Thread: 3/8 drive sockets. Why?

3/8 drive is my most used set on our cars.

Can do most nuts/bolts without having a ratchet handle that is too large to get sufficient access. I love it.

ive got a kingchrome 1/4 and 3/8th combo drive set.

some of the 3/8th sockets have been past 100nm.

the kits about a third the size of my 1/2 inch drive kit and deals with 90% of the stuff I have to do on a landy.

the only 3/8th item i own is a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter i bought to do drive belts on V8 falcons.....

the only reason i dont buy a 3/8" kit? i have a 1/4" and 1/2" set, and they do everything i need them to, so i cant justify the expense..... when i'm in my normal workshop, i raid the resident 3/8" kits though..... much nicer to work with unless i'm doing silly things....

Originally Posted by Warb

I have been working on cars, tractors, boats and various other things for many years, and have never found a use for 3/8" drive sockets. A very long time ago I was taught that small stuff was dealt with on 1/4" drive, and larger stuff on 1/2" or above. Every socket set I own there is an overlap between the larger sockets on 1/4" drive and the smaller ones on 1/2" drive, and 3/8" just duplicates those mid-sized sockets.

Having just started equipping a new toyroom, and not wanting to strip the other workshop to do it, I have been looking at new tools. On almost every list of "standard" tools in Australia, up pops the 3/8" drive. Why? It's too small to do the big stuff, and unnecessarily big to do the small stuff! I can understand, perhaps, if you can only have one set then perhaps a "middle sized" set seems tempting (though I'd take the 1/2" rather than 3/8" any day) but it is recommended IN ADDITION to both 1/4" and 1/2".

Can anyone explain why?

Other than it being another "sale", of course!

Maybe for the handyman.But you will find that most professionals will find a greater use for 3/8th drive sockets in the automotive fields.
1/2' drive used on headbolts,gearbox bolts and suspension bolts/nuts,almost everything else 3/8th dive is much easier to handle and quicker to get the job done.I started in the trade 40 years ago and still have the original 1/2" drive ratchet that I started with.Have lost count of the 3/8 ratchets I have worn out in the same time.And I have only ever used the best equipment.

Wayne

snap-on being the inventor of the detachable socket etc, and one of the biggest auto tool supplier on the planet, has their largest range in 3/8... I have asked a few different sales rep this same question and their response has all been the same: They (USA) have only ever needed 3/8 for light auto work...ie cars not trucks. There 3/8th range can easily handle the abuse any car will throw at it. Maybe here in Oz, back 50 years ago it was because the majority of home mechs may have had farm equipment etc that also needed working on back in the day and that required some bigger gear???and maybe this has just become the norm cause thats what dads and grand dads have passed down...

Originally Posted by uninformed

snap-on being the inventor of the detachable socket etc,.......

Do you have a reference for this? Wikipedia quotes the founders as patenting a ratchet handle with interchangeable heads in 1864, but it is not clear that this is the first interchangeable socket set - the patent is likely to be either for the ratchet or the combination of ratchet and interchangeable sockets.

John

Originally Posted by uninformed

snap-on being the inventor of the detachable socket etc, and one of the biggest auto tool supplier on the planet, has their largest range in 3/8...

This could also be that Snap-On costs 10 times what a "reasonable" brand such as (I am told) Sidchrome costs, and some people who want Snap-On gear can't afford to buy two complete sets? Just a thought!

Originally Posted by LowRanger

I started in the trade 40 years ago and still have the original 1/2" drive ratchet that I started with.Have lost count of the 3/8 ratchets I have worn out in the same time.

I've worn out my original 1/2" ratchet (late '70s), but still have it for sentimental reasons. The same applies to my first 1/4" ratchet. Beyond that I still have, and use, the other components of both sets. I'm not in the trade, but these tools have built two cars from scratch, built, maintained (and outlived) several circuit racing cars, a couple of Rallycross cars and for a while also a drag car, as well as my daily drivers and "toy" cars, motorcycles and boats. They now also service a couple of tractors (one completely stripped and rebuilt), a selection of farm equipment and the LR and Moke. My tools are not used each and every day, but my observations are that cheap tools break, reasonable tools break if pushed too far and wear out far more quickly when filled with dirty oil and grit.

Perhaps my views are biased because my (1/4", 1/2" and 3/4") socket sets are good quality, whereas those 3/8" sets that I have used in other people's workshops are cheap and/or destroyed. But they've always seemed too flimsy to risk putting any weight on (and lose skin when they break) and unecessarily big for the small stuff.

Maybe I should use the 20% off sale at Repco tomorrow as an opportunity to buy a Sidchrome set to test....

Hey I have big hands and 1/2 drive handles fit them perfectly. 3/8 drive feels way to small... but I use a 3/8 ratchet sometimes for LR spark plugs 'cos there's not enough room. And 1/4 drive is for fingertip jobbies.