Loctite in place of locking tabs.

[John Mason]

I am going to reinstall my front axle following some king pin work. Has anybody used loctite on the pin threads that hold the transverse spring to the axle rather than the bend over lock washers. I will most likely use both as I haven’t got the guts t just rely on thread lock. Any opinions on this.

John Mason.

[Alan]

Correctly designed and tightened fasteners don’t come undone. It’s an Austin Seven. I’d use both.

[Howard Wright]

Hi John

I use Nylocks. Not for the purist though.  Be careful which Loctite you use. High strength stuff needs some serious heat to release!

Cheers

Howard

[Nick Salmon]

Serious question: When Austin used tabs, Loctite was not invented. Is there a known issue with the tabs or are we living in an age of belt and braces?

[John Mason]

Nick, I think in my case it is an irrational case of not trusting lock tabs although I have used them on various parts of my seven. I think this comes from once loosing my rear offside wheel but not through failed lock washers.

John Mason.

[k8207418]

There’s no issue with locking tabs in my view as long as they are used once and replaced on rebuilds
Thread locking agents are also great if the right product is used for the application

[Chris KC]

I'd guess the main reason tab washers disappeared is they are fiddly and time-consuming.

Personally I have no qualms about using nylocs.

I'd echo what Howard said about Loctite, for goodness' sake read the data sheet and select an appropriate grade; also make sure the cleanliness of the parts to be joined is up to scratch.

[John Mason]

I am thinking of using nylock nuts can anyone tell me the size and thread I require. I would think they are BSF but I always get confused with the size because bsf and bsw use the same Whitworth spanner’s. You can tell am not an engineer by trade.

John Mason.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

John,

if it helps settle your mind, I have always used a plain nut and spring washer in this application. I have encountered no issues whatsoever in doing this for the last 30 years on many hundreds of cars.

The thread on the spring shackles is normally 3/8 BSF

Hope this helps,

Ruairidh

[Colin Wilks]

Taking this thread only slightly off piste, what are people doing with the little end bolts in Austin rods? I know tab washers are available for these, but I think people have moved on to using loctite plus a normal square section spring washer, and not reusing old bolts of course.