Which direction doe the locking nut turn and in the absence of spanner wrench what could be used in it's place

Hold the inner nut with a spanner. With a second spanner undo the outer nut in an anticlockwise direction.
If the inner nut is not held the two nuts may turn together.

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Things You'll Need

Adjustable wrench

Pitman arm puller

Torque wrench

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Instructions

Park the vehicle on a level surface and make sure the front wheels are pointing straight ahead. Make sure the vehicle is in park (or in gear if you have manual transmission) and set the parking brake.

Disconnect the pitman arm from the steering box from underneath the front of the vehicle by turning the holding bolt in a counterclockwise direction with an adjustable wrench. Place a pitman arm puller (available at auto parts stores) over the pitman arm and tighten the nut on the puller in a clockwise direction with an adjustable wrench until the pitman arm loosens from the steering box shaft. Remove the pitman arm and the puller.

Open the hood and loosen the lock nut on top of the steering box from the engine compartment with an adjustable wrench in a counterclockwise direction.

Place a torque wrench on the steering shaft and turn the wrench one complete turn. Make sure the torque reading is approximately 2 inch pounds. Tighten the adjusting nut on top of the steering box (it comes out of the center of the lock nut) in a clockwise direction with an adjustable wrench one half turn if the torque wrench reading is too low. Loosen the nut in a counterclockwise direction if the reading is too high.

Rotate the steering shaft with the torque wrench again. Make adjustments to the steering box adjusting nut as described in Step 4, if needed, until the correct reading is obtained on the torque wrench.

Make sure the steering wheel is in the straight ahead position and reattach the pitman arm to the bottom of the steering shaft on the steering box. Tighten the holding nut in a clockwise direction with an adjustable wrench until the pitman arm seats into place.

Tighten the lock nut on top of the steering box with an adjustable wrench in a clockwise direction. Close the hood

On top of the head there is a button to press to lock the blade arbor. Press it down and turn the blade by hand until it locks in place. Then you need either a spanner wrench or nut wrench depending on which arbor nut you have. Grinders usually come with whichever wrench they need. Most grinders have an arbor nut with two or four holes and require a spanner wrench with two studs that fit into two of the holes to remove the arbor nut. Some have an arbor nut with a hex fitting, like a regular nut & bot setup, that the arbor wrench fits on. If you don't have the proper wrench sometimes you can get the arbor nut off with a pair of vice grips or pliers. You will want to turn the nut in the same direction as the blade spins when the grinder is on to remove it. When you put the new blade on, get the arbor nut hand tight, it is self tightening and will get tighter as you use the grinder.

Right hand threaded nut holds tub in place is direct drive, top loading washing machines. To remove the spanner nut you will need a spanner wrench

You don't have to buy a special spanner wrench ($20) to remove the spanner nut. I've used a short 10" pipe wrench (about $9.00 also good for cracking walnuts) hooked over one of the tabs on the spanner nut, tap the handle with a hammer and it should loosen.

Also, don't directly hit the drive block with a hammer. Use a short piece of wood under the drive block and tap up on the wood.

There is a nut that you release from the middle of the grinder wheel, (grinder blade)
This nut is flat and has four holes in it.

You will see you are providing a spanner wrench to remove this nut. The wrenches' actual name is Lock Nut Wrench. It has a U shaped end with two pins sticking out. On on each side of the U shape.

The pins are inserted into the holes in the flat lock nut, located in the middle of the grinding wheel. The wrench is laid flat against the grinding wheel, with the two pins of the wrench going into any two holes of the nut.

At the top of the Makita grinder you will see a Black button. The button is pushed down to keep the grinding wheel from spinning. Holds the grinding wheel in place, as you turn the lock nut loose. When you release the button, a spring inside pushes the button back up out of the way.

As you view the Makita grinder, Release Button towards the Back, grinding wheel towards you, the nut is turned to the LEFT, to loosen. It is a Left threaded nut.

The grinding wheel spins to the Right. Using a left threaded nut insures that the nut will stay tight, due to the direction the grinding wheel spins.

CCW to remove , CW to tighten .

You should be able to use a wrench, unless you have the style that needs a spanner (ring with 2 holes in it). Then, you will need the wrench to fit it. I made one with a piece of 1/8" flatbar and 2 #10 bolts. It isn't pretty but it works.

You should have a pin spanner wrench that fits into the holes on the lock down nut. Hold the shaft with a open end wrench that fits the flats on the shaft.
If you dont have the spanner wrench, use a drift punch to tap the lock down nut to loosen.