11 replies to this topic

[johnyc]

O.K.

After a near miss with a breaker bar breaking.. Im after a socket set for those occasional "big" jobs...
Which seam to be doing and undoing the hub nuts every other month to repair various cv joint gators flanges and brake parts....

Now im not looking to spend a lot of money on a set which will get used very occasionally but equally i dont want summit that will break.

I thought this would do the job...

http://www.amazon.co...rline 3/4 drive

i know silverline aint supposed to be the best but... whats your thoughts... Halfords professional have a similar set but its 100 and machine mart have a clarke but thats 120..

Really wasnt looking to spend more than 50/60 quid... but if It can be justified I would go more...

Any body know anywhere with a decent jan sale online maybe half price sets. heh. halfords have a half price 1/2" drive set but i want 3/4" at least.. May as well do it properly.

[Globule]

I'd suggest trying to get hold of a trade card for Halfords and get their set, it may cost a little over 60 but at least you'll have a lifetime guarantee, and their breaker bars etc are hard to break, and should they do, they will swap it over for a new one for you!

That silverline one doesn't have a 3/4 breaker bar, and it's not good practice to put that much force through that ratchet, no doubt with a bar on the end as you won't be able to get the required force with that.

Having said that, for a mini, 1/2" drive should be more than sufficient.

Also, you shouldn't have to keep taking the nut on and off, could you not just fix everything when it is off? Brakes and steering are arguably two of the most important factors on the car.

*Assuming you meant the set below, it's worth noting that the sockets are metric 12 point which is not really ideal, probably better than silverline still as you get a nice breaker bar and T-bar in the set*
http://www.halfords....tegoryId_255215

Edited by Globule, 27 December 2011 - 09:34 PM.

[dow62]

Had a Hilka 3/8 drive socket set and a Gedore 1/2 drive socket set, for many years no probs with either. For the 3/4 drive stuff try bootsales/markets dont be put off what it looks like as long you buy quality stuff, ie Kingdick, Britool, Gedore, etc. Lots of people dont know what they are selling.

[conlad]

You want an imperial socket set ( or at least half metric and half imperial set ) like this one:

http://www.halfords....yId_255215#dtab

I've got this for christmas and the quality is awesome. Its the pro advanced stuff s o a lifetime guarantee and as Globule says - you can take any part back if it breaks and get the new one back

Great bit of kit it is, very solid and everything you need.

Just for interest, the biggest metric is 24mm and biggest imperial is 7/8. So big nuts

EDIT: Because mini's are primarily imperial based

Edited by ct16mini, 27 December 2011 - 09:39 PM.

[Tupers]

You don't need 3/4" sockets for working on a Mini. My Dad's still got the same 1/2"set with 90% of the original sockets in it from 30 years ago.

I'd recommend you buy good quality sockets from someone like Signet, Britool or Snap-On. If you buy good tools and use them appropriately you shouldn't have to worry about them breaking.

[Globule]

I've got this for christmas and the quality is awesome. Its the pro advanced stuff s o a lifetime guarantee and as Globule says - you can take any part back if it breaks and get the new one back

ct16mini, I have this set too (birthday present!), one piece of advice, if it rains and they get wet, make sure you pay attention to drying the torx/allen/ 1/4 drive bits as they rust in no time!

Tupers, I very much agree with you in that a decent 1/2 socket set is perfect, but johnyc said he wanted 3/4 :) Halfords breaker bars seem to be very good, never managed to break one without putting a length of pipe on the end, and even then it took a lot of force..

[Cooperman]

I've had my Elora 1/2 drive socket set for 43 years and it's still mainly original. Pay for quality and you get quality.

[Kerrin]

I have a full set of 3/4 metric and imperial sockets with ratchet and tee handle etc, it is Draper (hiss booo!) but was on offer at the local motorfactors.

And, I don't use it, instead I have since bought a bigger 1/2" drive Britool breaker bar and the most common sockets in 3/4 drive and the 3/4 to 1/2" adaptor again all Britool. The difference in quality of the Britool stuff and the fit an confidence etc means the set is now only there for weird jobs and emergencies.

After all the 3/4" drive stuff is for BIG bolts and nuts so you want the best you can afford. Try someone like primetools (google search mail order tools) you could even consider getting black impact type sockets in which can be used on a windy gun to make life earlier.

If you do want a set, get the Halfords set, Halfords own brand does seem pretty good.

[johnyc]

Thanks for the info guys. Looks like most people think a 1/2" drive quality set is the way to go. I was just going on logic of thicker = stronger.

Think ill get a halfords pro socket set tomorrow and then a brittool or similar breaker. Which i can put a nice scaffold over for harder nuts....

Sorted...

Edited by johnyc, 27 December 2011 - 11:11 PM.

[conlad]

I've got this for christmas and the quality is awesome. Its the pro advanced stuff s o a lifetime guarantee and as Globule says - you can take any part back if it breaks and get the new one back

ct16mini, I have this set too (birthday present!), one piece of advice, if it rains and they get wet, make sure you pay attention to drying the torx/allen/ 1/4 drive bits as they rust in no time!

Tupers, I very much agree with you in that a decent 1/2 socket set is perfect, but johnyc said he wanted 3/4 :) Halfords breaker bars seem to be very good, never managed to break one without putting a length of pipe on the end, and even then it took a lot of force..

Nice one, cheers for the advice!!

[frog998]

Buy a good quality breaker bar, i've broken a few cheaper bars (1/2 drive)
Failing that just buy a 3/4 breaker bar and buy the sockets you need, dont bother with a complete set as you'll never use half of them.
The other thing is (if you have a compressor) get a 1/2 impact gun and impact sockets (these are black in colour so you can tell the difference)

[ibrooks]

My main weapon of choice is the original Halfords pro socket set which has imperial and metric sockets to cover most stuff on old and new cars.

For rusted stuff.. I have a Franklin impact socket set. These are all 6-point sockets and again cover most imperial and metric sizes. Very useful where the 12 point sockets might just round off a stuck fastener.

For the big stuff on Minis.... I've got a Franklin breaker bar and a 1/2" drive six point socket for the hub nuts (1 5/16"). I've got an additional 1/2" drive deep impact socket for the balljoints (1 1/2"). These take care of most hub-nuts and ball-joints I come across on Minis.

And then..... I do have a 3/4" ratchet - unknown make as I bought it on it's own at Woodvale a few years back. I've added an impact 1 5/16" socket to this. I use this on hub nuts that the 1/2" breaker bar and impact socket won't budge and I do stick a length of pipe over the end of it - the ratchet is a very hefty clunky thing that won't break with my weight on the end of an 8' bar. It's also far easier to use for getting the hub nut to the next split-pin hole. My BIG torque wrench is also 3/4" drive so I use the socket on it to torque hub nuts up.

I did look briefly at 3/4" sets but couldn't justify it for the number of times I would use it (and I don't just work on Minis). I've spent a fraction of the cost of a set on the two 3/4" drive items I've bought.

Iain