Simucube 2 Mounting Bolts snapped

[simon2002]

Hi,
when I tried to loosen the nuts on my Simucube 2 Pro the head of the bolt literally snapped off. To me it felt like the Bolt was a lot tighter then when I installed it (Maybe the vibration somehow jammed the thing?). Has anyone here encountered a similar problem ?

 

[EsxPaul]

Bad luck mate. Yours is the first one I've seen that happen on.

Will the bolt wind its way out through the back if you turn the nut you have on there?

 

[DrRob]

Wow, that looks like a clean snap in the first thread. Not sure which property class those bolts are, but snapping those bolts means you used quite some brute force.

I noticed, that the Simlab supplied washers are kind of special. Haven't seen those before, but it seems they act as a locking device. Plus it seems you used some additional hat nuts on the other side adding to the friction and tightness. Those are normally not needed because of the washers.
It seems like you also added another set of washers of sorts?

If what Paul mentioned not works...
You might be able to drill the bolt out. But if you're not careful the thread will be ruined.
This should be your last resort.

 

[simon2002]

Wow, that looks like a clean snap in the first thread. Not sure which property class those bolts are, but snapping those bolts means you used quite some brute force.

I noticed, that the Simlab supplied washers are kind of special. Haven't seen those before, but it seems they act as a locking device. Plus it seems you used some additional hat nuts on the other side adding to the friction and tightness. Those are normally not needed because of the washers.
It seems like you also added another set of washers of sorts?

If what Paul mentioned not works...
You might be able to drill the bolt out. But if you're not careful the thread will be ruined.
This should be your last resort.

The thing is that these bolts were in the package and I didnt really take into consideration that these things could snap, considering I didnt use as much force when getting them on. Iam not having any luck with the nut at back aswell, so it looks like I will try the left turning drillbit trick.

 

[simon2002]

Bad luck mate. Yours is the first one I've seen that happen on.

Will the bolt wind its way out through the back if you turn the nut you have on there?

The problem is the nut on the back is extremely tight for some strange reason. I only put it there for asthetics in the first place but looks like the vibration of the base managed to fasten it.

 

[EsxPaul]

I was thinking of another possibility if the domed nut you have on there loosens and doesn't bring the bolt out.

If you get a couple of half height M8 nuts to wind onto the remaining threads, you'll be able to lock one against the other and wind the bolt out. Let us know how you get on.

 

[simon2002]

What I also found really interesting is that these bols are powder coated. (Your hands will literally turn black when using these lol)

 

[simon2002]

I was thinking of another possibility if the domed nut you have on there loosens and doesn't bring the bolt out.

If you get a couple of half height M8 nuts to wind onto the remaining threads, you'll be able to lock one against the other and wind the bolt out. Let us know how you get on.

The one on the back can not be reached with a traditional wrench so I will try to drill the thing out or get it fixed via the distributor.

 

[EsxPaul]

The problem is the nut on the back is extremely tight for some strange reason. I only put it there for asthetics in the first place but looks like the vibration of the base managed to fasten it.

That being tight should be a good thing. Can you unwind it at all?

It should either come off or bring the threaded bolt along with it. If that snaps the bolt at that end too then you'll be the unluckiest sim racer of 2020.

 

[EsxPaul]

The one on the back can not be reached with a traditional wrench so I will try to drill the thing out or get it fixed via the distributor.

If you can undo the remaining 3 bolts, the base should come away from the bracket and you'll have a little more room to work with and get a spanner on that nut.

Edit: Sorry, forgot to add, make sure you release the nuts at the rear before you try to unwind the bolts. I suspect that they are pulling up against the rear of the servo as you try to unwind the bolts from the front, locking everything tighter and causing stress on the bolt head.

 

[Ghoults]

If those were some chinese bolts then they could be just really brittle because the heat treatment was poorly done. I had one bolt on my fanatec pedals basically snap almost on its own when I was tightening it and I barely had any torque on it. Just poor quality bolts. Your problems will be fixed if you just go buy another set from a local hardware store.

 

[simon2002]

If those were some chinese bolts then they could be just really brittle because the heat treatment was poorly done. I had one bolt on my fanatec pedals basically snap almost on its own when I was tightening it and I barely had any torque on it. Just poor quality bolts. Your problems will be fixed if you just go buy another set from a local hardware store.

Yeah that might be the case as these were poorly powder-coated aswell, but I would expect them not be as they came straight outta the package like this.

 

[Ghoults]

Straight out of package = probably the cheapest stuff and with cheap stuff sometimes there are bad ones. I'd imagine the rest are fine. If not they'll break too. With cheap bolts it is not that all of them are bad, just that some are bad. Just get new ones and replace as many as you want. For looks probably easier to replace all of them.

 

[simon2002]

Straight out of package = probably the cheapest stuff and with cheap stuff sometimes there are bad ones. I'd imagine the rest are fine. If not they'll break too. With cheap bolts it is not that all of them are bad, just that some are bad. Just get new ones and replace as many as you want. For looks probably easier to replace all of them.

Yeah that kinda sucks when looking at the price but I guess I will have to in the long run. Worst part is that another screw is starting to come apart aswell when trying to get it out (YAY )

 

[Moxley6969]

Yeah that might be the case as these were poorly powder-coated aswell, but I would expect them not be as they came straight outta the package like this.

Bolts are Very Very rarely "powder coated" if ever On a production side of things... So what your having come off your hands is actually the Black Oxidizing finish that 99.9% of black bolts are treated with for oxidization prevention.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I believe these are the vibration proof lock washers in question. They work great and are much more convenient to use if you have any length of thread beyond where a lock nut would secure.

Amazon.com: 50 (25 Pair) 5/16" (8mm) Nord Lock Vibration Proof Lock Washers : Industrial & Scientific

Amazon.com: 50 (25 Pair) 5/16" (8mm) Nord Lock Vibration Proof Lock Washers : Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

I don't see the point in using nuts in the back if you have these in front. My bolts haven't come loose in the last few months I've had mine. Of course that means that I only tightened my bolts as tight as I could by hand with an 8mm allen key. I didn't want to hit it with an impact wrench or over tension the bolt.

 

[simon2002]

I believe these are the vibration proof lock washers in question. They work great and are much more convenient to use if you have any length of thread beyond where a lock nut would secure.

Amazon.com: 50 (25 Pair) 5/16" (8mm) Nord Lock Vibration Proof Lock Washers : Industrial & Scientific

Amazon.com: 50 (25 Pair) 5/16" (8mm) Nord Lock Vibration Proof Lock Washers : Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

I don't see the point in using nuts in the back if you have these in front. My bolts haven't come loose in the last few months I've had mine. Of course that means that I only tightened my bolts as tight as I could by hand with an 8mm allen key. I didn't want to hit it with an impact wrench or over tension the bolt.

Yeah as I mentioned in another reply I only fitted these for cometics. Looks like they tightened through vibration.

 

[DrRob]

@simon2002: Just for the correctness...Those bolts are not powder coated. They are non-zinced, but obviously black-finished bolts to achieve a minimum resistance to corrosion (like sweat from your palms). They are typically also conserved in a little bit of machine oil or similar. Normally you would do this treatment to higher property class bolts like 12.9 (hotdipping them or similar will introduce hydrogen and make them snap due to increased brittleness). Normal bolts are 8.8.

Therefore I was surprised you managed to snap them, if they are really 12.9. Maybe they are just 8.8 and black-finished just for looks.

My SimuCube2 had zinced, bright bolts out of the box and they do not stick out at the other end when bolting to the P1-X front plate.

 

[norbs]

Hi,
when I tried to loosen the nuts on my Simucube 2 Pro the head of the bolt literally snapped off. To me it felt like the Bolt was a lot tighter then when I installed it (Maybe the vibration somehow jammed the thing?). Has anyone here encountered a similar problem ?

Easy Outs? Do a google

 

[DrRob]

Easy Outs? Do a google

Well, I do not have the best experiences with those tools to be honest. They are quite brittle (hardened). And if THEY snap off and leave a bit of their tip in the leftover bolt, then even drilling out will be a problem.