FYI, Belmetric sells grade 10 hardened conical locknuts for $0.71 and hardened flat AN style washers for $0.28. You would still have to measure the length of the bolts and price them out.
rear control arm bolts
- Thread starter L05edSS
- Start date
If it were me, I would just go to ACE hardware and get grade 8 everything and be done with it, but I'm not concerned with it being stock.
can you explain why nylocks been a issue for you, cuz i'm also lookin at a set for my front lower control arms from SSM sold on amazon. you broke my brain with this revelation. "
1978-1988 GM G-Body Front Lower Lower Control Arm Hardware Kit
they $15 nylocks. i'm in a wheelchair so doing work on my own car is 0, pickin parts for someone else to install i can do. this why i won't go with tubular front & rear control arms cuz they need greasin' + i dont have but 210 hp 300 tq. before broke my neck @16 i was a backyard bike & gokart hack wrencher so that skill never left my head. loli'll never pretend to know more than i do & always willing to learn.
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Easy explanation. Nylock nuts go on and come off without much effort. Prevailing torque lock nuts are the exact opposite. They go on hard and come off the same way. Im pretty sure thats why car companies use them on suspensions. Theyre also hardened like the factory bolts. Makes no sense to use a hardened bolt and soft washers and nuts.
A friend of mine had a 71 Chevelle built by a local guy. Pro touring. Big block. Real nice build. It took well over three years to have it done. Big money. The first time he took it to a show in NJ he lost a bolt n the suspension as he was going over the Verrazzano bridge and had to have it towed home. Can you guess why he lost the bolt ?
Dont get me wrong, I know people that use them all the time. I also know people that put their cars together with grade 3 bolts from their local hardware stores. Everyone has their own opinion on whats good and whats bad. My opinion ? Its not much more money to have the proper grade and proper design hardware. Ive got a lot of money tied up in both of my cars. I'd hate to have something break because of a few cents saved buying the wrong stuff. Factory bolts are metric and grade 10.9. Pretty sure prevailing torque nuts are grade 10.
Its your car. Use what youre comfortable with.
Simple fix for those nylock nuts with at least two ways. Probably more but these work. (Best way is to not use them on suspensions.)
1) Drill a cross hole in the end of the bolt and insert cotter pin. More as a safety last ditch. Of course regular inspections would be required.
2) Most preferred way is to hire this particular welder for tack welding. I'm sure she could get my nuts hot anytime she likes. 🙂
Nuts are cheap.
M12x1.75
Prevailing Torque Nuts, aka Stover "cone" nuts. They lock based on slight deformation of the threads. Deeper you go, the tougher they bite. Once installed, they're not going anywhere.
1) Drill a cross hole in the end of the bolt and insert cotter pin. More as a safety last ditch. Of course regular inspections would be required.
2) Most preferred way is to hire this particular welder for tack welding. I'm sure she could get my nuts hot anytime she likes. 🙂
Nuts are cheap.
M12x1.75
Prevailing Torque Nuts, aka Stover "cone" nuts. They lock based on slight deformation of the threads. Deeper you go, the tougher they bite. Once installed, they're not going anywhere.
ok you changed my mind. i used nylocks in many other situations no issues and never thought would be different in suspensions. thanks and now i'll go back on the hunt for the correct 1s.
I bought all the hardware for my wagon from belmetric. That was for the front and rear suspension. I also bought the stuff for the front end of my coupe from them. When I was doing the rear suspension in the coupe I didnt know about belmetric so I hunted everywhere for hardened metric nuts and bolts. I wound up getting most of the stuff from the local John Deere dealer. They had grade 10.9 cone flange nuts. They worked just as well.
You can also get metric stuff here. https://boltdepot.com/Product-Details?product=8806. These nuts are only $.46.
Im pretty sure everything I bought from bel was yellow cad plated. Nuts, bolts and narrow washers.
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