[alfa] Re: Suspension bolt torque disaster

[Jon Pike <jhpike@xxxxxxx>]

AlfaNeely@domain.elided wrote:

>        I ALWAYS clean bolt threads either with a thread chaser, tap 
> and die set or a wire brush in my bench grinder.  I ALWAYS start the 
> nuts with my fingers and turn them as far down as I can with my fingers.
>        I suspect your threads were dirty and / or you started the nuts 
> crooked and tried to tighten them, thus stripping the threads. 
   Careful, that's my wife you're talking about!!  ;-)  I checked again 
with her,  and she verified what I thought was the case,  they went on 
OK, she finger tightened them most of the way, then used a socket wrench 
to snug them up and that only took a turn or so.  I gave them the final 
torque up.

I know that they were somewhat dirty,  that's my bad for not cleaning 
them ahead of time.  The threads seemed slightly worn.. perhaps they had 
some corrosion, and as they were taken off,  the corrosion was ground 
thru the threads...  this I imagine, would have affected the nuts more 
than the bolts,  and I was paying what little attention I did to the bolts.

FWIW, the regular bolts were Lobo 8.8, with a gold iridite coating,  
mostly still intact.


>        The torque wrench is for final tightening of the bolt.  You do 
> not need a torque wrench other that at the end of attaching a bolt or nut.
>        Cut the bad bolts out one at a time.  Put a floor jack under 
> the lower pan for safety.  Replace each bolt with your all thread 
> after you cut it out.
>        I have cut up a number of junk Alfas.  If you cannot find new 
> bolts, let me know.
>
> Ciao,
> Russ Neely
> Oklahoma City
We used the one torque wrench with a socket wrench,  if the other end 
was moving. The regular bolt she put in bolt head up,  and used the 
torque wrench on the bolt head while holding the nut still,   on the 
double end (swaybar link holder) bolt she had the nut on the top side of 
the spring pan and tightened the nut.

I guess the chances of both letting go at the same time are somewhat 
low, and even so the back two are still there to prevent the whole pan 
from flying off.  I know he jack will not hold the spring in place,  but 
having the car pop up a few inches beats the pan from whanging down and 
possibly letting the spring out.  
I will be very cautious,  and also clean the area around that side of 
the car,  in case I have to move quickly if a car hops off a jack stand. 
Oh,  have yet to get a new wrench, waiting to see if I can get a 
calibration check on the current wrench.

Jon and Marcia
77 Spider
Irvine, CA
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