cotter pins

[grumpyvette]

now if you do much work on cars suspensions you will need to deal with castle nuts and cotter pins, the nuts are usually torqued in place with a torque wrench on ball joints or tie rods etc, but not on axle bearings, where they are left a bit loose, but in either case the nuts located correctly on the threaded stud and a cotter pins pushed thru the nut and stud then the ends are bent 170 degrees or so locking the nut preventing the nut from backing off on the threads but at times the price difference of these little throw away one time use bits of wire clips that are under almost no stress, they simply prevent a nut from vibrating loose ,is truly amazing, yes you generally select the largest diam. pin that will easily fit the application and the stainless steel pins are usually a better choice than mild steel, but this is usually not a high stressed part and its a one time use, pull and discard item.
A slotted nut (sometimes called a castle nut because it resembles the top of a castle) is a nut that is designed to be held in place with a cotter pin. its frequently used on suspension and ball joint,brake bolts, tie rod ends etc.

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while your at harbor freight buy some O-rings,
they come in handy on hydraulics,
fuel lines,
test gauges,
and air conditioners etc.


you can get a decent random assortment, of O-rings,
for less than $60 at HF
and you may be amazed at how often its handy to have around,
if your getting some for the shop inventory
be aware the materials vary,
some are used for oil, fuel,Freon, higher temps etc,
but they are not all interchangeable

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