ive had it for about 4-5 months now and its a beautiful piece but the big bolt that is supplied uses a Nylock style locking nut and it has come loose twice now

it starts clunking when i turn and i have to pull out the big tools to tighten it. anyone else experience this and do you think that replacing it with a better grade 8 high strength bolt with a nut and lock washer?

 

Loc-Tite? Works for the smaller stuff.

 

I second the lock tight. I don't know where this bolt is but if it's got side loads on it then you want a grade 5. Grade 8 bolts don't do well with side loads.

 

TOTAL myth. a grade 5 will bend and fail before a grade 8 even bends.

When i was at the real fastener store, I got some "Class C lock nuts" which are slightly oblong.. those suckers do NOT come loose...

 

How tight do you get it? I agree with the steel lock nuts. But if your doing it with a ratchet you better have a steel pair to do it. Try a 3/4" impact.

Randy

 

Ahh, BUT Blue said "with side loads".

A grade 5 may "bend" before a grade 8, but a grade 8 will SHEAR completely in half in some cases where a grade 3 or 5 would just bend and still hold.
8 is hard, waaaay hard. I'd rather bend a softer bolt than snap another.

 

Kind of off subject but how do you like your Thuren trac bar, i was thinking of getting the adjustable for above 5-inch lifts, i getting sick of changing out these Moog ones!!

 

I have about 20K or so on mine, zero problems. Mine is a tad different than most, I had Don drill the axle end bushing out to 5/8", and I used a 5/8 Grade 8 bolt with a nylon lock nut on it.

Hasn't come loose yet......I would suggest trying red Loctite first.

 

ok i guess tomorrow i will try that, i have to use a 1" drive breaker bar and a 1" drive rachet to tighten it, my air impact is good for snugging but i cant torque it with the gun.

i jsut got some red loc-tite for my shifter handle that kept coming loose so i have some here, ill stick it on tomorrow and see how it holds up.

other than that i love it, its good for adjusting the axle with a small lift. and when its tight it is flawless, but i can feel when it loosens as i get alot of play in the wheel

 

Hmph... My "sloppy 2nd class" track bar upgrade hasn't budged.. All tight and straight as an arrow..

 

Grade 8 has the highest yield, and ultimate stresses. Yield refers to plastic deformation, which you can equate to bending if you like, ultimate means total fracture. Grade 8 is better than grade 5 in both quantities. If the load was enough to shear a grade 8, rest assured it would have sheared the grade 5. If the load is enough to bend a Grade 5, then in reality the load is also too great for a grade 8 if you use reasonable safety factors. Grade 8 also has the highest toughness values and also the highest fatigue ratings. Guess what, guys... Grade 8 is called grade 8 because its better than grade 5 in ALL aspects. Surface hardness is a second, unrelated to grade, quality. The black oxide coated fasteners are usually harder on the surface. Eskimo has it correct, some of you other guys need to read up... But I suppose, old myths die hard..... put down your Hot Rod and Four-Wheel and Off Road magazines guys, and get yourself some real technical reference books....

As for the Thuren bar itself, I have already voiced my opinion on this and it hasnt changed......

Your on the money, Lil Dog, with your subtle imply !!!!


KP

 

Hmph....neither has my 1st class bar.


Apparently this couldn't possibly happen with the 03TBK, could it? A bolt coming loose? Perish the thought.....

You guys are funny.

 

i guess thuren is junk because the nut they supplied came loose on my truck, i didnt even know thuren fab was now making their own hardware. thanks for the info. when i researched track bar options the thuren was cheaper than the bracket and a new 03 track bar.

i am going to put a lock washer on it and some loc-tite and i will be good im sure as it will not come loose again.

 

600Megawatts explained it in greater detail... But that is incorrcet again.

A grade 5 will have bent AND snapped before a Grade 8 even gets to yield... let alone snapping... in ANY direction of loading - tension, shear, whathaveyou.

 

Just a story to add about bolts.

35 years ago, we were using a brush hog to cut corn stalks and kept shearing a bolt on the pto shaft. There was no slip clutch in it. It was a 9/16, so we drilled it out to 5/8 and used grade 8 bolts. After shearing 4-5 the hardware store owner said to try a grade 5. That same bolt is still in it.
I agree that the grade 5 worked better in this case of shear strength.
Can you guys explain that? I want to know why this worked.