Wishbone bolts

[steveobes]

Just replaced old bolts with nice shiny new ones on the front wishbones.
Does anyone know if you torque these up with weight on the wheels or jacked up.
Many thanks
steve

[TuxMan]

Not sure what is right Steve but I did mine with the weight on the wheels .

[ajf]

Was told when I was an appetiance always on the wheels so the load was on the bushes. Made sense to me stand to be corrected


Adrian

[Naso Grande]

+1. Spoke to a knowledgable friend who said to torque up with the car on the ground.It's awkward to get in with a torque wrench with the wheels on though. I'm at the same stage and haven't quite figured out what is the best method. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Graeme

[steveobes]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Think wheels on ground seems to be the concensus on here.
But I will do some asking around n get back to you on this.

[Green3R]

Generally with rose joints it shouldn't matter, but with rubber bushes they should be tightened with the bush at its normal operating position otherwise it's liable to wear or even tear.

[XLRONYX]

This is not in the least bit meant to be a troll post - I sincerely don't understand the mechanics of why tightening wishbone bolts with the car on stands would lead to bad things happening.

My understanding is that the rubber donut ("bushing" in US, I think "bush" in UK?) rotates with the wishbone. I don't think it twists as the suspension moves (by twist, I mean that the inner diameter of the donut would not move with the wishbone, but the outer diameter would move with the wishbone). I think the bolt, which clearly does not rotate as the wishbone moves, is the pivot point. So if the bush/bushing pivots on the bolt, what difference does bush/bushing orientation make when the bolt is torqued?

It seems to me any wishbone pivot resistance or preload caused by having the bushes/bushings clamped in the “wrong” orientation would disappear within the first minute of driving. What am I missing?

Jeff

[Metalman]

You need to torque the bolts with the car on its wheels. The outer part of the bush is pressed into the wishbone so it will rotate when the suspension moves, the centre part of the bush is squeezed in the chassis when the bolt is tightened so won't move with the suspension. If the bolts are tightened with the car up in the air then the rubber part will always be twisted. Does that make sense?

[XLRONYX]

Yes, it does make sense. Thanks! I didn't realize that factory bushes were constantly flexing. No wonder they wear out! I assumed they were designed the same as the poly parts, which are free to rotate around the metal sleeve between them and the bolt as the wishbone is moved.

Jeff

[Pet Troll]

Naso Grande said:

+1. Spoke to a knowledgable friend who said to torque up with the car on the ground.It's awkward to get in with a torque wrench with the wheels on though. I'm at the same stage and haven't quite figured out what is the best method. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Graeme

The way I do it on my cars (I have never done it on a Noble, but it should be the same) is to get the wishbone bolts in, then put a trolley jack under the hub or outer edge of the wishbone and lift the wishbone into horizontal (or equal to normal ride height) position to then torque up the inner wishbone bolts. Doing it that way saves having to work around a wheel and a car low on the ground.

[steveobes]

Pet Troll said:

The way I do it on my cars (I have never done it on a Noble, but it should be the same) is to get the wishbone bolts in, then put a trolley jack under the hub or outer edge of the wishbone and lift the wishbone into horizontal (or equal to normal ride height) position to then torque up the inner wishbone bolts. Doing it that way saves having to work around a wheel and a car low on the ground.

Simple, never thought of that
Nice one Mr Troll