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4A front suspension ball joint bolts


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So I've seen several threads discussing new vs old bolt sizes, first one I've looked at in the suspension re-build is the ball joint to wishbone bolts. The old ones I took off are 2 3/4" x 3/8", the new ones from TR Shop are 3" x 3/8", what is the correct length? Neither Rimmers or Moss catalogues say what size they are; the longer ones seem to stick out of the upper wishbones  quite a bit?

Thanks David

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If your running ally wheels then depending on their offset the length of that bolt can be critical, it only just needs to clear the end of the nyloc nut so if the original was 2 3/4" then thats what you need, lengths of bolts are measured from the underneath of the head to the end of the thread BTW.

Stuart.

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Thanks chaps, I'm going to re-use the original bolts on these, they look pretty good (new washers/nuts of course) bit odd that the catalogues don't actually say what the bolt size is supposed to be - although I did see the photo and ruler!

 

David

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Why not simply measure the width of the ball joint then add the thickness of the wishbone arm material. Buy a bolt to suit then cut back to length.

 

The bolts shown in the catalogue would almost certainly allow the thread to be in contact with the wishbone material - not good.

The plain shank should take all the contact loads. The thread is there for the nut.

Sadly automotive bolts are measured from head to end of the thread as shown by Stuart. 

When will they change over to aerospace measuring and quote the bolt length as the shank.

Roger

 

 

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Indeed Roger I would agree with that, many of the replacement bolts seem to have threaded shanks as opposed to plain shanks; is it difficult to get plain shank bolts of the right tensile strength or are the suppliers just being lazy?

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Hi David,

      Moss do both bolts (plain shank  thread) and Screws (all thread).

The problem I see is that if you need a bolt with a 3" shank what do you ask for.  Take you tape measure to the shop and sift through the selection.

 

Roger

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