Hello all the bodies. :)

I'll be fitting a carbon fibre STI strut brace myself and wanted to know if it is OK to use the stock bolts that are on the towers at the moment. Do I just tighten them all the way or are there torque specs I should follow?

Cheers,

Wrexy.

George,

A carbon fibre one eh? what a big poser ;)

When I fitted my Cusco one, I used the std bolts. Just unscrewed them, fitted the bar then tighten them up again. I did put some stainless steel washers under the nuts though.

I also noticed the flat part of the bar that went over the struts bent a little as I tightened the bolts. I put this down to the strut not being flat and the brace just conforming to the shape of the strut.

Didn't think I was overtightening the nuts :confused:

Stefan

That's what happened with mine when i tightened it - the round end-plates flexed a little.

I didn't use a torque wrench myself, but i did take care to "assess" as best i could how much effort i needed to undo the nuts, and tried to emulate that when i re-tightened them. I think it would be quite difficult to overtighten them - they are very high tensile by the look of it, and a very close fit on the thread, and you don't want them coming loose of course..!

Thanks Stefan and Telboy. Will do. :)

Cheers,

George.

IIRC they should be tightened to around 14lbs

Cheers Mo. Is that with washers under the nuts too?

George.

i wouldn't do them up too much because i did and snapped one clean off ( oh err missus ):D

Sorry George, I don't know.

I recently got hold of a strut brace but haven't fitted it yet. I was unsure whether or not to put washers on first??

I'd have though it was a good idea.

Hmm..., how much is 14 lbs about?? Is it like Tighten the nuts with your fingers only?? 'lol'
Since I will be facing this 'problem' soon as well, I hope that I won't overtighten these nuts. Should I buy a torque-wrench for £20.00?? I am planning to use washers as well, since it sounds like a good idea!

Cheers fellas. I have found out that the STIs don't use any washers. They only have the stock nuts holding the strut brace down. 14lbs is about 20Nm and my torque wrench starts from 28Nm. I think the best way is as Telboy says, to asses how much strength you need to undo them, then tighten them roughly the same.

George.

[Edited by WREXY - 8/8/2002 4:21:27 PM]