TurbineBlade

Hi, I run a Wald 198gb on the front of my Surly and like it quite a bit. The only problem I've been having is with the hardware that came with it, mostly the 2 bolts/nuts where the basket attaches to the legs.

From what I can tell (not knowing a lot about hardware) they're just flat head bolts and regular nuts that take a 9mm wrench. They always seem to loosen after a while, and when I've tried to tighten them, I've exceeded their torque limits and broken them.

When I go to the hardware store, what the heck should I look for to get a bolt that takes more torque and won't loosen?

Those black allen head bolts? lock nuts? something else?

Thanks,

FunkyStickman

YOu need to look for "Grade 8" bolts and nuts, they're the toughest grade you can buy in a store. They have a goldish tint to them. If you get the metric cap bolts, they're the black anodized ones. I would use washers and locknuts on them, too. Make sure it says "grade 8"

TurbineBlade

Thank you, if I get lock nuts (nylon insert nuts or whatever) do I use a washer on both sides? Do I use lock washers?

FunkyStickman

If you use locknuts, you should only need 1 washer under it, and 1 washer uner the bolt head. You can use a normal one, or a split/locking washer, either one will work.

Grand Bois

I'd use a flat washer under the bolt and under a Nyloc nut. No split washers. There is no benefit in using grade 8 bolts to mount a basket.

Cynikal 

Make sure to us some rubber material between the clamp and the bar. That stopped mine from moving. I used whatever rubber shims came with a light mounting bracket.

BCRider

If the stock stuff is coming loose then there's a reason for this happening that goes far beyond the strength of the bolt. It's far more likely that the nature of the mounting hardware or how it's used is allowing the bolt and nut to shift from tight to loose and back to tight and so on. Or the basket arm and clip to the leg is shifting it's angle in a cyclic way so it works the bolt and nut loose. When you get something like that happening then you will never be able to adequitely tighten the hardware since it'll just come loose again. Even using a nyloc nut will only serve to hold the nut in place after it's forced loose a few turns by whatever is causing this to happen. Flat washers may or may not help. And it's not a case of being able to torque the blazes out of the bolt. It's a case of the bolt not being used in a proper manner so the flexing of the system is causing it to loosen as surely as if you put a wrench on the bolt and loosened it yourself. You need to do something with the hardware to prevent the bolts from being worked loose in the first place.

How does the support mount to the leg on this basket? Can you provide some pictures?

TurbineBlade

Yeah, it's the far right (in the picture) attachment point:

https://waldsports.com/files/WaldSpor...structions.pdf

They supply a few flat head bolts with regular nuts for the leg/basket connection -- that's it. For the leg/leg connections they supply a flat head bolt, a star locking washer, and a regular nut. Those never seem to come loose.

Maybe actually carrying stuff in the basket is exceeding it's intended purpose?

Leebo

Uhh, locktite anyone? Rubber cement on the threads work too.

Cynikal 

The problem is that the struts are on the front of the basket causing the back of the basket to drop when loaded. Just an aesthetic issue for me but it was mostly solved with the rubber insert.

Grand Bois

My Wald came with Nyloc nuts and rubber strips for the handlebar clamps. I used flat washers under the bolt head and nut just to keep the black powdercoat from getting messed up. It doesn't look like it in the picture, but the basket sits perfectly level.

BCRider

GB, now THAT is a beater bike.... Love the rust for decoration. A definite theft detterent...

I think the guys nailed it though. The placement of the mounting points is going to encourage rotational forces in the bolted joints. And that'll walk the most stubbornly done up bolt loose when there's a sizable load in the basket. The trick is to let it pivot and lock the fasteners in some other way than just merely torqueing the snot out of them.

I'd suggest loctiting the nuts to the bolt But get bolts that are long enough for TWO nuts and lock the two nuts together against each other rather than tight to the joint itself. The odd part of this is that the first nut should not be all that tight. Tighten it against a split lock washer but not fully so there's some spring action in the joint to avoid rattles. Leave it about a half turn from solid. Then screw on the second nut with more locktite and lock the two nuts together using two wrenches so that the spring lock washer is still that half turn loose. THis will actually allow the leg to basket tab to rotate slightly in use with the bolt acting as a pivot axle. Meanwhile the two nuts jammed together and with locktite will avoid anything coming loose. With this the basket can flex all it wants without causing the bolts to come loose anymore.