Cuting down Nylocs

[ajlelectronics]

I have just refurbished a rear axle and the wall thickness of the trailing arm brackets has increased by 6mm in total. Because of this, the trailing arm bolts are now 6mm short. Cutting down longer bolts isn't something I want to do. The nuts are very thick and I could easily lose 6mm off them I think. I had thought of a hacksaw, but that isn't going to give me a true surface. Grinding likewise, so a bit stumped about how I can do it with normal tools.

Nuts are 15/16" AF and brand new of course, as are the bolts. I only need to do 2 of them for the job inhand.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Access to a lathe to face them off?

 

[rtbcomp]

Cutting down the nuts means fewer threads holding the nut to the bolt. If you generate heat whilst cutting you could damage the nylon ring.

I would cut the bolt, as long as there was enough thread left to tighten the nut down fully.

 

[Kent]

Vice and file the nuts as you won't get the heat and have a stack of burs to deal with.

Why do so many forget to use non powered hand tools. It's only 6 mm!

Can't comment if any reduction in thread length is very smart or not as a lot depends on a lot

 

[mpats]

Is it possible to use a different style of nut? I am thinking castellated, bit thinner, torque it up then drill the bolt for a split pin to provide the locking.
To be honest though my first choice would be cutting down a longer bolt. Thread restorer or die (or even a nut) on it, cut it down, file the end to tidy it up and tidy up the lead in thread, then take the thread restorer or die back off to make sure the end of the thread is good. All fairly normal and straight forwards, unless clearance is an issue and you are tight for space.

 

[rtbcomp]

You could use self-locking half nuts.

 

[MoreWellie]

Another vote for slightly longer bolts, you must have a local fastener place that you can take one of the new ones to and they will find you something a bit longer. All you need is another quarter of an inch. With a bit of luck they will have the right size. Just make sure you have room to fit a longer bolt as I seem to remember one side being quite tight.

 

[Robotstar5]

Go back to basics and file them down.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Another vote for slightly longer bolts, you must have a local fastener place that you can take one of the new ones to and they will find you something a bit longer. All you need is another quarter of an inch. With a bit of luck they will have the right size. Just make sure you have room to fit a longer bolt as I seem to remember one side being quite tight.

That's the issue with longer bolts. The nut is in a recess. I wasn't aware that half nuts were available in Nyloc, I will have to have a word with Allcap.

 

[500e]

The nut is in a recess ? then there must be room why so set on changing nuts not bolts? remember at least 1.5 turns of thread our of lock to be safe.
If you are going to go to the trouble of getting nuts why not bolts

 

[ajlelectronics]

The idea came about because a) I have good stocks of the correct bolts for the application and b) the original nuts are less thick and would have been fine. However, I don't use secondhand nuts! The bolt goes into a recess that only allows enough space to get the nut on, which is another reason I don't really want to extend the bolt.

 

[chevy2]

Narrow bodied nylocs are available,
pretty standard in aviation and racecars but they are higher grade nuts to allow for less thread engagement.

 

[GrahamGKD]

Can you spin the nuts in a drill which is mounted in a vice or horizontal stand and then (while they are spinning) use an angle grinder to grind them down - they should come out reasonably square faced done that way?

 

[AndyStobbs]

Talk about making a mountain of a mole hill.

 

[awemawson]

That man NEEDs a lathe

 

[GrahamGKD]

That man NEEDs a lathe

Indeed - not sure you can justify buying a lathe to modify a couple of nuts though! I used that 'mounting in the drill' method to taper some legs for a sculpture the other day because turning a taper seemed over the top and I didn't want to use the angle grinder over the lathe. It worked well.

 

[mike os]

i really dont like the idea of thinning nuts on a suspension component, guessing you wont get the 1.5 turns through the nyloc either ?

 

[Shox Dr]

Narrow bodied nylocs are available,
pretty standard in aviation and racecars but they are higher grade nuts to allow for less thread engagement.

Also know as; Half Nuts.

 

[awemawson]

There is absolutely NO need to justify a lathe. Life just isn't complete without one. I've lost count of the times mine has got me out of the claggy.

I well remember a very tearful niece one Christmas when she lost the dummy for her new doll - that's right, out I go to the workshop and turned her up a new one in brass. That was ages ago and she now has children of her own. In the intervening years there have been many more conventional problems solved using the king of machines

 

[doubleboost]

If you are stuck I will machine them for you no problem