| I've spoken of this tool a few times around here and several of you have asked for me to snap a few pictures of it. I finally had to use it again and spent some time searching for it to use on a customer's car last weekend, and took some pics of it to share. It is basically a modified 14mm shallow-well socket that has been cut on the leading edge to allow it to slip over the actuator rod. A 16" extension is attached to it and a breaker bar is used to give you plenty of leverage. The mechanics of it is even simpler, perhaps barbaric, but crude nonetheless: The actuator rod of OEM-style actuators is not adjustable in length like that of the sport-series turbos from JWT, or like the HKS actuators; both of which have a threaded coupler on the rod to allow easy (if it isn't in the car) adjustment of the actuator preload. Proper actuator preload is vital to ensure that the system is capable of reaching peak boost as well as preventing boost fall-off at higher RPM, although, if the turbos are at their max, they will not be able to maintain the same peak boost regardless. As an example: my customer's stock-turbo'd TT has slightly higher mileage on it and the turbos were replaced at some point in its life. For whatever reason, the vehicle wouldn't boost up past about 14psi with the controller turned all the way up. There were no boost leaks, I had completely gone through the car and everything is in good working order. We even disconnected the actuator hoses completely to run open boost and there was very little difference. He has all the mods up to larger turbochargers and his setup should have no problems achieving higher boost levels, so I took a shot at tightening up the actuators using this tool. I used a pressure gauge on the actuator hoses and tightened up the rods to get a base opening pressure of about 8psi on both turbos - it was initially at around 5psi, which is lower than it should be. The adjustment only took about 10 minutes to do, most of that being setup time. After making this adjustment, the car easily achieved and held 15psi to redline with the controller set to about 60% duty. In a few short bursts, the controller was turned up higher to verify proper operation and even higher boost was attainable. Bottom line is, without being able to make this adjustment, the engine would have had to come out of the car and work done to the actuator system to restore proper operation. This tool is a life-saver in these situations. The TOOL:
 Detail of socket mod:
The process is, like I said, crude and somewhat barbaric, but it has proven to work on many Z's I have had no other alternative with, short of pulling the engine.
Essentially what you are trying to do is shorten the length of the rod, and you do so by "kinking" the rod. When the end of this tool is slipped over the actuator rod and you twist the rod, it will shorten its length as well as increase the preload on the actuator's internal spring. You must be careful about how far you go with this process though as if you go too far with it, it can create a binding action of the end of the rod and the wastegate arm, or, between the rod and the port the rod comes out of the diaphragm housing through. There is a good bit of margin though, and usually enough to add several pounds of tension before it binds. Of course, while making the adjustment it is expected that you will already have a gauge and air hose connected to it to check your work, so verifying that it is operating without any binding will be a quick and easy check. There is a degree of "massaging" that may be necessary depending on how much kink you use, but if you have to kink the actuator excessively, you likely have other problems or are trying to achieve the impossible: not all turbos can make high boost; the GT2860R, AKA GT28R, can only make ~23psi of boost - you can crank the actuators to their stop-point and you still wont make more than 23psi as this is a limitation of the turbo itself, not the wastegate system. So use some discretion and common sense here. This should only be attempted after eliminating all other possibilities. NOTE: Do NOT attempt to use this process on any actuator that has a threaded rod adjustment on it - you will more than likely BREAK the rod where the threads begin for the adjustment, and at that point, you will have NO wastegate preload and it will require extensive work to fix. A crude diagram showing the modification:
 The tool will only cost you the value of a socket - it is recommended to use a quality socket for this tool though as some of the cheaper Sears sockets have broken in the past - this is a snap-on socket. It also helps to try and keep the edges of your cut as smooth as possible - I used a chop-saw for the rough cut and then followed with a dremel tool to smooth up the edges.
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A kinky tool for a (previously) impossible job >>> - 
