I am getting a lot more euro cars in my diag jobs and I have noted that I need these two bit sets. It should be easy to get them, but noooo. There seems to be confusion among even tool manufacturers about these bit sets. A lot of people seem to think they are the same yet they are not.

The profile of a ribe socket is thicker more extended splines, and the polydrive is thinner shorter splines. Can anyone point me to a source where the two are differentiated? On Amazon you see listings like "13 Pc Ribe BIT Drive / Polydrive set", suggesting they are one and the same, and in the reviews, I note people complaining of wrong sizes and damaging fasteners because I believe they are mixing up the two.

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For example look at this:

https://www.amazon.com/Neiko-10084A-Drive-Polydrive-Socket/dp/B004DKLT58/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=polydrive&qid=1561968634&s=gateway&sr=8-7

If you zoom in the picture, you will see the the M12 and M13 have different profiles, M13  looks like a polydrive and M12 looks like a ribe in the same set! Also, note the comments of how the sockets fit and the pictures taken.

So what I need is a source where I am assured that when I buy a polydrive I don't get ribe and vice-versa or a mix of the two.

The best comparison is taken from one of the reviews.

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I have a set of Snap-on TORX Plus sockets that look like your polydrive.  You may want to research those.

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I do have the TORX-PLUS bit set, but the issue is that the TP spline is thinner than the polydrive.

Problem with all these bits is, you go fiddling around with multiple sizes, you are going to get what you think is a tight fit, until you put a ratchet to it. Especially those damn polydrive bolts - those things seem to be torqued pretty high. One of them cost me an expensive mistake when I rounded out a fastener on a cam bolt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives#Polydrive
I found this information helpful. some bits are built only for the vehicle manufacturer.

I can't help you with Ribe, but Polydrive is meant to be used with a normal hex. It feels totally wrong, but is actually correct. Land Rover uses Polydrive for head bolts and at one point had a bulletin saying to use a 10mm hex on them. The Brugola website isn't working properly for me right now, but if you look on their site I'm pretty sure they mention that Polydrive is meant to be used with a hex.

Here is a really bad diagram I made using annotation lines in Preview.

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dennyb wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2019 at 6:51am:

I found this information helpful. some bits are built only for the vehicle manufacturer.

Thanks. That page shows the confusion that many hold that ribe and polydrive are the same. They are not.

James Kelly wrote on Jul 3^rd, 2019 at 4:48pm:

I can't help you with Ribe, but Polydrive is meant to be used with a normal hex. It feels totally wrong, but is actually correct. Land Rover uses Polydrive for head bolts and at one point had a bulletin saying to use a 10mm hex on them. The Brugola website isn't working properly for me right now, but if you look on their site I'm pretty sure they mention that Polydrive is meant to be used with a hex.

Really? I did not know that.

I found the reference on the brugola site:

http://www.brugola.com/en/products/polydriver

"Thanks to the special splined geometry, combines the highest transmissible torque with the possibility of using a normal hex key, thus embodying the concept of versatility."

I wish they did not say "possibility", does not give me 100% confidence. Has anyone ever tried this? Would save me a lot of headaches if it's true.

Do you have the land rover bulletin?

i have a set of ribs that i can give you a part number on monday if you are interested. if i remember the whole set looked the the same. As far as poly drive im not sure i will have to check my sockets but i think the the TP would be the closest i have to that.

cwinkler2 wrote on Jul 5^th, 2019 at 6:23pm:

i have a set of ribs that i can give you a part number on monday if you are interested. if i remember the whole set looked the the same. As far as poly drive im not sure i will have to check my sockets but i think the the TP would be the closest i have to that.

Yes please, that will help. I need to be sure I am buying one that I am confident is not mixed or confused by the other. And for the record, I tried TP on the polydrive. All I can say is that I've been there, done that, and that was one hell of an expensive T-Shirt I now have. DO NOT TRY THAT AT HOME!!

K-Mech wrote on Jul 4^th, 2019 at 8:00pm:

Really? I did not know that. I found the reference on the brugola site: http://www.brugola.com/en/products/polydriver "Thanks to the special splined geometry, combines the highest transmissible torque with the possibility of using a normal hex key, thus embodying the concept of versatility." I wish they did not say "possibility", does not give me 100% confidence. Has anyone ever tried this? Would save me a lot of headaches if it's true. Do you have the land rover bulletin?

Land Rover deletes bulletins, and I don't seem to have it anywhere. It wasn't a standard TSB.

I always use a 10mm hex on Land Rover 3.0/5.0L head bolts and 8mm hex on the exhaust bolts and have never had a problem. Most techs use the incorrect tool and I think are using RIBE or a T60 Torx. My one precaution would be to make sure that you have the tool very straight as it is easy to allow it to slip under a high torque application such as head bolts. Land Rover makes a special tool for aligning the hex onto the head bolts to prevent this, but I've never seen or used it.

James Kelly wrote on Jul 8^th, 2019 at 5:13pm:

Land Rover deletes bulletins, and I don't seem to have it anywhere. It wasn't a standard TSB. I always use a 10mm hex on Land Rover 3.0/5.0L head bolts and 8mm hex on the exhaust bolts and have never had a problem. Most techs use the incorrect tool and I think are using RIBE or a T60 Torx. My one precaution would be to make sure that you have the tool very straight as it is easy to allow it to slip under a high torque application such as head bolts. Land Rover makes a special tool for aligning the hex onto the head bolts to prevent this, but I've never seen or used it.

Thanks, man, good info. If you've done it on head bolts [high torque] with success then I'll do it on the polydrives I come across.  No need of populating my toolbox with unnecessary tools when I already have the ones that work.

So my Ribe are ATD MR (the size) Cr-v this set goes from 4-16