[DeTomaso] Torque question

[Garth Rodericks]

Boyd,

Check out page 25 (in the pdf, not the page number) in this rulebook for 
examples of how to safety wire bolts:
http://www.mra-racing.org/PDF/2010MRARulebook.pdf




Figures 1-1, 1-4, and 1-5 helped me the most. It shows how the wire is wrapped 
such that attempting to loosen one bolt would result in trying to tighten the 
other bolt. The only way the bolt on the left could loosen would be to turn 
counterclockwise, but to do that, the bolt on the right would have to turn 
clockwise. i.e. you'd have to tighten the right bolt to loosen the left. And 
vice-versa, to loosen the right hand bolt you'd have to turn the left bolt 
clockwise. 


From an army manual on safety-wiring, snarfed from a now defunct link: (my 
comments emphasized) 

•    Using standard .032 nickel coated safety wire, the twists should be 6 per 
inch I have seen anywhere from 6 to 12 twists per inch. YMMV. 

•    Safety wire (also known as lock wire) is used to prevent a fastening device 
from coming loose. IT IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR A FASTENER. 

•    Safety wire must always tend to tighten. If a bolt or screw that is 
tightened by turning it in a clockwise direction, the safety installed on such a 
device must tend to pull in a clockwise direction. 

•    Safety wire must be tight when installed. 
•    Safety wire must be the proper size. The wire must not scrape the sides of 
the hole as it is pulled through, as this may remove the protective coating and 
allow corrosion. 

•    SAFETY WIRE MUST NEVER BE OVERSTRESSED. Care must be taken when twisting 
safety wire together or pulling it tighter not to tighten it so much that it 
will break under even a light load. Making sharp bends or kinks in the wire must 
be avoided because they produce stress points in the wire and could cause it to 
break. 

•    Safety Wire Pliers must be used ONLY ON THAT PORTION OF THE WIRE THAT IS TO 
BE CUT OFF. Pliers on wire make tiny nicks and cuts that appear insignificant. 
However, they are quite large in proportion to the diameter of a .020 to .046 
inch wire. If pliers nick or cut wire, stress points are set up that will break 
under vibration. Pliers also scrape the protective coating from the wire. 

•    Safety wire ends must be secured. When the safety is completed, the 
remaining ends are twisted to form a pigtail. It is standard procedure to wrap 
the pigtail around the part being safe tied and tucked down out of the way. 

•    Torque value must never be changed to obtain an ideal safety! 
•    NEVER REUSE SAFETY WIRE. Just throw away your mistakes and try again. 
Safety wire is cheap.