Close call . . .

I was out for a little cruise in the neighborhood and not far from home, as I approached an intersection for a major thoroughfare, I heard/felt a “pop” from the suspension. Alarmed, I pulled into a gas station to take a quick look-see. Nothing obvious was visible so I headed back home for a more thorough inspection, hearing another “pop” as I exited the gas station. Arriving at home I checked the front suspension points and found nothing loose or unusual. When I got down under the car to examine the rear suspension, I saw the driver-side radius rod missing a nut where it attaches to the frame. It is bolted to the frame bracket with a 5/8” grade 8 bolt. Upon closer inspection I saw that it was hanging on the bolt with only a couple of threads visible. Had it slid all the way off the bolt, the driver-side of my rear axle would have been located only by the coil-over shock, which wouldn’t do much to mitigate its fore/aft movement. Phew!!! That could have been a major catastrophe. Imagine cruising a major 4-lane thoroughfare when your rear axle decides to do the steering. I beat it up to the hardware store and purchased a pair of 5/8” – 11 nyloc nuts (one for each side). Why I didn’t use nylocs when I built it I don’t know. Moral of the story: doing a nut check once every Spring may not be enough. Be careful out there boys ‘n girls.


(PS - On the finished car the rear RR attachment points are not visible due to the 5" channel.)

 

Lucky ground hogs day for the Prankster. Glad you found it before you hit the highways.

 

If you want to take it up a notch you could dump the ny-locks and go for the "Flex-Top" lock nuts. Or some Steel Insert lock nuts. But it's not cheap!

McMaster-Carr



And then there is also these.

McMaster-Carr



But more affordable would be using a Castle nut.

McMaster-Carr
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I just realize that at those prices, that must be what they mean by giving your left nut!!!
Pun is most certainly intended!!!

 

BLUE Loctite on every nut in the suspension. Still allows disassembly, but stops nuts from coming loose.