Stiffening plate bolts

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by lincolnshibuya

I apologize, don't want to be rude... that wasn't directed at you.. just in general

the service manual needs to state that for liability purposes in case they get sued for faulty instructions, it's the same stuff on youtube where they put a warning message that it's only for entertainment purposes... TTY bolts are typically things a DIY need to look out and in most cases without a service manual handy it will just be tighten as in tight.. of course if there are issues with tightening it then it's your own decision.

take for example the transmission pan bolts.. if the service manual says not to re-use it since they are aluminum and TTY then you'll probably go to the cautionary side of buying new one since the end result might be catastrophic... now compared that to the stiffening plate.. will your engine drop along the highway?

I have done lots of maintenance on my mountaineer and pretty much the suspension parts were all re-used (even the axle nut) the service manual says to discard all of them.. it still runs and I'm still alive.. if I got involved in an accident because the wheels fall off will I sue ford?

There are few instances the service manual makes the statement not to reuse bolts. That is entirely different than a general liability disclaimer. I don't know if I should be concerned if the engine will fall out or not since I don't know why BMW states to replace them. Common sense says that is not possible but if I said it will wouldn't you want to know how I know that is the case? It's simply about the best practice of trust but verify.