No, not cross threaded; just the clearance between the internal and external parts of the thread can allow the stud to tilt slightly and once the red locktite sets up it will be stuck that way. My studs had a very small shoulder that was more chamfer on a diameter that was slightly larger than the threads themselves. To me, it seemed marginal for aligning the stud. If that chamfer is torqued up against an internal chamber on the bolt hole that was not well machined (no reason for it to be well machined), then the stud could be tilted.

Honestly I don’t know if this really happens. This is something I have been pondering after I saw the fatigue striations in a broken stud that seem like they may have been caused by being misaligned, but I don’t know how that could have been.

If the stud was misaligned as part of installation, then I thought it might work to put the wheel on with the bolts torqued to some value to center the wheel. Then remove 2 bolts and install 2 studs torqued to their required value. Once the studs are in place, put a nut on them and torque it to the wheel. I am thinking that would align the stud to the wheel before the Locktite sets up. Let the wheels set that way for a while so the Locktite sets up and then do the other 2 studs on it.

Then again, I could be over thinking this whole thing. Mine seem to be fine for now and I installed them the same as everyone else does. Just torqued the stud in place.

 

I have these on 3 cars, no issues. About to do my wife's 86 but it require pull from behind studs, dumb design people/shops are always cross threading the nuts

 

those look good...
Who sells those?

 

I use their wheels too, lifetime warranty

https://www.apexraceparts.com/access...stud-kits.html

 

The setup for the air jack system is coming together and I have all the parts.



I decided to buy the bigger of the two aluminum gas bottles (60 vs 22 cu ft) for the nitrogen that would fit into the mothership; the small end fits into the tunnel of the crawlspace but it gains me nothing



it has been getting harder over the years to find a place that will fill you own bottle; most places operates on a swap which is not an option with my own aluminum bottle



in this orientation is bottle fits perfectly with the regulator and hose fittings; I have yet devise a secure hold down for the bottle; the 500 PSI high pressure hose costs a bundle and I have 35 feet



the versatility of this motorhome is nothing short of amazing



I bought a cheap regulator for this that can support 400 PSI; next is to assemble the hose with the right fitting with a valve to control the quick release ***** which attaches to the car



the air jack fitting on the car



I am not too crazy about the idea detaching a hose with 400 PSI pressure; the primary side shows 2000 PSI; I checked for leak with soap solution and all is good; I could only get the regulator to 350 PSI but I think I just need to adjust the safety relief valve; the low side gauge goes up to 600 PSI



I sealed all the thread with pipe dough as I getting to dislike teflon tape other than on plastic parts



soon I would realize I need to turn the regulator around but the hose receptacle would be facing a odd angle; the solution is to get a 90-degree short elbow for it so the hose end would not have a sharp bend; one more trip to Home Depot to get this done

 

I am glad that I found the VersaTie aluminum tie down track system rather than the more common trailer tie down tracks made of galvanized stamped steel plates. As the trailer is aluminum carbon steel hardware attached to it will corrode over time. With the VersaTie system the fasteners are high quality stainless steel, and when you order a track kit they proving the engineered fasteners with one set at every 6 inch interval. They are really nice folks to buy from. These tracks and attachments are hardly more costly than the common galvanized steel ones, especially they provide all the fasteners when you buy the track kits. That takes out the danger of guess work of sourcing your own fasteners.

I ordered a set of 8 footers and a set of 6 footers as I want to cover the length of the trailer bed. These give me 14 feet of continuous tracks. I could have done with just a foot or two but I want to make the trailer more versatile for carrying any car.


I order 4 each of these hold downs; I plan to use them as idlers in conjunction with the trailer's ratchet anchors; they are good for 5000 lb of normal force and 2000 lb if pulled horizontally; I envision I will have 45 degree angles



I deliberated for weeks the best location of the tracks and decided that the most outboard possible is best for the Radical; there are a lot of holes to be drilled precisely; mistake is not an option so I took my time to mark and prepunch each hole to be drilled



aluminum drill shavings don't disappears for a very long time so I took care to gather every little piece with the vacuum cleaner



there are 56 fasteners with generous sized stainless steel washers spreading the tensile load of the tracks; I used blue Loctite to prevent them from coming loose



the tracks end about 6" from the tail of the trailer deck



and also end about 6" from the front

The VersaTie track system is as well designed as the Trailex trailer. They are perfect complements of each other.

 

A good night sleep makes the difference between wasting time driving to Home Depot. I realized I already have the 90 degree fitting but I thought I have to have a 1/4" one rather than the 3/8" one that came with the hose kit. Instead of putting the elbow on the regulator which is a dumb idea I realize it is better to put it on the hose side. Doing so creates a swivel joint at the regulator outlet for this rather unwieldy hose.



this was what I had yesterday



a swivel joint at the regulator



all the pieces connected to be attached to the car's air jack inlet



this results in the shortest, hence least vulnerable stub on the regulator, when the hose is detached for transport

I also just arrived at a solution to secure the gas cylinder with the regulator attached. I will fabricate a cradle for it out of a couple pieces of 1 1/4" plywood using the bandsaw. The cradle would be cut to the curvature of the cylinder body, and with the friction between the wood and the aluminum the cylinder would not rotate and put stress onto the regulator body or worst the vulnerable dial gauges.



this are off the shelf steel cradles; a set of home made wooden ones will be lighter and do a better job without the weight and sharp corners

 

Nice. I think that all cars should have an air jack system.... there is no good description as to where to jack up the ND.

 

I've been re-reading this thread as I start a similar journey, I think/hope. I might start my own thread, but I just put rear adjustable control arms on my car, and just got the IE fixed camber plates to put on tonight. I'm trying to keep the stock brakes and just maximize their capabilities with fluid, pads, and ventilation with brake ducting, but we'll see if that's enough. This thread has been incredibly helpful with helping to guide my own journey. I'm heading to the track at the end of the month and can't wait to see how the car is with the changes in brakes, suspension and the hoosier R7 tires I picked up.

We'll see, but I think my dream car is a caterham that is strongly skewed towards track performance, but still street legal. I had the opportunity to drive one for a day in scotland and it was a fantastic day.

 

Have fun on the track! Carbotech XP10 pads up front. If you have the single piston calipers you may find that the big cast caliper with that steel piston will soak up heat and the pedal will get soft. This is helped with really good brake fluid (Motul 600 or the like) but the heat soak may still occur. Just be aware.

Classic Lotus!

 

Thanks! I may have to try the carbotech pads next, or maybe g-loc or ebc blue. Right now I have EBC yellows, motul 600, and brake ducts. My last track day was the same setup without the ducts and it was much better but I still had to deal with a little fade. I don't love the ebc yellow, but I figured they were worth a shot and they are very livable for a street pad other than the dust. think I also need to adjust the nut behind the steering wheel to make the brakes last longer too.

 

I have not been posting as I have a lot of ***** in the air of late. The Caterham is a great track car and very economic to run due to the lightness. There are many in our club and most are excellent drivers' owned.

 

As I was unable to bring the car home with the trailer the Radical has been stored in the rented garage at the track to buy me some time to implement a number of solutions for the trailer. I also planned to test out the nitrogen compressed air system that I put together for the air jacks at the track, and to continue the shake down of the new-to-me race car.



this was the first of the 3 day club days and the turnout was one of the highest as a lot of folks were suffering from cabin fever



one of my plan goals is to take the RXC home with me and vacate the rented garage at the track



my RXC and a rather new Rapture



this is the third Radical there this weekend and it is a RX8 with a V8 engine; all three Radicals are recent purchases from the same dealer in Northern California



Red Baron's pilot's GP3 is one of the two at the track this weekend; the other one is his buddy's











my RXC Turbo 500 next to the mothership




the first new Supra I've seen at the track

 

Reports?

How was the Radical on the track?

Any observations on the GP3?

 

Joining the club at ORP is one of the best things I discovered here in PNW. Being able to camp out for free with your buddies in the great outdoors in central Oregon alone is worth the price of admission. I ate quite well most of the time and this weekend is no exception. I have a bumper crop of little tomatoes in the garden and I have yet to start canning. Rather than going to waste I made a few batches of tomato sauce by reducing the sauce down with garlic and herbs. I only brought frozen raw seafood with me in this trip even though I have a piece of smoked brisket. Why not? The waistband needed modulation like throttle and braking on track.


spaghetti with Gulf shrimps and sea scallops



spaghetti with mahi mahi; the homemade tomato sauce is awesome and the spaghetti is perfectly al dente

It is a custom we have a group dinner in the last club days of the season. One of our buddies prepared a giant piece of BBQ prime rib for the last supper for our close knit bunch of friends. While it is the last scheduled club event, we plan to have at least one more club weekend before the season is truly over.

 

I promise more to come. Please stay tuned.

 

And you respond with food pics. 🤨

 

Hey,

Haven't heard from you in over a month... Normally wouldn't stalk so overtly, but these aren't normal times.

Hope you are well, and just busy with new garage construction, Radical-hauling, etc.

 

Wonder if is he spending more time on the Radical forums than here? He has, what, three cars that would have specific forums to run amuck on. Since the R53 will not be seeing track time other than a random autocross once or twice year if the wife wants to drive it, I have been spending most of my time on Miata.net. The roof drains on the RF are completely bonkers. It's as if they asked a bunch of mechanical engineers to fit the most complicated solution to a simple problem that doesn't exist. There are specific gaps in seals that connect to tubes that empty into "slides" that pour into "sinks" that have grates that go into more tubes that finally empty out the bottom of the car (nearly directly above where the gaps are) through one way valves...... none of that is an exaggeration and from what I can see with the top in "service mode" none of it is needed. That is just for the buttresses. The trunk lid and the lower windshield cowl have their own drainage systems. No one to my knowledge has figured those out..... yet. The bright side of that is when the roof drains clog and they will eventually clog, the water drains into the passenger compartment so, you know that one of them is clogged. There's one system for each side of the car. Mazda seems to have understood that these will get clogged so there are zero electronics attached to the floor pans or in any kind of route that water can take from those clogged drains. Problem solved on their end. I guess that is better than that happened in my R50. The right rear drain tube from the sunroof clogged then leaked and soaked the rear of the right side-curtain air bag.

 

I get some solace from learning that the brand new super cool cars have goofy defects as well. Thanks for encouraging me with your pain. 😁

 

I am glad to be of service. LOL

 

Hay folks, I am still alive and kicking, and have been kicking more tires of late. Between the dial-up speed of rural internet at the ranch and tending to the livestocks I have been neglecting to post here and my personal blog. My Mini is still one of my all time favorite. Only now that I had it apart and have been making no progress with the planned upgrades. I missed the seasonal window to break ground on the new "barn" for the livestocks, so guess what irrational thing I did? Shopping for more livestock. This time you would wonder about my sanity. Here are some teaser clues for the suspense.



risking my hide and the rig's to shop for more livestock



and yes, good food is an integral experience for me and motorsport; this is a hint of where I've just been



and it sports this relative rare cast iron block engine here in North America

 

Welcome back!

 

Wow, it’s been a long time since your last update.

Sounds like you’ve been busy. Those are indeed rare in the States. They’ve been out of the US market for at least a quarter century.

 

Sorry to say, but I am lost.
A 4 banger, and I am sure a potent one... A race car but what?

The suspense is killing...