Professional Tool Reviews for Pros
Rounded out and rusted bolts can frustrate anyone, even those folks that already have a set of old-school extraction sockets. But with Gearwrench Bolt Biter extraction sockets, you can kiss the hassle of stubborn fasteners goodbye. These Bolt Biters have a unique design that is redefining the extraction game by not only allowing you to unfasten rounded-out bolts but let you re-fasten them also.
The Gearwrench Bolt Biter’s claim to fame is that it can remove any rusted or rounded-out fastener. Rather than cutting into the fastener, the Bolt Biter grips them up with a tapered flute design.
Let’s unpack that a bit. These extraction sockets will last up to 10 times longer than your current set of sockets when used with an impact gun. Gearwrench uses a durable chrome and molybdenum body (ChroMoly) that’s been finished with corrosion-resistant black oxide, and the Bolt Biters are impact-ready.
In fact, Gearwrench feels so confident in the durability of their design that the Bolt Biters come with a lifetime warranty.
The Bolt Biter design allows bi-directional movement. That means you can refasten those beat-up fasteners if you’re in a pinch and don’t have a replacement on hand.
As an extractor designed for severe damage, Gearwrench comes in both standard and minus-sized sockets. Minus-sized simply means the actual diameter is a little smaller than what the markings read so they can fit over hex nuts and bolts that are no longer their original size.
The Gearwrench Bolt Biter socket seats easily onto a damaged fastener thanks to its tapered design. It gets a little smaller the deeper in you go. This allows each size to work with both a metric and SAE size as well as handle multiple levels of head damage. For removing stubborn lug nuts, check out the Gearwrench Deep Bolt Biter sockets.
After you’ve removed that pesky fastener, it won’t stay jammed into the socket like it will with extractors that cut into the sides.
The impact-ready Gearwrench Bolt Biter extractors feature a square drive shaft (1/4″ and 3/8″) with a hexagonal base. You can use these sockets with impact wrenches/drivers, ratchets, wrenches, and pliers.
They also have a high-vis laser etching in the side for quick size identification with both the SAE and corresponding metric measurement.
In gutting and repairing a gas grill for an outdoor kitchen, we came across several completely rusted and rounded-off nuts. Grabbing the Gearwrench Bolt Biters, I was able to get a decent grip on the first nut, easily taking it off.
On the other side of the grill, however, the bolt had been damaged so much it slipped within the 10mm socket. In this case, having the 28 Piece Bolt Biter kit on hand would work since it includes that 10- mm socket. Keep that in mind as you search for which kit to purchase.
We also tried the Bolt Biter on a couple of severely rounded-off 10mm bolts that originally worked with a 19mm socket. The bolt heads were so rounded that I could turn a 19mm socket by hand on either one of them, though one was worse than the other.
On the more severe of the two, the minus-size 19mm Bolt Biter fit right over the top and flush to the surface. It had no problem biting in and turning the bolt in both directions. On the bolt with a little less damage, the tapered edge didn’t fit all the way quite as nicely, and the standard 19mm was a better fit for the job.
With this kind of design, it’s not hard to imagine that you might see some slippage. But there’s simply none there. Each of the teeth bit into the socket and just wouldn’t let go even with as much torque as I could muster on my ratchet.
You can order individual GearWrench Bolt Biter extractors or get them in multiple set configurations. The sets run in the $50 (8-piece) to $185 (28-piece) range and individual sockets are roughly $18–$30.
When he doesn't have his hands on tools himself, Chris is often the man behind the camera lens making the rest of the team look good. In his free time, you might find Chris with his nose jammed in a book, or tearing out his remaining hair while watching Liverpool FC. He enjoys his faith, family, friends, and the Oxford comma.
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If Gear wrench would make their tools in the USA I would buy them. Not until!
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