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#1
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A tip for XJ owners and others
Last week I had a thumping noise coming from under my 88 XJ and thought the
weird (and expensive ... if you can find one) transmission mount for the BA10/5 transmission had finally bit the dust. Rather, I found the metric crossmember-to-unibody bolts for the driver's side were stripped! Some idiot that shouldn't be on the same planet as tools had overtightened them at some point (impact wrench????) before I bought the vehicle and a chuckhole caused them to loosen a bit, making the noise everytime I applied my brakes. A few minutes with a jack, drill bit, 13/32", drill, 7/16-20 tap 7/16-20 X 1 1/2" machine screw (Grade 5), 7/16" lock and flat washers and I had it fixed. I was able to give the new bolts full torque (55 ft/lb dry, 40 ft/lb oiled) and now that side is stronger than the passenger side. Judging from the ease of tapping, the metal used for the hidden nuts is fairly soft, so anything over grade 5 is a waste of money. The other side will have to wait till spring. -- C.L. "Budd" Cochran Pray for the Obama administration: Psalm 109:8 http://truefree1776.blogdrive.com/ |
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#2
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A tip for XJ owners and others
Budd Cochran wrote:
> Last week I had a thumping noise coming from under my 88 XJ and thought > the weird (and expensive ... if you can find one) transmission mount for > the BA10/5 transmission had finally bit the dust. > > Rather, I found the metric crossmember-to-unibody bolts for the driver's > side were stripped! Some idiot that shouldn't be on the same planet as > tools had overtightened them at some point (impact wrench????) before I > bought the vehicle and a chuckhole caused them to loosen a bit, making the > noise everytime I applied my brakes. > > A few minutes with a jack, drill bit, 13/32", drill, 7/16-20 tap 7/16-20 X > 1 1/2" machine screw (Grade 5), 7/16" lock and flat washers and I had it > fixed. I was able to give the new bolts full torque (55 ft/lb dry, 40 > ft/lb oiled) and now that side is stronger than the passenger side. > > Judging from the ease of tapping, the metal used for the hidden nuts is > fairly soft, so anything over grade 5 is a waste of money. > > The other side will have to wait till spring. Question: how the heck did you keep the captive nuts from spinning as you tapped them? I finally had to tack weld the crimp on mine to get them tapped but that a tad drastic if there is another way.... -- Will Honea |
#3
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A tip for XJ owners and others
I really don't know why they didn't spin, but I used WD-40 to lube the tap
and flush the chips. Normally I use either congealed bacon drippings or sulphated cutting oil. I only cut a quarter turn at a time, backed out enough to snap the chips loose and then went again ... very slow and careful. No hard twisting, nice and easy. Every full turn or turn and a half, I backed out enough to break chips then I shot the WD in to flush and re-lube things. On my XJ there's no, zero, nada, access to the captive nuts (frame welded to body) so I couldn't have even welded them if they had spun and that's why I went so slow. Plus I didn't want to drop the crossmember if I didn't have to, so I drilled and tapped right up through it. Looking back, I understated the time required ... I was laying on a cold driveway for an hour at least. My apologies on that. And you can go 1/32" bigger on the drill if you have to and not lose much thread strength. That will make tapping easier also. -- C.L. "Budd" Cochran Pray for the Obama administration: Psalm 109:8 http://truefree1776.blogdrive.com/ "Will Honea" > wrote in message ... > Budd Cochran wrote: > >> Last week I had a thumping noise coming from under my 88 XJ and thought >> the weird (and expensive ... if you can find one) transmission mount for >> the BA10/5 transmission had finally bit the dust. >> >> Rather, I found the metric crossmember-to-unibody bolts for the driver's >> side were stripped! Some idiot that shouldn't be on the same planet as >> tools had overtightened them at some point (impact wrench????) before I >> bought the vehicle and a chuckhole caused them to loosen a bit, making >> the >> noise everytime I applied my brakes. >> >> A few minutes with a jack, drill bit, 13/32", drill, 7/16-20 tap 7/16-20 >> X >> 1 1/2" machine screw (Grade 5), 7/16" lock and flat washers and I had it >> fixed. I was able to give the new bolts full torque (55 ft/lb dry, 40 >> ft/lb oiled) and now that side is stronger than the passenger side. >> >> Judging from the ease of tapping, the metal used for the hidden nuts is >> fairly soft, so anything over grade 5 is a waste of money. >> >> The other side will have to wait till spring. > > Question: how the heck did you keep the captive nuts from spinning as you > tapped them? I finally had to tack weld the crimp on mine to get them > tapped but that a tad drastic if there is another way.... > > -- > Will Honea > |
#4
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A tip for XJ owners and others
Budd Cochran wrote:
> I really don't know why they didn't spin, but I used WD-40 to lube the tap > and flush the chips. Normally I use either congealed bacon drippings or > sulphated cutting oil. > > I only cut a quarter turn at a time, backed out enough to snap the chips > loose and then went again ... very slow and careful. No hard twisting, > nice and easy. > > Every full turn or turn and a half, I backed out enough to break chips > then I shot the WD in to flush and re-lube things. > > On my XJ there's no, zero, nada, access to the captive nuts (frame welded > to body) so I couldn't have even welded them if they had spun and that's > why I went so slow. Plus I didn't want to drop the crossmember if I didn't > have to, so I drilled and tapped right up through it. > > Looking back, I understated the time required ... I was laying on a cold > driveway for an hour at least. > > My apologies on that. > > And you can go 1/32" bigger on the drill if you have to and not lose much > thread strength. That will make tapping easier also. Translation: I got lucky ;-) The captive nuts I'm most familiar with are the ones with a small section that fits thru the frame with the end of the thru-section rolled over to crimp the whole mess. I usually tack weld the exposed rolled part but the one I remember best was the one that simply pushed back into the frame - old Jeeps and rust have this affinity... Anyway, the was a larger hole fairly near to the spot where the thing popped out so I was able to fish a nut over the hole and get a long bolt started into it. That held it long enough to weld the nut to the side of the hole but it was a fight. Another trick with a turning nut I was shown was to thread a stud into it then use a thin halfnut to cinch it down while I worked. Still a PITA on a 22 year old vehicle! -- Will Honea |
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