Homemade slug wrench for 22mm bolts on rear bearing housing

[timichango]

wrong thread — redacted
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Vroomhilde-San: Our 1991 Silver Vanagon Westy automatic + Subie EJ25

[Zeitgeist 13]

I just made my own version of this tool. I needed another MIG project to accompany one to fix a bird bath, so this just made sense. I made mine 8" long and with a 12 point 7/8" Craftsman socket. Thanks to Kevin for the great idea.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[ALIKA T3]

See Kevin, the problem here is if you had built 2, I would have bought one

For road side emergency, I can tell you the brake plate comes out fully attached to the brake line one piece by carefully bending the brake line. The hub and axle come out one piece, but I'd love a tool like that in my tool box .

Good job fabricating one, I wish I had a welder, I would have done it a long time ago , but that's the kind of thing you curse at for not having on the side of the road, but then it's fixed and you forget about it..... til next time
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Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[61Scout]

Thanks guys. You both describe the problem well. 1- There isn't enough room to get any regular socket with ratchet or breaker bar between the bolt and brake backing plate; and 2- The spotface (machined flat) on the bearing housing is not wide enough for an unmodified box end wrench to sit flush on it. Besides having to grind away the box end for clearance, one is still stuck with the awkward angle and then running into the neck of the wrench itself which naturally wants to push the box end up and off of the bolt through the rotation. Also, most combination wrenches sold are twelve and not six point.

The tool worked awesome, btw. It stays on solid, fully engaged with the bolt, and with a six point there's zero fear of it causing damage. I tried both slugging it with a hammer and using the breaker bar and both methods worked with ease.

-Kevin
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1986 Westfalia Weekender Wolfsburg, RJE 2.3
1985 Tin Top, Subie 2.2 + 5MT
Floppy Mirrors no more: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=653018&highlight=
Remove the front spindle nut with ease: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=679567&highlight=
Remove the rear wheel bearing housing without messing with the big 46mm nut: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=679507&highlight=

-Nec Spe, Nec Metu

[Sodo]

Thats a good idea. I think a box wrench can't engage the bolt well because of the bearing housing casting but a short socket fits into the machined spotface.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Zeitgeist 13]

Looks like a really solid idea. VW didn't leave a lot of spare room for access to those bolts
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[61Scout]

Hey all. So I have a van I'm working on where there's basically no need to mess with the rear bearings. At the same time, the owner is getting a whole new suspension system and the rear trailing arms need to be removed for reconditioning. In the past I've just removed the big nut, taken off the brakes and zipped off the four 22mm bolts holding the housing to the trailing arm. I also have a ground down 22mm wrench to use, but it's a 12 point so not the greatest thing to be breaking tension. And then there's torquing it back down too. So today I decided to build a tool just for this job. Here's what I came up with...



First I measured the thickness of the bolt head.

Then I gathered the parts I needed. I used a six point 7/8 socket. Why 7/8? Well, because I felt it was better to cannibalize than my metric one basically. I also found a scrap piece of 3/16" flat bar and then fired up the old Keller power hacksaw to make another one. It's roughly 7" long.

The old Keller still working strong after all these years.

I then measured down 15mm from the top of the socket and cut it off, and prepped the flat bar for welding. 15mm which leaves me room for the big fat nasty bead I'm going to weld to hold it down.

She's an ugly beast, but she's built for strength not looks. I went ahead and welded the remaining bottom end of the socket on the opposite end so I can use a 1/2" breaker on it and for torquing down the assembly later when it goes back together.

Here it is on the Vanagon rear bearing housing about to do its work. The 15mm section of socket sits nice and flush against the housing. It's strong enough to wack on with a hammer or simply use a 1/2" breaker bar.

So there it is. I thought this might come in handy for someone. It would certainly come in handy if you had a stuck 46mm castle nut and needed to take the assembly down to a shop to have it zipped off. Especially if the van was up on jackstands or was otherwise not able to be driven down to the shop.

-Kevin
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1986 Westfalia Weekender Wolfsburg, RJE 2.3
1985 Tin Top, Subie 2.2 + 5MT
Floppy Mirrors no more: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=653018&highlight=
Remove the front spindle nut with ease: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=679567&highlight=
Remove the rear wheel bearing housing without messing with the big 46mm nut: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=679507&highlight=

-Nec Spe, Nec Metu