A couple months back I bought new plugs for the upper bank in my engine, and discovered that my standard Craftsman 5/8 spark plug socket was too large in diameter to fit in the plug hole. Some research and phone calls led me to believe I needed a thin wall spark plug socket. Over the last few weeks I've been calling all the local tool shops to see if anyone carries such a thing. Even searching online led me nowhere. Out of desperation I asked the dealership how much the swap would be while I had it in for them to look at my squealing engine. Them saying it would be at least $150 was all the motivation I needed to grab the socket that would not fit and my digital calipers, and make the rounds to all the local tool shops. Every socket I found was 7/8" diameter, same as the one I have. Finally I found a socket set at Home Depot made by Husky that had one a few hundredths of an inch slimmer. It did the trick! I'm not sure if those of you with the 07 and earlier 4.7 have the same issue, but for you 08+ guys, I figured I'd share this so you all can avoid the same frustration.

A couple hours, a bleeding knuckle, and some choice words later, I have 8 fresh plugs, and the truck seems to be running a little better (might be a mental thing after all that).

 

glad you got it done sounds like a ordeal, I did not have the same problem with the 3.7..Cya Slick

 

Glad to here you found the right socket Mr. crash! I just picked up a spark plug socket from the hardware store I work at, and it fits fine in my 05 4.7 with wiggle room to spare. Doesnt sound like the 08+ guys will be as fortunate. What spark plugs did you go with? And your engine has a total of 16 spark plugs, right? I though I read that the new 4.7 had semi-hemispherical heads with 2 spark plugs per cylinder, but I could be wrong.

 

I ended up going with the factory replacements from the dealership. I couldn't find any info on them at the time, so I just traded my first born for those 8 plugs. I'm dreading having to do the other set if/when I hit 102k miles. There is the upper bank which I believe is the same as the previous style, and there is a second bank of plugs down by the exhaust manifolds. The uppers are copper plugs, and the lowers are platinum plugs.

 

Im guessing the reason they put platinums beneath is because they are a PITA to get to. I wish you luck if you ever have to do them.

 

Odd, the craftsman plug socket that came in my set works fine. I guess the new motor is a little different. Congrats on getting it going.

 

I picked up a $20 120 piece kit of a generic brand it it came with 2 different socket size and one of them worked just fine.

 

I to got the socket set from Home Depot, the 08 cylinder is super slim. Had a real hard time getting the coils off, the rubber boots wanted to stick to the plugs. Had to get another coil after tearing one of the boots. What a PITA they have made changing plugs on the new engines.

 

Did you put some dielectric grease around the boots before installing them again?

I know when I pulled out my plugs at 100k after I owned the truck for a year, there was no anti-sieze on the old plugs. That couldve been ugly being the plugs were in there for a while.

 

Yes, my truck was used with 40K. It appears that they were changed once before but with little to no grease on the boots.