[dleccord]

Has any tried using a 1/4" ratchet tip for this? Also, would a tool for Audi/Volkswagen fit our BMWs?

[LMB335IS]

Works fine. Buy a couple cheap ones, they'll round off, no sense ruining good ones.

[bbnks2]

Yes they work fine. Use two... one at both ends.

DO NOT use a chisel or anything else. Doing so stretches the aluminum metal too much. I played with my coilovers so much and I was being lazy with a chisel and eventually had to replace both hubs. Not fun.

[feuer]

Tool for Audi/Volkswagen fits well

[dleccord]

Originally Posted by feuer

Tool for Audi/Volkswagen fits well

Awesome thanks !!

[juld0zer]

Just did some changes to my suspension yesterday. Left side complied with the 1/4dr adapter trick. Right side refused to budge. Looks like a chunk of alloy gets taken out each time, impairing future attempts with the same trick. I ended up using one 1/4dr adapter and a 1/4dr ratchet as that's all i had handy.

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by bbnks2

Yes they work fine. Use two... one at both ends.

DO NOT use a chisel or anything else. Doing so stretches the aluminum metal too much. I played with my coilovers so much and I was being lazy with a chisel and eventually had to replace both hubs. Not fun.

Ha, I used a chisel on mine, but I wasn't repeatedly installing and uninstalling struts. Did your steering knuckle actually crack?

Originally Posted by rothwem

Ha, I used a chisel on mine, but I wasn't repeatedly installing and uninstalling struts. Did your steering knuckle actually crack?

Yeah seriously...I would figure that a chisel would ease the knuckle apart; where as the adapter socket would actually chew into it (skip to 4:24):

An actual spreader tool might help there, given the shape of the bit, but still...

[bbnks2]

Originally Posted by rothwem

Ha, I used a chisel on mine, but I wasn't repeatedly installing and uninstalling struts. Did your steering knuckle actually crack?

Yeah, I was constantly taking my coilovers out to make adjustments. Probably had them out 10+ times. The ears literally snapped off when I torqued the pinch bolt. I didn't even make it to 60ftlbs and they snapped on both sides lol. The chisel can over-spread the knuckle and fatigue the metal.

The problem with the 1/4" drive bits is that they are rounded and the metal is softer than the bit, so yeah you can chew the hub up a bit. It does work though and is safer than slamming a chisel to spread the hub. Chisel is nice though because the downward force also breaks the strut free from the hub lol. WD 40 helps.