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wheel bolt question


bluefoxamazone
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Hello!

As being on the other side of the globe and not used in working on american cars I have a few (maybe for you guys stupid) questions....

What is the purpose of having different types of tread for the wheel bolts left and right side of the car...??

What would be the exact tread size to look for here in Europe.

Are the bolts used in my 53 cranbrook also used in more modern types of cars which are perhaps easier to find here locally?

Are the tools to recut the tread somewhere available?

Where do I find a set of L&R bolts if I cannot find these here locally in Belgium?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

Franky

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Franky........these are 1/2 inch right and left hand Unified Fine thread or UNF thread, the difference as I understand it was that the use of different threads would mean that to undo the bolts would have to go against centrifical force which was essentially tightening them into the brake drum as the wheels rotated forward and are therefore less likely to undo..........as far as I am aware all European cars have used metric bolts/threads since cars were built...............both tap and dies are available in 1/2" UNF( note that there is also a thread size known as "UNC" or Unified Coarse which is DIFFERENT to UNF)....mopars use BOTH UNF and UNC threads throughout the cars with NO metric threads anywhere............the tap and dies are available I'd think in any good engineering supply company.........what do you actually need?.........are the threads buggered in the drums or the threads on the bolts buggered or both?..........you should be able to get them from Andy Bernbaums, Mitchell Motors or other mopar shops......also I maybe able to help......what exactly is the problem?.................andyd

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Hi Franky

 

Andyd is right. The threads are 1/2" UNF. I was having great difficulty purchasing LH threaded bolts, although Andy b's and others list them they were out of stock. The only ones I could find were $12.50 each Plus shipping plus tax so very expensive. However here's a trick. If you get hold of some 14m 1.5 threaded bolts which are readily available in europe as they were/are used on VW beetle/transporter, some Audi's etc. You can take them to a machine shop and get them re-threaded to 1/2" UNF, there is just enough meat on the bolts to reduce the size. The other advantage is that the OE bolts have quite short hexagons so your socket or wheel brace can slip off easy, but the later bolts have longer hex.

 

If you look at the pics below you can see the OE bolt then the re-machined bolt and on the right is the 14m 1.5 bolt before machining.

 

The only thing to watch out for is that you start off with cone seating type bolts (60 degree taper) and not radius type (rounded) as some OE bolts were radius.

 

 

Pete ;)

 

 

post-7390-0-49696700-1427968507_thumb.jpg

post-7390-0-39975800-1427968533_thumb.jpg

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Gee,someone could knock out a bin full of left hand 1/2-inch UNF bolts, and offer them for sale in Europe and other reaches of the metric world, and sell them to pay for retirement.  Maybe sell them to Bernbaum.  Or maybe just make them for fun, and give them to forum members.  

 

To add some trivia of dubious utility:  The one set of metric threads on these cars is for the 14 mm spark plugs.  

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Donald....you are right but don't let the Poms know this....lol..........I'd want to be real sure that whoever does the remachining of the metric bolts that they know what they are doing..........metrics?....bah humbug!........which ones do you need Franky?........left or right hand thread and how many?........andyd

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I don't know if you can get Dorman parts in Europe. Or if NAPA ships to locations outside the United States, but both the right and left hand threaded wheel bolts are still available in the US.

 

Right hand thread: http://www.ply33.com/Parts/group22#386984

Left hand thread: http://www.ply33.com/Parts/group22#856981

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They are still available.

 

This number on ebay 360571282675 (sorry I dont know how to attach a link) but $15.95 per bolt plus $10.95 shipping and then 20% tax on goods plus shipping when it arrives in the UK, makes them very expensive.  Does not cost much more than that to have a complete set re-machined.

 

Pete

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They are still available.

 

This number on ebay 360571282675 (sorry I dont know how to attach a link) but $15.95 per bolt plus $10.95 shipping and then 20% tax on goods plus shipping when it arrives in the UK, makes them very expensive.  Does not cost much more than that to have a complete set re-machined.

 

Pete

$15.95/bolt? Maybe I ought to setup an eBay store for those, I could resell ones I could get at my local NAPA for a very good markup.

 

NAPA shows the right hand thread for $2.29 http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Result.aspx?Ntt%3d6411554%26Ntk%3dKeyword%26Nty%3d1%26Dn%3d0%26D%3d6411554%26Dk%3d1%26Dp%3d3%26N%3d0

 

And the left hand threads for $2.49 http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Result.aspx?Ntt%3dWA2592%26Ntk%3dKeyword%26Nty%3d1%26Dn%3d0%26D%3dWA2592%26Dk%3d1%26Dp%3d3%26N%3d0

 

Do they charge that 20% on goods and shipping for items sent from one individual to another?

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What a great forum this is!!!!! lots of info by friendly guys. I love it!!!

@ANDY/Todd, i would like to change all the bolts so I need 10 right and 10 left treaded bolts. Impossible to find this here in Belgium.

Do you think NAPA would ship to Belgium? Thanks!!!

Edited by bluefoxamazone
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I just called my local (Los Angeles, Calif. area) Napa, they don't have them in stock. He checked his computer & the closest store that has them in stock is Denver, Colorado. He can have them shipped to his store. If you're interested, I'd be happy to get them & ship them to you for only actual costs involved. Best shipping may be a USPS flat rate small box. PM if interested. Derek

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I just called my local (Los Angeles, Calif. area) Napa, they don't have them in stock. He checked his computer & the closest store that has them in stock is Denver, Colorado. He can have them shipped to his store. If you're interested, I'd be happy to get them & ship them to you for only actual costs involved. Best shipping may be a USPS flat rate small box. PM if interested. Derek

You got mail Derek!! great service !!!

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I checked  http://www.rockauto.co.uk/  but they only list right hand threads !!!!!!!!!! but they are only 85p ($1.26) each.

 

We only went metric on cars in the UK here in late seventies, you guys are lucky just having UNF/UNC threads to deal with, there was a whole host of different threads around before it become standardised ie. BSF, BSW, BA, BSP, Whitworth and a few other obscure types all requiring their own set of spanners.

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I ask people what are those things at the end of their legs?........metres or feet?............metrics, BAH HUMBUG!!.....lol.....btw that's a great offer by Deathbound, its what makes this forum so good....andyd.

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Ain't metric fun?  It's 58 degrees outside, but across the river (southeast of Detroit) the temperature is 15.  Surfing the TV, I run across TV Windsor.  Them peoples is jest like us, sort of, but their weather reports have funny numbers.

 

My Canadian cousins, contemporaries of me, view the metric system as an imposition, and mentally convert the metric measurements to imperial.  (Oddly enough, the imperial gallon, which had been used in Canada, held five U.S, quarts.  Now everything is liters.  Try to figure gas prices without a calculator.  You can drive a hundred on their highways, but you are only doing about 62.5 mph.)  I told my cousins that I got a handle on Celsius temperature, from a poem that I had heard: "30 is hot and 20 is nice, 10 is cool and zero is ice."  They gave me a blank stare.

 

Anyway, I concluded long ago that I wouldn't touch the metric system with a 3-meter pole.       

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I ask people what are those things at the end of their legs?........metres or feet?............metrics, BAH HUMBUG!!.....lol.....btw that's a great offer by Deathbound, its what makes this forum so good....andyd.

Indeed, great offer!! thanks to everybody involved.

If I can be of help to anyone who's in trouble with metric conversions or parts, drop me a note...The world will become a lot smaller... Franky

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NAPA shows the right hand thread for $2.29 http://www.napaonlin...4&Dk=1&Dp=3&N=0


 


And the left hand threads for $2.49 http://www.napaonlin...2&Dk=1&Dp=3&N=0


 


the right hands seems ok but the left hand ones are marked sae... is this the same as unf?  (i feel stupid)


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NAPA shows the right hand thread for $2.29 http://www.napaonlin...4&Dk=1&Dp=3&N=0

 

And the left hand threads for $2.49 http://www.napaonlin...2&Dk=1&Dp=3&N=0

 

the right hands seems ok but the left hand ones are marked sae... is this the same as unf?  (i feel stupid)

 

 

Here are the specs for the LH bolt:

Head Type : 3/4" Hex
Metric or SAE Thread Type : SAE
Overall Length : 1-1/2"
Right/Left/Both Side : Left
Serrated : No
Single or Double Sided Stud : Single
Stud Type : Hex Head
Wheel Stud Application : Dodge / Disc Wheels
Wheel Stud Body Diameter : .500"
Wheel Stud Material Grade : 8
Wheel Stud Thread Length : 7/8"
Wheel Stud Thread Size : 1/2"-20
Wheel Type : Steel
Brand Name : HDPlus
 
1/2"-20 is what you want. In the links Tod provided, the one difference I noticed between the RH & LH bolts is the RH have 1" of threads, the LH have 7/8" of threads. What is the thread length on your original bolts, if you have 1 to measure or will this be ok? Got your PM also.
Edited by deathbound
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I found RH & LH lug bolts at a boat shop. They are commonly used on boat trailers here.

 

I got chromed lugs cheaper that rusty OEM NOS ones I found for sale, But they are NOT replicas of the Mopar lugs.

 

They look different but they worked fine.

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Of all the thread size postings on this thread I was looking for SAE to appear. SAE is "SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING". Google SAE for more information.

 

I didn't personally type it (copy & pasted), but it is mentioned in the specs in post #19.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • Solution

Hi! Thanks to this forum and the well appreciated help of Derek ( deathbound) I have received everything that I needed in my shack. The lh bolts and tap were impossible to find in Europe... now I am shopping for some decent imperial tools, spanners and wrenches... what did I think when buying a plymouth...:-)))) grtz

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