Grade of Steel for suspension Component

[bert]

I have been asked to have some Camber nuts machined and my local machine shop has asked me for what grade material i want them made from.

Can anyone give me some advise on the material i should ask for them to be made from?

This is what they are and where they are used in the damper

 

[rikrobson]

I would have thought 12.9 if that's the recommendation for the bolts. What grades have they offered you?

 

[Justme]

I am sure that nuts dont have to be as hard as the bolts do.

 

[KemppiFrog]

I am sure that nuts dont have to be as hard as the bolts do.

Quite, the nuts are in compression, while the bolts are in shear.

 

[ben8vgte]

I take it that they are not threaded and you just use a normal high tensile nut and bolt to clamp between them, they are just eccentric to adjust yeah?

You'd probably find mild would be good enough, but i'd be tempted by some EN8 perhaps.

 

[bert]

thats right they are not threaded and are just eccentric to adjust

mild would probably be OK but just wanted to double check.

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

EN16 or EN16T is about as high tensile aas you would need to go. If you want a weak link to sacrifice itself before something more expensive then you need to have the bolts softer than the nuts.

 

[bert]

the original bolts would have id imagine been 8.8 rather than the 12.9 as listed on the DWG.

i used to compete using 8.8 bolts with no problems, infact the cast hubs broke before anything else did

 

[ben8vgte]

Might be easier to make them out of hex bar as well, just a simple turning job with a offset hole. The load should be taken by friction of the strut mounting plate being pressed on the cast hub anyhow.

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

Not sure how you're gonna get the shoulder using hex bar with the right AF size. They may do them out of round, Turn what needs to be the A/F size a mil or so oversize and then turn the shoulder. Then stick them in a dividing head to do the flats. Quite a quick job really.

 

[bert]

I did think about having them made from 30mm hex bar to reduce the machining costs. will ask my machine shop.

 

[ben8vgte]

Just use 30mm AF bar, it's only to put a spanner on. Depends a bit on the space on the strut though.

 

[bert]

plenty of space on the strut for using a 30mm Hex.

 

[ben8vgte]

I think I might have to make some up in the future for my struts

 

[bert]

I think I might have to make some up in the future for my struts

Fancy making about 20?

 

[ben8vgte]

Might take me a while really, I'd need to sort a new motor out for my dad's lathe first.