Propshaft bolts: Britpart you are sh!te!

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Grrrrrr

Grrrrrr

Technician, Bodgit & Scarper Ltd
Full Member
Posts
19,297
Location
Buckinghamshire, UK. ('95 DT)
Anyone of a nervous disposition or under the age of eighteen had best close this window now! I apologise in advance for the language but I need to get this off my chest.

That's a day of my life I won't see again in a hurry.

You are advised to replace the bolts when reassembling the propshafts. I didn't on mine but this was someone else's car so best do it right. Britpart say they are OEM spec. THEY ARE NOT! They've metricized the bl**dy nuts and bolts, the B*ST*RDS. Threads and sizes from 9/16ths to 14mm. Obviously I didn't touch the centre bolts because that would mean removing the input ad output shafts from the transfer box and replacing the oil seals. If it ain't broke ...

The replacement Britpart nuts started to go on and all seemed well. Then on torquing up they polished the threads out. F*CK! Hacksaw and chiselled off the offending nuts. Most bolts now knackered. So, output shaft out etc. BRITPART are F*CKWITS! DO YOU KNOW WHAT OEM SPECIFICATION ACTUALLY IS YOU F*CK-KNUCKLE?

Even worse, as I undid the brand new Britpart nuts and bolts at the other end of the propshaft they looked more gouged and pitted than the 15 year old Land Rover ones. They're made of putty or similar.

So, the moral is: use the original nuts with a bit of Locktite or use Land Rover ones. If you have to use Britpart be aware that they are metric and both nuts and bolts must be replaced.

5 minute job turned into a 5 hour nightmare. Grrrrrr.
 
If they must but on line why don't people specify genuine parts and pay the price.? But I would go to a nut bolt and screw supplier and get the items required at a third of the price and better quality of most of the online suppliers.

But then I'm in trade and spend £100s each month with my suppliers for these items, something perhaps a DIYer doesn't know about.
 
discool said:
If they must but on line why don't people specify genuine parts and pay the price.? But I would go to a nut bolt and screw supplier and get the items required at a third of the price and better quality of most of the online suppliers.

But then I'm in trade and spend £100s each month with my suppliers for these items, something perhaps a DIYer doesn't know about.
Click to expand...

Difficulty is when you only want 4 or 8 nuts. And then you have to know the specs. I don't know what the specs are, that's what is so great about these parts places: you find the part number, search and if the part number is right and it says OEM then you assume it will fit! Otherwise it is take it off, measure, reassemble or leave in parts on the street for another week and then fit the parts. Not feasible most of the time because the missus needs the car on Monday.

The problem with some of the Land Rover parts is that the prices seem to have been made up for fun. Look at the Rangie RF receiver. It has gone up 200% in the last 2 years as people have needed them, for an item that cannot cost more than a fiver to produce.
 
But Britpart said the nuts were OEM 9/16 and were sold under the LR part number. If the part number calls for a 9/16 nut, you can expect them to sell you one can't you?

At the very least they could say "metrisized for your convenience. You must buy the metric bolt too"
 
I was the dullard who bought these. I used the same part number on Rimmer Bros for another car done at the same time and they fitted just fine, no probs.
 
Datatek said:
So don't blame ****part, you put metric nuts on imperial bolts. If you are going to renew, you ALWAYS renew the bolt AND the nut.
Click to expand...

There was no mention of metric or imperial. The packet just had "Propshaft bolts" written on it, had the right part number on and quoted OEM. The originals are all 9/16ths and imperial thread - that was the original manufacturing spec and equivalence would imply the same thread! Same nut size come to that, although I'm less hassled about that.

You think I'd stick a metric nut on something I'd just taken off with a 9/16ths socket without a real long hard look at it? They even went on the first few turns OK. It isn't far off. When (20:20 hind-sight here) I compared the threads by lining them up afterwards it took quite a few threads before they went out of sync with the originals.

I might be a tinkerer and a bodger but I always put on equivalent parts because I'm too thick to know if it is safe to do otherwise.
 
MrGorsky said:
I was the dullard who bought these. I used the same part number on Rimmer Bros for another car done at the same time and they fitted just fine, no probs.
Click to expand...

They do if you replace both the bolt and the nut. Seeing as you sawed your bolt off you had no choice. Now I think about it I wonder if there was a reason that nut of yours wouldn't come off and the thread was effed. I wonder if the garage of the PO had a similar experience.
 
The nuts I bought for my car were Rimmers LR original parts.

And I only replaced one bolt too. The one I cut off with an LR one from Rimmers!

The ones I got for the other were Britpart. That's why mine went on fine and the others did not.
 
Last edited:
:behindsofa:
Let's get one thing straight....There are no 9/16" bolts fitted to hold the propshaft UJ's to the Diff or Transfer Box flanges. They are 3/8" UNF High Tensile.
People mistakenly use the spanner size (Across Flats) as the bolt size, which means nothing as some flanged head hex. bolts are smaller than a standard bolt, e.g. a M8 standard bolt needs a 13mm A/F spanner whereas a flanged head M8 bolt usually requires a 10mm A/F spanner.
Secondly, an Imperial A/F spanner should be used on Imperial sized bolts, not Metric...o.k., they fit but perhaps I am a purist, but that is the way that I was taught.
The correct spanner size for the 3/8 "UNF or UNC bolt and nut is 9/16" A/F.

Rant over !!!
:confused::bolt:
 
i understand where you are coming from re wrong nut, but you can tell easily that it's the wrong thread as it'll only do a couple of turns.

you would have had to be giving it a bit of welly to wind them down past that.. should have set off alarm bells

i usually just go to the local fastener place. works out cheaper too.
 
MrGorsky said:
Sorry Irishrover, it won't happen again.
Click to expand...


:behindsofa:

Not having a dig at you !!!:tea:

Loads of posts on the forum refer to the spanner/socket size instead of the thread diameter.

As has been posted on here, best bet is to take the nut or bolt to an Engineering supplier or motor factor at a push and they will identify the thread size and type. It will be cheaper than a Main Stealer or from Ebay.
Motor factors, Ironmongers or DIY stores tend to stock standard bolts rated at 8.8 tensile strength which are too soft for propshaft attachment-they should be at least 10.20 which is classed as High Tensile.

:)
 
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