Torque or not ?

[benbobs]

Hi,

This should be an easy one for you all…The manual seems a little vague (that’s being charitable, it says nothing as far as I can see!) about these nuts at the end of the front control arms. When they come in the kit they are loosely mounted and from the picture in the manual they look to be tighter there, but there’s no mention of torque values and I’m not sure how tight they should be, as they need to allow the control arm to rotate.

Any ideas on whether they need torquing or not ? And if so, how much?

Thanks folks !

Ben

169221

[Indy Shu]

That would be 54 ft lbs, after alignment, per the manual

[benbobs]

That would be 54 ft lbs, after alignment, per the manual

Oh ok- must have missed that- alignment is a ways off. Thank you!

[Indy Shu]

I just looked again and think i misunderstood which you were talking about. If the big nuts on the end, just tight enough to remove the play. Sorry about that.

[JohnK]

For the nuts on the ends of the shaft, the manual (at least my version) says:

Pivot endplay
Adjust the locknuts on the ends of the pivot shaft so that there is minimal endplay but so the pivots can still rotate easily on the shaft.
 The pivots may be a little stiff at first but once on the car they will loosen slightly.

[benbobs]

Oh ok- must have missed that- alignment is a ways off. Thank you!

Sorry for the dumb follow up - I’ve just re-looked at the alignment section in the manual at the back and it doesn’t appear to reference these. Which page are you referencing ?

Just to be 100% sure we are talking about the same thing, I’m talking about the nuts on the end of the arms, not the pivot locknuts nor the jam nuts. These nuts don’t seem to be referenced at all, although I do acknowledge I may be looking at the wrong section. I highlighted the nuts I mean on the image from the manual that talks about alignment. Is there another section you’re referring to that I’ve missed?

169224

169223

[benbobs]

I just looked again and think i misunderstood which you were talking about. If the big nuts on the end, just tight enough to remove the play. Sorry about that.

Ah got it- thanks for following up!

[benbobs]

For the nuts on the ends of the shaft, the manual (at least my version) says:

Pivot endplay
Adjust the locknuts on the ends of the pivot shaft so that there is minimal endplay but so the pivots can still rotate easily on the shaft.
 The pivots may be a little stiff at first but once on the car they will loosen slightly.

Awesome- that’s what I needed. I can’t see this in my manual. But this was what I suspected. Appreciate the reply!

[JohnK]

Yes, look in the section early in the manual for front suspension assembly (page 34 in my version of the manual). You'll see a subsection titled "pivot endplay" that I referenced above.

[CraigS]

Those nuts are deformed metal locking nuts so they will stay at whatever position you move them to regardless of how tight they are pinching the pivot bushing. I like to grease the pivot first. I remove the control arm and leave just the pivots on the shaft so I can get the feel of just one pivot at a time. As I pump grease I spin the pivot around and around to be sure the grease gets everywhere it needs to. Then I tighten the nut while moving the pivot by hand. This a good recommendation;
"The pivots may be a little stiff at first but once on the car they will loosen slightly."
I spin by hand and tighten the nut until I can't spin it anymore, then I back off a little until it spins but has friction. I know that taking the arm off is extra work, but if the arm is attached you are feeling the combination of both pivots so hard to adjust just one at a time.

[jts359]

Those bolts and nuts should really be tightened when the full weight the car is on the suspension , I know its difficult but can be done , Ed

[rich grsc]

Those bolts and nuts should really be tightened when the full weight the car is on the suspension , I know its difficult but can be done , Ed
Not really, Craigs method of adjusting and greasing them is spot on. If you have the car setting on the ground, you have no way to feel how much tension you have on the pivot.
One important thing, the three small bolts on the adjustable control arms must be loosened when doing the alignment.. If they aren't, it will induce a 'twist' on the pivot shaft, which will cause wear and binding.