Tightening shank nuts?

So I was an idiot when I built my collared keezer, and mounted the insulation before installing the faucets. As such, I had a hard time getting the shank nuts tightened. I eventually resorted to some needle nose, and got them decently tight.

They're slowly coming loose though, so I need to really get a good grip on them. Any suggestions here? I just have a small circular cutout in the insulation for them, enough to get the pliers and a tad bit more in.

My last ditch effort would be to cut out the insulation below the taps, tighten them up, then re-mount the insulation, but I'd prefer not to have to, if possible.


Any ideas?

Are you familiar with a crows foot wrench? It's a wrench head with a square drive for a ratchet extension. They are used for getting into tight spots.

It's easier than you think...

Attach a faucet to the shank (Tight)
Hand tighten the shank nut
Hold the shank nut with needle-nose
Turn the faucet to tighten!

When it's good and tight, remove the faucet, straighten it up, and re-tighten.

This is also about the ONLY way to get a shank nut tight in a 3" tower with 3 faucets

SweetSounds said:

It's easier than you think...

Attach a faucet to the shank (Tight)
Hand tighten the shank nut
Hold the shank nut with needle-nose
Turn the faucet to tighten!

Click to expand...

If you're tightening onto foam insulation, you'll never get it tight. Make a shim out of some thin wood and put it between the nut and the foam.

I just got mad enough to cut out the foam. I figure a bit gone from the collar won't suck too bad.

B

bad coffee said:

If you're tightening onto foam insulation, you'll never get it tight. Make a shim out of some thin wood and put it between the nut and the foam.

Click to expand...

This is what I did and it seems to work well.

Going off what bad coffee said, I just made a backer out of some tin flashing. Seems to have worked really well and it holds the insulation in place.