Crowsfoot wrench

It's an open-ended wrench you can swing around with a ratchet. Some like them. some never use them.

Norm

They're handy for working on hydraulic hoses in confined spaces. You can put one on an extension and reach down into tight spots, but use it more like a wrench than a ratchet The opening allows you to put the wrench on a fitting with a hose or tube attached. I'm sure there are other uses, just my experience building combines 25 years ago...

Dave

The average Joe Blow doesn't have much need for them... but once in a while, they can really save the day (or a bunch of time anyway) solving nasty accessibility issues.

$nap On and other company's make all sorts of crows feet... flare nut, open & box end, 'Torque adapter', automotive oxygen sensor, and other special application types. ($nap On makes one for adjusting Honda clutches thats cats ass!)

Funny you should mention them, I used a 10mm flare nut type crows foot on a long 20" X 3/8" drive extension just last week... first time this year far as I can remember. I could have done the job without it, but it saved me a bunch of time and dirt.

Erik

In places where it's difficult to get either a socket or an open-end. They are nearly always used on the end of an extension.

A specific example: removing camshafts on a Porsche 911 engine. 40 or maybe 44mm, I found a close enough size from SnapOn in inch. Only time I've ever bought a SnapOn tool.

Steve

RWL wrote:

For use on a nut or bolt whose head can't be accessed from the top, and is located where there isn't room to swing a regular open end wrench. They are especially necessary if you need to apply a torque wrench to a hard to get at fastener or hydraulic coupling because torque wrenches tend to be even longer than a regular wrench.

In the PME lab where I used to work we had to calculate the correction factor for each item in a crowsfoot set for use with torque wrenches, since the crowsfoot adds to the effective length of the wrench.

Occasionally my crow comes apart and I need to put his foot back on. Those are the best tool for the job there.

Now, how about Fly Cutters, eh??

Jim

Indispensible tool when it comes to working in confined or tight spaces such as removing cylinder's on some engines, and lots of places on aircraft, and hydraulics........Even find them handy from time to time with just general mechanic type stuff.

The open end type is fine, but the open end box are great for use on tubing nuts etc. Visit my website:

expressed are those of my wife, I had no input whatsoever. Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Then I don't even want to think about Ball End Mills Fred

"I'd whack those nuts loose with a ball pein hammer, Tom said strikingly."

(A takeoff of an old "Tom Swifty")

More at:

Jeff

Ever terminate fibre optic cable? If you can do that, circumcising a gnat is easy!

Right. Cylinder holddown nuts on some radial engines.

Garrett Fulton

When I was turning wrenches for a living (12 years) I only remember needing a Crowsfoot wrench twice. Absolutely nothing else would do.

Lane

They can be used to reach some hard to reach recesses. Like the hold down bolt on a distributor. On the old cars that had distributors, that is.

Steve

I have sets of sae and metric as well as the flarenut crowfoots but have only had one occasion in the last 20 years or so I needed one. It was to work on replacing a lock cylinder on the trunk of an old Ford. The cylinder was offset from the access hole and the crowfoot did the job. When buying these crowfoots, look for the ones with the square socket hole both on top and on the side as this increases the versatility of the tool. Not all have two socket holes. I tried to use a large crowfoot as a fan clutch wrench once and the side hole was useful, but I did not have the right size.

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 20:14:25 -0700, "Lane" calmly ranted:

I used one of my crowsfeet from one of two sets at least once a week. The twisted cars I worked on at the body shop left me with bolts/lines at difficult-to-remove angles. I think I originally bought a set for carb work. Some carburetors were hard to get to and crowsfoot wrenches gave enough offset to get to the hidden nuts. They were also handy for distributor holddown bolts in out-of-the-way places, tight brake bleeder screws, etc. with a

36" long 3/8-drive extension.

I used them enough that I even bought a very pricy Snap-on set. And I didn't buy very many Snap-On tools. AAMOF, I almost used one last month on a tight bathroom faucet fitting but got the long wrench up in there after all.

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Your Wild & Woody Website Wonk

Working with hydraulics, rotary aircraft engines, farm equipment, the faucets on your bathroom/kitchen sink, etc.

asbolutely,

I had to buy 31 canadian bucks for Proto 1" flare nut crowfoot to get the EGR tube off the carb 2.2L intake manifold while in 1987 caravan. The firewall is about 3.5" to the back of intake manifold. No room for anything else but a good crowfoot.

Measuring is tricky but got this around that. The calipers will not fit because of intake's cavity is tight around the flare nut. Solution, took stiff thick 1 conductor wire and bent it in a way I can adjust it with wires parallel. Ajusted it to fit flare nut and measured the wire spacing with tape. One Inch. Cool.

Why? to plane both manifolds intake and exhaust manifolds flanges and clean those grubby manifolds up, remove O2 plug, replace EGR (on going search for new EGR). Does EGR valve mopar part 4287417 stikes a bell or a sour bell to anyone? This is for federal/canadian emissions, non-feedback carb (weber-holley 5220), 3 speed auto. If this EGR is wrong one, let me know with correct part number!

Cheers,

Wizard