Lower control arm bolts

[hamishpotter]

Installed OME 2.5" lift at local shop today. Stepped out for a minute then noticed they were trying to remove the control arm bushing bolts from the nut side as opposed to the proper bolt side. They followed through and turned the bolts. My question is whether the nuts or brackets may be compromised... Anyone?

 

[maxamillion2345]

...what?

 

[NLXTACY]

Yeah I gotta admit I'm not understanding what you are describing. Are you replacing the bolt and nut? If not, if the threads aren't mashed they can be reused.

 

[Golgo13]

Proper removal and installation is to hold the bolt head and rotate the nut. The washer is there as a bearing surface and to prevent damage to the bracket. If they were turning the nut, they were doing it right.
If they accidentally turned the bolt head it might have scarred up the bracket, but with the torque on those bolts, I really don't think it will be a problem. Also, the little teeth on the flange of the bolt should hold it just fine.
It should be just fine.

 

[hamishpotter]

To give you some context, here is an excerpt from Slee OME 80 series installation instructions..

http://www.sleeoffroad.com/technical/tz_ome.htm

"...Now loosen the front four bolts that attach the arms to the axle housing. The bolts should be loosened and not the nuts. The nuts are locked with serrations on the face of the nut. If you use an air impact wrench to do this, it will help to turn the wheels to either side to gain access to the bolts. Also note the direction of the bolts as they are removed. They should be re-installed from the same side of the bracket."

Thank you Golgo for your response, though I'm still a bit uncertain, as that seems to contradict the above

 

[landtank]

that procedure is for the front arm bolts. The nuts have spurs on them to stop them from loosening.

 

[hamishpotter]

thank you Landtank - any concern if those spurs have been smoothed by a breaker-bar turning them? I'm going to check them after a few miles.

on top of using the breaker bar on the front arm nuts, after installing the lift (and with the best intentions) they sent my truck for a complimentary car wash with the antenna up! now I'm looking for a new antenna - going to search the threads but if anyone's got one I'm in the market : )

thanks again!

 

[landtank]

I wouldn't worry about the nuts, they should be OK. And you can get a new mast from Toyota for around 30.00.

 

[Golgo13]

Usually those teeth are there to make assembly easier on the assembly line. Since the torque in that joint is between the bushing and the bracket, I don't believe the bolt will loosen on its own. Also, given the torque specs on the bolt, there is plenty of clamping force to keep that from happening.
If it will put your mind at ease, I can consult our bolt expert at work and get his opinion. It will also give me an opportunity to discuss the bushing joint and its requirements with the guy who was responsible for the 2nd gen Hilux chassis. That guy is a wealth of knowledge. He has been around long enough that his title is "Grand Master."

Another aspect of this joint is that the position of the axle during tightening is also important. I believe that when the bolt is tightened, the axle is in its standard position, with only the weight of the empty vehicle resting on it. I do not believe the axle should be at full rebound(droop) when tightening the bolt.
I'm replacing my rear axle housing with parts from Jason at CruiserYard(thanks @arcteryx!), so I'll be going through similar steps during the install.
HTH
Lex

 

[hamishpotter]

interesting. thank you, and good point about the axle positioning that was something I found myself thinking about a lot during the install. mine were pretty droopy so I'm going to check it all again when I get back to the garage

 

[Cruisin']

Agreed that as long as the bolts are properly torqued there shouldn't be anything to worry about them backing off.

Its very important that the truck is at ride height (ie. sitting on its wheels) when you torque the control arm bolts. Otherwise the bushings are sitting twisted all the time and will wear out prematurely. If you are in questions if this was done properly, loosen the bolts, bounce the truck a couple times by hand, then re-torque.

 

[sleeoffroad]

FWIW, Toyota calls for those bolts to not be re-used. If the tabs a sheared off the nuts, I would get new ones.

 

[hamishpotter]

thank you Christo. I will do that. do you guys carry them? if not will reach out to Beno

by the way the suspension is great. thank you for all of your advice and tech support (and stickers : )

J

 

[Golgo13]

So I discussed this with our bolt expert and got a definite answer.

To properly torque this joint, you absolutely must tighten the nut while holding the head of the bolt still. The purpose of the little teeth under the head is to hold the head still during assembly at the plant.

If you try to torque the joint by turning the bolt, you will not achieve the proper axial tension in the bolt. You'll have to switch sides and tighten the nut to get where you need to be.

There you have it, from one of Toyota's experts.

 

[hamishpotter]

This has me somewhat confused. I *do* tighten the nut and not the bolt? What about the tabs / serrations on the nut shearing from being turned and pressed again. I would think the tabs would need to stay put not to shear, so to turn the bolt

 

[Golgo13]

The Toyota parts should not have tabs on the nut. I checked the drawings. I will be picking up new parts from the dealer today. I'll take pictures and post them.

 

[maxamillion2345]

There are 4 tabs, a little different than serrations. I'd just run em down with a good 1/2 impact and then jump on em with a breaker bar and call it a day. Took a bit to get them off with my 2135TI at 150 psi so they're on there plenty tight.

 

[landtank]

The spurs (as I call them) are located on the underside of the flange nut and are meant to inhibit loosening of the nut.

My understanding is that you loosen the bolt side when taking them apart and tighten the nut side when assembling.

Given that the hardware is a class 10.9 I've seen where those spurs have marred the bracket when someone has loosened the nuts verses the bolt but they really didn't sustained and damage from what I could see.

 

[Finnyfam60]

I can't remember which is which, but the four axle end nuts/bolts have the "spurs" on the opposite item (nut vs bolt, vice versa) as the frame side nut/bolt pair. For instance, iirc, the frame side bolt has the spurs (flange nut is smooth) and the axle side flange nut has the spurs and bolt head is smooth.

 

[CoffeeGeek]

Good discussion. To add to it torque is a method to measure stretch and accomplish a percentage of design tensile load of the bolt material. In my industry we measure bolt stretch with micrometers and turn the nuts the required distance based on thread pitch to accomplish prestress. When torquing fasteners all variables must be the per design to ensure desired stretch of material. This is why it is advisable to only turn the nut to avoid overcoming friction of both bolt head flange and nut flange, the torque was calculated based on only turning the nut. Additionally lubrication applied to both threads or fastener flange surface changes the friction as well and causes a change in the amount of stretch applied. For some parts I have torque tables for lubricated and unlibricated.

I was in a time crunch and had a "4x4" shop install my lift. I have had a nut loosen on both a panhard bar and the front lower control arm, thus lost a nut and a bolt and nut. I have no idea if the hardware is installed in the correct orientation and if this contributed to the loss.

Are there any other sources for the proper suspension fasteners other than the dealer? Does the dealer typically have an easy time supplying these fasteners and at what cost?