What torque spec are you using (out of curiosity)? I was worried about snapping mine. I did whatever is listed on here in the big torque spec thread. Something like 80 ft-lbs + 180°.

I've been having trouble with my captive nuts breaking loose in the rear though. I literally JUST replaced them, torqued to spec, and now it sounds like they're loose again (you'll hear a loud click on initial accel/decel).

I'd switch back to just using a regular nut again, but they're SUCH a royal PITA to install/remove; mainly just the driver's side. Fuel/brake lines are in the way.

 

Pretty sure the spec is 74ft-lbs + 180. I rounded up to 75ft-lbs + 180. I will be using 145ft-lb straight this time tho, as suggested by Powell on a general suspension how to thread..

 

Powell had told me that before too, iirc, but couldn't remember the number. I think the two values are SUPPOSED to be the same thing.

I might try to retorque mine in a day or two. Maybe add a touch of ARP Fastener Lube to the bearing surface

 

Gm Parts seems to think this bolt is one time use.. Took my struts out about a week ago. So these bolts have been torqued at least twice already, third time it failed.
"Part Number: 11589009 M14X2X131
Supersession(s): 11518871 M14X2X128Bolt. Mount. Engine. Cradle.
Center. Engine Cradle Bolt . Part cannot be reused/reinstalled. Drivetrain and Suspension FRM. HX Flange HD."

 

What bolts are y’all talking about? Ive never replaced any suspension bolt. I’ve always re used

 

The large bastard the holds the front lower control arm- trailing bushing- to the *cradle.

 

Yep. I almost mentioned that in my last post. They're intended to be TTY, one or two time usage. Although, I feel like I reused my OE ones about 5 times. I think I'm on usage number two with my current ones... so maybe I should buy some back-ups, just in case.

 

Makes sense, yea I kinda felt like buying 2 myself but one will get me back on the road for now, should have it reassembled later today if It's not too cold in the garage. We got one last blast of winter today :/

 

Funny, we had a blast of summer over the weekend. I think we hit right around 30°C.

 

Wow I wish, my forehead actually started to hurt walking to work lol we got lots of frozen rain (sleet)

 

I’ve reused that bolt probably over a dozen times in my car. Can’t count how many times really.

 

Lucky duck. You get much rust down there in Texas? Wonder if that might play a role, that or we're just clearly too strong.

 

Nah, rust isn't really an issue here; especially further south where she is. I wouldn't think rust would be the issue with the bolt though - they're treated bolts (probably some sort of galvanization; hop-dipped, maybe?). I'm sure they fractured from being over-stressed (multiple uses). They could have had a manufacturing defect that was only found after multiple torque loads too.

Can you reuse a lot of TTY bolts? Sure. Is it best practice? No. For something like this, I try to limit myself to two or three uses. They're an important load-bearing piece... a lot of forces from your control arms go through those bolts, too. If one is fractured, but just barely hanging on, a hard turn or hard braking could theoretically push it over the edge, and then your control arm is only held on with the LCAB bolts... which won't last long.

It's a risk-reward thing. Most people reuse the hell out of them.

A large part of my job is setting up tests to check standard components to their rated limits (pressure switches, pressure valves, hardware, etc... all kinds of things). The majority of items will pass without issue, but there are always items that fail close to their limit, or after multiple instances of being at a limit. It's really opened up my eyes to proper bolt usage and replacement for critical items. In other words... you never know if you have that bolt that falls into the category of "will fail after multiple uses".

EDIT: with that said, rusty build-up on the threads of the nut and bolt COULD have sharply increased the amount of torque applied during the additional 180° twist part.

 

Got it all back together, I ended up using gm torque specs, sorta. I initially torqued to 75ft-lbs, marked the bolt with a white paint marker. Loosened it up, adjust my torque wrench to 145 and tightened it down. 145ft-lbs only ended up being 30 degrees past the marking I made..
So I loosened it again, torqued down to 75 (ended up being the same spot) and torqued the bolt thee after to 250ft-lbs which ended up being +150 degrees

 

Interesting. I'll keep this in mind when I mess with mine. I think my 1/2" torque wrench only goes up to 150 ft-lbs. Might be time for me to finally invest in one of those fancy, high-dollar digital one.

 

Mines just a hunk of metal really, new but nothing fancy around 30ft-lbs to 250ft-lbs. I want a fancy little digital one in 1/4 drive for little precise stuff like if i ever tackle an engine build..

 

I don't have anything fancy yet... but I've been eye-balling them. I have the 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive Harbor Freight torque wrenches (cheap).

 

So i'm back in business brotha lol. I did my income tax recently and got a good amount back. Puts me back on track with my build now so over the next few months i'll be going to town on my car to get everything done brotha. Things are finally starting to look up. And the ex baby momma did give me a little break on my child support payment once she realized the **** I was dealing with all last week ad I showed her the final furnace repair bill lol. I knew she still had a heart somewhere in her lol. How did you make out with everything? Did you get new subframe bolts to replace the one that broke off?

 

Oh yeah got a new bolt Monday and had it fixed later that night. Got it aligned again but I’m still a little bit dissatisfied with steering.
I think I might switch over to an FE3 rack soon, possibly weld up any play in my steering column lol be done with it.
Nonetheless it pulls straight under wot so I’m good to go start collecting credible data once again clean up my tunes.

got a few more things I want to try with my HE issue eventually. Don’t think anything more crazy will happen to my car in awhile tho , I’ll just be maintaining what I got.
Been trying to think about how I could fully carry out an engine build footing most of the work myself.. it would be pretty tight removing the whole subframe in the garage, so far only thing that sounds logical would be to tear up a back yard deck to open up another parking spot so that I could remove the whole subframe or use an engine crane with no height restriction... I also kinda have my eye on a 1960s Ram right now lol and it certainly won’t fit my garage.

Nooice! Good to hear man, glad the baby momma saw some reason. keep me posted how it goes getting it all together. Ask any questions if you got em

 

I’m 99% sure I found my He problem. Fluid’s leaking into the intake. Made an awful smell this morning, noticed I was down 0.5L off a 2KM drive.

 

Ordered some new seals and a couple other odds and ends for the car.

won a roof tent which came in today, sold that and looks like none of the parts I just ordered are gonna hurt my pocket! Woot

 

My suspicion was correct. Had a pinched core seal, manifold had a decent amount of coolant in the air chamber. Top of my valves were actually green too...

 

Green is a nice color except for when it's on top of the valves.

 

lmao I’m with y’a there

 

Well I ended up rounding the torx bit bolts that hold my manifold to the head... I know.. sometimes I impress myself too..

Unsure what I'm gonna do yet, might drill and tap the head for M8 bolts I have or I'll have to bring in some new shoulder bolts. Will be swapping in a ported m62 housing in the next few weeks or so. Also picked up a 2.7" pulley and a supercharger spacer.. For the time being, I think I've decided to cut a section out of my rad fan module shell to give my manifold OUT hoses some more room as it is just way way to tight there