"Ted" wrote in message ...
Torx are used everywhere now. They have been in use for years and years.
Look at your car, it has them all over. One big advantage is that they are
harder to strip the head, followed by allen head. Philips head screws and
hex head bolts are both a lot easier to strip.

"Hench" wrote in message ...

On 6/26/2013 4:00 PM, wrote:
Imagine my surprise when I decided to tighten the seat on my new
Crafstman rider mower. Turns out there are two regular hex-headed
bolts and two torx-headed bolts. I never saw a torx bolt like that.
Turns out that it takes about a size T55 torx fitted to my ratchet to
the tune of some $10 at Lowes.

Now, why in H would they use two bolts like that? To sell more tools?
Anyway I stole my neighbor's torx ratchet, removed & replaced the two
with hex-headed bolts to keep a simple task simple. Then returned the
ratchet to my neighbor.

Just thought it was interesting, if not irritating. Sears must be
crazy. Or do they know something I don't?

me


Torx are meant for over tightening so its a safety issue.

Hex work like american style Philips. They are not meant to be
overtightened. So the two hex hold the seat still while the two torx
lock it without using a lock washer.

That's my guess. I may be wrong.

Sounds reasonable to me too. I would guess most of these are made to speed up assembly more than servicing. Check this out.... 28 types of screwheads...

http://i-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/ui...fications..jpg