Spanner socket for Walker jack

[OccupantRJ]

I tore down an old Walker 1-1/2 ton floor jack for a rebuild, and needed to get the spanner nut out of the top of the fluid reservoir. I had a slug of hot rolled steel in my contingency materials bin, so it got voted for the job. The ends were faced off in the lathe, then an 1-1/4" hole was drilled through. this overdrilled a bit, which was just the right diameter to slip over the jack's ram.

The piece was then placed in the Bridgeport on it's side so two flats could be milled. These were used later to index the part to the vise to cut the drive dogs, and also to provide a grip area for a pipe wrench. Once the flats were cut, the part was placed upright in the vise and the two .244 width drive dogs were cut to size, at a depth of .165. The slots in the spanner nut measured out to .251 in width, so the .244 would allow the socket to engage the slots properly. A little beadblasting removed the mill scale to make things somewhat presentable.

The jack unit was drained of oil, then the ram was pulled out a couple inches to provide guidance for the socket, and to make sure it stayed engaged properly during wrenching. A 4 foot pipe wrench and a couple of grunts later, and the spanner nut was off easy as pie. Ignore the small hole in the side of the socket, as it was already drilled in the drop.

 

[pop pop]

Works for me, but you can make the same dogs in the face of a 1 1/2" x 3/4 socket and use an impact. Less straining.

 

[Hiball]

Very nice... The only downfall do using a adapter like that is sometimes it will want to work itself out of the groove when applying pressure. You can remedy that by pulling the piston completely out (unless its the newer style and the ram cup has come off/deteriorated) and use some brass shims and lock the adapter to the nut with some Vise grips.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

I cheated and used a Budd socket, cutoff wheels to rough it in and filed the lugs to fit. A few seconds of impacing and the spanner nut was off.

 

[jxxxoxxxe]

I've got to make something similar for my BlackHawk SJ18. It has 2 spanners that I need to remove. The smaller center one is the one I'll probably have to make the tool for.

I've got some stock chucked up in the lathe right now, but havent taken any measurements to where the pins need to be...

 

[Jeeper]

I cheated and used a Budd socket, cutoff wheels to rough it in and filed the lugs to fit. A few seconds of impacing and the spanner nut was off.

Bringing this thread back. Georgia...where did you get a cheap Budd socket? How much was it?

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

About 8 bucks from the local EL Cheapo Chinese tool store (not HF, there are others). I had to use a 1/2" female to 3/4" male adapter on my impact but it works quite well. Now that I have a mill, I plan on cleaning it up a lot and making it look "pretty".

 

[KMinAF]

You make it sound so easy! When I tried the "lug" socket idea the tabs would bend or round over so after three tries at recutting the socket I used a 12" pipe wrench and a 6' piece of pipe and still had to hang my whole weight on it to break it free.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

You need to have it in a low vise and really put your weight on the impact to make sure it doesn't back out or slip sideways. I have a buddy that uses a little larger pipe as a sleeve to keep it centered.

 

[Jeeper]

What do you think of using cutting up a chrome socket vs. an impact? I assume the walls on the impact would be thicker.

Chrome is just a few bucks cheaper...

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

What do you think of using cutting up a chrome socket vs. an impact? I assume the walls on the impact would be thicker.

Chrome is just a few bucks cheaper...

It's thin and they are harder, not a good thing when impacting with a stout impact gun as the have a tendacy to shatter instead of deform. If nothing else, find a local steel store and ask for a 4' long drop from a piece if 1 1/2" XXstrong pipe (schedule 120) and cut the notch in it and weld a big nut on the end.

 

[theoldwizard1]

A 4 foot pipe wrench and a couple of grunts later, and the spanner nut was off easy as pie.

I had to use a 5' cheater to get my tank nut off !

 

[KMinAF]

You need to have it in a low vise and really put your weight on the impact to make sure it doesn't back out or slip sideways. I have a buddy that uses a little larger pipe as a sleeve to keep it centered.

Just how big of an impact are you using? 3/4" from a truck stop? My IR (not the home depot version) didn't even begin to loosen it. What ever it is I want one!

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Snap-on MG725 with a snappy 1/2" female to 3/4" male adapter. Running about 120 psi at the gun. If your impact doesn't have enough grit in its s**t, take it to a truck shop and ask them to zip it off. Lookin4'67Galaxieconv came up from Atlanta a couple of weeks ago and we used it to zip his Walker apart and rebuild it.

 

[pop pop]

KMin, you can point the cyl rod down and fill with a few ozs of ****** fluid and let soak a week or so and help. But you're gonna have to get up over 500 ft # to loosen that dude. The MG 725 and the IR Titanium are the only 1/2 ones I know of.

 

[Jeeper]

I made one out of a Northern tool 1 1/2" deep well impact socket. I used a cut off wheel to rough in the tabs, then used a 4.5" grinder and bench grinder to remove the side material. File to get the tabs into right shape.

Used my nitrocat 1/2" impact with a harbor freight 1/2" to 3/4" adapter and the socket. It took a minute to remove the tank nut. Hammered and hammered until the nut slowly turned off.

Thanks to the others for the inspiration. Worked well. Just took a while to grind the socket down.

 

[Burgerkong]

Well, time to pick this one back up (I got pissed when I couldn't undo it and threw it aside for a year or so LOL). After snapping the lug off of my first modified socket, then trying to weld a steel plate onto the socket (which just bent the plate when hit with the impact), take three is here.

Pretty sure this time it'll work. Obviously I fudged up and should've ground the lugs on the sides without the pin detent holes, oh well. Need some more filing before it'll fit snugly.

Managed to source something beefy enough, a 1" female to 3/4" male impact adapter used in reverse with a 7/8" chrome 12 point socket driving the 3/4" end - not ideal, but 8 point or pipe plug impact sockets are in short supply locally and I didn't want to spend $20 to order in. Wrapped the chrome socket with a bunch of duck tape just to keep the parts together if it does grenade. Time to test the power of my new Milwaukee wrench!

 

[Burgerkong]

Here it is completed! Fits like a glove, hopefully works well!

 

[goinglobal]

Is there any company that sells this 1 1/2 inch spanner socket? Would much rather purchase one than try to make it. Trying to rebuild Lincoln walker (NAPA) 93632 floor jack

 

[goinglobal]

Is there any company that sells this 1 1/2 inch spanner socket? Would much rather purchase one than try to make it. Trying to rebuild Lincoln walker (NAPA) 91-632 floor jack

 

[goinglobal]

Here it is completed! Fits like a glove, hopefully works well!

I was wondering since this is a metal to metal seal has anyone used silicone to help seal the back of the reservoir? I would think some high temp rtv might help seal this pretty easily without having to get 250 - 300 ftlb on the spanner nut. Any suggestions?

 

[Burgerkong]

I was wondering since this is a metal to metal seal has anyone used silicone to help seal the back of the reservoir? I would think some high temp rtv might help seal this pretty easily without having to get 250 - 300 ftlb on the spanner nut. Any suggestions?

I (and others) used anaerobic flange sealant since it'll cure in low oxygen environments (ie, inside the hydraulic chamber).

 

[goinglobal]

Thanks I will let you know if it works.

 

[goinglobal]

I used anaerobic gasket maker on the gland nut and the metal to metal base and it worked perfectly... Thanks for the help. 36 year old jack works like brand new with new seals and the gasket maker should last another 10 years...