The Long Road Back

[HarryB]

That ramp at an angle squeak is almost inevitable, as the car flexes. Tighteing your rollbar will most likely help quite a lot. The one pulling away could be anything. Is it a squeak or knock?

[— kung fu jesus —]

Just as a part of routine, some of process I do before each track season is to put a wrench on all accessible bolts and nuts. Just to make sure everything is secured.

[—Bryan—]

That ramp at an angle squeak is almost inevitable, as the car flexes. Tighteing your rollbar will most likely help quite a lot. The one pulling away could be anything. Is it a squeak or knock?

Mostly a squeak/creak, but occasionally a knock.

[—Bryan—]

Just as a part of routine, some of process I do before each track season is to put a wrench on all accessible bolts and nuts. Just to make sure everything is secured.

I've always wondered about that. Is it more of untighten, then tighten/torque, or just hitting every bolt with a torque wrench set to the correct spec?

[— kung fu jesus —]

The later. Unless it’s going into aluminum, I just put a socket on it and give it a check by feel.

[—Bryan—]

I'll jack up the car and hit the rollbar bolts and the PPF tonight

[—Bryan—]

Done

Had to wait until the Browns game was over before I started, lol

Welp, all the roll bar mounting bolts were loose (or at least way out of torque spec. Had a dickens of a time trying to put a wrench on one side of the bolt and the torque wrench on the other side so I could properly torque them.

PPF bolts were even more loose, judging by how many turns before they torqued down. Also noticed that they must've either lost or snapped the one near the shifter, because instead of the same 17mm shoulder bolt, there's now a 19mm with a washer. Even more hilarious considering the shop I used are the only ones who have ever taken the transmission out of the car...

It honestly was a fun couple hours of wrenching and engrossing in 80's J-pop and the Vaporwave that inspired it.

Holy crap does that sound pretentious...enjoy.

[—Bryan—]

Also, I need to take a quick video tomorrow of the droop on my front suspension. In the rear, the spring barely can move, but the fronts can rattle slightly at near full droop, but doesn't look like I could squeeze a helper in there...

[— kung fu jesus —]

After a while, you get a feel for how tight bolts and nuts should be by a combination of their size, material, an usage in a particular assembly. Also what they are threading into (like the aforementioned aluminum.)

[— kung fu jesus —]

Invest in a cordless impact wrench. If one of the other, a 3/8" impact driver (over the 1/2") with adjustable settings is great for this type of work. Use whichever brand you currently have batteries for. I have both, the 1/2" for heavier unibrow stuff, the 3/8" impact for most everything else. The 3/8" I have has a nifty automatic feature that stops the impact when it senses the nut/bolt is tight, 3 other settings beyond that. It's compact and fits in a lot of tight spaces. Add an extension or wobble, and it eliminates a lot of busted knuckles.

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[—Bryan—]

Already have a Ryobi 1/2" impact. It's what I use to zip the wheels off. I'm hesitant to uggaduggadugga on nuts and bolts without using a torque wrench, honestly.

That said, it might've been nice for the rollbar because I could spin it fast enough that I wouldn't necessarily need to hold the bolt captive to spin the nut.

Of course, all that's null and void because I was trying not to be noisy. Our master bed is right above the garage, sadly.

[— kung fu jesus —]

I have that same 1/2" impact. I use Setting 2 after hand threading the lugs on, then hammer them in because the long wheel studs I have take forever by hand or with a socket wrench. After the car is on the ground, I torque them to the proper setting.

...and the garage and the master BR are on opposite sides of my house, but I know that struggle.

[—Bryan—]

I have that same 1/2" impact. I use Setting 2 after hand threading the lugs on, then hammer them in because the long wheel studs I have take forever by hand or with a socket wrench. After the car is on the ground, I torque them to the proper setting.

I did them on 1, then torqued once on the ground. The little guy game out to help me. Poor guy was STRUGGLING with pulling a torque wrench set to 80ft-lbs on the lugs, but I think he liked helping me get the car off jackstands.

I'll take it for a drive tonight and we'll see what it's like. I wonder if I shouldn't have aligned the PPF while I was under the car, but I just torqued it down instead where it was.

[—Bryan—]

Eh...roll bar seems to have helped, still getting creak

Probably need to retorque rear suspension.

Also wondering if I should've actually aligned the PPF.

[— kung fu jesus —]

The Ppf is a lot more about angle/relationship to the driveshaft. I don’t remember the specs, but I remember seeing it before. Probably posted by Emilio elsewhere. It couldn’t hurt.