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Reeeeally long/narrow wrench

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c4e

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Does anyone know of a wrench that can remove a 10mm bolt in a very tight space? It would need to be about 18-22" long and no wider that 3/4".

I was thinking even a piece of 1/4" steel with a 10mm hex cut into it would work. Is there a place I can take a piece of steel to that may be able to cut the hex in? Or maybe with a really shallow socket welded on.

I've looked at serpentine belt tools but i've yet to find one that goes down to 10mm.

Thanks in advance!
 
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scott37300

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c4e said:
It guess it would have been wise of me to mention that I don't have the capability of welding anything.
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That changes thing! Would welding a peice of metal onto a wrench work for what you want? You can get a cheap craftsman wrench and a peice of metal and call around and see if someone can weld it for you, shouldn't cost much at all since you just need a weld.
 
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tube_guy

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Get the 1/4" piece of steel and drill a 3/8" or 25/64" hole in the end of it. File the round hole into a hex, test fitting to the nut as you work.
 
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asp

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What about a 18"+long 1/2" drive breaker bar with a 1/2 to 3/8 adapter and a shallow 6 pt 10mm socket?

What about the old double wrench trick?

What vehicle is this on? Got any pics of where you need to get at it from?

Man, I don't know how I got anything done before I could weld. Seems like little things like this were always in the way.
 
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c4e

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Thanks for all the suggestions guys... I found a solution that worked out.

Like you said i just went and got one of those cheapo Task Force 10mm wrenches, cut the open end off, put it in a piece of steel pipe just large enough to fit and then proceeded to beat the hell out of the pipe in the area where the wrench was inserted until it would not fall out. It did the job.

Thanks again! :beer:
 
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scott37300

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c4e said:
Thanks for all the suggestions guys... I found a solution that worked out.

Like you said i just went and got one of those cheapo Task Force 10mm wrenches, cut the open end off, put it in a piece of steel pipe just large enough to fit and then proceeded to beat the hell out of the pipe in the area where the wrench was inserted until it would not fall out. It did the job.

Thanks again! :beer:
Click to expand...

Glad you got it, just curious what it was for?
 
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c4e

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A serpentine belt. My car does not have a automatic tensioner with a big bolt on it. It has a manual tensioner that needs adjustment with 10mm lock and swivel bolts. PITA.
 
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Kevin54

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c4e said:
Thanks for all the suggestions guys... I found a solution that worked out.

Like you said i just went and got one of those cheapo Task Force 10mm wrenches, cut the open end off, put it in a piece of steel pipe just large enough to fit and then proceeded to beat the hell out of the pipe in the area where the wrench was inserted until it would not fall out. It did the job.

Thanks again! :beer:
Click to expand...

Why didn't you just wrap it with some electrical tape so it would not fall out? Same principal but a lot quicker. Once it had the leverage on it, it wouldn't go anywhere
 
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c4e

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Kevin54 said:
Why didn't you just wrap it with some electrical tape so it would not fall out? Same principal but a lot quicker. Once it had the leverage on it, it wouldn't go anywhere
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It would be fair to say that after 30 minutes of scraping up my arm and dropping the wrench because there was no clearance that I was adequately pissed off. There were plenty of options for holding the wrench in the pipe but, like I said, I was pissed and I take every opportunity to use my BFH that I can.
 
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charle10

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That's kind of funny because our company makes the belt tensioners for the newer Grand Vitaras (2008 or newer). I guess enough people complained about the manual tensioner.
 
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c4e

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charle10 said:
I guess enough people complained about the manual tensioner.
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That's understandable, considering it's a huge PITA to adjust and a POS on top of that. My car has 75k miles and im on the third tensioner (no, not overtightened).

The design of many things on the car ****. For example, having to unbolt the front differential housing to change the water pump, which is INSIDE the engine...
 
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reznunt

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tonydanzah said:
take a 10mm wrench, cut it in half and weld the box end to the piece of steel
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why? you can just link two combo wrenches like this:

how-to-change-brake-pads-on-disc-brakes-20060126034316246.jpg


that's what all us honda guys do. ;)
 
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reznunt

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c4e said:
That's pretty hard to do when you can't get the first wrench on the fastener.
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guess i'm picturing your situation wrong. :headscrat

your 10mm box wrench is wider than 3/4"?
 
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reznunt

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c4e said:
The fastener is in a place where the closest i can go to it with my hand is about 16" away.
Click to expand...

can you link the two wrenches as pictured and duct tape the joint so they don't come apart? two snap on long combo wrenches might work.

ps if you do get it off, i hope you don't have to put it back on! lol
 
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SiGmA_X

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reznunt said:
can you link the two wrenches as pictured and duct tape the joint so they don't come apart? two snap on long combo wrenches might work.

ps if you do get it off, i hope you don't have to put it back on! lol
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Reading comprehension much? \/ \/
c4e said:
Thanks for all the suggestions guys... I found a solution that worked out.

Like you said i just went and got one of those cheapo Task Force 10mm wrenches, cut the open end off, put it in a piece of steel pipe just large enough to fit and then proceeded to beat the hell out of the pipe in the area where the wrench was inserted until it would not fall out. It did the job.

Thanks again! :beer:
Click to expand...
 
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rsieracki

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i was going to suggest the pipe without beating the hell out of it...drilling n tapping a hole to use with a set screw would create a "wrench extender" that sould have been re used. snapon/blue point also makes a ratcheting crowsfoot that has a 3/8 female input that can be used with any lengh of ententions for an infinite length wrench.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?item_ID=81140&group_ID=19602

you cant see in the photo but there are 2 3/8 female inputs... not a bad price considering their snappy/blue point
 
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tonydanzah

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the champagne of people
rsieracki said:
i was going to suggest the pipe without beating the hell out of it...drilling n tapping a hole to use with a set screw would create a "wrench extender" that sould have been re used. snapon/blue point also makes a ratcheting crowsfoot that has a 3/8 female input that can be used with any lengh of ententions for an infinite length wrench.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?item_ID=81140&group_ID=19602

you cant see in the photo but there are 2 3/8 female inputs... not a bad price considering their snappy/blue point
Click to expand...

small world

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82436
 
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c4e

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There are some truly exceptional people on this board. Good guys like Unclemoak go above and beyond just to help another guy out. I didn't ask him for help directly but boy... that guy is a life saver. He does some great work too!

:bowdown:
 
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