white whale
Active member
Yes finally popped a nut so to speak. I always hated where the tie downs - the rotating semi circle buckles were located and wanted to add some more. After adding the grab bars in the back (another post) without a threaded spot thought it was time to do my own . I live in POPNUT country I guess. The tie downs are an M8 size - just learned about the metric id's for bolts too - up to that size the tool is not that bad cost wise <$100 , M8 and higher that gets to be a pricey tool.
The small compact one is $400 here. Thanks to the mighty TUBE its amazing what you can find.
Sort of combo of a few DIY's I came across.
1 nut driver hand tool
1 deep socket - 3/8" type, enough for the bolt to slide through.
seems the longest M8 bolt is 3 " so the socket needs to be chopped to allow for 3/4" +/- of the bolt threads to be exposed. This deep socket had a notch all the way round at one end for an easy hacksaw cut through.
weld a washer on both ends to allow the bolt cap to rest level as well as the surface where the tool will rest on the van surface.
Tough to find a 17/32, or metric equivalent drill bit so used a 1/2" and reamed it out a hair.
Probably a tighter fit this way for the nut.
1/2" socket end @ 13mm size and you are good to go. I used my corded impact gun I use for tires - trial and error for the ft lbs setting. 200 is the setting that will crush these into place that leaves enough to finish it off by hand for final tightening. You need a fair bit of pressure on the tool to keep in place and flush to the surface. My impact has the digital display to set the force for auto shut off. Too much you have the risk of the nut spinning in the hole .
There is ALOT of pressure on the washers welded to the socket, both sides bent a bit- i added thicker washers and they still bent somewhat - more on the cut end where the socket wall is thinner. i may redesign if i find an equivalent thicker wall tube.
First two are set, I'll pick up some rings from the wrecker. Now I know what all the excitement is about for these things.
The small compact one is $400 here. Thanks to the mighty TUBE its amazing what you can find.
Sort of combo of a few DIY's I came across.
1 nut driver hand tool
1 deep socket - 3/8" type, enough for the bolt to slide through.
seems the longest M8 bolt is 3 " so the socket needs to be chopped to allow for 3/4" +/- of the bolt threads to be exposed. This deep socket had a notch all the way round at one end for an easy hacksaw cut through.
weld a washer on both ends to allow the bolt cap to rest level as well as the surface where the tool will rest on the van surface.
Tough to find a 17/32, or metric equivalent drill bit so used a 1/2" and reamed it out a hair.
Probably a tighter fit this way for the nut.
1/2" socket end @ 13mm size and you are good to go. I used my corded impact gun I use for tires - trial and error for the ft lbs setting. 200 is the setting that will crush these into place that leaves enough to finish it off by hand for final tightening. You need a fair bit of pressure on the tool to keep in place and flush to the surface. My impact has the digital display to set the force for auto shut off. Too much you have the risk of the nut spinning in the hole .
There is ALOT of pressure on the washers welded to the socket, both sides bent a bit- i added thicker washers and they still bent somewhat - more on the cut end where the socket wall is thinner. i may redesign if i find an equivalent thicker wall tube.
First two are set, I'll pick up some rings from the wrecker. Now I know what all the excitement is about for these things.
vic
vic