I'm getting ready for an extended trip and am looking at my tool list. I bought a 2 1/8 Craftsman socket years ago for wheel bearing maintenance on the 100 but the socket, and it's needed 3/4" - 1/2" drive adapter, weigh a ton and are way overkill for the job. Has anyone found a lighter weight alternative to a standard socket that fits the nut? Since the torque is so low a cheap stamped steel type would suffice but I haven't able to find one at local auto part stores. I realize that, in the scheme of things, the extra weight isn't really that much but it still bugs me to carry around that excessive hunk of steel when I could be applying the weight to something really important - like another bottle of beer!
Front Wheel Bearing Nut Socket - Lite-Weight Version?
- Thread starter badlander
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This ^^^^^^
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Make one. Just bend a piece of steel to 54mm and weld a socket that you don't need, or have multiple of, to the end. That way you could have any sized drive you wanted like so:
check with a plumbing supply house you can find the cheap stamped steel one you are looking for... i made my own out of a scrap of muffler tube heated up the end and formed it around a nut.... ( was a cast iron gas pipe fitting if i remember right) took 5 min to make tempered (cooled it in old motor oil) drilled a hole in the non formed end to use it like a factory supplied motorcycle spark plug wrench... light weight and you could store other tools inside it....
I use a 3/8" drive version to make setting the torque on the bearing preload easier.
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I have one and it started to really bend when I had a stuck spindle nut on one of my 80s. I ended up having to buy a proper 3/4" drive socket to get it off. Just something to keep in mind if the nut won't come loose.