Date:         Tue, 30 Aug 2011 22:11:15 -0500
Reply-To:     Mike South <msouth@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mike South <msouth@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: clamps for cv boots, ridged washers for cv bolts
In-Reply-To:  <CAN483ve7qxFb92YSeb=fE8v4orDc_k=1hT52Uxkw2vH+HUi-BA@mail.gmail.com>
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Thanks, everyone.  I was planning on re-using these bolts because they don't
have many miles on them.  I wonder if the reason Scott has no trouble with
the boots splitting is that the amount of grease he puts in keeps the rubber
"wet" or "conditioned" or whatever you call it.  The boots I took off were a
couple years old, not used too much (maybe a couple thousand miles tops) and
looked new.  They have been sitting in my garage in Texas heat, but they
were wrapped in plastic bags since the day I took them off the van a year or
more ago.

I found a nice close-up of schnoor safety washers here:

http://www.schnorr.com/safetywashers.html

I don't think the ones I scavenged had the original shape left, which
explains to me why I have read 'always replace the washers'.

It makes me wonder what the difference would be when you torque it to spec
with or without those washers on it, since they are made to provide extra
binding via their shape.  (For that matter, though, I bet you get something
wildly different depending on how much grease gets on the bolt when you put
it through the hole in the joint.)  Since the washers flatten out over time
it seems to me that you need to get under there after "a while" for some
definition of while and re-torque to account for the flattening.

Anyway--mostly I just wanted to say thanks everyone for letting me know what
the deal was, I'm leaps ahead of where I was.

mike


On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 2:13 PM, Mike South <msouth@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I am happy to report that I have just placed my Zetec in my '85 Westy.  Not
> even completely bolted in yet but soooo much better than "hanging on the
> hoist in the garage" stage I've been at for quite some time.
>
> Anyway--the cvs boots I have are the kind where the big end just bolts on.
>  Anyone have a recommendation for the small end of the boot?  I had to
> switch axles because I'm also doing the AT->MT conversion on this van and
> the AT axels are different.  At least one of the 8 boots was on with a zip
> tie.  I didn't see any clamps specifically for this at my FLAPS so I thought
> I would ask the list.
>
> Also, the place I had do it when I first bought the van apparently didn't
> put the little washers on the cv bolts (the wide, two-per-bolt, washer-like
> things were there, however, I'm just talking about the circular ones).  I
> have only put a couple of bolts in on each side (just enough to determine
> the left-right placement of the engine in the van), using the washers
> scavenged from my MT donor van.  I noticed that the washers are specialized,
> with little diagonal grooves or ridges on them, which makes me wonder if
> they are important, and what the purpose of those grooves are.
>
> Anyone know?
>
> Thanks,
>
> mike
>