Part number for the Reinforcement Plate Bolts

[aureliusmax]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

https://www.belmetric.com/10mm-c-2_1...c-p-14323.html

For 93¢ you can get copy of the OEM TTY bolt and get the exact design spec just use new book bolts each time. (Or every 3rd time)

Added bonus: you can get captive washer nuts in 10.9 or locking flange nuts. Many options.

I'm sticking with the 12.9 reusable plan with reusable nord lock washers (actually lock).

What most people call "lock washers" (split spring washers) do not provide any locking function whatsoever.

Split ring washers do nothing and are a scam. Competent equipment manufacturers know this, that's why I don't see them anymore on newer European equipment.
At my work we stock conical ribbed lock washers. All the fasterners on the equipment I work on comes with these lock washers.

Typically the 'nord lock' washers are more expensive and can usually be saved for important applications like large drive shaft fasteners. But they do work very well and perfectly suited for low volume applications such as described, replace with 12.9 and nord locks is the most common sense solution, I would go further and weld nuts to the clamps for the front anti-way bar.


https://www.fullerfasteners.com/tech...d-lock-washer/

BTW, since I'm not using my stiffening plate, I welded nuts to the backside of the sway-bar bushing clamp so I dont need to reach around to install the bolts.
Anyway, I haven't been able to drive my X5 since February since I still have this weird error code no one here has ever been able to solve conclusively.

[andrewwynn]

I bought a set of grade 8 T nuts too use with the stiffening plate plate. They are big enough i don't think they could turn but that didn't solve how to lock them so the nord lock is the way to go for my fix. Under $5 per set delivered with a spare for each car

[andrewwynn]

Bolts arrived. I may have to install bolt down if the nord lock wants to just punch a hole in the aluminum.

I've had mine installed with sub grade bolts (3/8 stretched to yield) for a while. It will be interesting to post mortem on those and get pictures of the mounting points. Since I do drive onto curbs a bunch and other ditch witch maneuvers, I'll be able to tell if the plate moved and how important the 11,000# design clamping farce is (farce was a typo, left it in case it turns out that way).

I actually did run into something that could be an actual safety issue with running without the plate: I did a quick s manuver to avoid some road hazard and was driving wife's without the plate and developed a very scary oscillation (PIO for those pilots out there).

The car read started a repeated body roll that was increasing in amplitude, exactly at if the body was twisting and springing back (basically exactly the claimed job of the plate to prevent). I just figured it was because I had 235s on that car and no sport suspension.

I'm not sure if I'm brave/crazy/moronic enough to attempt repeating the process to get a second data point, but I will share an important bit that could literally be life saving;

To get the car to stop rocking I let go of the steering wheel! It worked instantly. I have that instinct from Wisconsin winter driving; the best way to "steer into a slide" to get the fronts to gain traction is to let the laws of physics do it for you. That still works in AWD cars I've done it plenty in my X5.

I'll probably make a separate thread about this next topic with winter coming;

If you have a pre x-drive X5 as I do, this next advice could also be life saving:

If your DSC is not working (trifecta), don't drive unless absolutely necessary in snow/ice. You will get engine braking at every stop and it will try to skid you into the curb (because of the crown of the road). Put the car in N every time to start coasting to a stop to give you the best chance at maintaining steering control. This advice works on front wheel drive cars as well. I was able to not head-on-collide with an oncoming tanker truck as my car decides to engine brake, skid me over the centerline on a curve. Only because it happened to me in the past and I figured out to shift to neutral that previous time it gave me that extra 1-2 seconds that got me back on my side of the road vs under the oncoming truck.

I was on a down hill curve on about 4" of unplowed snow just traffic trampled. I was coasting at about 30mph and the car was holding me to that speed with engine braking. Hit a bump or a slipperier spot and shot me right over the center line. I had less than a second to get into N and steer right. Has I not experienced the issue before (where it took 3-4 seconds to figure out what the hell was going on and the fix and execute); I was a full car width over the center line the first time it happened, the second time I already had my hand on the gear shift by the time I got to the center and maybe went over by a foot. Too bad didn't have dash cam!