Can 2nd Nut be Added to Roadmaster Base Plate Install of RM-521453-5

Question:

During the baseplate install I used red Loctite on all the fasteners and I appropriately shimmed the baseplate with the ½” flat washers that were included in the kit. While torqueing the upper most bolt position I noticed that the 5” bolt assembly was starting to collapse the Jeep’s square tube frame as I was torqueing the ½” hardware to 56 Lb-Ft. This was happening on both sides even though I had shimmed this mounting location with a ½” flat washer on the frame side of the ½” pipe spacer. When I noticed the frame was starting to collapse, while trying to reach the desired torque specification, I stopped tightening even though I had not yet reached the 56 Lb-Ft specification. FYI, the factory frame hole position that was collapsing was the one we had to drill out to 9/16” prior to installing the baseplate and none of the other mounting positions had any issue and all torqued to the proper spec. Hopefully the use of the red Loctite will prevent this fastener from loosing even though the proper torque was not reached, though I suspect the liquid red Loctite itself may have also acted as an lubricant and may have affected the torque values. Since enough of the ½” bolt threads are exposed on the other side of supplied ½” nut, I plan to add a second ½” nut to essentially double-nut this position to prevent any unwanted loosening. Any thought on this situation?

asked by: James H

Helpful Expert Reply:

There should not be any issue at all regarding adding a second nut when installing the Roadmaster Direct-Connect Base Plate Kit # RM-521453-5.

Regarding the torque values, from what I can see the 1/2" are torqued to 57 ft/lb and you are saying you got to 56? That would seem fine with the double nut, but I need to make very clear that we are not engineers and have no knowledge regarding how torque values are determined.

expert reply by: Kyle S