Shock and control arm fasteners

[BCA]

So the Ford manual says to discard the bolts and replace with new ones after they are removed. They are a loaded bolt when in use, and I can understand the reasoning, but is it really necessary when they are showing no signs of corrosion or is it more of a liability thing?

Any thoughts?

 

[joegr]

Sure is. It has nothing to do with corrosion and everything to do with the nylon insert.
Read the horror story on here about one guy's front wheel becoming detached while driving, and some other posts about loose bolts caught before anything fell off. The problem is the aluminum parts. They expand and contract enough with temperature that the bolts/nuts won't stay tight without the nyloc. I suppose that if you clean everything really well, you could use loctite with the old nuts and bolts.

 

[BCA]

Ok, that makes sense. I wanted to get them installed this weekend but I didn't think to order the bolts & nuts too. Probably will put it off for now and order them. It's going to be pretty uncomfortable out in the garage with this current heat wave anyway.

Thanks Joe.

 

[Kumba]

The bolts themselves aren't torque to yield so as long as they aren't worn, bent, corroded, or otherwise compromised they should be fine. The nut on the other hand is the issue, like Joe said. If you want to re-use the nuts and bolts, like I did, use Blue Loctite. I like the liquid so I used Loctite 242. Should only be a problem on things that have a nut.

Be prepared to pay dearly for for new nuts/bolts if you get them from Ford. Also be prepared for some of them to be end of life. For instance on the rear there is a long special bolt that connect the lower eye of the shock to the control arm. Those are EOL so you have to re-use the old ones.

 

[elephantrider]

i tried to use loctite twice, and it didn't work either time.

replace the nut. you can buy ball joints with the nut on them
from rockauto / ebay, etc... for pretty cheap.

 

[FDR]

Well, this is a new concern I didn't have before. I reused one upper control arm ball joint and all 4 body nuts.

 

[cammerfe]

BCA---

If you live anywhere near metro Detroit, there are a plethora of fastener companies around. Nylock nuts are almost as easy to come by as 'down to the corner'.

KS