thin wrench for hubs
 

I have extra thin Facom wrenches from when I was an auto mechanic but it's still wide. Where can I buy 17mm wrench that's thinner than my Facom?

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Park Tools sells thin "cone wrenches" that should be what you want. The sizes available range from 13 to 28mm and 17mm is a common one. Most on-line and local bike shops and Amazon sell them.

+1 ^^^ Park makes good ones or just do a search for "bicycle cone wrenches". Stay away from the cheapie, swiss cheese types as they sometimes bend or have a sloppy fit and slip off the nuts. Since you're an ex-auto mechanic, I think you know what I mean.

Agree - Many cheap cone wrenches are made of Chinesium alloy. This alloy has the hardness and wear resistance of Manchego cheese. Buy good stuff and don't encourage the b*****ds who make c**p.

PS Strongly recommend serving Manchego with membrillo (dried quince paste) or Goya guava paste. Mmmmm.

Thanks guys. Now I know what to search for.

...if you are going to do much hub repair/overhaul, they come in sets, and the handiest ones (for me) are 13-16mm, with occasional need for 17mm and 18mm.
There are a lot of companies that make and sell an acceptable cone wrench now. I think Pedro's sells them, as well as Park. The Hozan ones are nice. But avoid the "stepped" ones.

Typically I just use a box wrench since 17mm is "typically" a lock nut and doesn't need a thin wrench.
I do own a 17mm, but rarely use it.

How does that work? I thought you needed two wrenches. In my case I need one thin 17mm for the bottom nut. the top one I can take off the end cap and my normal wrenches work fine on it.


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What do you mean how does it work? Thin wrench on the cone and normal wrench on the locknut, just like any adjustable hub.

That's how I would do it and why I asked where can I buy a thin wrench.

Said he does not need a thin wrench. I guess he just uses a single wrench. not sure? that's why I quoted him and asked him how does he do it.

I'm talking somewhat older stuff, but you didn't say what you have.
There are very few cones that take a 17mm wrench. They typically take 13-16mm wrenches wheras most (it seems) lock nuts are 17mm.
Since the lock nut is on the end, you don't need a thin wrench. (with the wheel removed).

Your pictures are too close to make sense.

The ones from Icetoolz are nice and reasonably priced..

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Snap On tools make real nice thin stainless wrenches of many different sizes .

I think the long-handled Park cone wrenches with the rubber on the grip end really come in handy when you need that extra leverage. The double-ended, shorter wrenches are the less expensive route. https://www.parktool.com/en-us/category/hub-axle

I purchased the park tool cone wrench the other day. thx for your help.


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Every bike shop in the world (maybe I exaggerate) sells "cone wrenches" . Get a variety while you're at it because sure as you-know-what, you'll need a size you don't have. Cheap stamped metal ones work fine for us occasional home mechanics. the Park ones are great, but there are many cheaper alternatives that work fine. To me it's better to have many different sizes, and redundancy, of cheap ones than a few of the nice Park ones. I do have one Park which I bought while traveling and didn't have mine with me, from a shop that only carried them. It's a very nice tool, but doesn't work any better than my little stamped cheap ones. Plus I just don't do much cone adjusting nowadays.

And sometimes you might need two of the same size.

Sheet metal and a file and you can shape one up yourself.

Instead of buying them for a few bucks? Might as well fire up your forge and make your own sheet metal to start with.

Don't worry--I understood what you were asking. I thought the same thing.

My experience in three shops has been that the frequency of use (“occasional”) has little to do with it. The strength of the wrench and the tolerances of the wrench are key. Any cone wrench can loosen and tighten a fairly loose lock nut. The test is the really tight fittings that have been unmoved, even corroded for years. As you apply more force to loosen the nut (or to turn the cones away from each other) you apply lots of force to the two “corners” of the flats in the wrench slot. Weaker/value priced wrenches with softer steel can experience damaged slots or spread jaws. Wrenches that we’re not made well may have slots that are too wide: ex 15mm jaw that is too much greater than 15mm. The surplus gap between wrench and fitting speeds the deformation.

These issues exist on any standard open end wrench but those are usually so thick they will survive. Cone wrenches are more vulnerable. At the shop, I see even Park cone wrenches that are deformed as we deal with everything - old wheels, corroded wheels, gorilla overhauled hubs, machine built wheels. SO whether or not the user is occasional or frequent, it’s a matter of the hubs he’s working on and the forces required. I occasionally cold forge the deformations on our anvil to restore a Park wrench but that’s a temporary fix. They are doomed and new ones are ordered. My personal view is that the Park tools are worth the money.

I use the Park double-enders, linked above. Same ones we used in the shop. The long black ones with the blue handles would look nice hanging on the tool bench though.

No doubt what you said is true. That's why I qualified my comment on the inexpensive ones for occasional home mechanic use. The one Park cone wrench I have is undoubtedly a stronger and more "hand friendly" tool. If I was using them regularly and for stuff you're describing, absolutely a better wrench is needed.

Don't expect it to last very long unless you can harden the metal.