Hello All,
I recently purchased a 2022 XX 1340. After my first outing I am doing inspection and prep for my next even and noticed when nut/bolt checking the car that all the inner wishbone bolts were below spec. I reached out to my dealer and I was informed that they have seen common issues when torquing to the recommended 30 lb/ft stated within the service manual. They recommended torquing all inner upper and lower wishbone bolts to 20 lb/ft instead of 30. Has anyone here experienced repeat failures of wishbone bushings or frame mounting structure. Is this a common practice to use a lower torque value. I also noticed the Nik Link Pivot bolt that uses a bushing was also torqued to the lower spec. Thoughts?
Absolutely wicked car BTW. I went out first day and PB'd over my Z06 by over a second. I look forward to years to come with this car and a VERY different driving experience than a full sized car.
Hi Andrew,
Not sure of the torque specs, but definitely agree that the factory spec is too tight for these suspension joint with steel bushes inside of bronze sintered or polyurthane 'bushings'.
What I have ended up doing, and have had confirmed is the same as a few others are also doing, is just 'snugging' them up until there is a little bit of resistance to them turning (when torque applied to the bolt head).
This makes sense as they have a steel tube inside the pivot joint and all that you are really doing is making sure that the side plates of the rocker arms or chassis tabs are tight enough to be pulled in against the steel tube (no end gaps). This does mean you are relying a bit more than normal on the nyloc nut functioning to prevent them vibrating loose... but I've never had an issue. I also replace the nyloc nuts on these joints annually just to be sure they are in good condition...
Having them too tight on the other hand will have an effect on your suspension efficiency. You don't want too much 'stiction' when asking the suspension to work.
Rod