Saturday, 16 February 2013

Front upright pinch bolts upgrade

There was a RHOCar Discussion on the front suspension pinch bolt, some comments about IVA liking to see a locking nut on the bolt & a great picture part way through of the consequences of the pinch bolt  coming loose and releasing the dummy top strut.

After reading it I decided to make some minor changes. The kit as supplied has M12x50mm bolts with lock washers under the heads. These sit completely flush with the back of the Sierra upright when installed.

My plan is to replace them with M12x65 bolts & add a lock nut on the rear side, as well as probably a couple of roll pins installed to positively lock the upright to the inserted dummy strut.

This is the pinch bolt as supplied in the Kit:

My original vs. replacement parts:

..and an example installed on the offside; the bolt still has the lock washer behind the head & torqued up as before, but also a nyloc on the other side. Hopefully this will ensure there is no way it can come loose:

I need to take the wheel off to install the roll pins which will have to wait; I'm using both axle stands on the rear of the car currently.