Homemade Tools
By Chuck Cage
Rick writes: “I came across this tool on one of the BMW boards I frequent. Like the poster said, it’s not pretty… but it gets the job done. I thought it was pretty ingenious and I was curious what other home-grown tools the Toolmongers out there have created and/or come across.”
According to the original forum post over at bimmer.info (link below), a guy made this tool to get the 22mm banjo bolt out while replacing the power steering hose on his M5. It’s a shortened 22mm combo wrench with a 1/2″ drive socket welded on.
We’ve run across a number of similarly creative home-engineering solutions. The BMW airhead we picked up earlier this year came with a couple of funky-looking sockets in the seat — in particular there was one large one that’d been turned down a bit in a lathe. It turned out to be a perfect fit for the large bolt on the forks.
We also saw some guys weld up a metal-only body hammer after the wood handle broke for the umpteenth time in a hard-workin’ body shop environment.
What have you seen?
Custom PS Banjo Bolt Installer [Forum Post, bimmer.info]
December 11th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Just to clarify, the issue with replacing the banjo bolt is only problematic on UK M5s (right hand drive)
December 11th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Oops.. don’t want to forget the Aussie, Kiwi, and Japanese Bimmerheads..
They are also right hand drive
December 11th, 2006 at 7:21 pm
Roy Moungovan’s book, “Shop Savvy” covers a bunch of fun wrench alterations.
My favorite personal alteration is here:
http://www.cartertools.com/drill2.jpg
I welded the clamping bolt for my drill press table to a socket extension, and have an old 1/2″ socket wrench (cheap at a yard sale) permanently affixed. I can loosen or tighten the table in a snap without either reaching for a wrench, or using the floppy lever bolt that came with the drill press…
They do of course make ratcheting/multi position handles…
December 12th, 2006 at 6:38 am
Nick- that’s a great idea! I might knock it off.
December 12th, 2006 at 7:18 am
Not wanting to pay for this tool: http://jakestrait.myftp.org/photos/Projects/Motorcycle/2.%20YU-33975.jpg
Not having a welder, I put a bolt through a cheapy one size fits most wrench to get the socket of a torque wrench on it. http://jakestrait.myftp.org/photos/Projects/Motorcycle/4.%20torque_tool.jpg I torqued the bolt higher than the torque I needed for the application so I could be sure it wouldn’t turn.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
[...] We wrote about one of our first reader-found homemade tools, a welded-up wrench designed to help remove the 22mm banjo bolt on the BMW M5’s power steering hose. [...]