Swivel removal - after 18 years on salty northern roads...

[monkie]

I put thread lock on the bolts and then used Halfords 14mm spanner. Once I got them as tight as I could by hand, I also gave them 2 or 3 moderate whacks with a hammer and the job is a good'un, now a few years later.

[Snagger]

Any of these would be a reasonable solution - you can continue to use standard spanners rather than needing a short and a long set.  Alternatively, just do the trick with a second ring spanner in the open ended end of the one you are using.

[Stellaghost]

41 minutes ago, Snagger said:

 Alternatively, just do the trick with a second ring spanner in the open ended end of the one you are using.

 

^^^ This, works great

Regards Stephen

[Junglie]

2 hours ago, Stellaghost said:

But still a fraction of the price Snap on would cost

Regards Stephen

True.

 

[landroversforever]

They're hardly expensive in the grand scheme of things! Aviation pattern is just the name for them, quite what makes them that I don't know, but it hasn't made them any more expensive. 

[muddy]

Honestly just buy a set, £60 for a set of spanner’s that are decent quality for a semi professional mechanic is nothing. Much much better that ‘whacking with a hammer’

 

[Northwards]

😂 I did wonder if "aviation" meant they would be more spendy. The same pricing disease that affects anything with "Defender" on it.

I have a good set of these spanners, and I thought they were Halfords to be honest, but I've just checked and they're unbranded. I've used them quite a lot when there's poor access, but you need to apply a decent amount of torque. 

[Junglie]

I work in and around aviation. Here's an example of how that pricing thing works.

Next time you get in an airline, look at the floor by your seat. You'll see the seat is located in rails - there are 4 of them for each block of seats and there are 3 rows per rail. They're really simple aluminium extrusions that you'd find in greenhouses and things like that, but because they're approved by the FAA and stamped accordingly...they are $3200. Each. In a standard size 737 there are 56 of them.

Another stupid thing. It is against the law to smoke in an aeroplane toilet. This is A Good Thing as a toilet fire is basically an unextinguishable blaze that you're carrying around until it falls off the aeroplane. Probably taking the tail with it. But it's also mandatory to have an ashtray in the toilet. Presumably in case someone grabs a smoke and needs somewhere to get rid of it that isn't into the blue slime which catches fire and see above. 

The ashtrays are approved by the FAA and so cost between $3000 and $5000 each. They're also removable so techniclally you can ground the aircraft and make a packet by simply nicking the ashtray. I would heartily recommend you avoid the temptation as the damages you'd get sued for when airport security caught you would be huge...

[Snagger]

Yep, those seat tracks are the same as used in busses, ambulances, trains and heavens knows how many other low cost applications.

As for security, I remember in a lesser London airport about 20 years ago, in a well known, brightly painted airline, we had a specific demographic of passengers cutting seat belts to be worn as belts on the jeans.  Security didn’t want to know and the problem persisted right up until it was pointed out that the problem was occurring because security wasn’t doing its job at all, given the belts were cut,  not un-clipped.

Sorry for the digression…

[Mossberg]

I used the long aviation spanner on mine and it worked a treat.

I was cautious about using thread lock as I didn't want to make the bolts too difficult to remove in the future.  Doing the swivels was one of my first jobs so I was new to the threadlock thing so I googled it and watched a video by loktite. It was a good watch and it showed how the threadlock actually helped the bolts to come out in future as it prevented water getting into the threads and corroding- it was a good watch for me doing my first attempt at spanner work.

[muddy]

42 minutes ago, Mossberg said:

I used the long aviation spanner on mine and it worked a treat.

I was cautious about using thread lock as I didn't want to make the bolts too difficult to remove in the future.  Doing the swivels was one of my first jobs so I was new to the threadlock thing so I googled it and watched a video by loktite. It was a good watch and it showed how the threadlock actually helped the bolts to come out in future as it prevented water getting into the threads and corroding- it was a good watch for me doing my first attempt at spanner work.

 

The standard bolts come with the thread lock already on them, if you are having trouble undoing something that has thread lock a waft with a blowtorch soon softens it to allow it to come undone far more easily.

[Peaklander]

Loctite advice that I once noted, says that for medium strength (blue - such as 243), torque is needed to disassemble and heat makes it easier. For high strength permanent joints (green - such as 270), both heat and torque is needed. 

[reb78]

I have always considered that threadlock actually makes things easier to remove in that it prevents (or at least helps) stop threads becoming corroded and then impossible to remove. So I wouldnt avoid it on the basis that it will stop me undoing something....

Irwin bolt extractors come in handy in the OPs situation. There may not be enough room behind the swivel with the ball in place (although i seem to recall i have used them in that spot) but once the ball is cut off the right size extractor will take those bolts out without issue IME.

[Mossberg]

15 hours ago, muddy said:

 

The standard bolts come with the thread lock already on them, if you are having trouble undoing something that has thread lock a waft with a blowtorch soon softens it to allow it to come undone far more easily.

I agree, new bolts usually have it on and to be honest I do tend to use new bolts rather than replacing them. However, I replaced my swivels at the start of last year then replaced the axle case within six months, so refitted bolts on that occasion. Also I seem to do more of my fair share of fitting something then taking it off again in the near future!

[uninformed]

Plenty of options opinions on removing so I don’t need to comment there.

 

Regarding the bolts themselves, 6 are standard and one has a larger shank. They have different part numbers. The larger shank can go in any hole. 
 

The aftermarket bolts I had (replacement with correct part numbers) were junk. I did some destructive testing and they definitely were not the 12.9 class when compared to readily available SHCS of same class (and size of course) . I would opt for genuine.

Some aftermarket swivel balls have a bad reputation due to failures, and with the exception of the Tdci, LRs metallurgy and manufacturing was actually pretty damn good. (Size was generally the limiting factor)

I would seriously consider VGC second hand genuine balls (I have 3-4 spare sets  for myself lol )

 

Just my 3 1/2 cents 👍

Edited January 14, 2023 by uninformed

[Peaklander]

6 hours ago, uninformed said:

Regarding the bolts themselves, 6 are standard and one has a larger shank

I mentioned that in a thread earlier this year. I had trouble finding suppliers of the correct 'special' bolt. The Paddock stock was mixed-up and I resorted to measurements to prove it to them. I bought genuine from Blanchards but only at the second attempt. The bolt is used to create a tight fit so that the swivel rotational position is fixed and so is that castor angle.