TOOLS: Ratchet for Low Headroom Places

[TanquerayG]

Does anyone have a solution for this?

I need to remove a bolt on one of my engine mounts (remove clutch release cylinder). I can get a 14mm box wrench in over the head of the bolt but the wrench shaft is too short to get enough torque to turn the bolt. The wrench is not shaped well to put a pipe extension on it. I want to put my ratchet wrench on it and add a pipe to the ratchet bar to get more torque but there is not enough headroom above the bold head for me to slip the socket & ratchet onto it. I know Sears had some ratchet/socket design for a while where the socket had a hex shape on the outside and the ratchet looked like a box wrench, slipped over the socket and grabbed the sides to turn it. Fit well in low headroom places. And it was a bar so I can put a pipe extension on it.

Any ideas if something like this exists and where? The name of it?

Any other ideas besides work out for a week and try again?

Maybe I should grind down the wrench end to be like a bar so I can put a pipe on it?

I don't want to take the engine mount apart to get around it.

[tstoney82]

you can buy some XL extended length gearwrenches. this might help. if you still cant get enough torque, take a small bar and slip it over the end of it and it should definitely come loose then

[TanquerayG]

I went to Sears Hardware store and they didn't have the special ratchet.

TStoney82, very good suggestion you made. I looked into these online, they sound possibly longer, and then I found what I was trying to find....

GearWrench XL Pass-Thru Ratchet & Sockets

http://gearwrench.com/catalog/xl_pas...m/gearratchet/

This is sold at Sears, but not in stock where I went, according to online. This tool is made to avoid deep sockets but it has the byproduct of a low profile. The set #893823 has a bar 12 inches long...very nice. And a round bar so I can easily add a pipe extension.

I also found the GearWrench Gearbox wrenches are another solution.

http://gearwrench.com/catalog/wrench...eting/gearbox/

It has an even lower profile. And the 14 mm wrench is 12 inches long. Perfection.

You have shown me the way...these are a set of tools to keep in mind...lowest profile and and long bars.

[TanquerayG]

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[tstoney82]

Originally Posted by TanquerayG

I went to Sears Hardware store and they didn't have the special ratchet.

TStoney82, very good suggestion you made. I looked into these online, they sound possibly longer, and then I found what I was trying to find....

GearWrench XL Pass-Thru Ratchet & Sockets

http://gearwrench.com/catalog/xl_pas...m/gearratchet/

This is sold at Sears, but not in stock where I went, according to online. This tool is made to avoid deep sockets but it has the byproduct of a low profile. The set #893823 has a bar 12 inches long...very nice. And a round bar so I can easily add a pipe extension.

I also found the GearWrench Gearbox wrenches are another solution.

http://gearwrench.com/catalog/wrench...eting/gearbox/

It has an even lower profile. And the 14 mm wrench is 12 inches long. Perfection.

You have shown me the way...these are a set of tools to keep in mind...lowest profile and and long bars.

yeah i use them everyday. working on the 2 they come in handy like no ones business. if you like them and want more torque and less hand stress, try the gear wrenches that are cross-beamed (meaning the shaft is twisted) these come in handy when you have a lot of wrenching to do and also helps break stubborn bolts easier.

[TanquerayG]

tstoney82

I saw GearWrench XL wrenches when I was shopping yesterday and I see what you mean. I measured it and it was true, they are 25% longer. I wish I had known about them them when I bough my regular GearWrench Flex Combination wrenches. Love them, but I would love them more if they were 25% longer. I still want the GearWrench GearBox or GearWrench XL Pass-Thru System (socket and ratchet) for this problem since they are even longer. 12 inches.

[J.Harris]

I just recently replaced my slave. I had to take the firewall motor mount off, which took 4 14mm bolts, then the 17mm through bolt. I was then able to easily access the 2 14mm on the transmission case that held on the motor mount. Good luck

[BrokeMoFuGgA]

you can use another wrench as a breaker bar,Just slip the box into the open end of your wrench and it should work.ive used this method a time or two gl

[TomsMR2]

i have the gearwrench Xl's. fantastic, even on a professional level. highly recommended, even over snapon/mac/matco.