I’ve had the 24” one in 1/2” drive for over 20 years and never broken it, it’s had some hard use. (Working on plant and fork lift trucks) Though I’ve also had the 3/4” drive breaker bar and ratchet with the 36” bar for the same time. Not cheap but they’ve served me well!
think they still sell a couple different handle thickness in the 3/4" drive modulars,make sure to get the right one the nice thing is that if you break the head you still have that handle and it is practically indestructable
As to the 1/2" bars with the bolt/screw pivot bolt,I was told to keep it tight,wrong to make it loose to get floppier hinge action. It might take Torx Plus to properly fit the bolt,make sure to use the right one
Nope, that would be too weak, you're risking breaking that tool. You better get 2 inch drive tools for that application. I almost made that mistake of breaking expensive tools, luckily Chuck Norris came and gave me that invaluable advice , "Two inch drive tools for your Corolla!"
3/4" bar sold handle and head both? At least two lengths modern bars that the heads fit,the bars and heads diameters have changed over the years so old one and new one might not work together
the replacement square drive pieces for the 36" 1/2" drive are fairly inexpensive,actually the whole head is available and not very expensive (the whole tool is very expensive unless you get some kind of special on it) but bragging rights I think,king of the 1/2"drive bars ,I don't think the handle is likely to break ever
If the drive square twisted off you can get a repair kit,a truck guy might replace it free,if the fork broke then there might be warranty if you didn't have a pipe on it and bought it yourself,actually they might warranty it anyway if you have a big socket size,say 28 mm. might be better with 3/4" drive,also there is a reducer you put on a 3/4" drive bar or ratchet to use with a 1/2" drive socket or extension but I think the reducers might break easier than a 1/2" breaker bar