Offset extension wrench

[drdwb]

Anybody seen or used these Offset Extension Wrenches, heard about them on an RV forum, looked like they might be helpful in situations where if you just had the space to turn a ratchet or more leverage you could avoid taking a gas tank off or removing half the Fairring, thinking oil pressure switch on the Norge.
Just asking if anyone used one and could recommend a quality tool. There are a lot of them and prices vary.


https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=Offset+Extension+Wrench&type=274bce20b62c3cdfc4c882462407c279_374298&param4=S_2251632492989070159&hspart=yahoo&hsimp=yhs-mn61a&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9jb250ZXh0dWFsLm1lZGlhLm5ldC8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADXDmSf4weO6UtY04alBRneBqARnTEV4jsRfo3hREZFuFniT-R8nxAQXAW6dA8dN0_poI_Nf1LeU9I-tFj-xSj-VDdsHs8XOs46_QjUG9V_D-Us3RcdKGFi2dE0CJXdnux_Yqhhelt_OwVQ4WKUANAy2pzxmbrFcqnqZWL5EZ9Kn

[73 sport]

      As a life long mechanic with a collection of ASE, Metric, Whitworth, and Brit. Std., I suggest you don't buy any tool 'till you need it. If you buy because of "maybe" future use, you'll end up with tools you'll never use.

[drdwb]

      As a life long mechanic with a collection of ASE, Metric, Whitworth, and Brit. Std., I suggest you don't buy any tool 'till you need it. If you buy because of "maybe" future use, you'll end up with tools you'll never use.

I have purchased/ collected most of my non-standard tools due to necessity, ig the thin walled long socket that is used to get into the inner spark plug of my 2007 Norge. I’ve never regretted buying any tool unless it was cheaper quality bought in haste for a particular purpose, ig some Harbor Freight tools.
2 years ago we purchased a Class C motorhome, if you haven’t owned one let me tell you maintenance on these is on going, even more so than the Guzzi’s and other bikes we own.

I’m looking at this tool because some of the maintenance areas on the RV are dam near impossible to get into let alone get a wrench on and have any leverage and are more prone to knuckle cutting than the bikes, lawn mowers, tractors, boat motors and snowmobiles that require servicing.

I do appreciate the sentiment though, but being stuck out in the middle of nowhere waiting for a mobile service guy to show up because I don’t have a tool to fix something is not a pleasant thought. Also I was a Boy Scout.

[Oca Grassa]

I can sort of agree with that sentiment. I’d also recommend to not buy a full set of any special wrenches unless it is the only way to get them. I have wrench sets where I used one or maybe 2 out of a whole set for a specific job.  Never found need for the rest.

[TN Mark]

I can sort of agree with that sentiment. I’d also recommend to not buy a full set of any special wrenches unless it is the only way to get them. I have wrench sets where I used one or maybe 2 out of a whole set for a specific job.  Never found need for the rest.

On more than one occasion I’ve had to buy a 6, 8, or 12 piece ‘set’ to get the 3 items I actually needed.
Often times it’s a sad reality because buying the set is cheaper than buying the individual items.

Amazon has more tool options than you could imagine from more manufacturers than I knew existed.
Sometimes, small and compact tools like the 711L line work perfectly.

[Ncdan]

I’ve been guilty in the past to take a grinder or torch to heat and reposition angles to a wrench or screwdriver to get it to comply with a particular job.

[Moparnut72]

When I worked in the radial aircraft shop we had two drawers full of modified and fabricated tools for certain jobs. We had a bent and ground box end wrench which was absolutely required to R&R an oil pump on a Wright Whirlwind especially on the later ones with a larger oil pump which decreased the access. That was bad enough safety wiring them was something else.
kk

[Oca Grassa]

I’ve been guilty in the past to take a grinder or torch to heat and reposition angles to a wrench or screwdriver to get it to comply with a particular job.

Same. I worked in Heavy Equipment repair for a couple of decades in a previous career. I have a couple drawers full of modified tools accumulated over those years. Several of them “re-modified” to work on Ducatis. Along with old Ducati parts turned into tools.

I still try to buy as few specialty tool sets as possible. More recently…like last year I didn’t want to spend big on the thin wall socket for the inner plugs on my Norge. I found a small set including the size needed on Amazon for not a great deal of money. Instead of buying a full set of 12-15 sockets, I got 4 in 1/2” drive for $9. That’s more like it. I think one may even work on the modded engine mount nuts on my900 SS. Thus, only 2 sockets to sit around unused instead of a dozen.

[John A]

When I worked in the radial aircraft shop we had two drawers full of modified and fabricated tools for certain jobs. We had a bent and ground box end wrench which was absolutely required to R&R an oil pump on a Wright Whirlwind especially on the later ones with a larger oil pump which decreased the access. That was bad enough safety wiring them was something else.
kk

I fondly remember the circus acts on ladders working on a Douglas Skyraider. So I can empathize. Those things were huge for a carrier based aircraft, it barely fit in the hanger

[Ncdan]

When I worked in the radial aircraft shop we had two drawers full of modified and fabricated tools for certain jobs. We had a bent and ground box end wrench which was absolutely required to R&R an oil pump on a Wright Whirlwind especially on the later ones with a larger oil pump which decreased the access. That was bad enough safety wiring them was something else.
kk

It’s fairly simple to take a torch and force into compliance, to reposition a boxed/open end wrench, to most any position necessary to get to an impossible nut or bolts location.
I recently had to grind down a 10mm open end wrench to remove the bowl from a Kawasaki lawnmower engine. It’s going to remain in a special tool drawer for bastard tools.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Did anyone bother to click on the link? This isn't something one could just fire up the torch and bend a straight wrench to make.

[drdwb]

Did anyone bother to click on the link? This isn't something one could just fire up the torch and bend a straight wrench to make.

Thank you for checking the actual tool out.

My point / purpose in asking about it was. In an RV our size there is no extra room for vices, grinders, or torch equipment. When we go off grid and boondock we are often 20- 50 miles or more away from any city that even has a NAPA or decent Hardware store. Having a tool like this that can get to places you can’t with normal tools could save $100s in remote service calls or towing expenses besides saving a lot of time waiting to be rescued. If I can get a part off but can’t repair it one of our Guzzis can take me some place for a repair /replacement part.

I put the post up to find out if anyone had experience with them, the prices vary so I’m sure the quality must also.

[Ncdan]

Harbor Freight has their version of an offset wrench and probably fairly economical if it’s like most of the rest of their tools.

[Moparnut72]

It’s fairly simple to take a torch and force into compliance, to reposition a boxed/open end wrench, to most any position necessary to get to an impossible nut or bolts location.
I recently had to grind down a 10mm open end wrench to remove the bowl from a Kawasaki lawnmower engine. It’s going to remain in a special tool drawer for bastard tools.

I also have a drawer full of violate tools as well as custom constructed tools. Some I have only used once and will probably never to be used again.
kk

[wirespokes]

Considering the way this thread has careened off the road into the ditch tells me none of us have used this tool. I didn't even know about this exact one, though I have seen the one that looks like a ratchet, but with the drive in the end. The one linked apparently links the two ends with a chain and the 3/8ths version has a max torque of around 50 ft lbs. That should be sufficient for most jobs needing a tool like that.

[John A]

Thank you for checking the actual tool out.

My point / purpose in asking about it was. In an RV our size there is no extra room for vices, grinders, or torch equipment. When we go off grid and boondock we are often 20- 50 miles or more away from any city that even has a NAPA or decent Hardware store. Having a tool like this that can get to places you can’t with normal tools could save $100s in remote service calls or towing expenses besides saving a lot of time waiting to be rescued. If I can get a part off but can’t repair it one of our Guzzis can take me some place for a repair /replacement part.

I put the post up to find out if anyone had experience with them, the prices vary so I’m sure the quality must also.

I do the same thing, an 89 one ton Chev G30 RV  towing a 7x14 box trailer, two motorcycles and a gob of stuff so we’re self sufficient. I have a similar tool, it’s a long low profile 1/4” ratchet. Comes in handy sometimes

[Oca Grassa]

I did in fact click on the link. However the link took me to a page full of tools and I couldn’t make out which one the subject was about.

[Tom]

I bought one a month ago.  It'll help with removing a fan from the water pump. Mazda pu.  I'm going to change out a timing belt and getting into the tight clearances on a Hyundai Accent.  I could have used it on a Toyota Camry when I changed out the serpentine belt.

I have a fleet that I work on.   

[Ncdan]

Considering the way this thread has careened off the road into the ditch tells me none of us have used this tool. I didn't even know about this exact one, though I have seen the one that looks like a ratchet, but with the drive in the end. The one linked apparently links the two ends with a chain and the 3/8ths version has a max torque of around 50 ft lbs. That should be sufficient for most jobs needing a tool like that.

Maybe just go ahead and pull the trigger and buy one and if it don’t suit your fancy send it back and be done with it.

[jkguzzi]

I bought one of these to tighten a nut on my front mount snowblower for the tractor. It's a 3/4" bolt and I could get to the nut with a ratchet  but, and I'm not making this up, one click at a time. It would have been April by the time I tightened both nuts.

[Ncdan]

I couldn’t get the particulars from the source that was listed.
Is the ranch a battery operated or air ranch?
I have an air wrench of that type, a 3/8 drive.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I couldn’t get the particulars from the source that was listed.
Is the ranch a battery operated or air ranch?
I have an air wrench of that type, a 3/8 drive.

The one in the photo I posted uses a regular old hand powered ratchet. Battery or air tools might prove too much for the (chain?) drive inside.