Just swapped from a standard socket to a flank drive plus on a stuck Cummins crank bolt

I was fighting a 36mm crank bolt on an ISX15 for over an hour with my old socket, kept slipping and rounding the edges. Grabbed my new flank drive plus set, and it bit hard on the flats, not the corners. The bolt broke free on the first real pull with the breaker bar. I'm never going back to the old style for big, rusted fasteners. What's your go-to tool when a bolt just won't budge?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_hayes3524d ago

That ISX15 crank bolt is no joke, glad the flank drive plus worked for you. I feel @tessagibson on the fastener sculptor thing, I've been there too many times.

tessagibson24d ago

Man, I've rounded off so many bolts with cheap sockets that I'm basically a professional fastener sculptor. The switch to flank drive feels like cheating, but I'll take the win. It's wild how a tool that actually grabs the flats can make a two hour fight into a thirty second job. My old sockets probably think I'm a traitor, but they had their chance.

miles2775d ago

Seriously, I used to think all that flank drive stuff was just marketing hype. Then I tried one on a totally stuck caliper bracket bolt that was starting to look round. It just... bit down and turned. My whole view on tools changed that day.