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Coyotemutt
Samba Member
Joined: June 16, 2017
Posts: 360
Location: Pecos, New Mexico
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 Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 9:19 pm Post subject: Those beam bolts are pretty damn strong |
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Ive been driving my Baja a my main vehicle for about 4 years now. Just a basic 1966 based Baja beetle. Early on, I replaced the front beam and added hook and rod stops. Also turned the torsion tubes just a bit.
I don't do jumps often but I drive down forest roads in a "spirited manner" an use the bug as my hunting vehicle.
Anyway, for a long time I've been hearing this sort of a metallic thunk on and off in the really rough stuff. Also, getting back on pavement sometimes I would have a steady steering wheel, sometimes a touch shakey.
Turns out the P/O never had washers under the passenger side beam-to-frame bolts. And the idiot current owner thought that was fine and never added new ones. The bolts run out of thread before the beam is solidly mounted though! They NEED washers!
So half my beam has been supported directly on the bolts for quite some time. Thank you, German engineers, for overdoing it on the fasteners here! |
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Dale M.
Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2006
Posts: 20896
Location: Just a tiny bit west of Yosemite Valley
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 6:46 am Post subject: Re: Those beam bolts are pretty damn strong |
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Two things here.... Beam bolts were to long, or you ran out of threads in insert in frame head.... NO in stock form threads of inserts do not go all the way through so a bolt to long will bottom out before clamping beam tight....
Three possible fixes, run a tap through insert and cut threads all the way through, use proper length bolts or add washers so threads on bolts do not bottom out....
Dale
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All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ... |
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Coyotemutt
Samba Member
Joined: June 16, 2017
Posts: 360
Location: Pecos, New Mexico
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:56 pm Post subject: Re: Those beam bolts are pretty damn strong |
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| Dale M. wrote: |
Two things here.... Beam bolts were to long, or you ran out of threads in insert in frame head.... NO in stock form threads of inserts do not go all the way through so a bolt to long will bottom out before clamping beam tight....
Three possible fixes, run a tap through insert and cut threads all the way through, use proper length bolts or add washers so threads on bolts do not bottom out....
Dale |
Interesting. I didn't know this. It felt like my frame head had holes that go all the way through. Looking at my bolts, they had a threaded section and a smooth section and the smooth section was bottoming out before the beam was fully bottomed.
I did fix it with a washer and a lock washer though. I had been hearing this tie-rod-like clunk in the really rough stuff for a while and this solved it. |
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