HELP!!!!! Spring Arm to Trailing arm missing bolts

[Walt Fricke]

Sounds like good advice about not mixing steel types.

But if you torque these fasteners to their specification they won't come loose. Lockwashers, whose value is questionable (see Carroll Smith's book on fasteners, AKA Screw to Win), aren't necessary. If they were, my stuff would have come loose long ago. It doesn't.

The one place where nylocks come into their own, I think, is valve covers (or anywhere else with that kind of gasket). Those take minimal torque (and when you exceed that you risk warping things) and have a crushable gasket between them and the clamped surfaces. So having that kind of "friction on the threads" device makes a lot of sense. Suspension fastening isn't of that sort.

[KTL]

I agree with Walt that the lock washers are questionable. If nothing else they're a belt & suspenders sort of arrangement- overkill or extra peace of mind? The split washers seem like they do have some benefit. The spring/wave washers are suspect IMO since their locking effect is pretty small, especially if reused (which they're technically one time use).

The nylocks are great on the valve covers for sealing too. The crush washer seals at the cover interface and the nylon seals the threads to prevent drips. But reuse on the lower covers and you usually end up with drips from the threads. Upper covers rarely ever leak so you can reuse those nylocks, and the gaskets, several times. I have so many extra upper cover gaskets it's silly!