Advice for removing stubborn/stripped shank nut?

I got a new 3-tap tower and am in the process of changing lines on it from the factory stuff on there now. I've got the two top shanks removed, but cannot for the life of me get the bottom one. There's not a lot of room to maneuver in the tower, but as near as I can tell, the nut is stripped. I ordered a tower wrench from Micromatic in order to take this tower apart.

Even when I get my tower wrench (1-1/16") on there solidly, the wrench will just spin over the corners as soon as I apply any pressure to try and loosen the nut. So, I am soliciting any suggestions people might have to removing this thing. The wrench sits a little loose on the nuts, so maybe I should get a different one? I dunno how snug the fit should be on these. The 1" end of the wrench is definitely too small to fit on the nuts, but the next size up seems a little too loose for my tastes.

Another possibility I was thinking of was maybe finding a 1-1/16 socket and wrench...although I just don't know how much room there is to fit that in the tower and also turn the wrench. It seems unlikely to work.

What about a wrench like a Channellock or even just a big monkey wrench?

They don't fit in the tower.

We are talking 3" diameter here, and the nut is probably 4-5" from the top of the tower.

how about cutting the nut off and replacing it? maybe a dremel could do the job.

That's an idea...I am not exactly sure how I'd fit the dremel in there, but that's a possibility. I'd also have to be very, very careful not to damage the threads on the shank.

Pics would help.

Best solution is a pipe wrench, if you can fit it. Vice grips also work well.

I didn't use a wrench to tighten mine, I used a faucet...

Attach on old faucet to the shank and tighten the nut. Grip the inner nut as best you can, and turn the faucet counter-clockwise. Then rotate the faucet and the inner nut clockwise together, reset the wrench inside, and repeat. You can work it lose this way...

SweetSounds said:

I didn't use a wrench to tighten mine, I used a faucet...

Attach on old faucet to the shank and tighten the nut. Grip the inner nut as best you can, and turn the faucet counter-clockwise. Then rotate the faucet and the inner nut clockwise together, reset the wrench inside, and repeat. You can work it lose this way...

Click to expand...

Hey, thanks! This technique worked. I was able to get it loose about 1/8 turn at a time, enough so that even stripped the wrench was able to turn it the rest of the way.

terrencepickles said:

Pics would help.

Best solution is a pipe wrench, if you can fit it. Vice grips also work well.

Click to expand...

I think maybe I should put the words INSIDE A 3" DIAMETER TOWER in bold caps next time I run into this. Very few tools will fit down in that tower and leave enough room to turn the locknut against the curved inside wall. I don't mean to pick on you specifically, because other people also seem to be missing that crucial bit that I put in the OP.


I wish I could take a good picture of it, but it's dark in there and all I have is a crappy cell phone camera. It just looks like a blurry black spot.

weirdboy said:

I think maybe I should put the words INSIDE A 3" DIAMETER TOWER in bold caps next time I run into this. Very few tools will fit down in that tower and leave enough room to turn the locknut against the curved inside wall. I don't mean to pick on you specifically, because other people also seem to be missing that crucial bit that I put in the OP.


I wish I could take a good picture of it, but it's dark in there and all I have is a crappy cell phone camera. It just looks like a blurry black spot.

Click to expand...

I read several posts on how to tighten the nuts using ground up box-end wrenches or specialty tools. In the end, when it came time to put shanks in the holes, I had 2 lose nuts and nothing to grab them with... So I improvised
Hold the nut, turn the faucet, rotate them both back at the same time - Rinse repeat :rockin: