Locknuts: How do they work?

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 02/24/2016 at 10:30 • Filed to: None

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What locknuts might look like

I’m working on fixing my boys’ basketball goal backboard, and I want to take the backboard off the post to make the job easier. The backboard is held on by locknuts. Do I need to use new locknuts when I put it all back together, or can I use the same ones?

iSureWilll > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 10:32

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For a basketball goal? You can reuse the locknuts. If you’re concerned, just dab a little dot of blue loc-tite on the threads.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 10:33

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As long as the nylon is still grabbing the threads you can re-use them. Once you have it screwed down enough that the nylon is engaged, if you can’t turn the nut by hand you should be good. That’s the rule of thumb I use any ways.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 10:37

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In theory, nylocs are use-once. In practice, you would have to use them like 4-5 times to see much degradation, after the first loss of strength (first time to second time). If it were on, say, an engine, you should replace, but a basketball goal? Nah.

zveugen > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 10:37

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Technically their hold gets weaker with every removal and re-install, so if you plan on taking the nuts off 100's of times you might want to use new hardware. However, for one removal and re-install you should be fine.

CalzoneGolem > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 10:37

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They should work fine and you’ll know as soon as you try to tighten them up.

If you’re really concerned you could stick lock washers on underneath for a couple of cents each.

ttyymmnn > CalzoneGolem 02/24/2016 at 10:42

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Not sure there’s enough thread for an extra washer, though. It’s a pretty tight space.

jariten1781 > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 10:48

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They going to be dunking and stressing the attachment points? If yes I'd make sure there was a good retention mechanism (locking screws/nuts/loc-tite/whatever), if it's just holding relatively static reusing the nylock nuts is probably fine.

ttyymmnn > jariten1781 02/24/2016 at 10:50

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No dunking.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > CalzoneGolem 02/24/2016 at 10:59

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I used fender washers + lock washers with the nylock nuts when I added the tiedown system to my trailer.

Now if the car is going to go off the trailer, all of the wood floor has to go with it.

Meatcoma > iSureWilll 02/24/2016 at 11:01

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The ‘blue’ is important as it’s a serviceable loctite.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Meatcoma 02/24/2016 at 11:04

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I just had a seminar here at work from the loctite guys yesterday. True story.

luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 11:04

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You can reuse them. The nylon inserts don’t actually keep the nuts from coming loose, they just keep them from backing off the bolts if they do come loose.

The lockwashers pictured in one of the comments don’t do that good of a job of keeping things tight either. Loc-tite is the way to go.

ttyymmnn > luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! 02/24/2016 at 11:05

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Interesting. Thanks.

CalzoneGolem > Meatcoma 02/24/2016 at 11:15

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Not “What kind of monster torqued this one” Loctite?

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > CalzoneGolem 02/24/2016 at 11:20

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Haha do you know what yellow locktite is? Straight up crazy glue.

CalzoneGolem > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 02/24/2016 at 11:23

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That’s the Get the torch Loctite .

Mattbob > luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! 02/24/2016 at 11:25

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or a distorted thread locknut.

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 02/24/2016 at 11:28

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That’s nice, but it isn’t as rough as the red stuff. Back when I was at my first job, when we built automatic pop-up targets for shooting ranges, EVERY bolt on those things was *DRENCHED* in red loctite. As in, using one of the big $200 bottles of the stuff for every 20 or so targets. The target plates themselves were held on with grade 8 bolts (1/2 inch), lockwashers, nylock nuts, and a shit-ton of loctite. And even then, even just reducing the amount of loctite would let them loosen up quick.

Fun fact: the stuff is actually very sweet, tastes like syrup.

iSureWilll > Meatcoma 02/24/2016 at 11:36

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Yep. Blue is made so you can still remove the nut later. Red would be used if you wanted it stay on longer. Or Green which you’ll need an oxy torch to remove.

luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! > Mattbob 02/24/2016 at 11:51

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Or rust. ;-)

The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) > CalzoneGolem 02/24/2016 at 12:41

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These are mostly useless. If you tighten them all the way, you basically have a flat washer. If you tighten them, but not completely, then there is some tension that keeps the nut from backing out. Good luck getting that consistent, though.

If you REALLY want consistent locking, I like castellated nuts for light duty applications and deformed thread nuts if you really can’t have the nut move. Lock washers, in general, suck.

Master Cylinder > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 12:46

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They should be fine. The nylon insert does get deformed with use but it will still provide some locking ability. A drop of loctite (blue) will add a little extra peace of mind if you desire it.

BKosher84 > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 12:48

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Make sure you use LocTite Threadlocker Blue..

Blue is removable, Red is not.

ttyymmnn > BKosher84 02/24/2016 at 13:00

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Good to know.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 13:39

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Yeah, so... my oldest, his friend and his little brother were out playing basketball and I was a couple doors down talking to their mom. Little brother comes in wailing, with a hand on his back. Went out to figure out what had happened and they’d lowered the goal all the way down (7 ft) and had stacked up some stuff so they could take turns hanging on the rim. I was understandably ticked, especially at the older two. Lucky one of them didn’t crack open their skull...

ttyymmnn > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 02/24/2016 at 13:50

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Is this a goal that is cemented in or with a weight?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 14:05

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It’s a very sturdy cemented-in goal, but the things they stacked up to hang on it were not sturdy (kind of an assumption, as they moved the stuff back after little brother got hurt). My son has already had a broken arm from falling off some monkey bars a few years ago, and I like to think he’s a little more intelligent than this, but he is just 9.

ttyymmnn > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 02/24/2016 at 14:14

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but he is just 9.

‘Nuff said.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 14:49

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Yup. He can be so intelligent at some times, and so juvenile other times. I do my best to not be too hard on him and remember that he’s just a kid...

Clown Shoe Pilot > BKosher84 02/24/2016 at 18:11

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Red is removable. You just gotta want it more.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 02/25/2016 at 17:30

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Nyloc on an engine? Fail.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 02/25/2016 at 17:30

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Nice picture. Gimme the ingredients.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 02/25/2016 at 17:36

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Google: locknut

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 02/25/2016 at 17:37

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“I feel lucky.”

Spoon II > ttyymmnn 02/25/2016 at 18:19

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We never reused the nylon insert locknuts, but I doubt your basketball net requires high quality standards. A good check is that if it’s easy to put on by hand, the nylon is worn out too much to be anywhere effective

ttyymmnn > Spoon II 02/25/2016 at 18:37

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Reassembly is scheduled for tomorrow. We'll see how they go on. Thanks.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 02/26/2016 at 08:56

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I’ve seen them supplied for a motor mount, I believe. Definitely on some brackets ‘n’ things. Not as impossible as you’d think. I’ve definitely also seen them supplied for a tie rod end, which may be worse.