Tweet
Hello All,
This is my first post on a forum, ever, so be gentle!
At AJ120's suggestion, I'm posting a method of bolting the front recovery points to the chassis in a way which distributes the load across the chassis cross section, which in turn allows more torque on the bolt.
Method follows:
1) Take a length of 6x50mm flat bar, and cut it long enough to straddle the chassis when fitted to longitudinally (front to back).
2) Cut a hole for the mounting bolt, which is a Gr 12.9 countersunk/Allen key drive. I used Gr 12.9 because that's what the bolt supplier (Searle Fasteners here in Perth) had in the size I wanted, and high tensile.
3) Countersink the hole so the bolt head is flush with the face of the flat bar when inserted. The countersink tool I used fits a normal drill chuck, and costs $100 or so - you could probably get a cheaper one on eBay, but regardless, its a handy thing to add to the tool collection.
4) Fillet the edge of the flat bar with a grinder or bastard file (sod that I used a grinder) so when the bolt and flat bar are mounted to the chassis, the filleted edge will match the curve of the chassis.
5) I think from memory I needed to enlarge the chassis hole by a bee's willy to get the bolt to fit.
When fitted, there are two advantages to using this method:
1) The 6mm flat bar spreads the compression load from the bolt to the chassis nicely, so you can really get some good torque on the bolt.
2) There are no "sharp" edges (like the edge of a hex head bolt) to rub against the radiator plastic bit.
I've attached some photos to show what I've done - hopefully they have actually attached (I'm a forum noob) but even more so, I hope they help someone. Any questions, or if this has been done before and I'm offending people, let me know.
Cheers,
Tim
This is my first post on a forum, ever, so be gentle!
At AJ120's suggestion, I'm posting a method of bolting the front recovery points to the chassis in a way which distributes the load across the chassis cross section, which in turn allows more torque on the bolt.
Method follows:
1) Take a length of 6x50mm flat bar, and cut it long enough to straddle the chassis when fitted to longitudinally (front to back).
2) Cut a hole for the mounting bolt, which is a Gr 12.9 countersunk/Allen key drive. I used Gr 12.9 because that's what the bolt supplier (Searle Fasteners here in Perth) had in the size I wanted, and high tensile.
3) Countersink the hole so the bolt head is flush with the face of the flat bar when inserted. The countersink tool I used fits a normal drill chuck, and costs $100 or so - you could probably get a cheaper one on eBay, but regardless, its a handy thing to add to the tool collection.
4) Fillet the edge of the flat bar with a grinder or bastard file (sod that I used a grinder) so when the bolt and flat bar are mounted to the chassis, the filleted edge will match the curve of the chassis.
5) I think from memory I needed to enlarge the chassis hole by a bee's willy to get the bolt to fit.
When fitted, there are two advantages to using this method:
1) The 6mm flat bar spreads the compression load from the bolt to the chassis nicely, so you can really get some good torque on the bolt.
2) There are no "sharp" edges (like the edge of a hex head bolt) to rub against the radiator plastic bit.
I've attached some photos to show what I've done - hopefully they have actually attached (I'm a forum noob) but even more so, I hope they help someone. Any questions, or if this has been done before and I'm offending people, let me know.
Cheers,
Tim
Which was about a different method of fitting that bolt as well!
Comment