Why always one nut

DXP55

DXP55

DXP55

Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2013
Posts
6,934
Location
Shropshire
Changed winter wheels to summer ones so while the front wheels were off I changed drop links that had a advisory on last MOT -
Why is there always one bloody nut that doesn't come off - it unscrewed right to the end of thread and then thread started to spin - fortunately there was enough room to gets some grips in at back of roll bar and it was off - But I did throw things for a while. :o

Damn - should have put it in "What have you done to your car today" :rolleyes:
 
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Joe T said:
I thought this thread was about Squid when I read the title! :D
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:D:D:D

Yeah same old thing and make sur eyou dont' put it back in fella. I had the same on RX8 few years back... and just bought a new set and replaced them all. I had one where the nut was borderline needed to be drilled out hahaha
 
Any car worth owning these days comes with centre lock wheels and a team of people in fireproof overalls to change them for you.
 
The wheel nuts were fine - the trouble was with the nut holding the Link bar on

With the title I used it could have been about a number of posters on here :) GD that is.
 
Weird. I had to replace the ARB bushes on my car last night. Which meant removing the drop links. The drop links themselves were only replaced a few months ago....yet I had the same issue. Removing the nut almost impossible - it cracks off fine, but then as you start to unscrew it, it starts to bind and spin the whole ball joint. And the only way to hold it still? A hex socket in the centre of the thread, which inevitably starts to rounds off. Luckily, I had some replacements standing by, because I ended up using vice grips and having to pretty much destroy the old links in my attempt to get them off.

This seems to be a common problem on cars. I'd honestly love to meet the people responsible for designing these relatively simply components, and kick them all repeatedly in the balls.
 
Having the foresight to spray penetrating fluid, and having heat handy, is always a game changer.
 
dLockers said:
Having the foresight to spray penetrating fluid, and having heat handy, is always a game changer.
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Did both, but it doesn't always help that much with drop links. Getting them cracked off isn't the issue; it's that as you are unscrewing the nut, it starts to bind (I guess due to corrosion on the thread). I've had better success in the past simply by cleaning up the thread as much as possible with a wire wool attachment on a power drill. But even that didn't help last night, as access was so limited.

On the plus side, I get to practice my swearing.
 
I barely even try with drop links now, will give a cursory attempt to get the nut off using the centre fixing / through sockets and if (as it usual) this gets difficult I go straight to the Dremel and cut it loose.

The best type of ARB links are the ones with flats that you can grip to stop the ball joint spinning but hardly seem to come across them any more
 
Conscript said:
Did both, but it doesn't always help that much with drop links. Getting them cracked off isn't the issue; it's that as you are unscrewing the nut, it starts to bind (I guess due to corrosion on the thread). I've had better success in the past simply by cleaning up the thread as much as possible with a wire wool attachment on a power drill. But even that didn't help last night, as access was so limited.

On the plus side, I get to practice my swearing.
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Would putting something like coppaslip (not sure on spelling) on the threads solve the problem, or a more useful thing would be for all cars to have SS nuts and bolts instead of monkey metal. Intact, thinking about it when I changed one of the Turbos on my last car, the new one came with copper nuts as the normal ones have a tenancy to disappear (ask any 911/boxster/cayman owner about exhaust and turbo nuts:cry:).
 
theone8181 said:
Would putting something like coppaslip (not sure on spelling) on the threads solve the problem, or a more useful thing would be for all cars to have SS nuts and bolts instead of monkey metal. Intact, thinking about it when I changed one of the Turbos on my last car, the new one came with copper nuts as the normal ones have a tenancy to disappear (ask any 911/boxster/cayman owner about exhaust and turbo nuts:cry:).
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Number 1 way to over torque.
 
With anti-roll bar links, they always get stuck towards the end because you're running the nut over what was exposed threads that are rusty. If you wire brush/wire wheel them and soak in WD40 they often come off nicer. Sometimes they have a hole in the middle to take a hex or allen key to stop it twisting. Failing that gripping the back of it will do it. My favourite tool for holding them is always a good help.
 
Live on a private unmade road, my car eats through them, never had a problem but my mot centre up in Yorkshire does them for ten quid (they did me a full wishbone for 30) labour so sometimes let them do the job if it hasn't got to the clattering stage but fails that is
 
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