Leatherman SIDEKICK / WINGMAN Owners Club

[Zephon]

Is there a difference between the pliers on a Rev and a Wingman/Sidekick?  My Wingman pliers can’t cut anything right so I’m thinking of dropping in anything that would fit right away.

It can’t be that hard, right?

[SteveC]

 

[Poncho65]

They are different but I think it should fit the Rev pliers are not spring loaded and I believe they are bypass cutters like most all LM except for the Wingman and Sidekick  Just a little tidbit, the Rev and Leap share the same plier head

[Zephon]

They are different but I think it should fit the Rev pliers are not spring loaded and I believe they are bypass cutters like most all LM except for the Wingman and Sidekick  Just a little tidbit, the Rev and Leap share the same plier head

Yeah, I’m after the bypass cutters which can actually cut something. I’ve got better chances of getting a cheap Rev than a cheap Leap.

[Poncho65]

Yes, for sure the Rev would be cheaper than a Leap

[Adam5]

Is there a difference between the pliers on a Rev and a Wingman/Sidekick?  My Wingman pliers can’t cut anything right so I’m thinking of dropping in anything that would fit right away.

It can’t be that hard, right?

It looks doable, but it appears that it would require some Dremel work.

Rev plier head:


Sidekick (Wingman) plier head:


Both:



I just looked at the Wingman and Sidekick MTs I have. Mine are not great either. Anvil cutters work best when the cutting surfaces actually make contact 

[Zephon]

It looks doable, but it appears that it would require some Dremel work.

Rev plier head:
(Image removed from quote.)

Sidekick (Wingman) plier head:
(Image removed from quote.)

Both:
(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)

I just looked at the Wingman and Sidekick MTs I have. Mine are not great either. Anvil cutters work best when the cutting surfaces actually make contact 

Awww nuts. I thought it was a perfect drop-in.

Thanks so much for the comparison pictures Adam!

[Adam5]

You are welcome 

[Poncho65]

Glad someone had the 2 to conpare Great job, Adam

[Adam5]

Awww nuts. I thought it was a perfect drop-in.

Thanks so much for the comparison pictures Adam!

There are internal backsprings for the plier head in the Wingman/Sidekick handles that keep the handles from flopping around. Without those backsprings, the Rev plier head will drop in. I have 2 Sidekicks. One has the backsprings, in the other one the backsprings have been snapped out.

Handle with broken backspring:


That backspring should extend all the way to the end of the handle:


In the next picture, one handle has the backspring and one handle does not. The plier head is from the Rev:



The left handle will not open any further.

So, you either have to break out the backsprings or modify the plier head. I do not recommend breaking out the backsprings. The handles will flop around a lot.

[Zephon]

Thank you very much Adam! 

As much as I’d want to give the Wingman a fighting chance, seems like the plier head design is more troublesome than anticipated. Must be why they made the Curl / Bond line.

Spare parts are a premium here (example: wave scissors go for USD20) so I can only guess-timate what I see.

Much appreciated!

[Poncho65]

Thanks for checking,  Adam 

[Zephon]

Gonna make a confession here - managed to remove an arm of the Wingman from the plier head…..and now I can’t get it back. Yeah, I know there’s a spring of sorts and I’m having trouble keeping it depressed and trying to fit the fastener thru the plier head. Now it’s a bunch of parts in a storage tupperware.
 

Edit:

After 2 hours, I decided to give it a try again.  As I couldn’t generate enough constant force using the Rebar, I ended up opening up the Crunch and using it to generate more force to be able to clamp the spring down.  Guess what? It worked!

Used the Rebar as my screwdriver running the T8 bit from the LM kit.  I encountered a tight screw which almost stripped the LM T8 while removing it.  Had to use a combo of Rebar using the flat LM bits and a ST300 with regular hex bits to tighten the fasteners.  After an hour, here are my Sidekick and Wingman all assembled up.

Btw, the Wingman doesn’t close 100%.  A tiny <1mm part of the plier head touches the bit changer creating that small gap.

[Poncho65]

Some plier heads are harder than others to put back

Glad you finally got it back together

[Adam5]

I used a small nail to help align the pivot bolt with the hole in the handle. Then I used my left hand to press the MT onto my work bench. This depressed the backspring enough to allow the pivot bolt to line up with and come through the hole in the handle (using my right hand to push the bolt in).

I will confess that I first thought "Oh crap!" when I first tried to reassemble my Sidekick and discovered just how strong that backspring is 

[Poncho65]

Rebars are equally hard to put back on

[Adam5]

By the way, this past weekend I started converting the Sidekick with the broken backsprings on the pliers' end into a pocket knife. That wasn't my intent when I bought it, but that's the best thing I can do with it now.
I have not decided what tools will be in it, but I did work on its appearance:

[Poncho65]

I am liking the look of it

[Zephon]

By the way, this past weekend I started converting the Sidekick with the broken backsprings on the pliers' end into a pocket knife. That wasn't my intent when I bought it, but that's the best thing I can do with it now.
I have not decided what tools will be in it, but I did work on its appearance:

(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)

 

Reminds me of that black and stainless Wingman.




Thanks for sharing your experiences with the plier heads. I swear it wasn’t that bad on a Skele. Anyway, I guess I’ll stick to the inner tools right now and just learn to live with the default plier heads.

[Estefan]

 

3ABEF9C2-9BD2-4414-8467-4FB98A48EAA9.jpg (Filesize: 426.91 KB)

[Poncho65]

Great pic,  Estefan 

[Zephon]

Re-arranging implements on the Wingman and Sidekick. Let’s see how the Wingman performs with the 3D Philips from a Rebar.

[Poncho65]

Nice swap around Hopefully it makes the Wingman way more useful for you

[Farmer X]

No Sidekick for me (yet), but here's my Wingman. It remains to be seen how I'll get on with the combo edge and spring-loaded pliers. But it's just as well-made as every other Leatherman I've owned.

 

Wingman Pliers.jpg (Filesize: 181.01 KB)

 

Wingman Blade.jpg (Filesize: 144.47 KB)

[Poncho65]

More great pics,  Farmer

[Farmer X]

Thanks, Poncho!

[TexasAKM]

Well, I'm a little late to this party,  but better late than never, right?

Here is my Sidekick, my second Leatherman,  and the reason I came to be here! 
I would carry it clipped in my back pocket, and eventually the flat springs broke off and the handles would spring open, and I stopped carrying it.  I was looking on the net for a fix for it, and I found this forum.
I replaced the plier head with one from a Rev; took what was left of the flat springs out; put a package opener in, then later took it out; added a medium flat screwdriver that I had milled the end flat instead of tapered; shaped the file thing into an awl; and filed on the handles where the plier wedge areas meet up to reduce the handle splay. 
That is mostly it.  It is a fun tool, and it finds it's way into my tool rotation often.

 

Screenshot_20230301-203222_Messages.jpg (Filesize: 227.31 KB)

[Poncho65]

Awesome bit of modding, Texas looks more useful now to me as well, plus I much prefer the plier head that you have in it vs the other one

[TexasAKM]

Awesome bit of modding, Texas looks more useful now to me as well, plus I much prefer the plier head that you have in it vs the other one

Thanks, Poncho!   

I also profiled the pliers, and took the double hump off the top of the blade, making a smooth radius to the point.

[Poncho65]

I thought the blade looked better but thought it could have been the angle of the pic