TORX vs TORX Plus – In-Depth Bit Comparison
The fasteners that your vehicle or any other product has may not seem important. But they play a critical role in the product’s overall quality and productivity.
The drive system these fasteners have affects joint reliability, product quality, worker safety, and downtime. There are different types of drive systems that fasteners can have and one of the most popular ones is known as TORX.
This drive system is specially designed to make for a cost-effective and simple solution that prevents over-torquing, slippage, and breakage. It achieves it by adding extra surface area to fasteners and screws.
The TORX Plus is the updated version of TORX and in this article, I’ll explain everything you need to know about TORX vs TORX Plus.
TORX vs TORX Plus
TORX and TORX Plus screws are used in a range of different products, including bicycles, motorcycles, vehicles, consumer electronics, and computer systems.
They have unusual star-shaped heads, making them more secure than crosshead and flathead screws. Let’s discuss the two drive systems in detail to understand the difference between these two screw types.
TORX
As mentioned, the TORX screws come with six-point star-shaped screw heads. This pattern offers higher torque transmission and ensures more secure and tighter fastenings than other drive systems.
Not only does the straight side of this six-point design require a lower end load than traditional cruciform drive systems but it also prevents slippage (cam-out).
Here’s a list of features that the TORX drive system offers.
Straight Sidewalls
Unlike cruciform drive systems, TORX screws come with straight, vertical sidewalls to increase tool engagement. Additionally, no cam-out force is created while pushing the screwdriver up and out. It eliminates the risk of slippage, which also means that no end load is required.
15 Degree Drive Angle
The drive angle of TORX screws is as low as 15 degrees, which reduces radial forces drastically and provides high torque transfer. Not only does it increase the tool’s life but it also reduces the risk of injuries during the manual assembly of fasteners.
Wider Contact Surface
Another feature of the TORX drive system is that it offers a higher depth of lobe engagement between the fasteners and the driver. It spreads the driving forces over a wider surface, ensuring more efficient torque transfer.
Metric and Imperial in a Single Drive Tool
The beauty of the TORX drive system is that same-sized drive tools seat both metric and imperial-sized screws, reducing the number of drive tools required.
Benefits of TORX
- Reduces slippage (cam-out)
- Improves the lifespan of the tool and fasteners
- Decreases the need for excessive end-load forces
- Decreases downtime and worker fatigue
- Same drive system for both imperial and metric screws
TORX Plus
While TORX outperforms other drive systems, it’s far from perfect. The drive angle of this drive system is low, just 15 degrees, but it’s still enough to reduce the longevity of the tool and fasteners.
Additionally, the wider tolerances of this system can also lead to a loose fit between the fastener and driver tool. For that reason, Camcar Textron developed TORX Plus, which is the updated version of TORX.
It addresses the limitations present in the previous TORX drive system to maximize the tool’s lifetime and provide optimal torque transfer.
The following is the list of features of the TORX Plus drive system.
Straight Sidewalls
Just like the TORX drive system, the TORX Plus also comes with straight, vertical sidewalls to eliminate slippage and increase tool engagement.
It ensures proper torque transfer, reduces end load requirements, and decreases the muscular stress and fatigue of the worker.
0 Degree Drive Angle
TORX Plus drive system flaunts a 0-degree drive angle, allowing the use of thinner walled recesses and virtually eliminating radial forces.
Elliptically-Based Geometry
The elliptically-based geometry of TORX Plus maximizes the engagement of recess and driver by broadening the contact surface. It eliminates point-to-point contact that can be damaging to screws and the tool.
The TORX Plus also has a six-point star-shaped pattern on screw heads but with larger cross-sectional areas than TORX. It increases torsional strength and allows for faster tool engagement.
Metric and Imperial in a Single Drive Tool
Just like the TORX drive system, TORX Plus also allows you to use the same-sized drive tool as it can seat both metric and imperial-sized screws.
Compatible with TORX
Another great feature of TORX Plus fasteners is that they’re compatible with TORX drive tools. However, you can’t use TORX Plus drive tools to install and remove TORX screws.
Important Note: To take full advantage of all the benefits that TORX Plus offers, I recommend you use TORX Plus drive tools. Not only will it offer a better working experience but it’ll also improve the longevity of tools and screws.
Benefits of TORX Plus
- Offers 25 percent average improvement over TORX in terms of driver bit torsional strength
- Offers 100 percent average improvement in the lifespan of the tool
- Drive tools can last up to 12 times longer than tools for other drive systems
- Reduces slippage, risk of injuries, and work fatigue
- Improve reliability and reduces downtime because of higher torque transfer capability
Final Words
Both TORX and TORX Plus are advanced and innovative drive systems that come with a range of benefits.
While the two systems feature the same six-point star-shaped design, the TORX Plus comes with wider cross-sectional areas for faster tool engagement and increased torsional strength.
It also features a 0-degree drive angle, which is 15 degrees in TORX, to eliminate radial forces and allow the use of thinner-walled recesses.
TORX Plus screws are also compatible with TORX drive tools but you can’t use TORX Plus drive tools for TORX fasteners.
However, to take advantage of all the features that the TORX Plus drive system offers, you should use TORX Plus drive tools for TORX Plus screws.