buddha211

I figured I'd post this before pestering CrazyAl and F1Fan with pm's.

I'm getting my new BMR panhard bar and brace along with the adj. combo lca's and a Steeda HD rear swaybar w/endlinks today. I remember reading in several threads that some of the nuts and bolts used in the rear suspension shouldn't be reused but now I can't find those threads. Will this be a problem if I don't feel like dealing with the stealership to find the parts? Will some loctite be enough to keep things in place or are the new hardware pieces really that mandatory?

These will be my first suspension mods, as well as the first suspension work I've ever done myself. After searching a bit about lubrication its been made pretty clear to use silicone grease only on the poly bushings. All I need is some silicone and a grease gun right? The bushings that came with the steeda swaybar don't have any grease fittings so I'm assuming I should simply use the supplied silicone and apply manually to the bushings?

And finally to my last question (for now): Don't know if it really applies to this forum but I was also planning on getting some prothane motor mounts. Since I can't find any instructions online I was wondering if this was something that requires any special knowledge or tools. Right now I'm trying to stick to mods that I can do myself in the hobby shop on base and just learn and gain experience as I go.

F1Fan

Hi buddha211,

Some of the bolts are singleuse only andneed to be replaced for safety reasons when you remove them. I found this out by reading the FordS197 shop manuals on their computerfor the S197 when I was hanging out talking to a line mechanic. This has been bothering me for some time soIordered the Ford shop manuals on CDfrom my local Ford dealer last week andshould have it in my hands next week. I'll post the suspension related one use bolts for you ASAP once I get the CDmanual.

Cheers/Chip

mAnYsTyLeS

I was told that even though Ford states it in the manual, you can still re-use the bolts at least 3 or 4 times before they need to be discarded.

F1Fan

Hey manystyles,

Well maybe whoever told you that was the same guy who told methat Santa Clause knew if I was naughty or nice!

There are different types of fasteners used out therebutif a fastener is specified as single use youshould discard and replace them when they are removed for safety.Single use fasteners are commonly used onproduction lines andreally are only menat for a single use or torque cycle. To do otherwise puts you and more importantlyother people at risk for your failure to replace the fastenersyou were toldwere now junk.There are also some fasteners that have a limited life which can be determined by stretch, these are good for several uses before needing to be replaced. The problem with repeated resuse of a bolt specified as single use is that you cannot reliably or accurately achive specifiedtorque valuesbecause the bolt material has been compromised and continues to stretch so you never achive the required torque but in the mean time have compressed the mounting tabs and bushingspotentally causing hidden damage and a bolt that on the verge of failure. This has happened to me once so I pretty muchgo by the book to avoid this type offailure from occuring again.

The other option to buyingthe specified single usedfasteners over and overis toreplace as many single use fasteners as possiblewith the appropriate conventionalMS or ANhardware. There is a GREAT book byCarroll Smith on fasteners and it wil answerany of your fastener questions.Look here: http://www.amazon.com/Fasteners-Plum...303&sr=1-4 and while you are at it pick up some of his other books, they are FILLED with good information about race car technology, techniques, great tips and practical mechanical advice that comes over directly to modern street cars.

Cheers/Chip

F1Fan

Hi buddha,

I finally got the manuals on CD but have not yet compiled thelist of single use fasteners for the suspension in our cars. But the vast majority of them are single usebolts. For example all of the O.E. fasteners used onboth ends of the UCA and LCA's are single use as are the fastenersused onboth ends of the Panhard bar and both ends of the rear dampers, rear anti-roll bar links on the body and bar side. The list is long and it maymake more sense to make a list showing which fasteners can be reused instead of which are single use fasteners! But FYI Steeda's tech support was willing to say that you may use these single use fasteners twice and then dispose of them. In my earlier message I said single use means single use. But in truth I long agolearned that younormally will have no problems using a single use fastener one moretimeif you can achieve the FULL factory specifiedtorque level. If FULL torque is achieved I will usuallypermanently markthis fastener and the next time they are removed I dispose of them. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!

On another front regarding lubricants for bushings Steeda tech support says that you can use any of the regular automotive greases for any of their kit supplied suspension bushings. The normal automotive greases I asked about for bushing lubricantsincluded both natural petroleum based grease, pure synthetics and blends.

Cheers!

mygt500

1+ thanks for the info I had no idea. Why don't all these suspension parts makers include the bolts and fasteners with the suspension components they sell? Esp if they are single use in nature can't that potentially cause a break down the road and wouldn't they be at fault for the break?

buddha211

Steeda included a pair of flanged nuts to replace the stock ones on the endlinks they sell for their rear sway bar. You would think BMR would do so as well...but no luck. Seriously, we're talking 2 fasteners per lca, I don't think that's going to completely kill their profit margins.

mAnYsTyLeS

Thanks for the informative post F1 (Chip)!!