Front ball joint nuts and bolts keep failing.

[Jonah 101]

Do the bolts have a number on the head of them? I so what is it.

 

[Decicrate]

Hey Brett I doubt that the nylocks have come undone, I would be betting that the bolts are stretching.

Do the bolts have a grade number stamped on them?
If so what grade are they?

I would be pulling them out and going to a bolt shop and getting a minimum of grade 8 or even go to a grade 10 nut and bolt.
If they are can't be tightened past 30Nm then they are most likely some Chinese crap.

 

[IBLOWN]

I think you should be searching for the problem that makes the nuts come loose. A nyloc nut wont come undone for no reason...

 

[Brett_jjj]

I think you should be searching for the problem that makes the nuts come loose. A nyloc nut wont come undone for no reason...

Theres is no other problem anywhere except for these bolts.

Do the bolts have a number on the head of them? I so what is it. Share

The number stamped on the bolt heads is 8.8


Below is a link to the "how to" I posted up at the time I did the front end rebuild..Its got pics in it of the new ball joints and bolts when they were fitted.
https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/how-replace-front-struts.173100

 

[IBLOWN]

So how does something that doesnt rotate undo a nyloc nut? Unless you have some vibration maybe?

 

[Brett_jjj]

So how does something that doesnt rotate undo a nyloc nut? Unless you have some vibration maybe?

Yeah, theres absolutely no vibration(s) at all in the car, its dead smooth to drive.The wheels get balanced regularly etc, and the rest of the front end is brand new with genuine holden parts fitted except for the roadsafe ball joints and nolothane bushes. Its really got me stuffed whats going on, as I said before,Ive never seen nylock nuts come loose before, its gotta be the bolts stretching maybe, I just dont know.

 

[Paul13pp]

That is really scary stuff Brett.

When I did all the bits in the front end in mine, I left the original ball joints in there after I read your first experience doing the job with the failures.
The wheel alignment people where I take the car are very fussy that repairs are done right and actually would not align the car the 1st time I took it there as I had some bushes in wrong.
They checked the original ball joints and said they were fine so they are staying! and this car has well over 500k on it.

I'd be getting some decent bolts etc from a nut n bolt shop too if I were you. Known quality ones!

 

[VK SL 3800]

Can you flip the bolt the other way around?, worth a try if you can cause being fitted the wrong way up can do stuff like that. I would have used loctite after the first time lol.

 

[VR38]

I will check mine and if the bolts even look like being loose then the welder is coming out and I will zap those ####ers to the arms directly.

 

[Brett_jjj]

Can you flip the bolt the other way around?, worth a try if you can cause being fitted the wrong way up can do stuff like that. I would have used loctite after the first time lol.

Yeah I thought about this also, I checked the workshop manual and it definitely says to install the bolts with the bolt heads on the underside of the control arm. This is also the way the original rivets go in,with the head of the rivet facing the bottom of the control arm, and the collet of the rivet at the top side of the control arm.