19/32 and 25/32 socket ???

[ScottyHOMeY]

I just expanded last week into a second rolling chest and toppers, and have been unpacking carry chests and reorganizing things. Lots of fun, and keeps me out a certain lady's hair.

Anyway, as I was puttin' stuff into the drawer for 1/2" drive good, I got wiping off and rackin' up the old 1/2" sockets I bought when I was a kid in the early 70s. In the regular sockets, there's a 19/32" and in the deep wells a 25/32".

Was there a common use for these two sizes?

I'm thinkin' there musta been somethin' like that for them to be included in the set. Kinda like my closely-held, don't-get-lent-out 11/32" combination wrench for points work.

Any ideas?

 

[keh]

I think there was a Ford car suspension part that the 25/32 fit, but not sure.

KEH

 

[Anonymous-0]

19/32 was a common bicycle size back when I worked on my own bike.

 

[CCer]

Nowadays they work good where a metric size is required!

 

[Anonymous-0]

60's-70's Forf FE series high performance rod nuts used a 19/32 socket. IE 428 CJ.

 

[rustyfarmall]

I was told one time that those odd sizes were an answer to the British standard. Don't know for sure.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have several sets of 1/2" sockets and they both contain these odd ball size's .I say "Odd Ball" as I have never in my Memory had occasion to use either of these size sockets. They just sit there in line with the other well used sockets and never do any thing but get my attention from time to time as I consider to put them some where out of sight so I don't have to look at them any more. Any more my Metric set's are being used more and more and some of them are evolving into "Sockets of no apparent value in the real world".I am sure some people of mechanical ability beyond my basic intelligence have a need for all the different size's but it is beyond my simple needs to find a use for some of these size's.JC

 

[JMS MN]

Old memory says the 25/32 was a spark plug size on something a long,long, time ago. Still keeps the others from banging into each other!

 

[Anonymous-0]

19/32 fits Model A connecting rod nuts.

 

[Catskill Pete]

They fractional inch size that match the old British Whitworth sizes. Anybody who works on an old Ferguson or N-Ford gets to discover how important they are real fast.

 

[El Toro]

The 25/32 will fit the oil pressure sending unit on the 1981 Cougar and T-Birds. Hal

 

[Anonymous-0]

flat head fords one of henry's brighter ideas to be different than any body else

 

[ScottyHOMeY]

I figured it had to be something like that.

'Preciate it.

 

[Kentb of SWMO]

The Allis dealer I worked for in the early 70's had a couple of box end wrench which were 3/4" on one end and 25/32" on the other. At the time I was told that the military used some cap screws or nut during WW-II that was 25/32"and the wrenchs were made when the surplus hardware washitting the civilian market. I do not know if this is true, just what I was told.

Kent

 

[Slowpoke]

I thought they were for heavy duty nuts.

 

[Butch(OH)]

Dad always called them "Ford sockets" After reading the replys, Guess he was right.

 

[greygoat]

Model A Ford

 

[Brian G. NY]

That 19/32" was always good for removing rusted away exhaust pipe bolts. I always kept both that and the 25/32" size in my socket sets. I find now that having a set of metrics is good for the same thing.
You can nearly always find one that will fit tight enuf to get the job done.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Prior to WWII, hardware sized in 32'eds was common. I think the war caused some streamlining of production and those sizes never came back. I have a couple of craftsman wrenches and sockets in 25/32 which were bought in the 70's, haven't encountered a use for them yet. I have a full set of Whitworth wrenches and sockets, so that is not an issue.

Charles

 

[Anonymous-0]

Since sometime in the early 1900s, the standard US sizes for hexagonal bolt heads and nuts have come in two flavors, SAE and Heavy. The SAE heads are 1 1/2 times the bolt shank diameter, the Heavy heads 1/8 inch larger.

A common example, for a bolt with a 3/8 inch diameter shank:

An SAE standard head would be 1 1/2 x 3/8 inch = 9/16 inch.

A Heavy standard head would be 9/16 inch + 1/8 inch.


Under both of these formulae, a bolt with a "odd sixteenths" shank diameter would have a "odd thirty-seconds" head.

For a bolt with a 5/16 inch shank, an SAE head would be 1 1/2 x 5/16 inch = 15/32 inch, and a Heavy head would be 15/32 + 1/8 inch = 19/32 inch.

For a bolt with a 7/16 inch shank, an SAE head would be 1 1/2 x 7/16 inch = 21/32 inch, and a Heavy head would be 21/32 inch + 1/8 inch = 25/32 inch.

As "odd sixteenths" bolt shank sizes faded out of common use in the World War II era, the "odd thirty-seconds" wrench sizes became less needed, and thus less common. Then, since the 5/16 bolt shank was the one "odd sixteenths" size remaining in common use, the bolt-and-nut makers phased out the "odd thirty-seconds" head-size steps in favor of sixteenth-inch increments.

But, for what it's worth, a wrench with a 19/32 inch opening is usually a fair stand-in for a 15 millimeter wrench.

 

[ScottyHOMeY]

Simple and elegant. And very nicely explained, too.

I use the classic view so I can't look down below just now to see who it was, but somebody mentioned the heavy heads earlier.

Thanks!

 

[farmer boy]

25/32 sockets are for when you lose the 3/4 socket and 13/16 won't work. I'm seriously not sure but there must be some use for it such as oddball cars and manufacturers that wanted to be unique.

 

[hoodlatch]

Thanks for the answer. I"ve always wondered how that came about.