Dealing with Tupperware Screws?

[Randyjaco]

The other day I needed to check my air filter on my R1200RT. If you haven't done that yet, it requires several hours of removing and reinstalling multiple plastic panels to do the 60-second job of replacing the air filter. 

The screws used to hold those panels in place are pretty difficult to deal with. They are Torx and they are stainless steel. So a standard magnetic or gripper screwdriver won't work. Many of the locations on the RT are hollow depressions, so starting the screw by fingers is not possible. Has anyone found a tool or developed a process for starting these panel screws?

[Chris K]

I just us my T-20 bit on a 3" extension from my 1/4" drive socket set. 

[dirtrider]

4 hours ago, Randyjaco said:

The other day I needed to check my air filter on my R1200RT. If you haven't done that yet, it requires several hours of removing and reinstalling multiple plastic panels to do the 60-second job of replacing the air filter. 

The screws used to hold those panels in place are pretty difficult to deal with. They are Torx and they are stainless steel. So a standard magnetic or gripper screwdriver won't work. Many of the locations on the RT are hollow depressions, so starting the screw by fingers is not possible. Has anyone found a tool or developed a process for starting these panel screws?

Morning   Randyjaco

 

I typically use what I have handy, a lot of times that is just a 1/4" driver handle & proper sized bit on that driver handle. Or even a 4" or 6" 1/4 drive extension with a torx driver on that. 

 

For difficult ones (down in a shallow well or at a funny angle) I will usually just grab a semi-long torx driver then hold the screw on the driver with a finger,  or fingernail. One quick insertion to get the screw in the hole, then I can diddle around to get it started in straight using the bare driver to guide it straight.   The upside to using a bare semi-long torx driver is you can't get much torque so you have good feel to get the threads engaged correctly.  

 

 

 

[Miguel!]

Randyjaco. To save the wear-and-tear on my finger joints, I purchase a low torque electric screwdriver for removing the ~55 fairing from my R1100RT. I purchased and reviewed 5 or 6 low-torque, battery-powered screwdrivers here.  I also defined a few key selection criteria specifically for working around the fairing. The two key criteria were to avoid scratching the fairing and stripping the screws and/or threaded inserts. I selected the Dewalt Gyroscopic Screwdriver. It's an unusual, low-torque screwdriver that has worked perfectly for me when removing and inserting the fairing screws. I've found lots of other uses for it too. Click on the link above.

 

Hope that's helpful. Miguel

[Cap]

I use this Bosch PS21-2A driver with quick release and adjustable clutch.  I set the clutch to drive the screws to the correct value, and I find that it is very accurate and repeatable.  I use a quick release T-25 bit about 6 inches long.  I have some shorter bits and an angle driver for some of the harder to reach locations.

 

I also use a set of "Boxflyer Boards" to keep all the screws organized. (go to about 3:15 in the video).  There are several different screws having different length of shoulders and different thread lengths.  You don't want to get them mixed up.  In particular, you don't want to drive a long screw into your plastic gas tank when replacing the trim piece over the center of the gas tank.

 

And I think I want to emphasize -- these are T25's not T20's as shown in these other posts.  Using this tool, and following Boxflyer's videos, I can replace an air filter in under 30 minutes.

 

Cap

[Randyjaco]

I guess I will have to go to the Tool Store with some panel screws in my pocket and see if I can find a T-25 bit that is a little oversize. All of mine, as soon as I go from vertical to horizontal the screw drops out, sometimes to the floor, but usually to some hidden place in the bike 

It would be nice to find some sort of screw starter that would work with these screws.

Luckily I have an old Skil driver that is compact and provides the right amount of torque.

Has anyone found a good source for these screws that is cheaper that BMW?

[dirtrider]

27 minutes ago, Randyjaco said:

I guess I will have to go to the Tool Store with some panel screws in my pocket and see if I can find a T-25 bit that is a little oversize. All of mine, as soon as I go from vertical to horizontal the screw drops out, sometimes to the floor, but usually to some hidden place in the bike 

It would be nice to find some sort of screw starter that would work with these screws.

Luckily I have an old Skil driver that is compact and provides the right amount of torque.

Has anyone found a good source for these screws that is cheaper that BMW?

Evening Randyjaco

 

There are a number of aftermarket screws that will fit. I will just caution that you sort get what you pay for. The OEM BMW screws use quality stainless steel with ROLLED threads so go in smoothly & don't gall or twist off. 

 

A lot of (most) cheaper aftermarket screws or screw kits contain screws that use slightly undersized CUT threads & those cross thread and/or gall easily.  

 

I had to install a torx head screw way down in a vertical narrow tube  (work related), I didn't want to glue the screw to the torx driver as I didn't want to have that impede removing replacing the screw due to glue remnants in the torx socket.

 

So I took an old torx driver & laid it on a vise anvil, then gave the torx tip  a couple of raps with a small ball peen hammer. It took a little trying but I upset the torx tip enough so the screw was basically a light press on. I just used the torx driver to start the screw & to remove the loose screw not to do the final torqueing or breaking it loose to remove. I had to remove & reinstall that screw about 10 times over a week of testing & it worked good for the entire test sequence. (maybe buy a couple of cheap Chinese torx drivers & play around with upsetting the tips until they will lightly hold the screws during the initial re-install)

 

 

[Randyjaco]

I like that ideaI will have to give it a try

[Miguel!]

My wife is an artist. For decades, she's used a mildly sticky-like material whose name neither of us could recall - we'll keep trying - that has a playdough-like texture. I've used it to capture stainless-steel screws on a screwdriver bit so I could put a screw in place, regardless of the orientation, even straight down deep in a hole. The material NEVER dries out. Seems like the material stays on the screw driver tip and none on the screw. Stuff never dries out and last forever. I just went and looked at it but there's no label on it any longer. We've had it for about 25 or more years. It still works great. If I can, I'll stop by the local art store and figure out the name. 

 

Miguel

[dduelin]

Haha obviously never owned a Goldwing, ST1300 or FJR. They will make you sing the praises of the RT's simple fairing pieces and fittings.

 

The only fastener that gave me a problem on my 2007 RT was one of the two horizontal T-25s holding the glove box lid, the rearmost one, the first time I took the fairing off for service. A previous installer probably over torqued it and broke loose the threaded metal female fitting that is set in the plastic. When I went to unscrew it it just spun the insert in the plastic. I took a very small drill bit just larger than paper clip wire and marked the depth of hole I wanted with a piece of tape wrapped around the bit then came in from above to drill down through the plastic into the brass (?) insert but not deep enough to touch the screw. Then I took the paper clip, bent the free end 90 degrees and used it to index the threaded part from turning. I clipped off the end of the paper clip wire and glued it into the hole with gap-filling super glue. I'm super easy on these two ever since and barely bottom the screw out when reinstalling.

 

FWIW I start most fairing screws by hand or hold the screw on the torx driver with a fingernail.

[Randyjaco]

I found a solution that works for me, at least for starting and removing the screw. Cheap and easy to use. No tools were harmed in the process

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08X9V8PBL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[RTinNC]

WOW ... neat!  Thanks! 

[Miguel!]

Brilliant. 

Too bad it doesn’t have an integrated  screwdriver tip.

 

[Hosstage]

Delete

[Hosstage]

15 minutes ago, Miguel! said:

 

[Hosstage]

17 minutes ago, Miguel! said:

Delete

[Hosstage]

20 minutes ago, Miguel! said:

Brilliant. 

Too bad it doesn’t have an integrated  screwdriver tip.

There are options available. As you can tell, I've struggled to post a few.

Google grabber screwdriver 

[Scott9999]

This might do the trick.  However, not all screws have sufficient mass where a magnetic head can adequately secure them, in my experience.

 

"RONMAR 13-Piece Magnetic Torx Screwdrivers Set, Security Tamper Proof, T4、T5、T6、T7、T8、T9、T10、T15、T20、T25、T27、T30、T40 (red)"

https://www.amazon.com/RONMAR-13-Piece-Magnetic-Screwdrivers-T4、T5、T6、T7、T8、T9、T10、T15、T20、T25、T27、T30、T40/dp/B081R3Y9PL/ref=sr_1_10?crid=3RL90DCISR5YC&keywords=grabbing+screwdriver&qid=1642391113&sprefix=grabbing+screwdriver%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-10

[Hosstage]

I've magnetized many screwdrivers, but as mentioned earlier,  some of the fasteners are stainless, so not magnetic.

At least I don't think stainless is magnetic, I guess I haven't tried it in a while.

[Randyjaco]

The real BMW screws are 400 series stainless and are only slightly magnetic; not near enough to stick to a neodymium magnet, let alone a magnetized screwdriver

[Miguel!]

I thought I read they were aluminum but don’t remember where

[dirtrider]

9 minutes ago, Miguel! said:

I thought I read they were aluminum but don’t remember where

Morning   Miguel!

 

Wherever you read that don't visit that site any longer as their info is flawed.

 

There might be some very low quality aftermarket aluminum panel screws due to ease of manufacturing but they are sure not something you want to use. 

 

There are some expensive titanium motorcycle screws offered (expensive) as a weight saver but not very common, at least the quality ones. 

 

 

[Grouchy]

Haha obviously never owned a Goldwing, ST1300 or FJR. They will make you sing the praises of the RT's simple fairing pieces and fittings.

 

Man, that's true. Some folks break out in hives at the thought of removing an ST1300 fairing!

I was pleasantly surprised to find quality screws a substantial fairing panel and logical assembly when I first removed the panels of my RT.

Now I've got a box full of those pushpin rivets and no use for them!

[Skywagon]

11 hours ago, Scott9999 said:

This might do the trick.  However, not all screws have sufficient mass where a magnetic head can adequately secure them, in my experience.

 

"RONMAR 13-Piece Magnetic Torx

Save yourself some money. If you want to magnetize demagnetize your tools get one of these. I’ve been using a similar one for decades

 

 

4E9F1D5C-719D-4289-BA87-A256A41594D6.webp

[Miguel!]

2 hours ago, Miguel! said:

I thought I read they were aluminum but don’t remember where

Thank you for that clarification DR. I truly appreciate it. Miguel

[Ponch]

Several hours? What year RT is it? I can strip my bike down in about 20 minutes. 

[kdbgsv]

I understand the struggle with those pesky Tupperware screws on your R1200RT. They can be quite challenging to deal with, especially since they're Torx and made of stainless steel. Starting them by hand in those hollow depressions is no easy task.

[SHIMHEAD]

       A little trick I have used for a LONG time is to simply tear off a small piece of plastic bag and pinch it between your driver bit and the screw. This holds the screw on the bit and allows you to start it in the threads with ease. Just retrieve the plastic once the screw is started. You can spend a bit more time and size the plastic bag piece to allow holding onto it while starting the screw. VERY simple and EFFECTIVE.

     You are welcome......

[kdbgsv]

On 7/12/2023 at 4:16 PM, kdbgsv said:

I understand the struggle with those pesky Tupperware screws on your R1200RT. They can be quite challenging to deal with, especially since they're Torx and made of stainless steel. Starting them by hand in those hollow depressions is no easy task.

One option you could try is using a specialized tool designed for Torx screws. Look for a magnetic or gripper screwdriver specifically made for Torx screws. These tools provide a better grip and make it easier to handle those stubborn screws.
You might also want to explore websites like https://www.scrooz.com.au/ for a variety of tools and accessories that can assist you in motorcycle maintenance. They offer a wide range of quality products that could potentially provide a solution for dealing with those panel screws."

[9Mary7]

Two posts reviving an old thread and the second one is promoting a website.........

[Randyjaco]

I finally took Dirtrider's advice. I went down to a local flea market and bought a half dozen T-25 drivers for a grand total of 5 bucks. I then went back to my shop, brought out an anvil and a hammer and started a little creative destruction. In the end I managed to produce 2 drivers that strongly held my Tupperware screws. Problem solved

I found that quality was not my friend. The cheaper Chinese drivers were easier to deform and less likely to break due to the hammer blows. It's a trial and error process. Start with light blows and gradually increase the force. All you need is one or two splines to be deformed.

This was 5 dollars well spent. These modified drivers and the grabber tool have made my dealing with Tupperware much more agreeable.

[Pappy35]

On 1/23/2022 at 11:25 AM, Ponch said:

Several hours? What year RT is it? I can strip my bike down in about 20 minutes. 

 

I'm with you Poncherello. I could strip all the plastic (including the upper fairing) off my '13 RT in twenty minutes. My '21 Goldwing was configured like the Wethead (air filter up top buried under plastic), and I could do that one, start to finish, in about 45 minutes. There's a sequence and once it's done a couple of times and one collects their preferred electric driver and bits, it's easy-peasy. It's just a "practice makes perfect" situation.