How To Properly Install A Spindle Nut Cotter Pin (02 of 02) 🔧 

There is something called a dowel rod. It can be used to pin two parts together with glue. Dowl rods can be hollowed out. You then have a hollowed out dowl rod. A hollowed out dowl rod can have a groove or “split” machined in. You then have a hollowed out dowl rod with a split AKA a “split pin.” Split pins are convenient because they usually have a tapered edge allowing them to be pressed in. As the split pin is pressed in it decreases the split’s gap essentially turning it into a now spring loaded “split pin.” This is convenient for applications where gluing hampers future maintenance. Cotter pins come in many shapes and sizes but, this video is dealing with automotive cotter pins. There is no such thing as a slit automotive cotter pin. They are all strait pieces of metal machine bent into a tight horseshoe resulting in what the automotive world widely accepts as “legs.” You need to understand what the cotter pin's purpose is; to act as a safety net if for any reason the castle nut was to come loose. A cotter pin does not stop a castle nut from coming loose, for that to happen you would either need to use a split pin, an oversized cotter pin, or a larger castle nut- hence wedging the castle nut’s shield to the point of zero play/slop. The cotter pin prevents the castle nut from continuing to back off once said castle nut has become loose. That is part of the design, if you can not wobble around a set cotter pin freely it is a strong indicator that the castle nut has started to loosen. I say strong because other factors such as rust can make the cotter pin become stationary- hence why this videos describes how to set yourself up for easier future removal (I live in a climate where they stay wobbly 99% of the time)… but you wouldn’t know that because you started bumping ignorant gums before completing the video in it’s entirety. Sometimes you can get away with bending at 45degrees (though bending is designed to be done on the LONG LEG (see my video “How to Properly Install a Suspension Cotter Pin (01 of 02)” for a logical explanation.) Sometimes 45 degrees is not enough as the size of the dust cap and/or the wheel center cap can interfere with the protruding LONG LEG of the pin that SHOULD ideally be bent (over time you “might” gain enough “hands on” experience to understand what I am talking about. In that scenario, you either have to either adjust the cotter pin like I showed in my video (which works 99.9% of the time- hence why I demonstrated it that way) or trim down the long leg (unnecessary effort and less meat to play “tug of war” if fighting an extremely rusted example ect.) This all renders your chosen word “foremost” moot. You f with a bull and you will get the horns. Well, not always- I am sure you are the kind of guy where most people you are preaching to just stay quiet patiently counting the clock yearning for that moment when you either allow a pause or conclude so as for ear molested individual to be able to GTFO… I will tell you want I tell my kids. Life is a learning process- do not be mentally lazy and settle with backwoods “well I think” logic. Do not just think, KNOW. Do not talk the talk unless if you have walked the walk or can at minimum cite your source(s.) Why? Because when you lack attention to fine detail not only do you become “that guy,” but you have to deal with the embarrassment of stumbling upon “that other guy” out there who knows more than you and will confidentially put you in check.

I would expect you to be the kind of guy who would chew my ear off about how a Jackaroo, a vehicle that I would consider buying my daughter for her first vehicle, is superior off-road to my 1982 Chevy 1 ton big boy chassis with a 454 big block/TH400/NP205 combo… see the level of gear head that you are dealing with????