Nuts!

I have a question on hardware, specifically grade-8 nylock bolts. Four of these things secure the top of the strut towers (and the caster/camber plates) on each side of my car. Two on each side hold the strut tower brace on. In order for me to do just about anything other than changing the oil, I have to remove the strut tower brace and the four nuts that secure it.

How many times can I remove these things before they're no good? Should I replace them with something else, or am I worried about nothing?

A lawyer will tell you once you remove them, they are no good. Me, I'd say twice at the most. You'll notice that there is no more lock to the nylock. There are other locking nuts and washers out there, but I don't think any of them can be removed too many times before they lose the locking ability. Safety wire?

My rule of thumb is twice, and once on critical fasteners. I have a collection of normal nuts that I use for setup. Mostly I do that on the kart where I'll uninstall/reinstall components multiple times before I like it.

then answer General Anthony Clement "Nuts" McAuliffe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_McAuliffe

throw away, buy tube of locktite or some RTV and normal grade-8s, reuse indefinitely...

Raze wrote: throw away, buy tube of locktite or some RTV and normal grade-8s, reuse indefinitely...

This.

My 'rolla just uses plain old bolts on the strut tops/camber plates, no locking anything. Although it weighs like half as much

I go by the same rule I use with the aircraft. If you can thread the bolt more than a thread or two past the top end of the nylon locker by hand it's no good. Pretty sure the 43.13 says something about prevailing torque though if you're past a couple of threads then you already know it's bad.

I've reused them a bunch of times, without any drama. When you can tighten them by hand, then just add a drop of Loctite Blue, and soldier on. They aren't like torque to yield bolts, so IMHO, as long as the threads or mating faces have not galled, they are perfectly OK for fastening duty. Anti-loosenening is a different function, and nyloc/loctite serves the same purpose.
The truly AR or risk averse folks will tell you you that Nyloc sucks, and the Only True Way is safety wire.

And then for Florida folks accustomed to lying in the dirt while changing conrod bearings, there is Nature's Own Loctite, AKA sand. Sprinkle some fine sand onto lightly oiled threads, and torque to value. They WILL NOT vibrate loose. ;)

(just joking, Do Not Try This At Home)

i'm with The0retical on this. the purpose of the nylon in the nylock nut is to keep it from vibrating loose, when you can turn it by hand, the nylon is too hogged out to help.

alternately, you could just use regular nuts, and double nut to be sure.

Raze wrote: throw away, buy tube of locktite or some RTV and normal grade-8s, reuse indefinitely...

I should be able to put a single drop of blue Loctite on the threads and be good to go indefinitely, right?

Better to apply too much than too little. Make sure the thread area under the nut is well-bathed in it.

buy in bulk, they can't be that frickin' expensive, use once or twice then toss 'em in the parts bin

Usually I prefer to replace them with lock washers after they fail the thread-through test (as described above), but Loctite works as well, depending on the application.

Sky_Render wrote:

Raze wrote: throw away, buy tube of locktite or some RTV and normal grade-8s, reuse indefinitely...

I should be able to put a single drop of blue Loctite on the threads and be good to go indefinitely, right?

yup, but by a drop, I usually apply a liberal drop, I've lost a brake caliper retaining bolt on the highway when I didn't use but a small drop. Ever since on jiggly parts I apply liberally, when I pull I'll clean with a thread restorer on nuts, or wire wheel on a bolt, I've never since had a problem in many suspension jobs...

My zx2SR had plain old nuts without lockwashers or anything else.Just a flat washer. In 75K miles of hard use, they never came loose.

I was taught the same as The0retical, of course I'm also an aircraft mechanic. The term is "friction torque". As long as it takes more than hand to turn the bolt/nut with the nylon lock on it then the nylon is still locking. I've also noticed a difference in quality between aircraft nylock and automotive nylock. The test still works though.

oldeskewltoy wrote: then answer General Anthony Clement "Nuts" McAuliffe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_McAuliffe

That's the first thing I thought of when I read the title....

What, these people have no sense of history or what?

To the OP - only if it's a German car.

In reply to OldGray320i:

Well familiar with him. 8 years in the 101st and retired out of there. When you arrive into the 101st they indoctricate you with 101st history and everything on post is named after WW2 site or event that the 101st was involved in/with.

I would expect it to be about him in the off-topic area.

wlkelley3 wrote: I was taught the same as The0retical, of course I'm also an aircraft mechanic. The term is "friction torque". As long as it takes more than hand to turn the bolt/nut with the nylon lock on it then the nylon is still locking. I've also noticed a difference in quality between aircraft nylock and automotive nylock. The test still works though.

Currently, I can only turn the nuts about a half turn by hand before I need to use a wrench. So I guess they're good to keep using for now.