Wobble bar makes socket better
Page 109
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The wobble extension bar must be this year's step forward for the socket set; every manufacturer seems to be offering one. Workshop has been testing the version offered by Draper Tools.
The only difference between
this extension bar and the normal type, is that the wobble bar has a barrel-sided drive square, where it engages with the socket. This allows the socket to tilt up to 200 on the extension bar, and still be driven.
As with the normal exten sion bar, the socket is held onto the end of the bar by a spring-loaded ball-bearing. The socket pivots about the ball, which has to engage with the notch inside socket if it is to work properly.
A normal socket depends largely for its stability on the extension bar, but with the wobble bar, that duty is performed by the hexagon of the fastener. This means that the socket must fit well, if it is not to pull off, and prove the claim of Draper Tools of no more skinned knuckles, to be wrong.
On tall fasteners, such as
diesel glow plugs and spark plugs, the wobble bar is stable and it is in these applications that it really comes into its own. With an available angle of 200, the wobble bar is not a substitute for the universal joint found in most socket sets, which also suffers from the same stability problems.
A feature that all extension bars would do well to copy is a knurled band on its shank for spinning up nuts before they start to tighten. Draper sells a range of these bars with either %in or 1/2.in drives, and in a range of lengths up to 50cm.
The wobble bar is not really a substitute for the ordinary extension bar, but is a valuable addition to the socket set. Draper Turbo 71