Broke a bolt today!!!

[hairman]

I received my clutch today and decided to go ahead and install it. I got it all took out and started putting it back together. I got it all back together and was putting the bolts back in the clutch plate. I was trying to torque them down with my old torque wrench and one of the bolts snapped. I finally managed to get it out after about an hour. My question is does the bolt have to be a certain kind or will any kind due? My torque wrench is the old kind that has the bar that comes up with a red end on it that moves down the gauge that tells you what your ft lbs. Do I need to invest in a newer one? Thanks hairman

[jburrell]

Can't answer for the type of bolt but it seems to me as long as its the correct metric bolt it should be ok. However, check with squidley or freebird. I do believe the torque specs are in Inch pds not foot pounds. OF course Ihave been wrong before and don't have the specs in front of me.

[Marcarl]

You should use the same bolt, your local dealer may have a used one laying around, and the torque is 6 inch pounds which is hardley called tight and can't be measured on a foot lbs wrench.

[starman]

Did new bolts come with the clutch,mine did if you got the barnett.

[flb_78]

Factory clutch bolts are junk. Pull em out, throw em away. Go pick up a set of stainless bolts.

 

Never reuse the factory clutch bolts. They're very brittle. If you must use factory bolts, buy new ones.

[1BigDog]

I replaced mine with the Barnett set-up 5 years ago abd also snapped a bolt. Back then they didnt come with new bolts and I failed to heed others warning about using new bolts. I replaced the factory bolts with allen head bolts.

[bikenut]

If I were you I would go to the dealer and get new clutch bolts all of them because if you look in the manual it states to replace and do not reuse the clutch bolts because everytime you torque them they stretch.

Also I would not use stainless because stainless is also brittle and may break when you torque them. What you need to do if you do not want to use the stock bolts is to find out the grade of bolt that is in there stock and get a high grade bolt which will be stronger.

Stainless is very good for most applications were you do not want them to rust.

Hope this helps

I have replaced many clutches and I have always replace the bolts with new stock bolts and have not had any problems.

Bikenut:thumbsup2:

[Cougar]

Glad I got these a few days ago then *lol*

I have wanted a set, ya never know.

http://www.aldn.com/prograbit/

I got the 4 piece set.

Not sure yet how well they work yet.

Jeff

[Marcarl]

The clutch bolts are soft, not brittle, and the reason for that is stretch,as mentioned before. Not a good idea to install a different kind of bolt, the engineers designed it that way for a reason, but that's all much too technical for me, so some else will have to explain that.

[jlh3rd]

the clutch plate bolts in the service manual from yamaha says clutch spring plate bolts 5.8 ft.lb.......1999 - 2007 venture

[Squidley]

Your not the 1st one to do this

and jlh3rd is correct on the torque, it isn't much. Go to the dealer and order new bolts for it, as mentioned they stretch and even though I have used the old ones in the past, as long as you have to get one, get them all. They are less than a grade 5 bolt and just FWIW all standard bolts have a maximum torque value that they can withstand according to their diameter size. Sometimes we tend to want to torque the hell out of a bolt when it isn't necessary

If you have doubt's about your torque wrench then absolutely get a new one or take yours in to be recalibrated (if it's a click type) No worries you didn't hurt anything besides the bolt and I would imagine that a shop should have some bolts on hand.

[V7Goose]

Let's get some facts straight here - I have just looked at the shop manual, and I cannot find anywhere that it says to not reuse the stock clutch spring bolts.

 

It is never a bad idea to use new bolts, but it IS a bad idea to use any bolt with a different specification that called for by the design. If you want to replace the bolts, you should use stock bolts.

 

There is no reason the stock bolts should ever snap if they are not over torqued or damaged. But if you do not have an inch-pound wrench, you can't tighten them correctly. I don't know of any ft-lb wrenches that will accurately read 5.8 ft lbs. Of course, those of you using metric torque wrenches will need to figure out the right tool too.

 

Since the Barnett clutch pressure plate and springs are a different design, I would use whatever bolts that manufacturer specifies, but for the PCW upgrade spring, I personally just re-use the stock clutch spring bolts.

 

BUT, if you have EVER over-tightened a bolt, or suspect you have by using the wrong torque wrench, you SHOULD ABSOLUTELY replace it with a new bolt. This is especially true for any bolt with a low tensile rating like the clutch spring bolts. THEREFORE, for anyone who has ever snapped one of these clutch spring bolts, I strongly recommend you replace all six of them just to be sure they have not been weakened from over tightening.

Goose

Edited March 14, 2009 by V7Goose
added the last note about weakened bolts

[Condor]

Let's get some facts straight here - I have just looked at the shop manual, and I cannot find anywhere that it says to not reuse the stock clutch spring bolts.

 

It is never a bad idea to use new bolts, but it IS a bad idea to use any bolt with a different specification that called for by the design. If you want to replace the bolts, you should use stock bolts.

 

There is no reason the stock bolts should ever snap if they are not over torqued or damaged. But if you do not have an inch-pound wrench, you can't tighten them correctly. I don't know of any ft-lb wrenches that will accurately read 5.8 ft lbs. Of course, those of you using metric torque wrenches will need to figure out the right tool too.

 

Since the Barnett clutch pressure plate and springs are a different design, I would use whatever bolts that manufacturer specifies, but for the PCW upgrade spring, I personally just re-use the stock clutch spring bolts.

 

BUT, if you have EVER over-tightened a bolt, or suspect you have by using the wrong torque wrench, you SHOULD ABSOLUTELY replace it with a new bolt. This is especially true for any bolt with a low tensile rating like the clutch spring bolts. THEREFORE, for anyone who has ever snapped one of these clutch spring bolts, I strongly recommend you replace all six of them just to be sure they have not been weakened from over tightening.

Goose

 

[JerryK]

I usually tighten them till they break then back them off 1/8 turn LOL

[hairman]

Well I went and ordered the bolts today at my local shop. They were only $0.50 each. I ordered 6 so that I could go ahead and replace them all. They'll be in on Wednesday. Thanks for everyones advice. hairman:thumbsup: