Front Cradle Bolts or Nuts??
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 416
Likes: 78
Front Cradle Bolts or Nuts??
I did a brief search and didn't find what I was looking for.
I'm in the process of pulling my rack to replace the balancer and got to the part where I need to lower the front cradle a tad to get the rack out. I've read the horror stories about impact damaging things if used on these bolts. I went to loosen mine this evening and it looks like the nut is not spinning on the bolt (as if this was a bolt treading into the frame). Just having a bit of a panic that the only 2 bolts that I broke loose with a ratchet the nut is siezed to the bolt and the bolt is now messed up. Didn't feel like a bolt stretching/yeilding. When I didn't notice the nut moving I tightened the nut/bolt back and it did tighten. Am I just being paranoid? I stopped for the night fearing the $$$$ that I just stumbled into.
TLDR: is the nut on the bottom of the cradle a nut that should be loosening off the threaded bolt, or should the whole thing be spinning as an assembly?
I'm in the process of pulling my rack to replace the balancer and got to the part where I need to lower the front cradle a tad to get the rack out. I've read the horror stories about impact damaging things if used on these bolts. I went to loosen mine this evening and it looks like the nut is not spinning on the bolt (as if this was a bolt treading into the frame). Just having a bit of a panic that the only 2 bolts that I broke loose with a ratchet the nut is siezed to the bolt and the bolt is now messed up. Didn't feel like a bolt stretching/yeilding. When I didn't notice the nut moving I tightened the nut/bolt back and it did tighten. Am I just being paranoid? I stopped for the night fearing the $$$$ that I just stumbled into.
TLDR: is the nut on the bottom of the cradle a nut that should be loosening off the threaded bolt, or should the whole thing be spinning as an assembly?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,492
Likes: 807
From: West coast CA
I did a brief search and didn't find what I was looking for.
I'm in the process of pulling my rack to replace the balancer and got to the part where I need to lower the front cradle a tad to get the rack out. I've read the horror stories about impact damaging things if used on these bolts. I went to loosen mine this evening and it looks like the nut is not spinning on the bolt (as if this was a bolt treading into the frame). Just having a bit of a panic that the only 2 bolts that I broke loose with a ratchet the nut is siezed to the bolt and the bolt is now messed up. Didn't feel like a bolt stretching/yeilding. When I didn't notice the nut moving I tightened the nut/bolt back and it did tighten. Am I just being paranoid? I stopped for the night fearing the $$$$ that I just stumbled into.
TLDR: is the nut on the bottom of the cradle a nut that should be loosening off the threaded bolt, or should the whole thing be spinning as an assembly?
I'm in the process of pulling my rack to replace the balancer and got to the part where I need to lower the front cradle a tad to get the rack out. I've read the horror stories about impact damaging things if used on these bolts. I went to loosen mine this evening and it looks like the nut is not spinning on the bolt (as if this was a bolt treading into the frame). Just having a bit of a panic that the only 2 bolts that I broke loose with a ratchet the nut is siezed to the bolt and the bolt is now messed up. Didn't feel like a bolt stretching/yeilding. When I didn't notice the nut moving I tightened the nut/bolt back and it did tighten. Am I just being paranoid? I stopped for the night fearing the $$$$ that I just stumbled into.
TLDR: is the nut on the bottom of the cradle a nut that should be loosening off the threaded bolt, or should the whole thing be spinning as an assembly?
On the steel-framed cars, the bolt head fits into a recess that keeps it from spinning. On the aluminum-framed cars, the bolt head has a tab that's secured with another screw.
If these features are buggered up you'll need to put a tool on the bolt head it to prevent it spinning while you undo the nut.
