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Right tool for the Job


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After giving up last year on my stuck packing nut and living with water in the boat I ordered a set of wrench's from ski dim this winter (I know $60.0 is insane for 2 flat wrench's). I was able to use plumbing wrench's on my LSV as it was pretty easy to get to, on the VTX not so much. I even JB welded the adjustable wrench's to the right size, tried several times for a couple hours each time. It took about 5 minutes (including untarping the boat) to break the lock nut free using the correct wrench's.

So I guess the old saying is true.

Just thought I would share after reading all the horror stories from people who were struggling with this.

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I tried crows foot style and couldn't get the ratchet on even with various length extensions. Just could not get the geometry to work to get any leverage. No room for larger adjustable wrenches either. The only thing that worked was the special wrenches. They were just the right length but I still had to use a 2X4 about 2' long to apply enough force to the wrench. One wrench was on one side of the shaft nestled up against something acting as a backup to hold the nut and the other wrench was on the other side of the shaft and on the locknut. The wrench was horizontal and the 2X4 was vertical. I had to hold the board right on the end of wrench. I had to really lean on the board with all my weight while someone else held both wrenches and kept the board in the right spot on the wrench and it finally broke free. Not a one man job in my case. It is really tight under there with all the hoses and pumps.

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I tried crows foot style and couldn't get the ratchet on even with various length extensions. Just could not get the geometry to work to get any leverage. No room for larger adjustable wrenches either. The only thing that worked was the special wrenches. They were just the right length but I still had to use a 2X4 about 2' long to apply enough force to the wrench. One wrench was on one side of the shaft nestled up against something acting as a backup to hold the nut and the other wrench was on the other side of the shaft and on the locknut. The wrench was horizontal and the 2X4 was vertical. I had to hold the board right on the end of wrench. I had to really lean on the board with all my weight while someone else held both wrenches and kept the board in the right spot on the wrench and it finally broke free. Not a one man job in my case. It is really tight under there with all the hoses and pumps.

Yep had to do the 2X4 trick as well luckily the boat is still winterized so I could just move the hoses aside Edited by 02-Scape
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All of these issues magically disappear when one's engine is turned in the correct orientation. Just saying.

Yeah, but then,

you can only have like 5 people in the boat.

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  • 1 month later...

I had to add to this for the ones looking to do this & did a search. I tried to cheap out & ordered those slip nut wrenches. They didn't work. I bit the bullet & ordered the wrench from Bakes. Took me a minute to adjust the packing nut on the water. Just order the wrench & save yourself the headache of having to remove pumps & monkey around down there. The correct wrench makes it very simple

Edited by racer808
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Yeah, but then,

you can only have like 5 people in the boat.

I've had 14 people in my DD. It was cozy, and overweight for sure, but it can be done!

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I had to add to this for the ones looking to do this & did a search. I tried to cheap out & ordered those slip nut wrenches. They didn't work. I bit the bullet & ordered the wrench from Bakes. Took me a minute to adjust the packing nut on the water. Just order the wrench & save yourself the headache of having to remove pumps & monkey around down there. The correct wrench makes it very simple

I put a nylock locking wing nut on my slip nut wrenches. Got rid of all that slop in them.

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I've had 14 people in my DD. It was cozy, and overweight for sure, but it can be done!

We had 14 people in a VW bug once. It was beyond cozy, and barely had brakes.

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We had 14 people in a VW bug once. It was beyond cozy, and barely had brakes.

Wait, did you use to work for Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey? :lol:

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Wait, did you use to work for Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey? :lol:

Although that is what it seemed like, it was much more innocent. The neighborhood ball game got too large for the yard, so we decided to go to the high school field 2 miles away. Only one of us had access to a car....

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