Can anyone suggest a basic socket set for E350
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,558
Likes: 26
From: Bay Area
Can anyone suggest a basic socket set for E350
I need a new socket set for working on the E350
I have part of my original Craftsman set that I bought with my father in 1980. The socket wrench is toast and I am missing many of the larger sockets.
Does Ford use both metric and English?
I am looking for something to help me organize the sockets.
It seems more expensive to go out and spend $10 here and there for the missing sockets. I needed a 21 mm or equivalent today to remove the brake caliper bolts. MIA!
I want it in a nice case to take with on the road as part of my recovery tools.
Costco has a nice 159 piece set for $79.
I have part of my original Craftsman set that I bought with my father in 1980. The socket wrench is toast and I am missing many of the larger sockets.
Does Ford use both metric and English?
I am looking for something to help me organize the sockets.
It seems more expensive to go out and spend $10 here and there for the missing sockets. I needed a 21 mm or equivalent today to remove the brake caliper bolts. MIA!
I want it in a nice case to take with on the road as part of my recovery tools.
Costco has a nice 159 piece set for $79.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2012
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Your profile van looks to me like a 2000 or later van and I'm pretty sure you need metric wrenches. I think mid 90's was when domestic auto switched over to metric.
My set is 7mm to 22mm wrenches and 7mm to 27mm sockets if I recall correctly. Brake caliper bolts are 21mm. Older rear calipers might be 18mm. Anyhow you're covered in that range for roadside stuff.
I have a little set going below 7mm and a big set going above 27 but those weren't expensive and are not used a lot. I think I use the big set for radius arms and the little set for maybe front dash vacuum connection manifolds or something like that. Anyhow those aren't regular repairs so a minimal set wouldn't include them.
Craftsman is good enough for the home mechanic and even some professionals in my book. Much cheaper than that and it's hit and miss as far as whether or not you can get the job done with the tools you have.
My set is 7mm to 22mm wrenches and 7mm to 27mm sockets if I recall correctly. Brake caliper bolts are 21mm. Older rear calipers might be 18mm. Anyhow you're covered in that range for roadside stuff.
I have a little set going below 7mm and a big set going above 27 but those weren't expensive and are not used a lot. I think I use the big set for radius arms and the little set for maybe front dash vacuum connection manifolds or something like that. Anyhow those aren't regular repairs so a minimal set wouldn't include them.
Craftsman is good enough for the home mechanic and even some professionals in my book. Much cheaper than that and it's hit and miss as far as whether or not you can get the job done with the tools you have.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,512
Likes: 18
From: Detroit
What Del says is a great start. I like tool bags to keep in my vehicles but do not carry full large socket sets. I think the COP's are 7mm heads (?)
I like Craftsman stuff because it is guaranteed for life and would look for sales on Craftsman stuff as opposed to buying the "brand of the week" at Costco.
If you have an ancient Craftsman ratchet that is broken, take it to Sears and they will give you a new one...really. The bike shop where my son used to work bought Craftsman angle cutters to cut cables (instead of bike cable cutters), and exchanged them when they were dead. I have exchanged 2 Craftsman ratchet handles myself when they broke (one was legitimately bad--a newer one--but the other "might" have had a little extra torque on it from a breaker bar...)
George
I like Craftsman stuff because it is guaranteed for life and would look for sales on Craftsman stuff as opposed to buying the "brand of the week" at Costco.
If you have an ancient Craftsman ratchet that is broken, take it to Sears and they will give you a new one...really. The bike shop where my son used to work bought Craftsman angle cutters to cut cables (instead of bike cable cutters), and exchanged them when they were dead. I have exchanged 2 Craftsman ratchet handles myself when they broke (one was legitimately bad--a newer one--but the other "might" have had a little extra torque on it from a breaker bar...)
George
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,558
Likes: 26
From: Bay Area
What Del says is a great start. I like tool bags to keep in my vehicles but do not carry full large socket sets. I think the COP's are 7mm heads (?)
I like Craftsman stuff because it is guaranteed for life and would look for sales on Craftsman stuff as opposed to buying the "brand of the week" at Costco.
If you have an ancient Craftsman ratchet that is broken, take it to Sears and they will give you a new one...really. The bike shop where my son used to work bought Craftsman angle cutters to cut cables (instead of bike cable cutters), and exchanged them when they were dead. I have exchanged 2 Craftsman ratchet handles myself when they broke (one was legitimately bad--a newer one--but the other "might" have had a little extra torque on it from a breaker bar...)
George
I like Craftsman stuff because it is guaranteed for life and would look for sales on Craftsman stuff as opposed to buying the "brand of the week" at Costco.
If you have an ancient Craftsman ratchet that is broken, take it to Sears and they will give you a new one...really. The bike shop where my son used to work bought Craftsman angle cutters to cut cables (instead of bike cable cutters), and exchanged them when they were dead. I have exchanged 2 Craftsman ratchet handles myself when they broke (one was legitimately bad--a newer one--but the other "might" have had a little extra torque on it from a breaker bar...)
George
BTW, my father owned a bicycle shop in Minnesota stocked with Park and Craftsman tools. Any time one of those angle wire cutters became dull, we exchanged it for free at Sears.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,512
Likes: 18
From: Detroit
I'll also await the info on torque wrenches because I have only a historic beam wrench and am sure it's not accurate. And I could do better with smaller torque wrenches.
I build and ride bicycles (which is how my son got into wrenching, racing, and riding bikes) and have a LOT of Park tools including some really old ones. Separate bike tool box that comes with us when we do tours, attend races, or vacations with the bikes. My wife and I rode across Michigan with our Boy Scout troop when my son was in scouts (high adventure trip) and I'm always the guy to fix stuff on the road.
I remembered I just finally got a new 1/2" ratchet handle ( so this is the 3rd one exchanged) to replace one that a neighbor had given me when I was 17, and I am 63 now. And thinking about it, there was this long screwdriver that I broke because I might have been accidentally prying something with it...
New Craftsman tools are really cheap on sale these days, and our ACE Hardware stores carry them along with Kmart, etc. I think I bought sets of combo wrenches for 2 tool bags in 2 vehicles, along with screwdriver assortments and small 3/8 drive socket sets. My old Craftsman sockets and wrenches are over 40 years old.
Good luck,
George
I build and ride bicycles (which is how my son got into wrenching, racing, and riding bikes) and have a LOT of Park tools including some really old ones. Separate bike tool box that comes with us when we do tours, attend races, or vacations with the bikes. My wife and I rode across Michigan with our Boy Scout troop when my son was in scouts (high adventure trip) and I'm always the guy to fix stuff on the road.
I remembered I just finally got a new 1/2" ratchet handle ( so this is the 3rd one exchanged) to replace one that a neighbor had given me when I was 17, and I am 63 now. And thinking about it, there was this long screwdriver that I broke because I might have been accidentally prying something with it...
New Craftsman tools are really cheap on sale these days, and our ACE Hardware stores carry them along with Kmart, etc. I think I bought sets of combo wrenches for 2 tool bags in 2 vehicles, along with screwdriver assortments and small 3/8 drive socket sets. My old Craftsman sockets and wrenches are over 40 years old.
Good luck,
George
Thread Starter
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,558
Likes: 26
From: Bay Area
@yoGeorge,
Glad to hear that you are a bicycle enthusiast. I got into wrenching because of the bicycles. After I graduated from college, I loaded up my bicycle and road cross country for 6 months hitting cool areas like Banff, Jasper, Yosemite, Mexico, and finishing in Key West.
These days, I load the van up with camping gear and drive cross country. Personally, riding a two wheeler is more satisfying. Less baggage, less stress, and you can see so much from the saddle.
Glad to hear that you are a bicycle enthusiast. I got into wrenching because of the bicycles. After I graduated from college, I loaded up my bicycle and road cross country for 6 months hitting cool areas like Banff, Jasper, Yosemite, Mexico, and finishing in Key West.
These days, I load the van up with camping gear and drive cross country. Personally, riding a two wheeler is more satisfying. Less baggage, less stress, and you can see so much from the saddle.
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,512
Likes: 18
From: Detroit
I'm the prez of a 350 member bike club in Mich (got the job because I'm a sucker volunteer type) so I'm tied in pretty well. I started riding centuries in 1981 when I was 29. Our son raced as a jr and was state champ at age 16 and 17 and made it to top 20 in Mich in Cat 1/2 for a couple years (and raced for U of Mich). I usually ride 2k miles a year but have had a couple bad years--back surgery in 2011 slowed me down a bit.
We are in Florida right now and I *want* the dang bikes but we brought the Subaru because neither of us can deal with the front passenger seat in the van any more. My wife's left knee starts bothering her before we go 20 miles and we just drove 3k miles in less than 2 weeks. Our bikes are too nice to carry outside and I saw some salt caked bikes on racks on the drive down...
Bikes are why I've had a van since 1986.
I did a lot of camping when my son was in Boy Scouts but we do motels now
George
We are in Florida right now and I *want* the dang bikes but we brought the Subaru because neither of us can deal with the front passenger seat in the van any more. My wife's left knee starts bothering her before we go 20 miles and we just drove 3k miles in less than 2 weeks. Our bikes are too nice to carry outside and I saw some salt caked bikes on racks on the drive down...
Bikes are why I've had a van since 1986.
I did a lot of camping when my son was in Boy Scouts but we do motels now
George
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I've been buying---on the cheap---Wright brand of torque wrenchs, the "clicker" type. Once upon a time I was buying brand new or barely used tools in original boxes never paying more than $100 even for a 1/2" 250 ft/lbs. All found on eBay BTW.
I do have one specifically set aside for nothing other than spark plugs in the Ford Modular Motors. Its sweets spot is the 22-23 ft/lbs I use for that task---its used for nothing else ever.
If buying new sockets or wrenches and great quality, USA-made and "affordable price" is the goal look also at Wright Tools. They're as good as I've ever found, same lifetime guarantee but it does pay to shop around, even locally. Better industrial maintenance and supply outfits would sell them, online too but have to be careful of shipping costs.
HTH
I do have one specifically set aside for nothing other than spark plugs in the Ford Modular Motors. Its sweets spot is the 22-23 ft/lbs I use for that task---its used for nothing else ever.
If buying new sockets or wrenches and great quality, USA-made and "affordable price" is the goal look also at Wright Tools. They're as good as I've ever found, same lifetime guarantee but it does pay to shop around, even locally. Better industrial maintenance and supply outfits would sell them, online too but have to be careful of shipping costs.
HTH
Junior User
Joined: Jul 2010
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I have purchased at least 4 sets of the 301 piece set that Harbor Freight sells, lifetime warranty, worth investigating, not a Snap On set but what you get for less than 200.00 is unreal. Weighs about 70 lbs. and has neat locations for each tool in a nice case.
Hope this helps, check it out.
Hope this helps, check it out.
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