Getting at our exhaust nuts and bolts...

[maverick1]

In the latest flyer Harbor Tools has a crowfoot wrench set for sale. I thought I read somewhere on this site that these tools may help you access the exhaust bolts. Can someone confirm this?
Cheersâ?¢

[CalScot]

Commonly known in the US as a basin wrench. Crowfoot is the British name. Every Plumber has one.
Not exactly designed for an exhaust system, but with those Brammo units, you need all the help you can get.


By the way, there's no such thing as having too many tools, so go buy them

[MadMaxedAtom]

No.

A crowfoot is an open wrench head stub with a 3/8" square drive hole iin it. You use an extension of various lengths determined by the task at hand.

A plumbers basin wrench has two jagged jaws that cam together to bite into a pipes surface so you can turn it in a parallel plain.

Similar purposes,but different.

I own many crow feet. I don't own a basin wrench.(I hate plumbing...)

Neither will help you with those inaccessable nuts.

Patience and a plain stubby wrench will help.(and a good Allen wrench)

[CalScot]

MMA you are right!
http://books.google.com/books?id=VapiJO ... OClo&hl=en
But so am I, at least in the context of a daft Scot in the US trying to translate

[MadMaxedAtom]

Of course I'm right.Been using the things for over 35 years.

[Terry Kennedy]

[quote="maverick1"]
In the latest flyer Harbor Tools has a crowfoot wrench set for sale. I thought I read somewhere on this site that these tools may help you access the exhaust bolts. Can someone confirm this?
[/quote]

If you had early Brammo hardware which had hex bolts and nuts, it helps. For the later hardware (which almost everybody has) which has an Allen bolt and a hex nut, you won't need it. Just get this and you'll be all set.

[RyanD]

[quote="Terry Kennedy"]

If you had early Brammo hardware which had hex bolts and nuts, it helps. For the later hardware (which almost everybody has) which has an Allen bolt and a hex nut, you won't need it. Just get this and you'll be all set.
[/quote]

Thanks Terry.  I was just about to ask where to buy these.  Any other special tools I should order while I'm at it?

[McFred]

[quote="Terry Kennedy"]Just get this and you'll be all set.
[/quote]

All I get from that link is something about cookies (I have plenty, thank you).  Anyway, the only custom bit of tooling I needed was a chunk of an allen wrench.  I cut off a short piece so I could put one end in the cap screw and get a socket (and swivel) on the other.  It still takes fiddling due to the heat shield.

[RyanD]

[quote="McFred"]

All I get from that link is something about cookies (I have plenty, thank you).  Anyway, the only custom bit of tooling I needed was a chunk of an allen wrench.  I cut off a short piece so I could put one end in the cap screw and get a socket (and swivel) on the other.  It still takes fiddling due to the heat shield.
[/quote]

Just go to www.msc.com and search for item 57282550.  Tom from Brammo also recommended these for the exhaust bolts, but I think they use one from Snap-On.

[Driver]

Snap-on if you have the money. They'd be my first choice. You can always find one of their trucks lurking around the various auto shops. They also have a website (search for 'Ball Hex / Long, mm, chrome'). They come in long and short models, metric and standard and you can buy individually if you want.

[Terry Kennedy]

[quote="RyanD"]
Thanks Terry.  I was just about to ask where to buy these.  Any other special tools I should order while I'm at it?
[/quote]

You might want:

85247864 - 12mm 1/2" drive impact socket, which will let you remove the lug nuts without the Brammo adapter
85037463 - 30mm 1/2" drive deep socket for rear hubts
85035228 - 15/16" 1/2" drive deep socket for front hub nuts
98107469 - 1/2" x 16" breaker bar for above

[RyanD]

[quote="Terry Kennedy"]

You might want:

85247864 - 12mm 1/2" drive impact socket, which will let you remove the lug nuts without the Brammo adapter
85037463 - 30mm 1/2" drive deep socket for rear hubts
85035228 - 15/16" 1/2" drive deep socket for front hub nuts
98107469 - 1/2" x 16" breaker bar for above

[/quote]

I'm sure I'll need all of that eventually.  Thanks.

[Driver]

I'd urge instead of a 1/2" breaker bar a great alternative is to get the biggest 1/2 Ratchet you can find. Sure is nice not to have to insert turn, take off, reinsert... Besides never know when you want to pull the heads off a car.. If your wheels are a deep dish a short extension is also needed with either.

Linked HERE and a pict of one. Looks like a 3/8 but trust me that's a 16 5/8" 1/2 drive. I'd also recommend the soft grip as pictured to save your hands.

[Bruce Fielding]

One of these:

[Driver]

One of these...  Says the guy that doesn't actually wrench on his Atom   ...  Would lay you odds the guys that actually do will use the right tools for the job. Of course if Bruce wants I'm sure there's a few people that would volunteer to work on his Atom with that sledge.

I'm speaking from a perspective of someone that has done more brake jobs than they can count. I would've killed for a decent set of tools when I was a teenager and pulling engines for the mechanic next door (I did the grunt work, he modified/rebuilt them then I put them back in). May have been 20 years ago but the right tools make a job go so much easier. Just ask DarthChicken how much "fun" it was trying to get the catalyst out of his converter when it packed in at AtomFest. He needed a vise and a torch but made do with a screwdriver, a pair of needle nose pliers and a concrete floor. Was not fun but it worked.... eventually.