Price varies depending on size range needed.
Posted on 07/30/2025 7:56:44 AM PDT by FroggyTheGremlim
Anybody here know if there is such a thing as a VARIABLE nut driver?
I am working on my car - 2016 Ford Escape. It has METRIC nuts. I have some "standard" nut drivers, but none of them fits exactly.
I also see SETS of nut drivers, but I don't do that much work on my car. So I don't want a bunch of tools lying around.
Is there such a thing as a variable nut driver? If so, what and where can I get it?
Thanks,
Froggy
I hate that! So, I have tool cabinets in the basement shop and in the upstairs office. Lots of tools, lots of places for tools; and, anyone who leaves them lying around gets skinned alive.
You can’t slip out of this, you will have to buy a metric set, the good news is that you will be using it the rest of your life, it is common.
You only need a few for 80% of the work.
Just break the piggy bank and buy them.
Save yourself the headaches.
You just need one socket set that has SAE and metric sockets. I must have half a dozen sets like that, but you can get by with just one if you rarely use them. Don’t try to use SAE near-equivalents and don’t use those one-size-fits-all jokes of a socket. American vehicles have been all metric for decades now. And all that junk that comes from China and other countries is all metric. I use my metric sockets and wrenches way more than I use my SAE tools.
A universal tool is one that does all jobs equally poorly.
Just buy or borrow the correct tool...or pay $200 an hour yo slmeone who hss the correct tool!
But just toss your 10mm away right away so you know how it got lost.
I was going to say all the “nuts” are out “driving” on our roads.
HF stuff generally have very poor tolerances which has helped me with slightly oddball sized nuts and bolts.
I had to replace all of the lug nuts on my 16 Tacoma since they expand. That was a new thing to me.
The HF 4 way lug wrench worked for all of them. Any impact socket wouldn’t quite fit. That includes non HF ones.
Slightly off topic but I had a round of aggravation with an RC tank’s track tensioner.
The nuts were inside the hull and out of the small SAE and metric wrenches, a rusted 7/32 worked. A 1/4 socket wasn’t really practical. Too many wires to unhook.
I got the tank to work eventually for the most part. Fun toy.
https://youtu.be/w31iWKimuqw?si=BvMAlJ6RhoNHb0uZ
https://youtu.be/ijMfNNCe3u0?si=kE0b7So9N-AvyYcf
https://youtu.be/9giAGzjZjN8?si=TECaQoS7LGzpXcB3
So cute....we need that every day......
They are as large in diameter as the largest nut they’re supposed to handle, plus some. For smaller nuts especially, they often are too large to fit into tight places.
I bought one of those things.
It fell apart................
“”A guy who doesn’t want a bunch of tools laying around?””
So true!
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t....
“”anyone who leaves them lying around gets skinned alive.””
My now deceased husband was like that. No one would ever ADMIT they were the last one to touch ANY tool. He used to say he could track his stepfather anywhere just by finding the trail of tools he left behind...His father kept his 3 car garage as neat as any hardware store and never had to spend time looking for anything. Same thing - DO NOT TOUCH!
Great way to round off nuts. Do yourself a favor and save yourself a lot of aggravation over a fastener that can’t be undone except with vise grips. Buy a $10 socket set from Harbor Freight.
Have you looked at Hazard Fraught?
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/harbor-freight-spoof-ad-images-71231
I buy individual nut drivers as needed. In my case, a 10mm and a 7mm is adequate for my Chevy Venture.
Nut Drivers? Get a ratchet and sockets with extensions. Spend your money on a good ratchets and cheap sockets for the ones you rarely use.
His father kept his 3 car garage as neat as any hardware store and never had to spend time looking for anything. Same thing - DO NOT TOUCH!
“There’s nothing worse than a man walking into a shop and seeing a dead tool silhouette....”
https://youtu.be/T7UE9o25PLQ?t=1268
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