7.3 bottom IP bolt

[XOLATEM]

if you go from here tomorrow and decide to never return

I just don't see that happening...as long as I have access to the internet...you guys are addictive...every day I look to see what you and everybody else is gonna come up with next...

I might skip a day or two here and there...but it is only because I am either out of town or super busy on the house project and don't have a minute to spare...we (The Girl and I ) have gotten an incredible amount of things done in the past...oh...six months...to supplement what the concrete crews and other contractors have done...

This should be under the heading of...'What did you do with...'...but using 'Ol One-Ton and the Skid Steer and the Girl Truck and various trailers...as well as tools and equipment I have collected over the years has limited the amount of work we would have had to pay someone else for...as well as having to line up with their schedules...and...we did it OUR WAY...instead of having to settle for the 'hurry-up and throw it together' way...

Even FINDING people that were able to fit us in was a challenge...it seems that the building trades have not lost a beat in this area...even during the recent scamdemic...everybody that could build something were busy...at least that is what they told us...

I gotta hand it to My Girl...she is a worker...she ran a plate compactor like a champ..!! She has worked right there with me raking dirt, gravel, running level lines, sealing up a concrete wall, building forms, running the skid steer, cleaning up debris, keeping schedules, talking with vendors, answering questions, etc.,etc.,...

...it also seems that we got a good amount of work done after dark by flood light...one time I took both trucks and aimed the headlights on what we were working on and left the engines running...

It has been a real adventure...the last twelve months...and since I had to quit my job last May to do this...you guys have been my group of guys to chat with and learn stuff from...and I don't see me getting rid of my truck anytime in the future...it is too handy...

So...I am appreciative of this community and hope to hang in there as long as I can see and type...

Thanks, guys...

 

[XOLATEM]

half moon wrenches. Top bolts on transfer cases

I had to buy a half moon to be able to get to a couple of nuts on studs on a FWD Olds or Buick where the front Diff. bolted to the transaxle...

80's model FWD and also maybe the 70's model Caddy Eldorado and Olds Toronado...

Still have it and never use it...but...it is still in the tool box....

I tried to only buy what I needed...never knew what I might have needed to buy next....

As far as torquing things...if I feel that if something really needs to be at a certain torque value...I use a torque wrench...but I always think back to what I 'think' that I know about fasteners...to be tight and to be able to hold...the fastener has to be mildly stretched...not past its elastic limit...but close...otherwise it may work loose if it is subject to cyclical stresses or other vibrations...

If you have been a mechanic for any length of time...you would develop a 'feel' for metal and the fasteners you usually work with...and time will tell you if you need to change your methods...

My first experience with a japanese automobile was that the fasteners were not as good as american car fasteners...and I had to treat them just like some kind of 'special' child...with kid gloves...

Over time I developed a prejudice for anything that did not withstand the punishment that Good 'Ol American Iron would...it was the yardstick I used to measure Worth...if a company would build a product and use minimum spec fasteners...it was not worth having...in my estimation...

Some of you would agree...and I am sure a lot of you would argue to the contrary until the cows come home...

because we have been living with japanese manufactured goods for a number of decades now...some folks never knew what it was like in the Before Times...they grew up with imported stuff...

it is just my preference....does not make it good or bad...

it just is...

I imagine that when you go to tighten up a japanese fastener...you oughta use a torque wrench...or at least a very experienced and accurate Calibrated Elbow...

 

[Black dawg]

Yeah the concern here is these bolts are extremely critical and if one loosens, it could potentially scrap the IP and cause some very expensive repairs. Compound that with it being darn difficult to reach the bolt with any regular wrench (seems like "half-moon" and "obstruction" wrench are the same style tool) and that my bottom IP bolt was loose, leads me to want to make sure it gets done right and tight, if at all possible.

Admittedly, I am also extremely thorough and cant leave well enough alone, likely picked that up from my pops and a career as an engineer. If I work a bolt that is critical, as in could cause major failure or strand me if it fails or loosens, I will make sure its torqued to whatever spec applies. Been in too many situations with buddies stuck on the side of the road because they didnt torque their stuff down right to want to put up with that now in my life.

Have always gotten the two that are easy pretty tight, and the third snug. Have never found it loosened up. Have seen these come in with all three nuts loose, like finger tight. No dramatic pump failures.

As far as a wrench, a standard wrench ground to make the box end thin works perfectly.