HD Alpha tire carrier stud installation - "jam nuts"

[Go_Galt]

No matter how tightly I interface these "jam nuts" with each other (two opposing wrenches, ~16" long, turning toward each other with about 80% of the absolute maximum force I can generate), the outer nut will simply continue to spin down on the stud, along with the inner nut, when I attempt to tighten it.

On my final attempts, I discovered the threads on this outer "jam nut" to be stretched to the point that they stripped off the nut.

Though I've intently studied Teraflex's installation video, suspect I that I must be missing something here. There's no way the stud installation is intended to be what I'm imagining. 150 pound feet of torque is supposed to be routed into this soft little hardware store fastener, which soft hardware store fastener #2 will hold against, and not just continue to spin down the stud? There's definitely some part of this process that I'm missing. I'm not a very smart guy, so I'm very open to the possibility that I'm just doing this completely wrong.

Here's a comment from an old thread that perfectly describes my issue-

I just installed mine and the only thing I ran into was getting the studs in. I did the jam nut method as it said in the video but when I went to torque to 150 ft/lb it ended up either stripping or stretching the threads on the outer nut. Since I didnt have another nut that size I used my lug nut as the outer and when I torqued to 100 ft/lb it worked. Anything over that it was just trying to turn the outer nut into the inner one more. Since there is locktite on them I feel it will be okay but I will check it again from time to time and when I rotate the tires. I guess my suggestion would be grab 2 grade 8 nuts to use as the jam nuts. Maybe they wouldn't stretch. Not sure if that's the real solution or if I was just doing something wrong.

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[Chocolate Thunder]

If you use the loctite and tighten it, that stud is not coming out. How do I know? I got larger tires and had to move the studs to a different position. Breaking that stud loose was probably the toughest fastener I’ve ever dealt with, including the body bolts in the OEM Rubicon sliders.

The Teraflex nuts didn’t hold up. They are a hard to find size and thread pitch combination. I had to buy some from a local industrial supply house. I had to buy $25 worth (minimum will call order) because the jerk working there wouldn’t just sell me 2 of them. I think I still have some. If you need a couple of them let me know and I’ll send them. They definitely hold up to the torque required.

 

[zw470]

I just got my nuts finger tight, then started on them with a torque wrench. After about a 1/4 turn the inner nut "jammed" the outer nut and I was able to torque them to spec.

 

[Go_Galt]

The Teraflex nuts didn’t hold up. They are a hard to find size and thread pitch combination. I had to buy some from a local industrial supply house. I had to buy $25 worth (minimum will call order) because the jerk working there wouldn’t just sell me 2 of them. I think I still have some. If you need a couple of them let me know and I’ll send them. They definitely hold up to the torque required.

That is so awesome of you, and I will definitely take a couple if you have them.

Mine are currently 'tight' (I estimate I got at least 80 fl lbs on them before the nut gave way) and degreased+ loctited. I marked them with a paint pen after installation, and thus far they haven't moved. I too can't imagine how the studs on such a setup could back out, and I had the exact same thought of "If I ever needed to move these, it's going to be an absolute PITA that will require a lot of heat, at minimum".

Luckily I'm already at the highest position, as I started with 37s, but it would be nice to have the option of re-tightening with a nuts that will hold up, in the event they ever DO start backing out.

 

[Go_Galt]

UPDATE- Got a set of appropriate jam nuts from @Chocolate Thunder which don't disintegrate during use.

Spun them on the stud. Torqued them against each other using a ~16" long wrench and a 22mm socket on an 18" breaker bar (read; pretty damn tight. Any tighter and I was leery of doing something to the threads on the stud itself, which would be a big problem).

Following this, the outer nut simply continues to spin down the stud, along with the inner nut, when attempting to torque. Perhaps the torque I initially applied when installing the studs, in addition to the threadlocker, was so much that they're now tight to a point that this jam nut technique will no longer apply the required torque.

Whatever the case, I can now confidently say I'm 100% done messing with these.

I do five-tire rotations, so will continue to monitor the studs every time the spare is off.

Overall I'm extremely happy with the Teraflex carrier and tailgate reinforcement. Everything fits and works beautifully. This goofy stud installation was the sole annoyance.

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