When you need to replace or adjust the wheels on your karts, do you reuse or change the nylock nut every time?
It’s a hot debate in the motoring world at the moment and one we’d like to put to bed.
Making the right decision will not only save you money, but your reputation too.
A NYLOCK HORROR STORY
A customer of ours recently told us an interesting story about his Saab car on the phone. Having bought it second hand, the customer inevitably encountered some problems further down the line.
In this case, the horn wasn’t functioning properly – only working on sporadic occasions. As a result, they decided to remove the steering wheel and take a look at the wiring behind. What they discovered next was a real eye-opener.
After closer inspection, they noticed that the steering wheel wasn’t positioned properly – meaning the horn wasn’t contacting the ring on the column.
It turns out that the nylock nut that keeps the steering wheel attached to the car had come loose, forcing the whole thing to fall.
What does this mean? In relative terms, this customer of ours was potentially only a couple of turns away from the steering wheel coming off completely. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out what could have happened in the next couple of weeks.
So what went wrong? Well, either the owner of the car hadn’t noticed/looked after the car or the mechanic who last serviced it failed to replace the nylock nut due to a lack of knowledge on the subject.
While it may seem harmless, it could have been potentially life-threatening to our customer.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY
In the karting industry, a lot of normal wheel nuts often have a plastic insert which makes them lock when you first tighten them.
However, plastic isn’t great for constant tough usage and won’t lock on the second or third time of applying any wheel.
Granted, metal inserts may be a more durable alternative, but there’s always a danger of the wheel coming off.
As a track business, can you afford for this to happen? Just one crash could damage the reputation of your business.
Take the Alton Towers incident a couple of years back by example. One malfunction on their new Smiler ride severely injured and altered the lives of various people forever. While it hasn’t put them out of business due to their size, could you say the same if it happened to yours?
As well as running the risk of a crash, it can also damage the pulleys, hubs, rims and brake disks, which will cost you hundreds to repair.
For such a small component, it sure can make a big difference!
HERE AT FASTLINE, WE ALWAYS ADVISE OUR CUSTOMERS TO USE A NYLOCK NUT JUST ONCE. IT’S SAFER AND CAN SAVE YOUR BUSINESS A LOT OF MONEY IN THE LONG-RUN TOO.
Cutting corners may seem like the quicker solution, but it could come back to bite in the pocket later down the line.
Buying a pack of 50 nylock nuts only cost around £3, which equates to around 20p per wheel.
So the decision is yours. Continue to use the same nylock nuts multiple times and seriously risk the future of your business, or spend a few pounds every so often and ensure the safety of both your business and customers.
Remember, you can order in batch with us, so you shouldn’t ever run out of supplies.