[DMCForum] More Inconel 718 TABs

["Walter Coe" <Whalt@xxxxxxx>]

I am having a batch of Inconel 718 trailing arm pivot bolts made that will
be finished in a few weeks (end of April so that I can bring them to the
Mid
Atlantic Spring Social).  This is a project independent from Toby TABs,
but
functionally equivalent.  My cost for having these made is about £27 ($43)
per pair.  This is for the bolts only and does not include related
hardware
or shipping & handling.

I would like some opinions/suggestions on other hardware to include in
this
kit.  If you have ever replaced a TAB before then you are probably aware
of
the issue with the big washers.  They tend to crush/wear against the
bushing
sleeve.  The supply of NOS washers is gone, so what people do is flip the
old ones over and hope this is good enough.

So I am looking into having new washers made of Inconel 718.  The problem
is
that these will cost almost as much as the bolts.  What I want to know
from
the rest of you is if it will be worth the extra cost to replace the two
critical washers.  This will raise the cost per kit to upgrade one car to
£62 ($100) not including lock nuts & shipping & handling.

Toby TABs do not have metric threads like the OEM bolts and thus required
new 7/16-20 nuts.  The TABs that I am having made are all metric like the
originals, so the original nylocks nuts can be reused.  However, I intend
to
supply a high quality lock nut to keep things tight.  A nice bonus with
using metric is that it makes the kit compatible with Dave Bauerle's
double-sheer upgrade kit (Bauerle Brackets).

>>>>> IMPORTANT: Can anyone suggest a source where I can buy these nuts?
The company that is making the bolts only makes custom orders, so having
them also make the nuts would be cost-prohibitive compared to an
off-the-shelf item.  I looked into having them made of Inconel 718, but
there are issues of galling similar to using stainless on stainless.  So
the
lock nuts need to be a good quality plated steel.

These bolts are going to be dimensionally identical to the OEM bolts with
the following exception: The shank will be 95mm long instead of 86mm.  The
reason for this is that I'm taking a lesson from Toby.  His TABs have a
100mm long shank, but on some cars this is a little too long.  So he
supplies some spacer washers to make up the difference.  The reason for
the
longer shank is to make sure that the bushing sleeve distributes the load
on
the shank and not the threads.  My choice is to make the shank just long
enough to avoid needing the extra washers.

Why am I doing this?  It's fun.  It makes the cars safer.  It promotes the
www.DMCForum.org web site and the free flow of information.  If I have all
the kits sold in a year, then I won't sweat it.

Walt



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