There are so many styles and designs for bolts, nuts and washers. I worked with the Military, Federal, National Aerospace Standards and International Specifications Office (mostly Metric) (its been a long time so I am not positive if the "Office" is the right word and that is not all of the Standards specs out there either). I've been retired now almost 22 years so things have changed somewhat too but not some things I am pretty sure of that) and probably on almost a daily basis. I drew drawings of new fasteners some of which became not only as company parts but some also became spec parts also (I don't think ISO though).SCOTTRODS wrote: ↑Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:16 pm I'm a "Down and Aft" guy too, Lee... I thought I was the only one that noticed stuff like that. I am reluctant to tell anyone they could do something "better" on the forums most times, as they often have an access issue that requires the upside down nature of them... As far as Locking washers - Nothing beats NORDLOCK... look them up and see if you can't find a video on them. There just isn't a better locking solution for nuts and bolts, without thread locker from hell... I used to do some work that required them and thread locker due to extreme vibration... VW's seem like an ultimate application of the two.
Ol'fogasaurus wrote: ↑Fri Jul 08, 2022 5:56 pm Slayer, a rule of thumb is that the nut goes on the underside not the head of the bolt, that way if things get loose the bolt does not be the part to drop away but should stay in place to somewhat hold things together... a rocky clamping setup maybe but should still be there.
I checked others work in engineering and, while not often, the nut did get on top. If so then double nut it to lock it in place. Locking nuts are usually thinner than the regular nuts as they are not the working part of the "clamping together of things" being done.
For what it is worth.
Lee
I don't know about the different companies whether they are good or not so good but if they are saying they meet the above standards, not just their own standards (they could go above the standards also I guess but that is not always good either) then they should be OK. I have seen some start good but then go down hill also.
You might be surprised on just how many types, styles and shapes of washers that are in the standards as well as nuts and bolts. They are often designed to meet non-normal needs also (e.g., riding radiuses, tapered shapes, off-set holes, etc.).
Washers also have a limit of three being stacked as spacers. This is because the washers can move/offset during clamping or for other reasons which cause the bolt head or nut contact area to not get the amount of contact translation (distribution) they were designed for. A single spacer replaces the stack then.
Remember that most fasteners have a use cycle (on and off clamping is a cycle) limitations such as on and off clamping, age changes, wear and basic design changes that can limit to as low as one clamping and then replace the unit(s). We all have a tendency to over-do mostly cause we don't know that there are in the basic design of the fastener and or assy.
Probably more than you wanted to know.
Lee