What's Snapon's warranty policy/Bill R's thrust arm procedure.

[ryan roopnarine]

while removing the bottom 3 19mm bolts to remove the control arm, I managed to break three tools, a pretty nice Royal ratchet, a big lots 19mm socket, and a snap on socket extension. the ratchet (and esp) the extension suprised me, i thought they were built better than that. my question is...does snap on have any kind of warranty that I could make a claim on (as a non-original owner)?

geez
that extension still suprised me, it snapped clean in half like something from harbor freight, it didn't even twist a little.

about bill r's procedure.
i'm just enamored with it (at least in theory). this was the third time i tried to remove the thrust arms, and the only time i was successful. I've removed conventional suspension parts from other cars before, i'm familiar with the forces needed for separation. this was unlike anything else i've seen. even after I extricated the plate, i was unable to use bill's suggestion to remove the balljoint from the plate, it simply laughed at the full sized sledgehammer. the only way it budged was with the use of an extra large balljoint puller that i cludged together from two other pullers. i was almost certain that i would need to take it to a machine shop to pop it out. when the joint finally succumed to the puller, it made an incredible crack, and the puller flew in two pieces in two directions. there was no way in hell this thing was going to separate on-car, and certainly not with any pickle fork or hammer/impact socket rest. i feel happy that some are able to get their arms "out" using minimal effort, seriously. my car, however, is not one of these cases.
thanks bill.

ps. i forgot to remove the nut on the LCA. i needed to change the boot on it. hopefully, if someone needs to do this (and needs to remove the LCA), they will remember to remove the nut prior to removing the plate.

[winfred]

any snap on guy anywhere will swap it out for nothing if he has one, just keep it in your car and if you see a truck you can stop

[ryan roopnarine]

that's what i thought. thanks winfred.

[632 Regal]

bills procedure calls for rwmoving the whole deal and smacking the thing out on a solid durface.

[Kalevera]

Our dealer guy seems to insist on knowing that you were the original purchaser....

[DanDombrowski]

When you say it snapped, did it snap in bending or did it shear in torsion?

I've sheared an extension or two trying to get at recessed wheel lugnuts before. They're not that strong.

As for the thrust arms, you make me feel a bit better about taking my car to the shop for that one. My car, like yours, was one of those where no pickle fork would open that up.

[Bill R.]

original snap on tools were purchased about 31 years ago and even though i get a few raised eyebrows when i complain about them only lasting 31 years;) my local snap on guy hasn't every given me any flack about the original receipts, i do wish that they still produced some of my favorite wrenches though..



Our dealer guy seems to insist on knowing that you were the original purchaser....

[winfred]

well then he's just being a dick because that doesn't come out of his pocket, he gets paid back by snap on. they usually want to keep the mechanic happy and paying those big prices, i spend a few thousand a year on that truck so if my screwdriver tip gets dull or i round off a allen/torx bit socket or the joint in a set of pliers gets a little loose theres no question he just swaps it


Our dealer guy seems to insist on knowing that you were the original purchaser....

[Bill R.]

least little bit damaged or dull he would clamp them in the vise in his truck, snap the tip off of the blade and then give me a new one... The only thing that they were hesitant about was a new handle for the screwdrivers, they'd replace blades at the drop of a hat though. I finally got a number of my handles replaced when a shop that i worked at years ago burn't down and a number of my screwdriver handles had drooped and sagged from the heat. Strangely that was a warranty , no problems.




well then he's just being a dick because that doesn't come out of his pocket, he gets paid back by snap on. they usually want to keep the mechanic happy and paying those big prices, i spend a few thousand a year on that truck so if my screwdriver tip gets dull or i round off a allen/torx bit socket or the joint in a set of pliers gets a little loose theres no question he just swaps it

[Kalevera]

All of the above apply, I think. He was either messing around or being dead honest about it the last time I had to replace something. Hard guy to read. But he did take care of it, so...

best, whit

[Jay 535i]

I used to work in a bike shop, and for four years never heard of a shop tool breaking. Then one day the shop guys broke four wrenches on one bike, trying to get the crankset off.

Just an irrelevant story, FWIW :)

[ryan roopnarine]

When you say it snapped, did it snap in bending or did it shear in torsion?

I've sheared an extension or two trying to get at recessed wheel lugnuts before. They're not that strong.

As for the thrust arms, you make me feel a bit better about taking my car to the shop for that one. My car, like yours, was one of those where no pickle fork would open that up.


i want to say it sheared in torsion, but i was kind of holding things (wrong).

i was twisting an extension with the 18 inch torque wrench about 18-25 degrees off of being parallel with my body (ie, instead of pulling a wrench handle up from my toes to my head in a straight line), i was trying to get an imaginary pivot at the end of the extension-beginning of the wrench, as one of the 19mm bolts is not parallel to the ground. stupid move on my part, maybe, but that bolt was on there like a mofo. i guess if you are selling your car for an e46, you won't ever have to worry about getting your arms off (at least ever again).

its a canadian snap on extension, i wonder if they'll check when i say i bought it in moose jaw, saskatchewan or manitoba:D

the arm (on the passenger side), is finally changed, and the car shakes a lot less (the driver's side needs to be done tomorrow/sunday-along with the ramp torque for both sides). i also (as a preventative measure), replaced the pass side lower control arm boot with one from BMP, as it looked as though it would crack any day now. the only problem is that the car seems to brake dive into the driver's side now, cause it is weaker. the steering box play doesn't seem to help either. but im glad its done.