Winter "wonders"

[swiftdrivr]

Okay, I've gotten away with these torques for years, so they seem safe, but I thought I'd post this and let people with more knowledge comment if they feel the info is wrong. Most of these bolts (at least, the suspension bolts) are fine thread, AN or milspec, have washers, and go into self-locking K-nuts, unless obviously otherwise [exhaust header, motor mounts, etc]. Some have ggod provenance [Lower front outboard, from Doug, on Doug's product], others are more like guesses. I think everything is 3/8ths except the CV joints and the lower inbd rear suspension pickups.

image below;

[swiftdrivr]

lets try it with pictures [I hope]

[Fred Michael]

They look about right but socket size does nothing for telling what size the bolts are (although I can make a pretty accurate guess). Bolt and thread size is what matters along with how it is used (tension or shear), and what material it may be threading in to.

[swiftdrivr]

Fred,
I realized that wasn't in the sheet I posted. [It's a reference sheet I go through before every weekend] I just added some of the known info to the original post. Almost all are 3/8-24, with the inboard rear lower suspension pickup [dbl shear] and CV joints [tension] being 5/16 fine. Thanks for looking it over. I have sent this to friends [with BIG caveats], and I wanted to make sure there weren't dangerous errors in it. I was replacing the lower rear inboards, and got that feeling I needed a better "guess", so that made me start looking, and thinking, which led to this post. Again, thanks for looking!

[swiftdrivr]

After further research [see AN vs SAE thread] here is my new torque list; It's new and improved [I hope]

[swiftdrivr]

The first listed torque [really important bolt holding rear lower sub-frame to Hewland ears / bellhousing, and attaching inboard rearmost suspension pickups] seems to be way wrong. It is marked as an AN 3/8-24 into an insert, and it's really a ARP bolt that exceeds grade 8 hardness and has a Max torque of 45 ft/lb. As ARP couldn't tell me an appropriate torque, I have chosen to split the difference between a grade 8 and a grade 5, and settled on 35 ft/lb. It "feels" much better than the AN suggested torque of 18 ft/lb. I suspect I am still a little low, to tell the truth. However, I've torqued the old bolts to 25 for years, and gotten away with it. [one grade 8, one grade 5].
Sorry for the mistake; I am going through the rear suspension, trying to make reasonable decisions on Torque, and I'll post any more that I decide need correcting [but even the corrections are subject to error. I am not an engineer, by any means]

[Fred Michael]

It would not be a bad thing to safety wire those lower bolts as well.

[swiftdrivr]

can't see a good way to do that, unfortunately. The bolts are only available from ARP, undrilled, with 12 pt, small 3/8ths heads, and are inserted into tubes. On the plus side, they have been that way for 20 years, at lower torque, and have never loosened [and I check them a lot]

[ExKartracer]

CV bolts at 16ft/# seems very low.

[swiftdrivr]

I think you are right. I believe the 16 ft/lb is for AN, which these bolts are not. I rechecked the charts I downloaded, and allen-head bolts [5/16, not AN, grade?] are speced at [Coarse thread] 26 ft/lb dry, 18 ft/lb with Antiseize, and [fine thread] 29 dry, 20 with antiseize. As I used blue locktite, I'm guessing that gives some lubricity, until it drys, so perhaps splitting the difference makes sense. I think they are fine thread. I'll pull one and check. If so I will change that to 25 ft/lb. Thanks for pointing that out!

PS: I also ID'ed the bolt I am using at the "V" of the rear frame, that goes into the bellhousing from the side and serves as a motor / drivetrain mount. Mine is an AN bolt, so I decreased the torque spec to 45 ft/lb, from 65, which would be appropriate for a grade 8, I think. NOTE; I can't find data for AN bolts with antiseize, which I use at this site.