3/8 inch drive socket that works for K-bike spark plugs

[Motorhobo]

There's a torque spec for spark plugs I can't find a thin 3/8 in drive socket that gets in there, so I've been using the socket that comes in the toolkit and tightening it by feel for the past 18 years. Not that I have a problem with that but...should be 17mm, no? Haven't been able to find a thin 17mm socket that I can use with a torque wrench. Any help?

And I know GIYF, done that. There are thin wall 17mm sockets but that's no guarantee they're thin enough to get around the plug. Looking for a tip from someone who has something that works.

 

[Chaos]

Craftsman or Harbor Freight 11/16 deep socket works fine, probably others.  Thickness isn't an issue with any I've used. 

[Motorhobo]

I have a deep socket Crescent with too much wall thickness and no metric one will go in...I'll try the 11/16 next time I have a plug out. Thanks...

[Andy FitzGibbon]

11/16" is the correct size, at least for Bosch X5DC's.  My NAPA sockets work fine. 17mm would be too small, unless it was a fairly sloppy fit.

Andy

[blackie1]

put your oem spark plug wrench on your plug  and a socket and torque wrench onto the spark plug wrench.
 thats how i do it

[K1300S]

gearwrench brand deep sockets work well for this.  available at many chain autoparts stores.   

[bizzaro]

put your oem spark plug wrench on your plug  and a socket and torque wrench onto the spark plug wrench.
 thats how i do it

Ditto here. Easy peasy, and no investment?

[Motorhobo]

put your oem spark plug wrench on your plug  and a socket and torque wrench onto the spark plug wrench.
 thats how i do it

There you go. That never occurred to me. I'll probably still look for a deep socket that works since i hate opening up the OEM toolkit unless I have to but till then -- that works.

[johnny]

greetings...

thats how i do it...

this is my twerk wrench...


20180824_115606.jpg (32.26 kB . 576x576 - viewed 468 times)

j o

[bizzaro]

greetings...

thats how i do it...

this is my twerk
j o

Yes, but do you use a German twerk, gutten tite, or the French twerk, finessee' ? It makes a difference?

[daveson]

btw the wheel nut spanner from the original kit fits on the small end of the spark plug spanner if on side of road with no torque wrench
and the shocker extension bar fits the wheel spanner as well

[Motorhobo]

Yeah, that and my "Just 'Nuff" torque wrench is how I've been doing it for 14 years for lack of a method of getting in there with a 3/8 in drive.

[Andy FitzGibbon]

When it comes to tightening spark plugs, drain plugs, ect. on an aluminum engine, I trust "feel" over a torque wrench. I like to be able to feel how the gasket is compressing as the plug is tightened, and you loose some of that feedback using a torque wrench vs. standard ratchet.

Torque wrenches can go out of spec if not calibrated regularly, particularly in the lower ranges. And torque specs are quoted for a new engine, not one that has miles of heat expansion and may have had the threads over-orqued by a previous owner.  I had to Heli-coil the oil drain plug hole on my friend's KLR a few years ago, after she dialed the torque wrench up to Kawasaki's recommendation and the threads immediately stripped out... the wrench never clicked.

Andy

[bizzaro]

No offense to you or your friend, but..........operator error is a possible in the equation?

[Andy FitzGibbon]

No offense to you or your friend, but..........operator error is a possible in the equation?

She knows how to use a click torque wrench. It was a new bike to her... I suspect that the plug was slightly over torqued by a previous owner.

Andy

[bizzaro]

If that were the case, it would have clicked?

[Laitch]

And torque specs are quoted for a new engine, not one that has miles of heat expansion and may have had the threads over-orqued by a previous owner. 

Piffle. Torque specs are quoted for clean, dry fasteners in reasonably good condition.

[Andy FitzGibbon]

If that were the case, it would have clicked?

That's my point. It didn't click because the threads stripped out before the factory torque setting (17 ft. lbs.) was reached.

Andy

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Piffle. Torque specs are quoted for clean, dry fasteners in reasonably good condition.

I disagree. Torque numbers for a steel 12mm bolt and nut- ie., fasteners- are not the same as torque numbers for a steel 12mm drain plug that's threaded into an aluminum case.

[Laitch]

I disagree. Torque numbers for a steel 12mm bolt and nut are not the same as torque numbers for a steel 12mm drain plug that's threaded into an aluminum case.

I trust your feelings.  :Rabia:

[Chaos]

What's the torque for "finger tight"?  That would be that asinine drain bolt for the front forks.  I take that back, my fingers could strip it. 

[bizzaro]

She knows how to use a click torque wrench. It was a new bike to her... I suspect that the plug was slightly over torqued by a previous owner.

Andy

Slightly overtorqued and stripped are two very different things........just sayin.  Not trying to get into a pissing match here.

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Slightly overtorqued and stripped are two very different things........just sayin.  Not trying to get into a pissing match here.

OK, then maybe you'd be happy with "moderately overtorqued", or perhaps "partially overtorqued"? The point is that the aluminum stripped before the wrench clicked, while set to the factory torque spec.

If a fastener system is torqued slightly beyond the ability of its weakest component each time it is tightened, eventually it will be stripped.

Andy

[Laitch]

The point is that the aluminum stripped before the wrench clicked, while set to the factory torque spec.

If a novice can trust neither tools nor data but instead must rely on a sense of torque as transmitted through underdeveloped neural pathways and varying degrees of comparative muscular strength, that is a dilemma. To make matters even more challenging, the nefarious bike manufacturers who are supplying flawed data only suitable for new motos in so-called repair manuals  and their faulty-tool manufacturing collegues are out to get them, too. It's exciting stuff but financially dependent on an increased birth-rate to balance the kill-off of owners from equipment failure.

It's a miracle the whole system works as well as it does. :clap:

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Well, we live in an imperfect world, certainly. Your nihilistic view of the situation is is perhaps good preparation for the less-extreme reality that we are actually faced with.

Andy