are imperial sockets actually any use to us?

apart from when a bolt is damaged and you need a slightly larger random size? lol

i own no imperial bits

 

If you own an old British or American car then yes. They can also be handy as you've said for rounded bolts.

 

I find them invaluable for the Droopsnoot...

 

I got two land rovers so yes is the answer.

 

very handy especially when you are in short supply of a 13mm one.

 

yes and no, there are some sizes that dont have an imperial conterpart ie 18mm

 

Metrinch sockets are the dogs wotsits. A single socket fits both a metric and various imperial sizes and is much less likely to damage the nut.

http://www.metrinch-tools.com/website/introductie.php

 

I`ve got a load of Metrinch sockets that I bought in America a few years ago, and , they`re not all that IMO. The diagrams on the webite show them to be a good fit on a bolt/nut, but I`ve found there is actually a bit of slack on some sizes, that can cause rounding on tight fasteners.

 

To be fair I always find them when looking for any other socket I need. But combined with a hammer they're my best friend for the large selection of rounded nuts I seem to come across, sometimes invaluable doing what they shouldnt!

 

Matt, you could always whack the end of your CV joint with them.

 

christ, you lot need to get some proper tools - using imperial sockets to to undo metrics that have rounded will result in them splitting, get some single hex versions, preferably in the impact variant, or look at getting a set of the below (Irwin bolt grips)

http://www.irwin.co.uk/cdetail.php?cType=p&region=uk&catCode=0&Cat=Bolt+Grip&crumb=

 

Most helpful link there mate, might have to invest!

Cheers
Pete

 

Sometimes you can use a bolt-grip socket to remove stubborn studs too. Top tools!