Tools: Flexible Socket Extensions - Need opinions

wessock · Post by **wessock** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:25 pm

Has anybody used these for vehicle work? I've been wanting something flexible like this for some tight fit areas for a while. I'm just not sure what kind of torque these can handle and can't seem to find any reviews of them anywhere. Thanks

http://77dt.com/2000-15690151-B00129IG7 ... Drive.html

Pir0 · Post by **Pir0** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:20 am

Imho, they're crap. Never have I met a place i can't get at with a socket or spanner by moving or removing other things. Even if it does take longer it gets done properly. Those things are fiddley, annoying, and dont do as they say they do as easily as they say they do.

Would never touch them. They're something that seems to pop up a lot in cheap socket sets too as a kinda, appealing buy me feature. Not worth it in all honesty m8.

wessock · Post by **wessock** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:30 am

Haha, well I had never actually seen one anywhere before, but I've thought to myself lots of times that it would help so I googled it today to see if what I had in my head existed. And that's the thing, technically any bolt or nut can be reached by removing other parts, but that can be really time consuming and a pain. I'm more curious as to the durability of these than anything. I'd think these are probably a higher quality since they are a stand alone rather than one included in a cheap socket set. Thanks for weighing in.

jidasas · Post by **jidasas** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:26 am

I've got a screw driver that has a 1/4 inch drive on the end and has a 10" flexible shaft like the extensions you showed us. It has been awesome but it's harder than you might think to keep it on a bolt...and you still need about 2 inches of clearance because of the shaft not flexing as much as you'd think and the length of the socket. Most places I can get an open end wrench in if it's too tight for the screw driver...you might just want to invest in a set of offset open end wrenches that ratchet.

Jimmy

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:22 am

jidasas wrote:I've got a screw driver that has a 1/4 inch drive on the end and has a 10" flexible shaft like the extensions you showed us. It has been awesome but it's harder than you might think to keep it on a bolt...and you still need about 2 inches of clearance because of the shaft not flexing as much as you'd think and the length of the socket. Most places I can get an open end wrench in if it's too tight for the screw driver...you might just want to invest in a set of offset open end wrenches that ratchet.

Jimmy

+1

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:04 am

Those flexible shafts work fine as long as your not requiring a whole lot of torque

Check out this site....

http://www.graytools.com/catalogue/3-8% ... hments.pdf

Take a look at the T3 universal joint.

These work good if you need quite a bit of torque and just a little angle.

They don't work very well past 5 degrees from vertical.... although you can turn them at 45 deg to 90 deg and use an extension to turn them.

So.... in my opinion the flexible shaft won't work well for removing bolts..... but if you manage to loosen them up via some other method ( such as universal joint ) then they will work fine.

They will also work fine for screwing the bolt back in.... but again.... you will need some other method to apply a decent amount of torque to the bolt.

batteryops · Post by **batteryops** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:21 am

I am going to have to agree with PirO on this one these are of no great benefit or advantage, I have had experience with them before and i ended up just removing stuff to get at the bolt i needed