cbjroms Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Just checking the front/rear supsension and steering before the MOt next week. The rack is fixed to the chassis by 2 x clamps, each with a rubber bush and 2 studs. Looking at the manual the torque for these nuts is very low (virtually hand tight) and I have achieved this on 3 of the 4 nuits. The 4th nut just turns and turns without getting any tighter. Not sure whether it is just taking-up slack/squashing the rubber bush or whether the thread has failed on the stud or nut. Cant see that I have over-tightened it as I have been only hand tightening with a spanner. Thinking that it is more likely to be a problem with the stud rather than the nut and that the clamp will have to come out for inspection. If it is the stud that has failed, can it be repaired? Does it make sense to leave the repair until after the MOT - cant see that it is going to cause the car to fail? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Hi, they are a U bolt attached to a sort of metal cup arrangement that fits over the rubber bush. When doing up the nuts the cup sits down against the cross member and theres no point tightening them more as the rubber bush wont be held any more tightly. Normally the bushes go soft with age/oil contamination and allow excess movement in the rack so some people replace them with solid metal ones but these can transmit more vibration through to the steering wheel. It does sound like one of your U bolt has a stripped thread which is unlikely to be a problem but would be best to fix. Maybe its the nut so you could try replacing that or if its just one section of the U bolt thread perhaps use a thick spacer so that the nut is moved on to the good part and then does do up correctly. Otherwise I cant see the clamp can be repaired so a replacement would be necessary... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbjroms Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 I have checked that it is the nut that is turning on the (U Bolt) stud rather than the stud turning with the nut - it occured to me that the stud might have snapped off. I cant undo the nut as it just turns but doesnt ride up the thread. So I have adopted the suggestion above and out another nut on top of it and this tightened-up nicely. Cant see it is going to be very easy to cut the spinning nut off as access is quite limited. Is it safe to leave with the second nut tight and on top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Its almost certainly a section of thread damaged on the U bolt and Ive had luck in these cases by wedging an old thin blade screw driver between the cross member and the nut and levering or twisting it while undoing the nut. You just need the nut thread to engage with the good section and then it should continue to undo. If thats not possible Id be happy with what youve done but I would get an assistant to turn the steering wheel from side to side while checking the rack for any side to side movement. It is rubber mounted so not rock solid but it shouldnt move more than a few mm.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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