S***ty Rear Diff Plug

Wrong. Very few 12-pt fasteners on Korean and Jap cars. They're mostly found on European cars like the Supra and Cherokee, both external-wrenching and internal-wrenching (aka "triple square") versions.

 

Isn't Supra a toyota model?

 

^Are you sure? https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2020/TOYOTA/SUPRA/2%2520DR/RWD#recalls

 

Learned something new. Explains why they resemble the z4 so much.

 

It says 2020 Toyota Supra 2D RWD doesn't it?

 

^Designed and built by BMW with BMW parts, in a low-volume Steyr factory in Austria (same site building the G-wagen). The Supra is a European vehicle. I'm not even sure if they make a RHD version to be exported to Japan?

 

Ah, the Interweb strikes again, things can be misunderstood when keyboards are involved. To my point just Google Toyota Supra, perhaps that may illustrate my position. Interesting that a European mfgr. would have a model with the name of a native American tribe just like one of our Jeep models of the past.

 

^Hasn't been "our" Jeep for the past 14 years...

 

Whenever I round off a bolt, it's usually from pulling on the wrench so hard I accidentally shift the socket or wrench end slightly off the bolt head, so it shears the points off more easily (picture the socket seated on the bolt at an angle).

I don't even try to get the diff bolts manually anymore, I like to hammer on the end of the ratchet wrench handle to pop them loose, while holding the socket end tight to the bolt head (kind of a poor man's impact wrench). Way fewer rounded bolts and busted knuckles since I started this with difficult bolts.

 

This is what I did to break it loose after I got the correct socket and a little help from Canada