Keel Bolt Tightening.

[rers...@netscape.net]

The lengthy post preceding this one enumerated Todd's epic "TO DO" list.  One of the items mentioned cracks in the keel stub, which might indicate some flexing where the keel joins the hull.  Back in 2018 it occurred to me that the 3/4" stainless steel threaded rods that attached the 7800 lb. shoal keel to the hull are pretty long, and might stretch a bit over the years requiring some tightening.  

So I assembled a keel bolt tightening kit consisting of a 2" socket, a 3/4" Neiko Digital torque adapter and an X-4  LW750 torque multiplier.  When I checked the torque on the big 2" nuts initially they were at 80 ft/lbs.  The factory recommended settings were much higher. Checking my log, I got these to 339 ft/lbs with some effort.  If anyone is interested in acquiring this three piece set, let me know.  The torque multiplier is the expensive part, but I acquired it without the handle at a discount.  The handle, as you can see in the picture can be any piece of pipe with a 1" ID.

Reed Erskine  J42  #65  Cayenne

[rers...@netscape.net]

Correction to Keel bolt tightening post.  The threaded rod keel bolts on the J42 is 1 1/4" not 3/4".  My bad.  Please forgive.

[Todd Stevens]

Any idea of the sizes for the smaller bolts at the ends?

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "J/4X Owner's Group" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to j4x-owners-gro...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/0a2892b0-9e43-4fa6-8242-117f1771967bn%40googlegroups.com.

[Albert Bossar]

Hi all, so there has been some talk of people tightening keel bolts. And a number of contributors which was super helpful. So I thought I'd add my two cent experience to the club! I did mine while on the hard before splashing.

See photo. No exotic tools, though I wish I had!

Took me a bit to acquire a big enough torque wrench, 600 ft-lbs max. I probably should have went with the 400 to reduce size in the salon area, it barely worked with this massive TW. I needed an extender + a extra big deep well sockets. But I got the bolts torqued according to the torque table with all my might, a lot of sweating, and some occasional swearing! :-)

I needed to brace my back against either  a bulkhead or the berths and use my feet to push the TW. I would say that three bolts actually moved, and the max was about 3mm. So... I am glad I did it as an exercise, I feel good about things, but am not sure how necessary it was. But it is done!