Front mudguard/brake hose fastenings corroded

[Art]

Encountered and solved this problem that may help others.

Removing the front mudguard and brake hose clamp and the 8mm bolt that secures them would not play, it was just spinning and jumping and would not withdraw as it should. The bolt passes through the brake hose clamp, mudguard and fork leg bracket and is secured inside the mudguard with a special square nut/spacer which is exposed to road fling and corrodes. It is held in place by two ABS tabs that after 16 years were no longer up to the job of holding the nut and flared resulting in the special square nut/spacer spinning with the bolt.

Solved with a goodly dousing of maintenance spray (penetrating oil) and a 21 mm open ended spanner (others may try an adjustable) to hold the square nut while withdrawing the bolt. Left the tabs flared as they were and refitted the nut/spacer and bolt with a goodly smear of copper grease and a 21 mm open ender to hold the nut/spacer while torquing the bolt to 12 Nm.

if a picture speaks 1,000 words...

[Froggymanny]

Thanks for sharing, Art! I was lucky enough not to struggle with my front mudguard when I removed it this week end, but you never know, in the future...

[KiwiBob]

As an aside to this, what brand of torque wrench are you using Art and what size drive does it use? I'm looking for a smaller one as the only one I have is too big for most of the bolts on my bike.
I'm currently using a guide a mechanic taught me years ago when you don't have a torque wrench, finger tight then a quarter turn/half turn then a smidge more. But even then I do it with caution. So many YTs people are swinging on the end of their spanners like they are working on a steam locomotive. As for people using a tool to tighten a screw on oil filter, never.

KiwiBob

[Art]

Yes Bob, judging from the monkey boys hanging on spanners and even just watching the cack handed manner in which they handle tools would lead me to conclude the vast majority of YouTubers shouldn't be allowed spanners, let alone left to their own devices to make publicly accessible 'how to' videos! Best use of YouTube is to watch how others improvise and adapt that into an acceptable workshop practice.

Torque wrenches I have three. The first two are 50 years old and left overs from my time in the trade and don't see much action these days. They are:
a 1/2" square drive 30-150 Nm (20-110 lbf-ft) Gordon Tools torque wrench, now only used on wheel nuts, axle bolts or anything over 80 Nm (60 lb ft);
a 1/4" square drive 1.5-7 Nm (10-50 lbf-in) MHH Engineering (now part of Gedore) torque wrench, not much use outside of precision engineering.

My third and go to torque wrench and ideal tool for the home mechanic is a 10 year old 3/8" square drive  7-112 Nm (5- 83 lbf-ft) Sealey STW1011 torque wrench. Some will argue that the wide range of 7-112 Nm will mean that it is less than accurate at the extreme ends of that range, for my two penn'orth torquing automotive nuts, bolts and fastenings isn't an exact science and most torque wrenches are calibrated at up to +/- 5% anyway.

[KiwiBob]

Art, its your third one I like the look of. I'll do some research and see what is available in my part of the world. You are right about the accuracy of torque wrenches, mostly setting a level of torque is to stop you over torquing and strippng the bolt or the fitting or both. Big ends, main bearings, head bolts etc are a different story and that is all about tolerances. Thanks again.

KiwiBob

[Art]

In general the likes of  big ends, main journals, crankshaft journals etc rely on a medium strength threadlocker, the torque specification is low and is there to ensure the nuts and bolts are not over tightened. Cylinder head bolts are similar in that the torque specification is there to ensure the bolts are not over tightened but are mostly assembled using a moly oil on the threads.

As said torque settings are not a science and there is no real need for the home mechanic to part with too much hard earned for reassuringly expensive tools.