[s-cars] Stripped wheel bolt

[Scott Justusson]

 With all due respect:  None was due.  Trivia, in 1984 Chrysler switched from 4 bolt wheel hubs to 5 bolt wheel hubs, corresponding with the introduction of their turbocharged 2.2 engines.  Reason?  In high performance driving, they found isolated instances of sheering 4 wheel bolts.  I reread your post, and it only gets worse in the details you shared.  Safety is a state of mind, to cover up a blatant safety violations by putting a wheel cover back on, begs the question, wtf?  If you risked the safety of you, competitors around you, and the loosest definition of tech in any motorsport, your 'anecdotal' story gets lost in so many other BS contexts, it's really not worth the bandwidth?

And, you didn't answer the question I asked about helicoil hub coming into your shop.  Bolts don't get damaged in your shop?  When and how do you determine a wheel bolt no longer is safe to torque to yield?  

Our experiences differ, because of how we perceive and were trained to safety, nothing more.  30 years ago, I was an SCCA ProRally tech, before Buffum's rides were even quattro'd.  Since that time, I have served on the Driving and Safety Committees of ACNA, SCCA and currently hold a National Director of Safety title in the 'other' audi club.  I've seen, heard, voted on hundreds of safety issues during that time.  I am open to creative interpretations of Safety Rules, and have argued both sides within their expressed 'Spirit and Intent'.  At the end of the day Cody, I read what you wrote, and see a guy trying to make a point successfully making a much different one.  Confusing dumb-ass luck and intentional negligence of safety with avoiding Lucifer's Laws and consequences, is where your story gets lost.

I've banned competitors at events for less.  Your experience so noted, I'd still ban anyone that tried that.   And, I'd dress that guy down much more bluntly than I wrote to you.  It's ok, you don't get it, I'm good with that.  I know Lee will do the right thing, in spite of any anecdotal experiences outside the bell curve.

Let it go.

Scott J


 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Cody Forbes <cody at 5000tq.com>
To: Scott Justusson <qshipq at aol.com>
Cc: haroldmccomas <haroldmccomas at comcast.net>; s-car-list <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Sent: Mon, Mar 26, 2012 10:51 pm
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Stripped wheel bolt


I don't think there was much respect there at all. I suppose none was due, but I digress. If you care to read at no point did I condone nor suggest that any insert was safe nor advisable. In fact I clearly stated that I agreed with you. The only post where I may have sounded as if I was condoning it was the one where I cautioned against it while not calling anybody out. So I told an anecdotal story, but I still never said I believed in running a "hack" repair. I apologize for offending you so greatly, but geez dude you need to relax some. Your personal experience may differ from that of others, as may mine, and that's no reason to go off on somebody like that.


What would I do if one came to my shop? To be honest and blunt, I don't work on the types of cars where that is a possibility. I don't work on old cars, I don't work on cheap cars, and my services can simply not be afforded by the average person let alone the one that might want to heli-coil a hub. The torque wrench I use to put wheel bolts in with cost more than many of the cars we listers drive, including my 5000's. In my shop we use no impact tools, no air wrenches, no electric impacts, simply NOTHING that can spin a bolt faster and/or with more force than a human hand (not just on wheels, these tools are not allowed in my building*). Bolts (or hubs as the case may be) don't get damaged in my shop. If one did we replace the hub at the technicians cost. If it happens more than once I get to hire a new tech.



-Cody
(Sent from my phone, if a word doesn't fit blame Siri)



* - We keep a big impact gun in a cabinet for the rare occasion that the job simply can not be accomplished without it.