Loosening wheel nut

[JoeMoon]

I think the autopilot is loosening the wheel nut. I have to hand tighten it time to time while underway. Are they any elegant solutions other than glueing the nut. I don't think locktite would work due to its jerking motion.


edson pedestal n wheel


joe

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by JoeMoon

I think the autopilot is loosening the wheel nut. I have to hand tighten it time to time while underway. Are they any elegant solutions other than glueing the nut. I don't think locktite would work due to its jerking motion.


edson pedestal n wheel


joe

Is the nut plastic or Stainless? I think locktite would work fine on Stainless.
I had a plastic nut with this issue, and I used a tiny amount of 3m 4000UV sealant(only because I had some with me), and it worked well. Difficult to get off but not impossible. Just a bigger wrench. I replaced it with a Stainless nut, which had a sealant already applied.

[GordMay]

There shouldn't be any torque on the wheel nut, if the shaft has a keyed or toothed spline, as is normal.
Accordingly, lock-tite should work fine.

[BillKny]

The problem is somewhere other then where you are looking. The loosing wheel nut is only a symptom of your REAL problem.

If the motion of the wheel is very "jerking" while the autopilot is driving i'll bet you a beer your cables are too loose and there is just far too much play in your steering system. The speed of the autopilot drive is not fast enough to "jerk" the wheel.

Fix the problem with the cables, and the wheel will now smoothly track the rudder, stop "jerking", and the nut will stay tight without a problem.

[JoeMoon]

that was fast....thank you all...locktite it is....and will report back so others can also benefit