Shade tree mechanic! Whatcha workin on.

[TimW]

Being an aircraft mechanic, I already had up to 10MM.  Usually at an airline, the big tools are special tools and supplied by the company and regulated by the FAA.  We only had to have smaller hand tools.  I hardly ever used 3/8 or 1/2 drive sockets and ratchets, unless working on landing gears.  99% of the time I used 1/4 inch drive stuff.
But with my heavy equipment at home, I only have to buy big stuff.
I bought Lull because it was American made.  Who knew the axles were made in Italy?

[TimW]

A shade past shade tree, I made a sling for installing and removing the Lull's tires.  Waiting on parts.

[Machinebuilder]

I never knew that aircraft use mostly small fasteners.
A 10mm wrench is for a M6x1 hex bolt or nut.

Having worked on mainly Japanese machines for the so long I have wrenches/ sockets up to about 36mm and Allen wrenches to 19mm

in fractional/inch, I have a cheap 3/4"drive socket set that I needed to work on tractor implements and other tools for almost anything smaller.

It's when you run into the oddball size or lesser used fastener that it becomes difficult to source the correct tool.

When I removed my pickup bet I had to buy a large external torx plus socket, I forget the size but I used it for 8 bolts and its in my toolbox.

one time at work a Quality Engineer came looking for a socket to fit a certain bolt used in production, it was some really unusual thing that we could not find the correct tool for.
Maybe the have them in Japan, but design engineers  need to think about the rest of the world too.

[Old Greenhorn]

Aircraft is in it's own fastener universe. Before retirement I worked for a company that made millions of fasteners just for aerospace. I think we would sell $2.6 million dollars in fasteners for every 777 that was built. Some fasteners even had sensors inside of them and the ones to hold composite skins on air surfaces were titanium with a close fitting stainless steel sleeve. Tolerances were very tight. Plus they use tons of specialty captive fasteners for hatches and covers. Much of the work is riveted and very special tools are required for river removal and replacement, the anodizing may not be scratched on the components being riveted. FOD (Foreign Object Debris) such as chips and shavings generated were a major no-no and grounds for stop work orders.

 When I had my own shop I once got an order to make a few hundred penta head bolts, yes, 5 sided bolt heads. These are used in the railroad industry and their own version of tamper proof. I was told they had their own sockets to work those bolts. Just for giggles, I played with one and tried to find a regular socket that would hold the bolt enough to turn it, but no soap. I would hate to be a mechanic in the field who forgot his special socket one day. 

[SawyerTed]

Not me doing the work but vicariously getting my fill of mechanics lately.  

My daughter's car needed some bodywork, fender, hood, headlight and number cover after whacking a deer. Her partner (not married but long term boyfriend?) is doing the work.  Her vehicle is out of commission for a while.  There's that. 

We loaned her my wife's Mazda MX 5, it is just a toy and a 2008 extra car.  She and her significant other decided it needed brake pads.  The car came with upgraded wheels and requires a special lug key to remove the wheels.  They are not cheap sockets to replace.  Eli called saying he couldn't find it.  Since they are 2 hours away, all I could tell him is it was in the glove box last time I needed it.  I didn't hear back from him so I figure he found it.  

My son has an Impala sedan he drives to and from work.  He came by last night to collect some jack stands, floor jack and other tools to replace some steering and suspension components.  I was relieved when he said he didn't need my help!  The only thing I dislike more than laying on the ground working on a car is crawling in a crawl space!

[Tom K]

Apparently its tire time for me. 

Son asked for some help getting from drywall sheets for his house over the weekend. He needed 16' sheets for the ceiling, and I had the 14' dump trailer hooked to the truck. As I was squeezing between the tractor I left in the drive way and the shop I got a little too close to the bucket on the mini excavator and slashed the side wall of the tire, it was a new tire this spring. Tire #1 for the day. Hind sight I would have cleared the dew off the windows and mirrors.

Daughter has some stuff in the enclosed trailer she isn't ready for yet in her house, so I had to grab the livestock trailer. The back tire was flat, pumped it up and headed out. While waiting for them to bring out the sheets I glanced at the front tire and notice there was a bulge and the tread was separating. Both tires on that side had more dry rot I had realized, tires #2 & #3. 

I placed an ordered 4 tires so I have an extra. I may just order one more and switch them all out on the livestock trailer instead of just the pair. Probably try to get the 4 I have switched over tonight.

[Machinebuilder]

Sometimes on the odd ball fasteners you just have to break out the universal wrench...............



Vise grips or the newer version Knipex Cobras
I do have a pair of pliers that work better than both of them on small screws.
neji-saurus

[TimW]

Aircraft is in it's own fastener universe. Before retirement I worked for a company that made millions of fasteners just for aerospace. I think we would sell $2.6 million dollars in fasteners for every 777 that was built. Some fasteners even had sensors inside of them and the ones to hold composite skins on air surfaces were titanium with a close fitting stainless steel sleeve. Tolerances were very tight. Plus they use tons of specialty captive fasteners for hatches and covers. Much of the work is riveted and very special tools are required for river removal and replacement, the anodizing may not be scratched on the components being riveted. FOD (Foreign Object Debris) such as chips and shavings generated were a major no-no and grounds for stop work orders.

 When I had my own shop I once got an order to make a few hundred penta head bolts, yes, 5 sided bolt heads. These are used in the railroad industry and their own version of tamper proof. I was told they had their own sockets to work those bolts. Just for giggles, I played with one and tried to find a regular socket that would hold the bolt enough to turn it, but no soap. I would hate to be a mechanic in the field who forgot his special socket one day. 

Yep Tom.  12 point instead of 6 point.  Scratches equal cracks.  Yes to tight tolerances.  Some repair holes call out using reamers to take the hole out to size.

After 911, we had to have special fasteners to finish installing cabin sidewall panels so they were tamper proof.  Same in the lavatories.  So more special tools to carry "upstairs".

I specialized in sheetmetal.  My ex wife fell off her rocker when I told her I had $$$$$ in sheetmetal tools.  Guess I need to see about selling them off.

Right before the Feds mandated all aircraft fasteners to have documentation, we had left over titanium hi locks by the bunches from doing wing scab patches to 2 Hawaiian Airlines DC9-50s. Nobody wanted them so I took them home.  One guy was just gonna toss them in file 13.  I have about 10 pounds of various sizes and lengths, flush and protruding head which were back then $$$$, but I have no paperwork for them.  I would love to sell them to you for keepsakes!!!

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I worked for Huck Fasteners, also known as Howmet Areospace, Alcoa fastening systems, and a half dozen other trade marks. Mostly we did rivets for everything from skin panels, to air frame and seat mounts and all in between. My shop made the tools, not the fasteners. We only had one tool facility, but probably 20 other fastener plants around the planet.
 Thanks for the offer, but I have exactly one aerospace titanium faster on my desk here and it's now a key chain/bottle opener and de-commissioned.  That's all I need or want. Done with that.

[TimW]

Ah, come one.   Like Lays, you can't have just one.

[SwampDonkey]

I somehow misplaced the Allen wrench to the lathe, for tightening the motor mount down. I bet it will turn up in the loot because that kind of thing never left the shop and I'm sure it had a spot where it lived, I have just forgot in 30 years. But, about 2 months ago I was in Harbour Freight and bought a set. The largest one in the set is what I needed. Good for another 30. 

[TimW]

30 days or 30 years?  I am sure that new lathe wrench will grow legs and find the old wrench to keep it company.
Reminds me of the tongue in cheek warranty I learned about as a general aviation mechanic back in the late 70s...................1 mile or over the fence.

[SwampDonkey]

Years.    I just haven't look hard enough for the old one. ;)  I need to take a flash light down to the old shop and look on the top shelf. I know there are some treasures hiding in the dust up there.

[Larry]

My old Ford 7.3 PSD has been a little doggy for the past week. When cruising it seemed to loose power but came right back. I thought maybe an injector was dirty so came up with a plan. Change the fuel filter and fill the housing with Seafoam and treat both fuel tanks.

As soon as I pulled the filter I could see another problem. The filter was completely black, not just dirty but black. To me this indicates water and algae in the fuel tank. Not wanting to drop two tanks to clean I decided to get some Power Service Bio Kleen. With the Seafoam, new filter, and Bio Kleen the truck is running like new.

Picked up another filter and I'll take the old one out in a couple of weeks to see how it looks. Hopefully no black.

[Gus]

I just finished putting a new 3 spool valve on my shortwood skidder.

[doc henderson]

making me jealous.  I have had little time as we transitioned to hospital employed.  we effectively lost 4 docs so filling in the gaps and working 20 shifts this month.  usual is about 10 to 12.  I have all the brake stuff for the ford, but no time.  

[RetiredTech]

Back in the early 90's I built a walk in cooler from scavenged second hand parts. It has served us well over the years. I recently snared a wild pig early one morning and turned the cooler on to get it cold. Well, the compressor wouldn't start. A little troubleshooting proved the compressor itself was locked up. I blew my mad money on a Woodland Mills Chipper in September so there was no budget for a replacement condensing unit. The old one was probably manufactured in the late 60's to early 70's. I dug around and found this old window unit I had removed several years ago. I removed the evaporator section and blower wheel, plumbed in the old accumulator and low pressure switch then connected the evaporator. I need a better box to mount the wiring and run capacitor in but this works for now. The compressor has a little less capacity, but it did a good job of keeping the meat cold unit we were ready to butcher it. It ranged between 34 and 38 which is where my thermostat is set. Still need to make a more weatherproof cover. Hopefully this is a temporary fix until something better comes along.  

[SawyerTed]

This little part is about the diameter of a dime and 5/16" thick.   

When it disintegrates, a Lincoln MKZ transmission will not shift because this little bushing holds the shift cable end on the transmission shift lever.  

Dr. Emily and I were running errands yesterday and we stopped for lunch.  When we got ready to leave, the car wouldn't shift from park into drive.  Some quick diagnostics and a "field repair" got us home without a tow truck.  

I opted to replace the entire shift cable linkage on the end of the cable rather than just the bushing.  The cable linkage was less expensive than the bushing.   

A pair of needle nose pliers and a screwdriver were all that was required.  I dint need a jack and didn't even have to crawl under the car.  It was a 15 minute fix.  My kind of shade tree mechanics.  

[Southside]

Toyota did the same thing on the Sienna mini van, except that bushing is on the shifter itself buried behind the dash.  Lots of fun parts to remove....

[barbender]

Ooh, i hate anything behind the dash.

I have an 02 GMC 3500 I bought this spring. It has a manual shift transfer case- the kind that always works unlike those pesky electric shift ones, right? Well I went to shift it into 4x4 one day and the shifter was just flopping. The clip on the little ball stud linkage on the transfer case had given up to the MN roadsalt. So now, when I occasionally need 4x4 I've been crawling underneath and popping the linkage back on, which is way better than turning some electric dial no doubt. Finding a replacement linkage is a little murky, there seem to be a little of variations and "wrong" parts. I'm starting to think a steel rod with a couple of looped ends might be in order.

[TimW]

Well, I finally got it all apart and back together.  The oil seal was split in two pieces.  It is 7.1 inches in diameter.  I used the old inner bearing (after I tore it apart removing it) inner race to hammer it on with.

[TimW]

I had to rip the cage off the bearing to get to the back side and pry around with a large screwdriver.  Finally got it out enough to use a gear puller on it.

[TimW]

I took the old inner bearing race and put it in the vise and took the high speed grinder and a new 3/4 inch rotary file to grind down the inside so it would slip on the knuckle shaft.  Then I used it to hammer the new bearing in.

[TimW]

Then put the hub on and wiggled the seal onto the knuckle shaft.  The drove home the outer bearing.  I had a scissor jack under it to prop the hub up while the outer bearing was seated.

[TimW]

Then the sun gear and it's 10 bolts.