Best tool to tighten square nut

[KSJeff]

I've got some wall anchors that I need to tighten up and I'd like to use something better than my 16" pliers. Nut looks like this and measures 1.25" side to side. I have a 1 1/4 12 point socket, but it's too small. I don't have a 1 1/4" wrench. I have 8 of these I'm going to need to tighten over the next few weeks so I'd like to get the right tool. Largest breaker bar I have is 1/2" drive so I'd like to avoid buying 3/4" drive stuff. What size can I get on this thing? Thanks in advance.

 

[APEowner]

8 pt socket or an open end wrench.

 

[Wrench97]

You have to get the size right but what you need is 8 point(double square) socket.


> https://aboloxtools.com/Wright-Tool...P-_5kLqqsiApL2bJ1ZKMGzXrFJYycRuRoCkskQAvD_BwE

 

[KSJeff]

What is the right size? It measures 1.250" on my calipers from the flat to flat. I would have thought a 1 1/4" 12 point would have fit on it? But it didn't so I have no idea what size to get.

 

[engineer2]

1-1/4" crowfoot would work too. You can get one in 1/2" drive

 

[Shiftless]

How about replacing those square nuts with hex? Would that be easier and/or less expensive than finding an 8 point socket big enough to do the job? Just 8 nuts.

What is the thread size? 3/4 ?

 

[KSJeff]

I would replace them, but I'm not sure if I can/should take them off to get them matched up. I think i'll go grab a 1 1/4" or 32mm wrench and see if that does the job. If not, I think it's going to be pliers.

Thank you.

 

[rlitman]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and vote for the pliers, or even an adjustable wrench.

If you really want to buy a tool, get a Knipex Plierswrench. That will turn these squares even better than it can turn hex nuts, and it won't be a unitasker that you relegate to the junk drawer after a single use.

But if you have big pliers or an adjustable, that'll be good enough. You're not going to round over a square nut too badly. That's why it's square and not hex. Plus this is a fastener that only gets tightened once, and nobody cares if you munge it up a little.

 

[The Fall]

Crescent wrench. That's what we'd use on old '50s Chevy to crack the diff plug free to add gear oil. On the bigger fasteners, they work fine if you don't have the proper 8-point socket or open-end wrench.

 

[The Fall]

I should add those diff plugs were stuck like Chuck and hadn't been opened in decades. The Crescent wrench works great. You get better results than the closest (but not quite there) open end.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

8 point socket is #1 for that application. That or an open end, but that's slower and more of a pain.

 

[KSJeff]

What size would the 8 point socket be? I just tried a 10" crescent and I can't get enough torque on that. I could get a bigger crescent but for a lot of these I just cut holes in the drywall so they're inset into the wall a bit.

I think a socket might be the best option.

 

[Wrench97]

It should be 1 1/4" if it measures 1.25" but a 12 point is not going to fit has to be 4 or 8 point.

 

[Shiftless]

What size would the 8 point socket be? I just tried a 10" crescent and I can't get enough torque on that. I could get a bigger crescent but for a lot of these I just cut holes in the drywall so they're inset into the wall a bit.

I think a socket might be the best option.

I’m surprised a 10 inch adjustable wrench would even open to an inch and a quarter. Get a bigger adjustable for more leverage. If that still doesn’t work, go with my earlier idea of swapping those ancient nuts for hex. Look at the set up and decide if the removal of just one out of the 8 would risk instant collapse. You could use your caliper to verify the thread diameter without removal and buy 8 new 3/4 inch or whatever coarse thread nuts and swap them out one at a time.
If the store is close, you could buy just one for a trial fitting.

 

[KSJeff]

I’m surprised a 10 inch adjustable wrench would even open to an inch and a quarter. Get a bigger adjustable for more leverage. If that still doesn’t work, go with my earlier idea of swapping those ancient nuts for hex. Look at the set up and decide if the removal of just one out of the 8 would risk instant collapse. You could use your caliper to verify the thread diameter and buy 8 new 3/4 inch or whatever coarse thread nuts and swap them out one at a time.

Yea, I was surprised too. Part of the reason I didn't consider it. You're probably right. I should just swap them out.

 

[KSJeff]

The stud measures .801.5 inches. That's with a caliper on the end and includes the threads.

 

[Shiftless]

The stud measures .801.5 inches. That's with a caliper on the end and includes the threads.

Looks like you have 7/8 - 9 threads.
Those are some serious fasteners!

McMaster Carr has a 10 pack for 8 bucks plus shipping but you’re gonna need a 1 5/16 inch socket to spin them on.

 

[KSJeff]

Thank you everyone for your ideas and thank you Shiftless for running that down for me. I appreciate it.

 

[Shiftless]

Re: Best tool to tighten square nutve

Thank you everyone for your ideas and thank you Shiftless for running that down for me. I appreciate it.

You’re welcome.
I checked my socket collection and I have several inch and a quarters but no inch and 5/16. If you needed an inch and a quarter I would have given you one.

 

[steaks&anvils]

You are a GJ member and live in Kansas, yet you don't collect old farm/tractor/buggy/unknown use wrenches?

Shame on you.

I bet one of these would have fit.

 

[Chucktin]

Funny looking "wall anchors". I think I'd have to know more about them before making any attempt to tighten or mod.
Looks like the plate behind them is a "n_n" shape. Kinda odd.

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[lilredex]

Check your square tubing in your junk box and make a wrench. If nothing close you could always bend a strip around that nut and weld it to a handle.


Something like the one shown. Not my work, but I did make a ball joint socket that way, for my old trucks.

 

[KSJeff]

Re: Best tool to tighten square nutve

You’re welcome.
I checked my socket collection and I have several inch and a quarters but no inch and 5/16. If you needed an inch and a quarter I would have given you one.

I ordered the nuts and a tekton 1 5/16 from Amazon. Appreciate the thought.

I'm not a rural Kansan. I live on 3 acres, but I'm 90% city slicker. I did consider a pipe wrench, but I'd have to tear out quite a bit more drywall to get on it.

 

[KSJeff]

Funny looking "wall anchors". I think I'd have to know more about them before making any attempt to tighten or mod.
Looks like the plate behind them is a "n_n" shape. Kinda odd.

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These are for my basement walls. It's my understanding that there is some type of plate out in the front yard and they are connected via the threaded rod to these flat plates on the inside of my basement walls. Keeps the walls anchored to prevent movement from the clay earth swelling.

I was pulling down a section of the wall to install an Ibeam, and found these. Had no idea they were there. So, I snugged them up and I'm going to start tightening them a bit at a time until i get the wall back about 1 inch. Part of my basement ceiling was buckling. That's how this whole thing started.

 

[shawhite]

It should be 1 1/4" if it measures 1.25" but a 12 point is not going to fit has to be 4 or 8 point.

Why do you say a 12 point won’t fit just curious?

 

[dacan23]

Knipex pliers wrench is the ultimate option over all the non socket recommendations.

 

[Wrench97]

Why do you say a 12 point won’t fit just curious?

Because it is square the corners make it larger diagonally then a 6 point nut/socket is.

 

[KSJeff]

I can verify that 1 1/4" 12 point won't fit. It's the largest 12 pt socket I own and I tried it.

 

[pizza]

If you really want to buy a tool, get a Knipex Plierswrench. That will turn these squares even better than it can turn hex nuts, and it won't be a unitasker that you relegate to the junk drawer after a single use.

+1 on the pliers wrench. kind of a perfect tool for this job because it won't slip or round it.

you need at least a 180mm length variant (smaller ones won't open wide enough).

i'd probably get a 250mm (opens 2" wide), but i guess you could get a bigger one depending on how you think you may use the tool in the future.

look in the knipex catalog: https://www.knipex.com/fileadmin/si...ds/Katalog/EN/Buch_HK_2020_EN_20200514_XS.pdf

they come in different finishes (black, chrome) and handle styles (dipped, multi component).

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

8 point socket definitely


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[Robby321]

Just change the nuts, not rocket science..

 

[shawhite]

Because it is square the corners make it larger diagonally then a 6 point nut/socket is.

If the square nut is 1.25 then a 1.25 12pt should fit. I work with square nuts every day and a 3/4 square nut will fit a 3/4 8pt and 12pt socket. I can post a picture tomorrow when I get to work.

If the nut is actually 1 5/16 I would look on eBay for lineman wrench or sockets as you can probably find one for cheap. But a good size adjustable wrench would get the job done.

 

[ssdave]

....

 

[Dagny]

It acts like a wedge also dont drive next to the wall.

 

[Jland]

This is the reason my wrenches range from the tiny tune up one to 2"... just for that one time i may need it.

 

[Wakefield]

This is the reason my wrenches range from the tiny tune up one to 2"... just for that one time i may need it.

15" or bigger adjustable might come in handy someday

 

[pizza]

Really not a good chance that tightening it will recompress the expansive clay soil and fix a leaning wall. Chance that you can make it work if you can dig out the soil next to the wall, and then tighten it to pull the wall back. I'd expect it is tied with rods to a deadman buried a few feet away from the wall in the soil. It's almost impossible to compress soil to correct a leaning wall. The force to do that is many, many times the force that the soil developed to move the wall in the first place. The soil settled after it moved, and it takes a lot of force to try to "unsettle" it back into place.

interesting. i had no idea what the thing he wanted to tighten actually was.

so that's a basement? and not a concrete foundation? what's the wall made out of, sheet metal?

 

[Ton ton]

I would try the adjustable wrench.

 

[SeisMec]

Really not a good chance that tightening it will recompress the expansive clay soil and fix a leaning wall. Chance that you can make it work if you can dig out the soil next to the wall, and then tighten it to pull the wall back. I'd expect it is tied with rods to a deadman buried a few feet away from the wall in the soil. It's almost impossible to compress soil to correct a leaning wall. The force to do that is many, many times the force that the soil developed to move the wall in the first place. The soil settled after it moved, and it takes a lot of force to try to "unsettle" it back into place.

Well worth repeating. No way the wall is pushing the earth back 1". I picture stripped threads or worse yet stud bolts snapping. Snap enough bolts and catastrophe!

 

[RJS]

If the square nut is 1.25 then a 1.25 12pt should fit. I work with square nuts every day and a 3/4 square nut will fit a 3/4 8pt and 12pt socket. I can post a picture tomorrow when I get to work.

If the nut is actually 1 5/16 I would look on eBay for lineman wrench or sockets as you can probably find one for cheap. But a good size adjustable wrench would get the job done.

You're correct that 12pt sockets will fit on square bolts, but you're mistaken on the size. Often times you can find a 12pt that will fit your square well enough, but it will always be a larger size than the width across the flats of the nut.

For example, I believe you'll find the 12pt socket that fits on a 3/4" square nut is probably a 7/8".