Useless tools

[Bren]

This months practical sportsbikes (a good read for anybody of the two wheeled fraternity who cannot afford the latest dainese dayglo leathers to match their brand new machine that only comes out on dry sundays) has a piece on tools - basically which ones are really useful and which are'nt.

 

There is a piece of stud extractors - or eezy outs as they are more commonly known. The verdict was that they are only useful on stuff that is'nt totally seized!

 

I broke my second set recently trying to remove a broken bleed nipple from one of my sdi's calipers. Eventually it came out due to having a large blob of weld deposited on it that I could then hit with a hammer and chisel.

 

To be honest the MIG has been used to undo more seized stuff than anything else in my arsenal.

 

I wonder if in the history of modern engineering have easy outs ever removed anything successfully?

[Albert Ross]

NO. They normally swell the walls of the offending fastener, making it tighter, and just before they snap, they lull you into a sense of achievement. Obviously then into immediate disappointment, despair, and despondency.

[tooSavvy]

NO. They normally swell the walls of the offending fastener, making it tighter, and just before they snap, they lull you into a sense of achievement. Obviously then into immediate disappointment, despair, and despondency.

 

ABSOLUTELY.....

 

An 'EzEEouT' looking like a construction steel reinforcing rod would likely do something on a 'scale for scale' stud.

 

Having snapped enough 5MM taps in a lifetime... I really don't believe one, turning in the other direction, would effect magical powers

 

tooSavvy

[willswitchengage]

Useless tools

 

UKIP?

[hairnet]

most of the eurovision song contest?

[Station]

Only had success with bolts/screws that have stripped the head. Recent go on broken bleed nipple wrote off entire calliper. Not great.

[hairnet]

no

 

like above if they snap off world of pain

 

old man had a go at ones for me in a bike engine needless to say he snapped one off

 

had to take it to engineering place to be fixed

[cobblers]

Easyout work great! As center punches.

I have used once successfully for the intended use, once - on the bottom half of a spark plug that sheared off in the head of my nans mk3 fez - the plugs sit in little wells, which hold water and rust through the body of the plug.

Anyway, it worked but only because I was using the biggest size one, on a not very tight spark plug. I felt like ringing the manufacturers up and saying "Hey lads, this actually worked!"

 

 

 

Slip-joint plier things (I call them fiveoles) are generally absolutely worthless, always wanting to self adjust to the next notch up a the worst minute. I've only ever had one decent pair of these, that the gasman left about 15 years ago. I left them at a scrapyard, and the circle of life continues.

[coalnotdole]

 

Slip-joint plier things (I call them fiveoles) are generally absolutely worthless, always wanting to self adjust to the next notch up a the worst minute. I've only ever had one decent pair of these, that the gasman left about 15 years ago. I left them at a scrapyard, and the circle of life continues.

 

I think it depends on what your using I've got a set of knipex ones that I pikied from somewhere and they are excellent. to the point where they are now referred to as the tool for every job.

 

 

I think the most useless tool I've ever possessed was a gunsons easybleed it doesn't fit on Girling master cylinders property and pisses brake fluid everywhere.

[John F]

These things are bloody useless, especially if you've had your wheels fitted by some tyre monkey with a 20,000 psi windy gun.

 

[pervypaul]

These things are bloody useless, especially if you've had your wheels fitted by some tyre monkey with a 20,000 psi windy gun.

 

 

Ive found the black ford ones to me more useless than most, I think ford made them with play doh!

[pervypaul]

And the biggest Tool in the UK

 

[catsinthewelder]

These things are bloody useless, especially if you've had your wheels fitted by some tyre monkey with a 20,000 psi windy gun.

 

 

 

I have one that looks just like that from a Fiat Tipo and it's about the best tool I own. It's a perfect fit on wheelnuts so you can put all your strength into removing them at the roadside and strong enough for removing seized brake caliper bolts that require 6' of scaffold pole's worth of extra effort.

 

Almost every other one thats been through my hands has been shite though

 

Full agreements on the eezi-out and partial on the eezi-bleed, brake fluid everywhere but at least it makes it possible with one person even if somewhat undesirable.

 

Don't start me on politics

[Guest]

I'm with Bren on the MIG being the Tool of Win.

Even just a generous blob on something stuck heats it enough to unstick it.

Lower headrace outer on a motorbike? Blob of weld, heats to unstick and gives something to whack.

Steel sump nut mullered in an alloy sump? Weld on a throw away spanner and undo to taste. Result.

[stuboy]

wheel brace and jack that came with the works peugeot partner utter shite

[jonny69]

I've had success with easy-outs - but I think it helps to understand their limitations.

 

1) Obviously there's cheap ones and expensive ones; the cheap ones tend to be carbon steel and the more expensive ones (by Dormer) are either HSS or something more exotic and are quite different in shape. The cheap ones have quite a steep angle on the thread and chew up quite easily, while the Dormer ones have more of a flute but lock in tighter; so if you force them they'll snap.

 

2) Someone taught me a technique to use with them that really helps. Get a punch and a hammer and tap away at the broken stud for about ten minutes. Don't really smack it, just tappity tap tap away at it and keep going for the full 10 mins, as much of a ballache as it sounds. By doing so, you break any corrosion and ever so slightly deform the threads, which 9 times out of 10 loosens it and then it's easy to get it out.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I find that most brake pipe flaring tools, including the supposedly pretty decent Sealey one I bought for about £40, are flipping useless. It seems you need to spend a 3-figure sum to get one that works really well. Certainly I have had more success using my own bell end as a flaring tool than I have achieved with those crummy £10 hand-held efforts which is what I started off with. Plus, no broken bits of spam javelin end up wedged inside the brake pipe.

 

‘+1’ on the gunsons eezi-bleed too - some people swear by these, all I can say is those people must get free brake fluid from somewhere, the amount that pisses out from the crappy cheap-ass fittings on these things. A good idea spoilt by crummy execution.

 

My favourite ‘rubbish tool’ is those jump leads that petrol stations sell, they are inevitably 1.5m long and would struggle to jump start a fuggin carriage clock without catching fire. BAN EM!

[cobblers]

My favourite ‘rubbish tool’ is those jump leads that petrol stations sell, they are inevitably 1.5m long and would struggle to jump start a fuggin carriage clock without catching fire. BAN EM!

 

I got given a pair for Xmas years ago. They didn't work worth shit when I came to use them, then I slipped the insulation back and noticed:

 

[fordperv]

‘+1’ on the gunsons eezi-bleed too - some people swear by these, all I can say is those people must get free brake fluid from somewhere, the amount that pisses out from the crappy cheap-ass fittings on these things. A good idea spoilt by crummy execution.

 

the mrs bought me one a bit back as she was sick of getting leg ache whenever I did brakes lol I was quite impressed, ive never encountered the brake fluid pissing out of the fittings though, I imagine that would happen if you exceed the recommended operating psi, but I may be wrong

[Pillock]

I once used a set to try to jump a 2.0 Golf from a Shogun. Left them on for a few minutes, tried to start - still dead. Went to check the leads were still connected properly and as I grabbed the cable, my hand started to sink through the insulation The whole lot was hot enough to go soft and as I binned them they had a perfect hand imprint left in them. That photo is outstanding though!

[240gl]

Gator Grip. The most useless tool I've ever tried to use.

[CortinaDave]

Useless tools? I'm tempted to post a pic of my ex girlfriend

[tooSavvy]

Useless tools? I'm tempted to post a pic of my ex girlfriend

 

.... so many possible 'sub-quotes' to that statement, we could start a whole new thread....

 

tooSavvy

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Eezibleeds are awesome, but you should connect it up empty first to make sure there aren't any leaks.

[andrew e]

Gator Grip. The most useless tool I've ever tried to use.

 

Ah... Now these have a good use - find one of those straight six Perkins lumps that FG Wilson and similar like wedging in generator canopies, the b****rd's with the double pint glass sized oil filters that are 5mm apart?

 

Well you try to get a metallic proper filter tool or slip pliers in there! When they are REDHOT and you have a half hour service window, you need to spin on the filters individually or you get an unholy black gold mess EVERYWHERE. Then the gators you friend. Well until you get oil on the rubber....

[Station]

Like easi bleeds but they need to taper the bottom of the bottle as it just won't stand up.

 

Rover/MG wheel nut tool. That was a fun week removing four wheels with two piece wheel nuts. Rubbish.

 

Also agree on mole grips, ESP cheap ones. Only good for clamping the my skin when they let go a notch with 2000 PSI of pressure, resulting in much blue language and aforementioned mole grips taking an unexpected flight through the air into whatever surface it encounters (usually a car window).

[PhilA]

These things are bloody useless, especially if you've had your wheels fitted by some tyre monkey with a 20,000 psi windy gun.

 

 

 

No, those ones are good. You can get your weight properly on them.

 

http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-cooper/ ... rench.html

 

The useless ones are the extendible type that have the one-bit-fits-all socket on the end, that don't come out at 90 degrees, more like 70ish... resulting in your weight having an interesting moment on the wheel nut. I find that it'll round the nut off, come off just as you start to jump on it and deposit you on the floor with a gash in your shin and a twisted ankle.

 

--Phil

[Shep Shepherd]

Halfords locking wheel nut/bolt removers:

 

 

Neither of them fitted TV2's chewed-up locking wheel bolts, so I had to pay my local garage £45 to remove them

[Des]

Easi-outs aren't actually serious, they were only ever meant to be a bit of a laugh like long weights, glass hammers or global warming. I can't believe people are still falling for them. For a sheared off stud, drill the bugger then hammer a torx bit into it, a touch of a grinder on the tip of the bit will give it sharp edges that cut grooves without swelling the stud like a rawlplug, don't use a snap on or similar expensive bits, they're likely to shear very suddenly, an average quality bit will twist first as a warning. And easibleeds are GR9, but the pressure needs to be pretty low or they will piss like a K-series.

 

And this sorry looking pair of design faults,

 

 

Should have hexagonal centres and be acompanied by a cocking great hammer.