subframe bolts

[David Head]

The problem on the balljoint isn't the bolt - its the locknut. Look at
the torque spec and you can see the torque spec is pretty low. So low
you really don't have to worry about stretching the bolt threads. But
the locknut shouldn't be reused.
Point 2 on ball joint bolts is to alway insert as the book sez - bolt
head goes to the front of the vehicle. If the nut _were_ to fall off,
yer much less likely to have it fall out. If its one thing type 44
suspensions _need_ its grease zerks threaded to the seal plate at the
bottom of the joint.

ed armstrong wrote:

> I think I will reverse myself on my position of
> reusing suspension bolts and nuts. These stories are
> giving me the jitters.....
>
>  -ed
>
> --- Phil Payne <quattro at isham-research.com> wrote:
> > > NEVER, EVER, reuse ball joint bolts or nuts.
> > ALWAYS replace with
> > new
> > > ones.  On two occasions where I reused them, a few
> > months and a year
> > or
> > > so down the line the ball joints popped out
> > because of overly
> > > stretched/worn bolts.
> >
> > Weird.  My own priorities would also be the opposite
> > - if something
> > nasty happens to an engine because of a reused
> > component, you just
> > have an engine to fix.  If something nasty happens
> > to the running gear
> > at speed you might wind up with a whole car to fix
> > and a damaged
> > family.
> >
> > The cost is usually comparatively low.  In many
> > cases (brake pads, CV
> > joint kits) Audi ships new fasteners in the pack.
> > Some alternatives
> > are cheaper partly because they omit these.  As
> > incredible as it
> > seems, I once found a box of new, unused, caliper
> > retaining bolts on a
> > shelf at a relatively well known 'quattro
> > specialist'.  They were out
> > of brake pad kits - they'd put the new bolts
> > supplied by Audi to one
> > side and refitted the existing bolts as a standard
> > practice.  Why?
> >
> > In my case, the left rear axle bolt on the Big Red
> > Bus came loose, not
> > long after I bought the car.  I pulled it tight and
> > discussed the
> > issue with Martyn Parker at BR Motorsport.  He
> > pulled the bolt,
> > measured it, pronounced it overstretched and wound
> > in a new one.  No
> > problems since.  One of the torque settings I check
> > when I change the
> > oil.
> >
> > Overall the major problem with reusing 'do not
> > reuse' components is
> > that you don't know if they've been reused already.
> > Most of the cars
> > I see have cloudy ownership history and nothing like
> > a service audit
> > trail.
> >
> > --
> >   Phil Payne
> >   http://www.isham-research.com/quattro
> >   +44 7785 302 803
> >   +49 173 6242039
> >
> >
>
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