Last Weeks Cool Tool

I guess I'll call them leaders, but these little wire leader things came with Ben's hitch.

To install the hitch we had to get bolts up and inside the frame of his Jeep through holes just slightly bigger then the bolts. These leaders threaded onto the bolts and allowed you to securely lead (pull) them through the holes of the frame and into the holes for the bolts.

They were really quite clever.

Unfortunately they're a one time deal. You could take the time and unthread them from the bolt, but it's easier and quicker to just pull them off (destroying them). Plus, these leaders only work for these bolts (14M, 1.75 thread pitch).

In the future, if I was working on some other project that had a similar challenge of getting bolts where fingers don't go, I suppose I could make a leader type device with safety wire (though not use it in the traditional sense). Clamp the head of the bolt in the vice and try to wrap the wire around the threads as tightly as possible. Or hell, just duct tape a wire to the bolt - problem solved.

So that's it. Just some extra ideas out there in tool land.

Mmmmmmmm tools.

- b