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All self-locking nuts... Posted by Larry West [Email] (#1140) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Larry West) on Mon, 4 Jun 2012 09:41:16 In Reply to: Can you reuse ball joint hardware?, Robster501 [Profile/Gallery] , Sat, 2 Jun 2012 07:40:37 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
...are technically required to be replaced after each use. That is the official Saab line, and the official line from the Military, and anyone that uses self-locking nuts. They work by deforming in such way as to conform to the threads they are used on, such as cutting threads into the nylon (ball joints and 95% of all nuts you'll find on a Saab), or reforming a purposely bent piece (exhaust nuts, hub nuts).
That said, probably all of us shade-tree mechanics have re-used them, often many times over. Blue threadlocker will keep them on, but I've never had a problem with the ones I re-used even without the threadlocker. On the Ball Joint nuts, there's really no force trying to separate the parts, so as long as you can't un-thread them easily, they should be fine.
And taking a tip from using fasteners on aircraft, install the bolts so that the head points to the front of the car. That way, in the extremely unlikely event the nut comes off, no forward motion of the car can cause the bolt itself to come out. It's a small thing, but it may be important!
BTW - one place I never re-use self-locking nuts is on my hubs. When I'm using 200+ foot-lbs of torque, I want to know that nut isn't coming loose for the lifetime of that CV or bearing...
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