| Author | Message | ||
     Motorfish |
Did any of you have any trouble with the torx screws (4) that hold down the base plate? I took off mine today and had a problem with the front right and left rear. The rear one was kind of tough to remove so I kept turning it in and out until it came out all the way. the Front left was a lot worse, so bad that I snapped it off. Oh crap. I managed to drill out the broken stud (stainless), and re-tap it. Got lucky. Stainless screw in aluminum tank/frame, scary. I used neverseize on the screws, hope that don`t happened again. I guess the heat plus the different metals reacted. | ||
| Ourdee |
I use blue loctite on mine. | ||
| Froggy |
They come red loctighted from the factory, hence your difficulty. | ||
| Motorfish |
I did see traces of red locktite. I know neverseize won`t act as "lock", but I consider myself lucky I was able to repair the threads w/o messing up the aluminum. Stainless is a little tricky to drill. I just went slow with oil, and kept increasing bit sizes. I think the threads are cut into a pretty thick piece of aluminum, so if I had to use a heli-coil it wouldn`t drill into the tank. Just a little scary. | ||
| Xcephasx |
yeah... tell me about it. had all 4 stainless header studs break last summer. total nightmare. my 06 base plate bolts were really tight like yours. also, the fender bolts were outrageously over torqued. once you break the locktite, you shouldn't have any more problems. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Had to cut the right rear off years ago after snapping a bit off in it. Just recently managed to get the remains out and helicoil the hole. Threadlocker is not necessary, I use antiseize and never has a screw loosened. | ||
| Etennuly |
The force that causes a bolt to stay tight, other than lock tight thread locker, is stretching of it's length within the nut. The problem with stainless steel is that it does not stretch well, it tends to deform at the moment it becomes too tight. It's threads, unlike steel, do not want to return to their original form, so you end up with a bolt that has a newly formed in the nut thread pattern that locks into the nut part breaking off when moved, or rips the threads out of the nut or from the bolt as you back it off. This is the price for not wanting corroded looking bolts on the bikes. IMHO using thread locker is a good idea if you do not tighten them to their limit. Using a lubricant like antisieze is a good idea if the bolt is to be removed several times over the life of the bike. I prefer the lube method, It allows easier access for an along the road repair, and doing my own maintenance, I check them fairly frequently anyway. | ||
| Motorbike |
Etennuly, thanks for the short lesson on the properties of stainless bolts. I did not know that. One thing that makes this website so great is that fact that we have such a diversified group of users. Thanks again. | ||
| Motorfish |
Now that I think about it, I have used stainless fasteners on my FXR for years, and always used blue locktite without any problems. But the fact its in the tank/frame, I feel better with the neversieze. Great explanation Et, thanks. |
