Great stories gang!

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Originally posted by bubbatime:

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Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Sometimes I've been successful by just sticking the pickup tool into every hole and rattling it around. Blind fishing.

Wife throws a fit when I surprise her with that.

Ha! Especially when working on your neighbor's car!

After several decades of wrenching on my 356 Porsches I settled in on some good assists in this matter. Firstly, stop using 3/8" drive and switch to the 1/4 ". Then acquire a wide variety of length extensions which have additional socket retaining mechanisms; my favorite has been the 'slide switch like widget' that locks the spring loaded retaining ball that is sold by Sears in the Craftsman line, assuming those are yet available(if Sears is yet in business). Of course, one should also have a ratchet with a retaining ball latch, a common feature on most competitive brands. Some latches are superior to others so try them out before buying, some I have encountered were very aggravating.

But the one 'Gotcha' that is frequently overlooked is that the 'notch' or indent inside the 1/4" drive well on the walls of the socket whose purpose is to engage the retaining ball is very very often poorly manufactured, be it stamped or machined(ground). I have found them missing altogether, much too shallow and/or only on one of the four walls (whereas one expects them to be present and functional on all four walls)! Every such socket(10mm or smaller) should each be checked, preferably while buying, and if need be, corrected with a small diameter grinding stone driven with a Dremel-like tool.

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Of course, one should also have a ratchet with a retaining ball latch, a common feature on most competitive brands.

In the hands of a 15 year old racing motocross, nothing helps. Many years ago when my stepson was racing I purchased 10, 13 & 15 sockets by the dozen.

Anush,
Back in prehistoric times Japanese bike metric sizes were different than the european metric sizes of the same nominal sizes. I believe they even had their own standards, at least that was the case with my Yamaha 125 twin racer.

Gratefully 356 Porsches have no 15mm sized hex heads with which to cope! If they did I would use a 3/8" drive!

It sounds like Harbor Freight could be your friend!

My Tahoe has a storage box under the hood so I always keep 2 or 3 10mm wrenches and sockets in there. I keep a small socket set in my Ford in the storage behind the rear seats.

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Originally posted by Bisleyblackhawk:

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Originally posted by PHPaul:
It used to be 9/16ths wrenches that went wherever socks go. Now it's 10mm sockets too?

They meet up at the edge of the yard...have SAE and metric tool sex and their offspring is a 9/17th socket...which doesn't fit anything

Actually when SAE and Metric Tools have sex the offspring are whitworth tools that only fit Triumph motorcycles or autos made before 1965 or so.

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Originally posted by Orthogonal:
But the one 'Gotcha' that is frequently overlooked is that the 'notch' or indent inside the 1/4" drive well on the walls of the socket whose purpose is to engage the retaining ball is very very often poorly manufactured, be it stamped or machined(ground). I have found them missing altogether, much too shallow and/or only on one of the four walls (whereas one expects them to be present and functional on all four walls)! Every such socket(10mm or smaller) should each be checked, preferably while buying, and if need be, corrected with a small diameter grinding stone driven with a Dremel-like tool.

Been using an SK 1/4" combo set (metric and inch, regular and deep) for about 10 years now, and never had a problem with losing sockets. Toolholder retention is the key. I do agree, though, that before everything became metric, the most lost socket/wrench was 9/16", which is incidentally a very close fit for a 14mm. 19mm and 3/4" are almost exactly the same, and which is why I carry only 19mm in my truck, as it handles both lug nuts.
 

5 socket sets really should come with 7,8,10,10 and 12mm sockets!!

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Originally posted by Kskelton:
I’ve given up on 10mm sockets.... I think there’s 50 little socket sets in my garage and every one of them is complete except the 10mm because those things just disappear

I must be at the other end of the wormhole. I have more 10mm sockets than will fit in my cases.

I will toss one behind my workbench tonight - look for it in your toolbox.

You're welcome.

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Originally posted by Anush:
In the hands of a 15 year old racing motocross, nothing helps. Many years ago when my stepson was racing I purchased 10, 13 & 15 sockets by the dozen.

13's and 15's what'd he race, a KTM? Most jap MX bikes are even until you get to 17.

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Originally posted by 2012BOSS302:

13's and 15's what'd he race, a KTM? Most jap MX bikes are even until you get to 17.

Crapload of 13's on most of the Yamahas I've ever owned.

You need one of these:

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Originally posted by Orthogonal:
Anush,
Back in prehistoric times Japanese bike metric sizes were different than the european metric sizes of the same nominal sizes. I believe they even had their own standards, at least that was the case with my Yamaha 125 twin racer.

I'm confused. Do you mean to say that Japanese and European metrics were actually different sizes? Or that a European M8 nut took a 13mm wrench/socket, while the Japanese M8 took a 12mm? If the latter, it is still true today, at least for Toyotas. It is the difference between ANSI/ISO standards, and JIS standards. The older Land Cruisers that actually came with a tool kit had two open end wrenches, an 8mm/10mm, and a 12mm/14mm (they may have also had a 17mm/19mm, but it's been a number of years since I was around them).
 

The Yamaha 125cc vertical twin engined bike I had was a YAS-1C and the year of its mfr was around 1967-68. IIRC there were differences in the threads, subtle but producing jams sometimes nonetheless. I think it may have had to do with the depth of the thread grooves but that was a long time ago however. I owned a 356 Porsche and a VW at the same time and was warned to be careful by the Yamaha shop-owner/service, whose shop was immediately behind my apartment. I believe I experienced the conflict at least once but have no detailed memory thereof. It could also easily have been a conflict specific to Yamaha or one or more of its suppliers.

I started my limited ventures into SCCA racing with mentors who used and well knew British cars and bikes which used Whitworth, but being somewhat mechanically naive at that time my tool collection began with a Crescent wrench!

Much later, and far better educated, I lived professionally through an ANSI/ISO reconciliation era, 1980-1995 with very high precision product manufacturing(think Angstroms, now replaced with nanometers) and CADCAM systems trying to use both standards! We were so involved that we had top engineers on the committees. I flip flop as regards any preferences but am a fan of the ANSI and SAE folk who showed far more savvy re pertinent material properties than the numerology obsessed metricians.

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Originally posted by Orthogonal:somewhat mechanically naive at that time my tool collection began with a Crescent wrench!

Which, while I lived in TX, we called a Mexican socket set, and when I lived in MD, it was a WV socket set.
 

I just don’t know what it is I have been missing a 10mm combination wrench and 10 mm socket from my favorite set....damn aliens

I lost a really nice 1/4" flex head snap-on ratchet. It wasn't until 2 years later did I find it in the engine bay of my garage queen.

10mm GearWrench, insulated, for car batteries:

I don't imagine that was a very big seller when the same lack of sparks and drama can be achieved by removing the GROUND terminal first!

... and I am sure you already knew that, V-Tail, so I'm not aiming at you!
Don