stuck strut nut

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 11:30 pm

Sorry to split hairs but thats not a real breaker bar , do a search on those , and Sidchrome to be still good has to come from the early 1970s or earlier .
Their stuff has been made offshore for some time and to a price I'm afraid .
Also in good tool steel 6 point sockets are stronger than 12 pointed ones and the impact ones pretty hardy things .

IMO a real 1/2 inch square drive breaker bar is an essential tool for working on suspension parts , also those long double ended flat ring spanners are very handy in a lot of places .

Cheers A .

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:52 am

discopotato03 wrote:Sorry to split hairs but thats not a real breaker bar

Yeah I agree with that disco, you beat me to it though...

THIS is a breaker bar:

You might want to look into a half inch drive, matching socket and extension bar... Tools can be painful to buy initially but you'll thank yourself later after you've used it to make jobs easy!

I'd be wary of heating anything in that area. I wouldn't be concerned with sparks from a grinder, just do the work in a well ventilated area, have a fire extinguisher on hand (murphy's law) and try to keep the sparks way from the tank area unless you really have to...

Cheers

Bennie

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 1:39 am

Yep I agree it's not a breaker bar. That's why I put some steel tubing over it to try and get leverage like a breaker bar, I had a 6 point socket but the edges of the socket started to buckle and it got a hairline crack, I then went and bought a 19mm 12 point sidchrome socket and then the bar I was using bent.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:23 am

sliding T bar to the hair splitters

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:38 am

"Tool steel" these days is not all created equally , good stuff can cost a bomb but it doesn't tend to fail when you least need that or have something really tight .
When it absolutely has to work you need to use workshop std tooling , something like Stahl Willy/Snap On/Hazet/Wurth . Its probably more important in smaller sizes because larger ones tend to have more material in them so even if the steel is not as good theres more of it .
The good ones can get away with being thinner walled because the steel is a lot tougher .

Breaker bars don't have to be an expensive brand , I think mine came from Total Tools and it would take more Gutsit than I could manage to bend it .
About 16 yrs ago I was paid out when I changed jobs and bought a supply of Snap On spanners in two different lengths , and sets 3/8 and 1/4 drive metric sockets . And a long 3/8 drive swivel head ratchet and a 3/8 drive torque wrench . I also bought a hand picked , ok Coxy picked , rail of their 1/2" drive sockets because I already had some inherited vintage Sidchrome ratchets of my fathers and an ECT one as well .
I've since bought the odd snap on or Blue Point tool ie a 10/12mm flare nut spanner for brake bleeding , I think I got that one in Parkes , but they bite you pretty hard these days on price .

My philosophy with tools is you can pay someone to work on cars for you or , depending on what it is , pay similar money and own good tooling to do the job yourself . When you own it you can do 11Pm on Sunday night repairs to get you ailing machine operable for Monday morning .
Good tools cost good money but they don't tend to fail if not abused . Good quality sockets and spanners fit nuts and bolts noticably better and mostly reduce the chances of rounding them off .
Using the proper tool for the job is commom sense so reaching for the shifter if you have better tools is just laziness , don't do it if avoidable .
An experienced eye can always tell if bodgy tooling has been used , the fasteners points are beaten around the head and bruised and while you may get away with it once its likely to round off later .
I don't even want to think about butchers that use imperial tooling on metric fasteners where avoidable , true some can be very close and I once bought an imperial socket for a big metric nut because it fit better . Many don't and damage metric fasteners , don't do it if avoidable .

Your calls , cheers A .

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:08 am

You are not wrong. I bought an AP Tools pipe flaring kit for double flaring LPG copper lines - still to return the bloody thing as the sliding lever bar used to turn by hand _ bent it both ways as if it was just a mild steel bar - got no leverage, got no double or single flare !!

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:58 pm

I gave up trying to make double flares for brake lines and just got the Rally people to do them for me . Brake places can usually do them too .
The flare nut spanner is designed to go over a bolt or stud when you cant get over the end of them . Its a lot deeper in the heads meaning it gets a much better grip on the small hex of bleed nipples and lessens the chances of rounding them off . With Snap On tax that cost better than $40 I can remember that much .
Touch wood I've never rounded or broken off a bleed nipple but I have seen some that looked like they'd been attacked with pliars or vice grips ...
I think the golden rule is replace your brake and clutch fluid yearly and don't overtighten the bleed nipples .
Luv T's gravity bleed process but thats another story .

Sorry OT , cheers A .

LIFTED · Post by **LIFTED** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:15 pm

Yay A neighbour over the road had a huge breaker bar and a huge ring spanner (twice as big as my spanner)
They still took a lot of effort but they are finally undone

:D:D all 16 of them

my backs a bit sore.

woody.t · Post by **woody.t** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:03 pm

got the suspensions swapped over..?? got any pictures.?