General Chain wrench

Chain; band; rope; multi-segment style pipe/tube wrenches

These are often used for gripping/holding/unscrewing very large diameter objects e.g. oil filters

This type of grip/wrench rely on friction and a self-tightening design to grip large circular objects fairly evenly all the way around the circumference.

Chain wrenches are common, whilst variations are textile bands (see Britool wrench illustration) and multi-segments.

Uses: Oil-filter removal; holding pulleys whilst tightening locking bolt; general gripping of large round objects, sometimes irregular shaped.

NB. A length of rope (polyester/cotton more grippy than polyprope!) and a large screwdriver or something like a tyre lever with a hole drilled in the curved end, could perhaps prove a useful 'get-you-out-of-trouble' band-wrench.

Illustrations

Forum discussion

latebreaker: Does anyone have a tip on removing the fan from the alternator on a T4 2000cc engine in a T25? If I lock the alternator cooling fan, it just turns, and wrapping the aluminium heater fan in a rag and standing on it is just going to bend it! Any ideas about stopping the alternator shaft turning while undoing the (expletive deleted) nut would be most welcome!

HM: What's wrong with locking the pulley, either in situ (using existing belt with extra pressure) or removed from van, using a chain or textile band grip (e.g. oil-filter style band grip)

latebreaker: oil filter chain wrench around the pulley worked fine, forgot I had it and it's so long since I last used it that it never even occurred to me...many thanks.