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Rear sprocket bolt question

bigriver said:
Now you have me totally confused but that's nothing new for me. So please help me understand what I'm missing here. On the fat boy, the "sprocket" is bolted directly to a disc wheel. There's no top cover as you mention - the bolts are visible and accessable with the rear wheel mounted on the bike. That's why I went with chrome bolts. In fact, I could get a box wrench over each bolt if need be. Now I couldn't necessarily torque it while mounted and I would have to take the wheel off to do that.

Any clarification here would be appreciated.
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The cush drive (IDS) is only on the touring bikes, not the softails, dynas and others.
 
USE the Torque wrench specks and Blue lock-tight..It will be fine.

The thing I wanted to say about checking tightness of Bolts that have been TORQUED DOWN ONCE.(.) and WITH any type of Lock-tight is used.

I DON"T EVER go back LATER and check them. NEVER... Once tight they are to BE Left Alone.

Take for instance, Head Bolts,,, IF you go back and RE-torque them YOU'll Ruin the seal of the head gasket IF tightened EVEN a LITTLE, Or break the head bolt....

Any movement of a "Finished" Torqued bolt WILL cause a problem with the Gasket Seal OR the Lock-tight that HAS Keep it tight.. Never Move one like that...

I NEVER MONKEY With something that is Torqued ONCE and that is it period..

I,,,,,notice i said I ,,,,, Can't stand the expression used by Many that say I CHECKED ALL MY BOLTS To see if they were TIGHT.. NO WAY is that Correct to do.......

Yes there are Many bolts ,screws,nuts and parts on a bike that can be checked for tightness, Exhaust on occasion, snake skins, etc... BUT I refrain from Quite a few.

NOW this IS ME....

I just Plain DON"'T have many things I lock tight or Gasket' together come LOOSE.. If done Right the first time It should stay tight.. Don't Ruin a good Seal.

I DO look and even "finger" a head bolt or Others and Have found a few like the derby cover loose But I still don't take a wrench "Every Time" after a ride to check to see IF things will Tighten MORE.. REMEMBER, they Have to Come Apart...

Just MY Way...AND Suggesting it for you also.

Rant and Rave

signed....BUBBIE
 
Well I am a newbee that is levels under all of the previous posters, but I have read a bit about this scenario and want to throw my 2 cents worth in.

First off it would (as glider said) be interesting to see if the additional degrees turned would equal the normal HD torque. However I have read that in some scenarios the additional turn provides friction physics that just torqueing to a higher specs would not accomplish. Don't know why, just know what I read. I've also read that chrome 'threaded' bolts will break (as on muffler brackets) sometimes if torqued to OEM specs. So this may be a work around from the chrome bolt supplier ??

And as far as using red loctite on sprocket bolts if instructed to, I would definitely do it if I were going to install them. I would not sweat using heat to get them out (chrome or otherwise) since it is recommended that these bolts be REPLACED when removing, due to the inherent danger of them breaking and causing a wheel lockup.

Better to use the red loctite as it says and live to ride (and install new bolts) another day.

You can buy grade 8 Stainless, not available everywhere but have seen them.

Sprocket bolts should be on every pre-ride inspection.
 
glider said:
18-8 Stainless at the bottom of the chart.
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Oh ok I did not know what 18-8 was, but yes noted even though they are grade 8 they don't have the same strength as grade 8 carbon and further the SS strengths appear to depend on variables ?

I looked at this same chart when I was replacing my motor mount bolts (with longer ones due to shim) and I decided to go with platted carbon ones instead of stainless. (some kind of gold looking plating)
 
glider said:
This may be a bit easier to read...

Keeping It All Together, Part 1
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Thanks I'm gonna save this one to my Manuals folder. I once talked to a Structural Engineer on this stuff and he told me that the torque rating also played into selecting the proper bolt grade. He said even if the tensile and shear forces were satisfied that the bolt grade still had to be sufficient for the torque rating on the threads.

Anyhow thanks for the recent addition to my bibliography of Biking. Even if I can't remember it all, I know where it's stored.:taunt
 
BUBBIE said:
USE the Torque wrench specks and Blue lock-tight..It will be fine.

The thing I wanted to say about checking tightness of Bolts that have been TORQUED DOWN ONCE.(.) and WITH any type of Lock-tight is used.

I DON"T EVER go back LATER and check them. NEVER... Once tight they are to BE Left Alone.

I NEVER MONKEY With something that is Torqued ONCE and that is it period..

I DO look and even "finger" a head bolt or Others and Have found a few like the derby cover loose But I still don't take a wrench "Every Time" after a ride to check to see IF things will Tighten MORE.. REMEMBER, they Have to Come Apart...

Just MY Way...AND Suggesting it for you also.

Rant and Rave

signed....BUBBIE
Click to expand...

Thanks Bubbie. I agree with you and I wouldn't go back and try to retorque a part, especially since I threadlock just about every part I remove and torque to specs. And I wouldn't put a wrench to it later to see if it was tight for the very reasons you mentioned. I was just using the wrench example in my previous post about the cush drive to describe how accessable the bolts were. Probably, not a good way to describe it though. I do finger check some bolts though and visually inspect just about everything before riding.

As an aside, when I took the sprocket off the stock disc wheel, the bolts had blue threadlocker on them (from the factory).

Thanks again. I appreciate your advice and the fact that you've taken the time to respond.
 
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