• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Bugeye Steering Arm Bolts????

Share this page

P

paulsherman

Jedi Trainee
Offline
Does anyone know the sizes of the bolts that connect the steering arms to the swivel axel on a bugeye. Moss does not show them and V/B shows them as 18-242 (short) and 18-243 (long)? I suspect they are available off the shelf at a good hardware store, Just need the size & thread.

Thank you
 
The shoulder length is critical. I'd call Peter C and have him send you the proper ones.
 
I used a pair of grade 8 bolts that are about 1/8" longer than the originals, am I pushing my luck on this?
thanks, Rut
 
I know that doesn't work with Steering Rack Bolts. Don't ask me how I know. A little scary
 
Easy way to verify the length is to take the washer off and make sure the bolt will screw down flush. Then when assembled with the washer, you will know you have room to tighten it down.
 
IMG_0183.jpgIMG_0184.jpgDo not forget the locking tabs. Did not even realize the bolts had different collar lengths. Saw a discussion about these bolts loosing up on the MG experience, not pretty. Safety wire was used on the car afterwards.
Paul
 
They are critical and special. Special in that the ratio of shoulder to length is not standard. The shoulder (unthreaded bit) is important. There are other fasteners like that on our cars. I have been successful buying a longer bolt whose shoulder is correct, but is too long overall. I then cut and chase the threads. We do this hundreds of times a year on the front shock to trunion pinch bolt, that has the same issue, and that is not (correctly) supplied.

I know someone who totaled a racecar when the steering bolts failed at Mosport.

Peter C
 
Last edited:
Peter, can you please pm me with the order information?
Thanks, Rut
 
PeterC said:
They are critical and special. Special in that the ratio of shoulder to length is not standard. The shoulder (unthreaded bit) is important. There are other fasteners like that on our cars. I have been successful buying a longer bolt whose shoulder is correct, but is too long overall. I then cut and chase the threads. We do this hundreds of times a year on the front shock to trunion pinch bolt, that has the same issue, and that is not (correctly) supplied.

I know someone who totaled a racecar when the steering bolts failed at Mosport.

Peter C
Click to expand...

Peter,

Just out of curiosity, why is the shoulder length critical here? I understand the obvious issue of the shoulder being too long. but how would a bolt that had no shoulder cause a problem?
 
Steering arm to be riding on the non threaded portion of the bolt perhaps rather than on threads if bolt was threaded all of the way up. I could see where there would be greater strength at that critical point. So are you saying the MOSS Supplied parts are incorrect in length Peter.
 
David, as a rule, there should be no threads in the straight bored hole, as it's meant to support the piece. Having just tips of the threads trying to do that is asking for trouble. It's doing more "work" than just clamping 2 pieces together.

Peter
 
Jim_Gruber said:
Steering arm to be riding on the non threaded portion of the bolt perhaps rather than on threads if bolt was threaded all of the way up. I could see where there would be greater strength at that critical point. So are you saying the MOSS Supplied parts are incorrect in length Peter.
Click to expand...

No.... Moss doesn't supply those bolts. I had bought some from AH Spares, and was disappointed. I don't know who sells them.

Peter
 
Time to save those old bolts. I meant to say Steering arm to be riding on the non threaded portion of the bolt perhaps rather than on threads. If bolt was threaded all of the way up, I could see where there would be less strength at that critical point. My brain knew what I meant, fingers just didn't want to cooperate.
 
Hi Paul,
you're in luck, my steering arms are off so I was able to measure the bolts for you. The grip length was the same on both bolts however one bolt is 1 7/8" long and the other is 2" exactly
hope that helps.
mark
 
As a TEMPORARY fix, I used 3/8-24 bolts X 2" long. I did see that Victoria British has these bolts listed: #18-242 (short) and 18-243 (long) and the locking tabs #18-240.I did go to a nut and bolt store yesterday and they told me after an extensive search that the could not find such bolts anywhere. I will dig thru my parts bins to see if by chance I can find the old bolts. If not, I will VB or other sources later.
 
Back
Top