Broken pinch bolts

[go4it]

Add me to the broken pinch bolt list.  '03 Heritage Softail. Heard some noise, pulled over & saw oil leakin from right fork. Rode about 60 miles home. Thought I had blown a seal, but found both pinch bolts sheared, & one tube unscrewed totally. Decorative cover kept me from seein what the real problem was until I took it apart to replace what I thought was just a seal. Felt pretty damned lucky I made it home. Put in grade 10's.

[blackhillsken]

Yeah, we've seen several of those.  Enough that I would think it's worthy of a NHTSA recall, given the life & death issue.

[Tsani]

Hit a real good pothole lately? Thats what did mine in. Originals are grade 5's I believe.

[itsafatboy]

Ok dumb question what and where are These pinch bolts are you talking about the studs on bottom of right fork leg ??

[FSG]

Item 7 , red circle, is commonly referred to as a pinch bolt.  Perhaps if the fork springs were wound in the opposite direction then the fork would tend to tighten when the pinch bolt breaks.

[moose]

it happened to mine also on my 02 fatboy

[blkfalc4]

Common occurence on the FLS's.

[Deye76]

Hit a real good pothole lately? Thats what did mine in. Originals are grade 5's I believe.

Grade 5? If so, the factory thinks it'll save a penny or 2 now, and pay 30 million after the law suit. Thats called "stepping over a dime, to pick up a penny.

[Tsani]

Hit a real good pothole lately? That's what did mine in. Originals are grade 5's I believe.

Grade 5? If so, the factory thinks it'll save a penny or 2 now, and pay 30 million after the law suit. That's called "stepping over a dime, to pick up a penny.

All depends on how you look at it I guess. Not putting any one down here. But after hitting a major unavoidable pothole like the one that caused me the problem, I check my bolts as well as the wheel. The way I figure it, it saved my forks from bending. I never let it get to the point of my tubes unscrewing. We found that problem on a buds bike while washing it because oil came up on the rag, so it pays to clean the bike regularly cause you should be putting your hands on every thing and checking as you go.
The bolt needs to be strong for tensile strength, not sheer. You hit a good enuf hole and there is a lot of flex going on. How many install new bolts after doing their bearing adjustments? When you torque a bolt down, you stretch it. Not that you are reaching the max on these bolts if you actually torque em. That being said, should the MOCO use a stronger bolt? Maybe. But like any manufacturer, they only put in what meets the requirement. A safety recall may be in order. It may have a lot to do with the fork geometry. What we do is another matter. Don't care if you put a grade 5 or a grade 8 in, check your stuff regularly folks. It's your butt sitting on it!

[rawshog]

How does the fork tube come unscrewed?

[02roadcling]

pinch loosens, tubes spin over time and bumps

[Deye76]

I have to agree with checking a bike over on a regular basis. Any front end I've worked on has gotten grade 8 bolts, and Mich has some of the nations worst roads. Never had a bolt shear.......yet. The factory has to be using some cheap hardware. And blackhillsken is right on.

[LilEvilAmy]

Had one do the same thing here - 2004 FLSTC came in our shop a couple of weeks ago with a "fork oil leak".  It's amazing he didn't crash.  Another victim of Michigan's roads ....

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[wood02]

I realize this thread is ten years old.  Add me to the list of the broken pinch bolt.  I thought I only had a leaking fork seal.  Any tips on the removal?  Yes, the bolt is grade 5 hex head 7/16-20 thread and is sheared even with the back side of the stem bracket (the bottom end of the bolt is showing).  How did everyone remove the broken bolt?  I plan on replacing with a socket head cap screw.  I think I can get and allen head wrench in there easier than a wrench.  2003 FLSTCI bought new in 2002 had 8 miles and 87,000 now.  I always had front end wobble when taking hands off the bars for what ever reason.  I thought it was the front tire cupping.  Then only thing that seems to be holding the fork tube are the two bolts holding the fender.  It was about 1/4" lower than the other fork and very loose.  I pushed it back up very easily.

[calif phil]

Those broken bolts will come out easy, a left handed drill bit is what I use.  I have done many of them. 

[klammer76]

On my 02 FLH, I have marked what I consider to be critical fasteners with a small black sharpie line. Shocks, pulley, lower tree pinch bolts, axle. I give these a visual check generally once a week and always when washing. Lets me see if anything is a problem.

[wood02]

Thanks.  I will post when I get the bolt out.  Phil, I tried to go to the website www.harleypartscheap.com it did not work. 

[Hossamania]

I'm curious about your choice to use a socket head cap screw. What problems are you having getting a wrench on the hex head bolts? Once the tins are back on, I don't think you'll be able to get an Allen wrench on the cap screws to check for tightness.

[Hybredhog]

    I've seen a ton of them broken, and a few coming unscrewed, usually the oil leak is the big signal. I've got a 5/8" Snap-on X01820 off set wrench for checking them. But you can get a regular 5/8" box end in there too if needed.

[Nastytls]

Are those stretch bolts? I've had mine off and on a few times not really thinking about that. Think I might just replace them to be safe.

[Norton Commando]

I'm curious about your choice to use a socket head cap screw. What problems are you having getting a wrench on the hex head bolts? Once the tins are back on, I don't think you'll be able to get an Allen wrench on the cap screws to check for tightness.

One possible advantage to using a socket head cap screw is the higher material tensile strength.  A typical socket head cap screw has a tensile strength of 180,000 psi whereas a grade 8 hex cap screw has a tensile strength of 150,000 psi and grade 5 is even less.

Jason

[calif phil]

Thanks.  I will post when I get the bolt out.  Phil, I tried to go to the website www.harleypartscheap.com it did not work.

Thanks for letting me know.  My new website hosting company runs about as good as a wore out shovelhead with bad head gasket.

[wood02]

Broken pinch bolt removed.  Center punched and drilled 1/8" then 3/16" bit.  The remnant of the bolt left in the stem bracket "spun" and came out from the unthreaded side of the pinch bolt.  I tried to screw the new bolt from the non counter-bored side of the bracket.  It would not go in.  It appears that the bracket was not tapped for a through hole.  I ran a 7/16-20 tap through the bracket and made sure the threads went all the way through.  It did cut a "few" new threads.  I do not think that the bracket was allowing the pinch bolt to tighten properly.  It had to be really torqued to try and "pinch" the tube.  I will be replacing with new 7/16-20 Hex HD capscrews Grade 8, as per the Service Bulletin M-1234.  According to my service manual, Grade 5 torque to 30-35 ft.lbs., Grade 8 torque to 50-60 ft. lbs.  Hex Hd and Socket Hd are basically the same tensile strength according to the manual.  I hope this makes sense and I appreciate all the information and advice.  Phil the link seems to be working now.  I hope to get new lighting (Headlight and Passing lamps). 

[Hossamania]

I'm not a fan of using a tap to clean threads, I prefer a rethreading tool, but I'm glad it worked out for you. Like many others here, I've replaced quite a few of them over the years. Heritage, Fatboys, and Deluxes seem to chew them up on a pretty regular basis. It's the first thing I check when someone says they have a "clunk" in the front end.