Tool Review: GEARWRENCH Bolt Biter Lug Nut Extraction Sockets
When it comes to removing worn lug nuts, having one tool to do the trick is a huge time saver. For Eric Moore, fleet manager of Griffin Pavement Striping in Columbus, Ohio, the tapered entry and deep design of GEARWRENCH’s Bolt Biter Lug Nut Extraction Sockets “make all the difference in the world.”
“Being that the [sockets] are thin-walled means they fit inside most of your alloy wheels to get the lug nuts off,” Moore says. “It’s also nice that they are deeper than your average extraction sockets because then you don’t have to try to use an air hammer or a torch or anything like that because you couldn’t get your extraction socket on there.”
Working with a rounded-off lug nut, it is not always obvious which socket size is needed. With GEARWRENCH’s extraction sockets, once you find one that fits over the fastener and starts to tighten, you know it is going to be easy simply because of the tapered entry, Moore says.
“It’s going to draw itself onto the fastener,” he adds.
Compared to other extraction-type sockets, Moore notes these sockets are “easily twice, if not three times as deep as some other offerings.”
Moore and his team of technicians found many uses for the extraction sockets. In addition to repair work during routine maintenance on their trucks, the technicians also used the sockets to remove damaged fasteners on other pieces of equipment around the shop and on trucks.
“We used [the sockets] for quite a wide variety of things,” Moore notes. “Such as for a nut that was rounded off that was holding down something on one of the decks, or holding another piece of equipment on a truck. Several of the guys in the shop were sharing them back and forth. They like them.”
After repeated strenuous usage, the sockets held up and impressed this technician.
“They are obviously scratched up a bit and show some signs of use now, but they seem to be holding up pretty well,” Moore says. “They definitely seem to be of higher quality steel for impact use.”
Although Moore wouldn’t change anything about the sockets, he would like to see smaller sizes offered. The sockets are ideal for impact tools, but for rounded-off bolt or nut removal purposes, smaller sizes such as a 7/16” or 1/2” that are commonly seen damaged from someone using a wrench would be perfect, he says.
The fleet manager enjoys using GEARWRENCH’s Bolt Biter Lug Nut Extraction Sockets. The sockets came in a blow molded case, which stores nicely in Moore’s toolbox.
