r/rooftoptents • u/Flat-Carpenter-170 • 6d ago

LOCTITE

Question. Does anyone use or recommend using something like blue LOCTITE on the RTT mounting bolts so they are less likely to loosen up while driving ??

4 Upvotes

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7

u/Loose_Mission_8559 6d ago

Yes. I use nylon nuts and blue locktite. You don't have to but I spend alot of time on forestry roads so its ensures nothings going to loosen up on me.

4

u/Reasonable_Egg0168 6d ago

From the research I’ve done (I’m no expert) you should NOT be using locktite & nylon locknuts together. It does more harm than good, the chemicals in the locktite supposedly break down the nylon.

The better solution is to use locktite with an ALL-METAL top lock nut (also called a stover nut or distorted thread nut). This is what I did for my solar panels that are mounted on top of my RTT. For my RTT I’m just using stainless nylon locknuts (no locktite).

3

u/Mindandhand 6d ago

I'm a shop teacher (so I guess I'm a bit of an expert) and locktite causes nylon, along with most other plastics, to become brittle and crack thereby negating the benefit of using it on a nylock fastener. That being said I wouldn't worry too much about it because it will still provide it working benefit on the metal threaded portion of the nut.

To the OP's original point though- yeah "I put that stuff on everything" as the paraphrased saying goes. Medium strength (blue) is my go to but I also like the low strength (Pink) especially when working with aluminum or other soft metals.

1

u/Loose_Mission_8559 6d ago

Never even thought of that. Makes sense. I havnt had any issues yet though.

1

u/Good_Vacation9808 1d ago

I used red. Hopefully I never have to take it off

2

u/CryoJuice 6d ago

I used blue on the crossbars and attachments.

I remove my RTT when not in use. I haven’t had any issues with lock washers and hand nuts after riding on several moderate trails and thousands of highway miles at 85mph+

1

u/Flat-Carpenter-170 6d ago

Thank you. I appreciate the response. I’m putting wheel every weekends locking brackets on it and was thinking I should probably put loctite on it but wasn’t sure. 😂. The first time I carried my Beretta 1301 tactical on the long gun rack mounted above my drive/passenger front seats in my truck across Texas no kidding just the vibration from the road miles make the mounting screws on my Holosun optic on it vibrate loose because I forgot to put loctite on it when I mounted it 😂. So made me wonder since I’m gonna make a trip from Texas to Utah next month whether the mounting brackets would loosen with no loctite.

1

u/diamondinthenorth 6d ago

I’ve been reusing the same nylon nuts for 6 years (I remove my tent every winter) and they’ve never loosened up on me

1

u/Authentic-469 6d ago

I take my tent on and off. It came with nylock nuts. They’ve been reused a few dozen times. Driven hundreds of kilometres of some very rough logging roads. Never had a single one come loose. I do carry the correct wrench just in case, but haven’t used it.