Marc - I appreciate your confusion in this matter. When I said that I checked the torque at every tech session, this was before I developed the new bolts. I still do a quick check in the area, but it's to verify that the installation is secure, not necessarily to retighten the bolts. For people who still have the OEM bolts installed, I believe that joint loosens from two primary causes - bolt stretch, and the wear that results to the washers and sleeves as the joint moves. A joint with proper clamp-up should never have rotational forces on the bolts or nuts that would overcome the installation torque. That means that, if the bolt is up to the task, the nut should never come loose. We use a self-locking nut just to be on the safe side. My concept of a torque check is to set the torque wrench at 50 ft-lbs, hold one end with a wrench, and check to see if the torque wrench clicks without rotation of the bolt or nut. My numbers suggest that the bolts can be stressed to near yield by torqueing to the high side of the range, and also by bending loads imparted by driving. The bolts that you referred to as being replaced after each use are actually designed to be torqued up to the elastic limit to maximize the preload on the bolt. The bolt has been taken to it's limit, and should therefore be replaced rather than being reused. The TAB's should never be loaded up to the elastic limit in a joint with severe bending loads, and a corrosive environment. My bolts never experience stresses even close to the elastic limit of the inconel 718. The OEM bolts are "moaning and groaning", while the TOBY-TAB's aren't even breaking a sweat. I hope that all of this rambling makes some sense to you. >please do not take this as an attack on you or your project. No problem. If I can't properly explain my design and analysis, then it's my problem for not efficiently and effectively communicating with the DeLorean community. Toby Peterson VIN 2248 Winged1 --- In dmcnews@xxxx, "Marc A. Levy" <malevy@xxxx> wrote: > Toby, > > Your statement below confused me. > > First you say you torque your bolts 2-3 times a year, and then you explain how the bolt stretches. Is it possible you stressed your bolt while re-torque so often?