Brian White
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:09:50 -0800
My 98 BMW 540i6 has tools in the factory tray in the trunk. 1 wrench-8mm, 10mm. 1 wrench-13mm, 14mm. 1 pair of channel locks, 1 screwdriver-one removable end phillips, the other flat. 1 lug wrench, 1 wheel centering bar, and the emergency triangle.
There are a couple other tools I'm forgetting. My Audi Allroad also has a tool kit that includes a dual-use screwdriver and a 10-13mm wrench. My two Alfa Romeos (76 and 79) both have similar sets of tools/wrenches. Point is, this stuff is quite common.....not just VW. Who knows what the Japanese brands do though..... My Japanese car list of ones I'd drive is very short. I do have a Japanese car too though...1990 Miata. It's a full racing car though. -----Original Message----- From: Stanislav Jakuba <jak...@snet.net> Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 12:38 To: U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Cc: kay fastiggi <kayfasti...@yahoo.com>; Henry Faulkner <hbfaulk...@gmail.com>; Hal/Shirley/Mattie Fuller <hal...@velocity.net>; Eric Guyer <egu...@yankeescientific.com>; Howard Hayden <corkhay...@comcast.net>; Larry Hoagland <lnchoagl...@roadrunner.com>; Bøetislav Jakuba <bret...@gmail.com>; Caroline Jakuba <cjak...@hotmail.com>; Eva Jakuba <ejak...@snet.net>; Michael Jakuba <jakuba....@gmail.com>; Tom Kimmel <tkim...@locallink.net>; Ken Kanwar <s.kan...@plmedical.com>; Pavel Komanicky <komani...@peoplepc.com>; Jiri Konicek <akon...@aol.com>; Jana Kupka <jku...@comcast.net>; Karel Novak <karel.no...@gmx.ch>; Karel Pacak <karelpa...@yahoo.com>; Pelletier <rudyjp...@aol.com>; Lazar Pevac <la...@hypack.com>; Prahl, Frederick <fpr...@foster-miller.com>; Jana Spacek <jspa...@mail.hartford.edu>; Poppy Sun <poppy...@comcast.net>; Otto Ulc <u...@binghamton.edu>; Milan Zeleny <mzel...@o2activecz>; Yuri Zilberberg <zilberb...@rcn.com>; Viktor Bona <viktor.b...@gmail.com>; William Bre! nner <williambren...@me.com>; brown...@yankeescientific.com; Robert Bryce <rob...@robertbryce.com>; Bill Camden <billcam...@yahoo.com>; Scott Chandler <scottchand...@alum.mit.edu>; Cihak <k.ci...@cox.net>; Karl Coumou <kcou...@verizon.net>; Lyle Cummins <clessi...@aol.com> Subject: [USMA:46899] VW and wrenches Closing the VW debate, a person who has lived in Germany and owned and drove various Beatles from 1962 onward, offered this explanation to the hex sizes myth. In the olden days, it was common among German manufacturers to sell cars with a set of wrenches and other tools included. The Beatles, inexpensive as they were, came with only two open-end wrenches, one with 8 and 10 ends, the other with 14 and 17 (or similar), and with one tubular wrench with two sizes. Thus 6 sizes altogether. In addition, there was a double-sided screwdriver, one end flat, the other Phillips. VW may have been so skimpy for two good reasons: (1) To support the reliability myth (marketing claim of no need of repairs), and (2) to cut cost. Concerning repairing the Beatles with these tools, these tools were for all MAINTENANCE, not for taking the car apart or assemble it, nor for repairs unless those tools happened to fit a specific task regardless. In case you'd like a confirmation of your skill in identifying the metric wrench size, here is the solution: [The entire original message is not included]