DIY Gland Nut Socket - With PICS!

[SteveJ]

Here's an interesting tool, too. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I6TBQIW

[Careless]

1 hour ago, Hardway said:

I like your idea Careless.  You are right, a box end wrench with a shim would be perfect.  My new AST strut inserts are on the way.  I will be interested to see what size the gland nuts are that come with them.

the absolute most important thing is finding a way to hold the strut while you twist the nut. I figured since the spindle can take 800lbs of the cars weight when bolted up, I just bolted the assembly to a wheel/tire and stood on it while positioning my foot on the strut tube and pulling upward with the wrench. No heat, no extension bar, just what i'd call "normal" effort for a stubborn fastener of that size. If it didn't require curse words or insults towards its parents, in my book- that means it was fairly easy.

49 minutes ago, SteveJ said:

Here's an interesting tool, too. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I6TBQIW

IMHO, far too pricey for the purpose. you could just cut a square out of 1/4 plate and beat the $^!# out its side or buy a 2" wrench and do the same.

if I REALLY had to do this and couldn't find a tool locally, I would just go to a metal supplier and get a 2" offcut square tube, grind the seam weld on the inside, and weld a 5 foot long 1.5" OD 3/16 wall tube to it. That would cost me about 15 dollars and the leverage of a tube so long would make quick work of DEEZ NUTS.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Careless

[SteveJ]

But who said you had to buy it new? By the time you add your labor in for your square tube idea, you've about paid for that offset wrench anyway.

[Careless]

labor? come onnnnnnnn.

I can get the metal guys to cut a 1 foot tube into 4 pieces so I have 4 x 3 inch pieces, and i can weld the tube to the squares in about 3 minutes. that saves me time from busting out the grinder with a cut-off wheel- which only takes 5 minutes anyway.

bet it would get the job done waaaaaay faster with the 5 foot leveraging bar than beating the $^!# out of it with a 20lb sledge would. so any points on saving "time" are null and void!

and if I had to use it on a car, you wouldn't catch me swinging a sledge hammer that close to the rear quarters on any car that's not going to the demolition derby. I also trust my thick-wall tubing welds much more than I trust some of the heads on sledge hammers to stay on. I'm sure some of us have the greatest of luck- but my personal luck account has a habit of cashing itself in without giving me a balance check or a receipt. I tend to use it only for the less costly "purchases"

Edited March 14, 2017 by Careless

[grannyknot]

9 hours ago, Careless said:

I have spare sockets now, so my next version will be a socket "tube" that is long enough to go passed the threaded strut with a square drive welded onto the other end so I can use a 1/2" impact gun, but the wrench has been good on the last 4 or 5 sets I've done. No heat required.

Like this, cut the socket in half and weld a pipe in between, I had to rig this one up to remove and tighten the main nut on a Datsun 5spd transmission

[Careless]

so nice, he keeps it in his house as a conversation piece!

[siteunseen]

Wrap that with carpet and let the cat use it as a scratch pole, like the one beside the potted plant.

[Hardway]

I like that tool you made grannyknot!  Goes to show, when you a very specific job to do, you need a specific tool.  On the topic of "force" needed to get the gland nuts off, I left my rear strut tube attached to the car, disconnected the parking brake cable and half shaft, and was able to swing everything down and away to work on it.  My experience was the same using the socket I modified and a pipe wrench as it only took a one good push and it broke loose.  I know from previous experience that some heat and 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone might be needed to help break the gland nut loose.  However, for anyone using channel locks or pipe wrenches, once the glad nut starts to deform or shear, just stop and walk away.  The picture of carnage above and on the previous page can certainly be avoided.

Edited March 15, 2017 by Hardway

[fairladyz432]

Great find of a tool, i recently removed my gland nut with a "chain vise grip" with ease. Highly recommend it for those changing out the shock inserts. 

[gnosez]

Granny - are those impacts? That was my idea as they're softer. I was going to weld two pipes to the socket for leverage.

The issue really is holding the strut in position. I used two 4x4s lag bolted together with holes drilled for the 4 lugs to sit in and then clamped the whole thing to my workbench.

[Richard McDonel]

Well done!
Thanks for sharing.

[grannyknot]

4 hours ago, gnosez said:

Granny - are those impacts? That was my idea as they're softer. I was going to weld two pipes to the socket for leverage.

The issue really is holding the strut in position. I used two 4x4s lag bolted together with holes drilled for the 4 lugs to sit in and then clamped the whole thing to my workbench.

Actually it was the cheapest socket I could find, $25 I think, the alternative was a very expensive crows foot wrench and since it was for a transmission the tightening torque was important, now take the 5" of the crows foot wrench and put that on the end of a calibrated torque wrench and you end up with math problem that I couldn't figure out, so, I built the cave man socket. It's a good weapon too.