Using a Wrench in Blind Spots or Close Quarters
| 01 April 2002
If you work on your car enough, you’ll eventually be faced with a situation where you have to work by feel in a blind spot. It usually involves putting a bolt in place or putting a nut on a bolt. And before the job is complete, you’ll have to use a wrench in the blind spot to tighten the fastener. How do you keep from dropping (and losing) the wrench as you fumble around trying to tighten things up? Or in another scenario, you might be able to clearly see the location where you need to install a fastener but the clearance is so tight that there’s no room for your hand. You can reach it with a wrench so getting it tight won’t be a problem but how do you get the fastener started?
In the case where a blind spot is the challenge, you’ll feel pretty good when you get the fastener started by hand but you’ll want to throw something or your vocabulary will turn real ugly if (when?) you drop the wrench as you try to tighten it. The trick is to tie one end of a piece of twine to the wrench and then tie the other end to a finger or to your wrist. For added security, you may want to put a piece of electrical tape over the twine where it’s tied to the wrench. Now you can fish the wrench out of its hiding place if (when) you drop it. With a little patience and a few recoveries of the dropped wrench, the fastener will be tight and you’ll still have your wrench.
In the case where clearance is a problem, find a way to stick the fastener to the wrench and then use the wrench/fastener assembly to start the fastener. Once it’s started, it’s just a matter of tightening it up. Here’s an example of how the trick would work with a small bolt or a small nut. If you’re using an open end or a box wrench, use a piece of masking tape, duct tape, or electrical tape to cover one side of the wrench-opening so that the sticky surface of the tape faces in toward the opening. Fit the bolt or nut into the wrench and stick the head of the bolt or the surface of the nut to the tape. Now the fastener can be carefully moved into position and a partial turn taken to start it. If it won’t start, reposition it against the tape (one flat at a time) and try again until you can catch a thread. When it’s started, carefully remove the wrench, remove the tape, and then finish tightening. Socket wrenches can be outfitted in a similar manner but if you’re working with a nut, you may have to put a shim (e.g.: cardboard or another nut) in the bottom of the socket to boost the nut near to the top of the socket. Otherwise if the nut is in the bottom of the socket, the bolt may not reach it. If you need to use a shim, first stick the shim to the bottom of the socket and then stick the nut to the shim. As in the open-end example, remove the tape and shim, if you used one, after the fastener catches a thread. Finish tightening and the job is done.