-----Original Message-----
A plumber once told me, that before trying to undo a thread you first
tighten
it up, just a tiny bit.
======================================
That sounds prefectly reasonable to me and is something that I practice
quite often.
Think about it for a second. Most threads are "rolled" into a nice inverted
"V" shape. There's plenty of clearance offered between the threads so that
you can actually tighten and loosen the items in question witout galling the
metals. When you tighten the bolt you're only working on one side of the
thread face. After the desired torque/tension/tightness is achieved the
bolt is slightly stretched with all the tension and contact between the
parts being only on that one side of the threads. As the fastener rests for
a while it relaxes and that "one side only" tension begins to even out and
center itself between the previous and next thread. When left together for
a long time, and was not slathered with a goodly amount of anti-seize when
it was initially assembled, corrosion often forms where the two metal parts
meet. Tightening it just a little bit before attempting to loosen it can in
effect break that mechanical corrosion bond that formed between the hardware
parts as they sat for some length of time thereby makign it easier to remove
them.
Of course that's just my simple caveman theory but it sure sounds reasonable
enough.
Another thought, not one bolt that comes off of my car, and will go back on
it, gets re-installed without some sort of coating of anti-seize, preferably
the good copper based stuff ESPECIALLY when they're dissimilar metals. I'm
only gonna fight these dumb things once. Despite the doom & gloom warnings
of some folks even my wheel studs get several coats of the silver stuff
throughout the season. A large can of the good copper based stuff costs
like $12-15 and will last a lifetime.
That's all I have to say about that.
Eric Linnhoff in KC
1998 Dodge Neon R/T (see-dan)
1995 Plymouth Sport Coupe (coop)
STS #69 TLS #13
knuckledragger@kcweb.net
http://www.geocities.com/eric10mm/KnuckleDragger
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