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One of the tensioner straps which hold up the gas tank let go a week ago. It was the one on the left. The one on the right still looked good, so I went to order. Eeuro does not stock, they order from dealer, and suggested I do the same for convienience.
Tried my indie to see if he had in stock. No, but suggested I replace both. He used the rationale that if one was bad, the other couldn't be far behind. That is the way they work, and he thought it was a good idea. He could not have been more right! The strap looked good where there was good light, but when I got it off, I could see some serious rust.
Tip #1 If one strap is broken, or looks weak, replace both!
Tip #2 use a die cutting tool to clean the rust off of rusty bolts.
I used the muffler replacement protocol of spraying down the bolts a couple of days before working on this job, but was still nervous. A couple of posters have broken bolts in removing the old strap. I really did not want to do that!
Picked up a die cutting tool in metric for $15 from Harbor Freight. Used it to run down the bolt and clean up the rust in the grooves. Was able to do the one mostly by hand, the other required use of pliers all the way down. Result? nut slid off like it had just been installed. Now that I've got the set, I'm using it on all my old bolts in the future! And I can clean up the broken and cut ones.
I'm betting that the real mechanics do this all of the time, but for some reason I've just not heard this tip before. Worked great for me.
Just a couple of quickies that may make your next strap replacement a bit easier.
posted by 70.226.11...
, Thu, 27 Jul 2006 18:34:50, Fri, 28 Jul 2006 08:17:25
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