Thin spanners?

[george formby]

Quick question about spanners. I need to strip and grease the suspension pivot and bearings on my Gas Gas Randonee trials bike. Unfortunately their is not enough clearance to get a normal spanner onto the nuts. I also believe the nuts may be made of cheese.

Can I buy spanners designed for this or am I getting the grinder out?

[HenryDorsetCase]

I had a similar access issue and ended up using those double ended offset ring spanners: https://www.powertoolsdirect.com/sta...1-16-x-13-16in

the other thing I have had some success with is pushbike tools... they tend to be smaller and lighter. As long as they work.....

[george formby]

I had a similar access issue and ended up using those double ended offset ring spanners: https://www.powertoolsdirect.com/sta...1-16-x-13-16in

the other thing I have had some success with is pushbike tools... they tend to be smaller and lighter. As long as they work.....

Cheers. I think I have set of StahlWillie spanners somewhere, will see if I can find them.
Good call on bicycle tools. I was wishing for one of those multi tool, all in one spanners I had as a kid. Will have a squizz..

[HenryDorsetCase]

Cheers. I think I have set of StahlWillie spanners somewhere, will see if I can find them.
Good call on bicycle tools. I was wishing for one of those multi tool, all in one spanners I had as a kid. Will have a squizz..

If you end up buying pushbike tools the best ones are Park Tools.

[SaferRides]

I found a set of thin Stanley spanners last year on clearance at the Warehouse of all places. They are maybe 2/3 the thickness of the other sets I have, and generally easier to use when access is tight.

[george formby]

Did some fettling on the wee GG since I posted and had a another look at the suspension linkage with the rear wheel out.

Does it make sense to knock up a "spanner" from 3-4mm steel plate to anchor the bolt head while I undo the outside nut? A simple U cut.

Cone wrenches, as suggested by Mr Case, were the inspiration.

[GazzaH]

Horde old spanners.

Grind to fit.

Next!

[george formby]

Horde old spanners.

Grind to fit.

Next!

I have boxes of them, maybe 4 sets from Germany made from old Panzers, but it feels sacrilegious to take a grinder to a good tool.

We shall see.

The other issue is my Warehouse "red dot" grinder. It's not very confidence inspiring, just ok for tidying up a shovel edge.

I will try the diy approach, if the Chineseium head doesn't like it then a spanner may be sacrificed.

[GazzaH]

I've burnt out about 3 of those red-dot-type cheap-as-chips disposable grinders before investing in something better. They're designed to last exactly one minute beyond the guarantee period, with occasional, light, careful use, on leap days.

But so long as you're patient and barely touch the surface with the grinding disk, it'll probably do the job.

If it melts down, you can always finish with the bastard.

[ellipsis]

I'm a bit like GazzaH...old spanners always have a use...I have a box full of ground down, cut off or weirdly bent or twisted ones from previous, impossible access jobs...

[F5 Dave]

Remember to approach with open mind. Some bolts will become accessible once others are out and linkage can be lowered away.

Also you will be dealing with 15mm and other queer sizes never used before my Beta and the GasGas. Been a while since my Trials bike. The GG enduros are slightly more conventional.

[george formby]

Remember to approach with open mind. Some bolts will become accessible once others are out and linkage can be lowered away.

Also you will be dealing with 15mm and other queer sizes never used before my Beta and the GasGas. Been a while since my Trials bike. The GG enduros are slightly more conventional.

Yup, looking at the linkage with the wheel out gave me a different perspective. The outside bolts are easily accessible nylocks but the PITA's are sandwiched up against the bottom of the shock, through the frame, so no swing.

As you say, I don't know if I will need to remove the shock (and airbox) until I start. If the shock does have to come out access is way easier but that involves a load more dismantling.

Only nuts and bolts I guess, what could possibly go wrong? Who'da thunk a trials bike could be so complicated?

Oh, the swing arm pivot is another adventure for this DIY wannabe. I will need to find a much longer bolt to drift it out, the Allen head bolt pulls it up against a lip in the frame so no thunky, thunky with a socket.

[Drew]

I spent an hour turning a spanner into a single use item to get the motor out a Legnum VR4 once.
The center diff needs to be undone and moved over 10mm off the trans to get one bellhousing bolt.
Even with my special tool it took longer than that to get the bolt out.

Needless to say, that bolt went in the 'I'm sure they over engineer these sort of things' pile when the new motor went back in.

[Katman]

You can usually remove a bolt that you have easy access to, then raise the rear wheel which will give you easy access to the other bolts.

(Sorry, I see that the suggestion has already been made).

[HenryDorsetCase]

I spent an hour turning a spanner into a single use item to get the motor out a Legnum VR4 once.
The center diff needs to be undone and moved over 10mm off the trans to get one bellhousing bolt.
Even with my special tool it took longer than that to get the bolt out.

Needless to say, that bolt went in the 'I'm sure they over engineer these sort of things' pile when the new motor went back in.

My brother in law had extraordinarily bad luck with his Legnum - it was one of those VR4's and he had a turbo let go and spent a lot of money getting it running again, and about 1000k after that the bottom end let go. Ended up selling the vehicle for like $500