Proper Tool to Drain Gearbox

[Steve Scalmanini]

I don't know how much headroom there is adjacent to this plug, but a 17mm male hex socket with a 1/2" drive and a hell-for-stout body thickness can be gotten from industrial tool outlets for the low $20 range.  Mine is Proto P/N 5441-17M; excellent quality but a full 4" long.  

I couldn't find one like it in any automotive stores last year when I needed to torque the replacement bolts for the front axles (the ones that come in the box of a front-outer CV boot kit and that you're supposed to replace whenever you remove the half shafts.)  I only found a wimpy 3/8" drive model that is sold to remove VW and Porsche oil drain plugs,.  I tried it with the clerk's lifetime-warranty blessing and it lasted a few seconds before breaking (around the square drive hole.)  I got my money back and called around to find the correct tool.  

If you don't have 4" plus a ratchet thickness of headroom, you might have to make a tool out of a common 17mm socket (6 sided preferable?) and a piece of 17mm hex stock, perhaps cut from the long end of the cheapest 17mm hex allen wrench that you can find.  Maybe try the 3/8" drive tool first and if it doesn't last, go to either of the 1/2" drive tools.  

Good luck, 

Steve 
Ukiah, CA 


Sat Aug 7 18:22:39 EDT 2004 


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Looks like a 17mm allen key.  ... Any tricks or source for the right tool?