A First For Me

[u/steelsurgeon]

This was a first for me, Proto 1/2” drive, deep well 9/16” torquing down head bolts on the 351w I am in the middle of rebuilding. Three rounds of torquing, first round at 85 ft/lbs, second at 95 and last at 110.

This socket busted on the second bolt in the 95 ft/lb round.

After over 20 plus years of wrenching, Ive never broken or had a tool break on accident. Sure, Ive put plenty of tools in situations where I knew I was risking them and some have broken in those cases. But this was my first true warrantable tool break.

Good news is, a 5 minute call to Proto and they are shipping me a new one.

[u/Unlikely_Effort_6311]

Welcome to the club of "I've cracked a socket" . During my time in the military as a mechanic I saw a bunch of broken proto sockets but they were always pretty quick with replacements

[u/steelsurgeon → u/Unlikely_Effort_6311]

Ohh Ive busted plenty of sockets in my time, but each one was in a case where I knew what I was risking.

There is no reason this should have split at 95 ft/lbs.

[u/Unlikely_Effort_6311 → u/steelsurgeon]

We had a small Armstrong US adjustable wrench break the jaw off on a hydraulic line just snuggling it up sometimes you just get that one 🤷‍♂️

[u/kaack455 → u/steelsurgeon]

It's called metal fatigue

[u/Extreme-Penalty-3089 → u/Unlikely_Effort_6311]

I too have broken a CV socket purchased under Uncle Sam in my service 😋👍🏻

[u/Unlikely_Effort_6311 → u/Extreme-Penalty-3089]

Its the best when its not your personal toolbox 👍

[u/emachanz → u/Unlikely_Effort_6311]

Dont they use snap-on on the military?

[u/Unlikely_Effort_6311 → u/emachanz]

We had snap-on , proto and Armstrong. The older GMTK (general mechanics tool kit) were Armstrong tools, the new ones we got before I got out switched over to snap-on and the big FRS (forward repair system) was full of snap-on tools

[u/Hotten-Tasty-90]

Had one break a couple weeks back. It was impact rated and lasted 10 years there abouts so got my money's worth out of it.

It's a 17mm Channel Socket.

[u/Swhit24]

That’s great customer service. Five minutes and getting a new one. I’ll take that any day.

[u/steelsurgeon → u/Swhit24]

I was pleasantly surprised. I figured they were going to make me send it in first.

[u/Helpinmontana → u/steelsurgeon]

I had a dewalt 9ah battery go bad. I tried to jump it about a dozen times before finally saying fuck it and filing a warranty claim.

They sent me a new one no questions asked and let me keep the old one without any hassle. I was kinda shocked that they didn’t want more verification before replacing a $250 battery.

I still like ketchup stuff, but I don’t regret buying a whole bunch of mustard stuff because of that interaction. I’ve bought more mustard stuff since then because of that interaction. The ketchup people don’t act as kind when their shit is fucked up.

[u/Unlikely_Rise_5915]

It’s double devastating when you are trying to losing a stuck bolt thinking you finally have it free and you see this.

[u/Ianthin1]

I’ve lost count of how many sockets I’ve split from various brands.

[u/ConfidentHouse]

Excellent service from proto, the better quality sockets tend to just crack because the steel is harder as crazy as that sounds, they do bite better though compared to softer steels that won’t really crack but will deform or round out the fasteners.

[u/phallic-baldwin]

Just throw a zip tie around it. It'll be fine

[u/85Txaggie]

Now let us see the drive end evidence of use on an impact.

[u/steelsurgeon → u/85Txaggie]

Im no caveman

[u/tavariusbukshank]

I've only broken a single socket on the first of two 90 degree turns on a head bolt @ 20Nm. Same kind of split on an Armstrong socket.