S***ty Rear Diff Plug

I’ll start by saying I’m a total hack, sometimes hamfisted.

Had a day off today and decided to do fluid changes.

- Front diff fluid changed & new driver side CV. Also did ECHS bushing and swapped out the OE Allen drain plug for a hex drain plug

- Manual trans fluid change

- Transfer case fluid change

- Get to the rear diff and buggered the fill plug with a 12pt socket like an idiot. Sprayed beforehand with PB Blaster and let sit but still didn’t break loose, rounded the corners off. Got a good 6pt socket and hacked a sliver of a drink can and hammered the socket on. GOOD TO GO!

… and there was much rejoicing…

 

A before shot from my crappy fix.

New plug and ring ordered to fix er for good!

 

What even is the purpose of a 12 point socket anyway? Someone once told me they contact more surface area which seems opposite of truth.

 

Looked boogered up before you began. 6-point is the shape of the bolt.

Glad you got it off. Way to think out of the six sided box, lol

 

I have a whole drawer full of sockets in my toolbox, very few are 12point and those rarely get used.

12 point give more placement options and can sometimes help in places where there's limited room to work with a 6 point socket.

 

they are great for 12pt bolts

 

In the future, use an impact wrench.

 

Never come across one in a lifetime of amateur wrenching

 

^Icon and All-Pro UCA bolts are 12-point.

The intake manifold studs have an e-torx pattern. A 12-pt socket can be used to remove those, according to Toyota's install sheet for the v1 TRD intake.

12-pt fasteners are very common on European cars like the Supra.

 

Well, makes sense that I haven’t run across them then…I’m a Bilstein man, and (prayers) have never needed to work on the intake manifold (or European vehicles for that matter).

 

^For larger e-torx bolts (like those on your front diff torque tube) it's advisable to get proper e-torx sockets to avoid stripping the heads.

 

Thinner walls usually and a smidge easier to position sometimes, both from having more points and the thinner walls.

I do have a nice small set of 8 point sockets too.

Sometimes called double square. For working with pipe plugs. Which is what some marquees used as transmission fill plugs.

 

The ability to reposition with smaller movements is one I hadn’t thought of and makes sense.

 

honestly I’ve always been leery of impacts with stuff like this because of the fear of stripping what is definitely a somewhat fragile bolt. Probably would’ve avoided the whole ordeal if I hadn’t grabbed the wrong socket

 

I can't believe ginger ale has 130 calories smh

 

Had the same issue with the trans plug on mine (which is the same size and thread by the way). Ended up ordering a Vortex M18 x 1.5mm plug (P/N DP007) and replaced both the one in the Trans and rear don’t with it. It’s made of a better grade steel than the factory plug and is a hair smaller, which is nice if you get a lot of dirt on the rear diff. Either way, main takeaway is a 6pt socket works wonders.

 

In my experience impacts apply less torque with more even distribution than I can with a box wrench. So they're less likely to break a bolt.

 

I have a 6 point socket I ground flat to get on those..

 

Turns out it wasn't the drain plug that was shitty. It was your choice of socket

 

FIFY