What Fasteners Are Used to Lock Castle Nuts?
Castle nuts, which is short for castellated nuts, look like the crenalated tops of a castle turret, with notches cut in the top of them. These notches are meant to be used with bolts or studs that have a hole drilled in the center which will offer a way to lock the nut in place. However, sometimes the nuts have to be overtightened or undertightened to line up the hole with the slot.
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Wire
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Wire is a flexible option for holding castle nuts in place. The wire is run through the gap in the nut, through the bolt, and then out through the other side of the nut. The wire can then be tied in place, creating a stop gap to ensure that the nut stays in place and does its job.
Cotter Pin
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A cotter pin can also be run through the gaps in the nut and the central bolt to hold it in place. Once the pin is pushed through the opposite side will have a small piece of ridged metal put through the gap in the pin, making it an effective block for the castle nut going past, or even turning very far because the cotter pin will prevent the nut from turning.
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Second Nut
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Though nowhere near as effective as other measures, a second nut can be added to help stop the castle nut from slipping. Vibration can make nuts lose their hold and spin down, but if one nut crashes into the other it can lead to enough friction to stop the loosening process.
Improvised Pin
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If you don't have a cotter pin, or another sort of pin on hand then you can make an improvised pin to hold the castle nut in place. Simply push your improvised pin through the nut and the bolt, and bend down the edges so that the pin won't just slide back out. If the pin is long enough you can bend it down outside of the castle nut so that the gap is still filled with you pin.
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