 18MM. I thought I'd just lost it so I went to HD and bought a full set of Huskey wrenches without looking at sizes included. The dang thing skips 18MM. Yesterday while removing the transmission I knew the 12 point socket would round of the corners of the rusted self locking nuts so I went to buy a 18MM impact socket. None of the local parts houses (NAPA, AutoZone and Oreilly's) had one. All had "sets" that skipped the 18MM socket. One had a set that included what I needed but also included several small sizes that I will never use.

    My complaint about needing two full sets of tools is even pointed out in the Ford factory service manual. Step by step it tells what size wrench to use. Some are SAE and some are metric. I feel bad for the poor fool who gets the vehicle where Ford runs out of a fastener part way through the build. "Use a 9/16th wrench on one of the torque converter bolts and a 13MM wrench on the other three."

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