Thread: LOOK i slotted my BALLS!

Originally Posted by Bush65

IMHO, slotting the swivels is better than castor correction radius arms or castor correction bushes. Better still, but more work, is welding the holes and re-drilling.

I'm sorry, but I have known a lot of fitters and machinists, but none that know very much about bolted connections, particularly for connections subjected to cyclic loads that lead to fatigue failure (such as the bolts that hold the swivels to the axle housing).

Slotted holes reduce the fatigue strength of bolts, and in this application, should only be slotted just enough for the castor correction. Fitting a thick washer (say about 4 thick if possible) under the bolt head will help to restore some (if not all) of the fatigue strength).

An excessively long slot, where the bolt is not at one end of the slot may be pushing your luck, and not worth the risk IMHO.

If you want me to explain why the fatigue strength is reduced, I can try, but without diagrams it will not be easy and the concept can be hard to understand. It involves the ratio of the stiffness of the bolt to the stiffness of the joint. The stiffness of the joint depends upon how the compression from the bolt pre-tension is dispersed from the underside of the bolt head/nut (which is adversely affected by slotted or oversize holes).

Edit: Note, I am talking about the fatigue strength of the bolts, not the shear strength.

Obviously you dont know all of the fitters in the world hey

Justin

Originally Posted by DRanged

Obviously you dont know all of the fitters in the world hey

Justin

Yea, that about sums it all up, but he obviously doesn't know any machinists, my mate slotted mine for my on a milling machine, what a spot on job it was, still has the jig to

so Phil have you fitted them yet ??? has it improved it ???

Originally Posted by jimbo110

over engineering is one hell of a lot better than under engineering, otherwise we would all be driving jap trucks

just my opinion.

ohhhh how lucky you are this is a Land Rover forum.

My father, British and being a true die-hard-one-eyed Land Rover owner (owns a Defender and a Range Rover he has had for 32 years) is always fond of quoting "oh the Japanese never design anything" to which I'd reply, "no, they take everyone's designs and perfect-the-s**t-out-of-it and mass produce it"

heh, now I can see myself being bashed for saying that one here.....

Best regards
DarrenR

Originally Posted by DarrenR

ohhhh how lucky you are this is a Land Rover forum.

My father, British and being a true die-hard-one-eyed Land Rover owner (owns a Defender and a Range Rover he has had for 32 years) is always fond of quoting "oh the Japanese never design anything" to which I'd reply, "no, they take everyone's designs and perfect-the-s**t-out-of-it and mass produce it"

heh, now I can see myself being bashed for saying that one here.....

Best regards
DarrenR

consider your self banned for that one

Originally Posted by DarrenR

ohhhh how lucky you are this is a Land Rover forum.

My father, British and being a true die-hard-one-eyed Land Rover owner (owns a Defender and a Range Rover he has had for 32 years) is always fond of quoting "oh the Japanese never design anything" to which I'd reply, "no, they take everyone's designs and perfect-the-s**t-out-of-it and mass produce it"

heh, now I can see myself being bashed for saying that one here.....

Best regards
DarrenR

Not true the Japanese invented Seppuku suicide

so Phil have you fitted them yet ??? has it improved it ???

they have been fitted 2 days previous to the start of this post.
its like driving it when it was all stock, really great. and nothings come loose or moved!

cheers phil

I do not want to buy into the to and fros as I am not trained mechanically but- Its not going to come loose driving around on road. That's why cars are lighter than 4WDs.

If its going to come loose it will be off road on some rock steps in low range etc, where torque through the joint is greatest.
The strength of the flange area is not all that great .
Land Rover changed from 5 bolt flanges to 6 bolt for that reason in the mid eightys.
I have stretched the bolts of 5 bolt flanges off road. They come loose, but it's not loose it's stretch.
I think that the slots can only give more leverage against the bolts.
Only experience will tell, but check your bolt tension regularly, and if they become loose , replace them, as they are stretched.
Regards Philip A