Cotter pin

[Racecarl]

Moose, if you are ever broke down in Nebraska and need a R-clip(?), you had better ask for a hair pin clip.

 

[NewShockerGuy]

I was doing them by what was pictured. Bending the legs outward.

Then searching brought this thread up with some pictures. More pictures online and I see the following:

Who knows now. Stock on my STi the ones pictured below are how it was done at the factory. (not my pics just showing examples)

-Nigel

 

[bwringer]

What do they do in aviation?

http://navyaviation.tpub.com/14014/css/Cotter-Pins-119.htm

Turns out either way is OK, but one end over the bolt and the other bent back against the nut is preferred.

 

[cvairwerks]

MS33540 is the bible for safeting hardware in the aircraft world.

 

[kbs2244]

A lot depends on use.

An airplane or F1 car is different than a hay wagon.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I have a solution for you! Behold, the R-clip!

Try getting a Jeezus clip like that under a wheel bearing dust cover...

Tommy

 

[LS6 Tommy]

What do they do in aviation?

http://navyaviation.tpub.com/14014/css/Cotter-Pins-119.htm

Turns out either way is OK, but one end over the bolt and the other bent back against the nut is preferred.

That's the way I do it for castellated nuts. Maybe it's because when I was little, Dad worked for Curtis Wright and sometimes I used to go to work with him on Saturdays. For securing something like a pin where you can't go over the end of the fastener, I just bend the ends back, trim and contour to the fastener as best as I can.

Tommy

 

[ZipSnafu]

To me it just depends on the application. Most of the time I tap them in snug, bend one end and snip the other. This way it is easier to remove.

 

[Throbbin Rods]

I bend the end over the top and trim the lower piece short.

I use a diagonal cutter to pull them out.

Learned this in auto shop in 1971 and still doing it this way

 

[JR7]

For aircraft I use the top-down method.

For my car I do both depending on access.

 

[driftpin]

In the Naval Aviation online text, in the illustration the link takes you to, they label the long end of the cotter pin 'pong.' I hadn't heard of that term before, and thought I had learned something today, until I realized it was a typo, and they meant, "prong."

I usually use the "bend the prongs around the perimeter of the nut" method. On my motorcycle castellated nuts for axles, I usually replace the factory cotter pin with an R clip. Reusable, and inexpensive, and if you have to do something on the side of the road, you don't have to worry about metal fatigue, and breaking the cotter pin upon re-use.

 

[apollo11]

i try to avoid cotter pins, i hate bending them and trying to get them out latter. i like to throw a quick tack weld on the nut/stud to lock it in.

ben

not on a spindle, I hope.

 

[BearsFan315]

Had this discussion while back on Antique Forum



How I did a few Installs on my Restoration:
Castle Nut
Clevis Pins

 

[Empty Pockets]

I have always inserted the cotter pin, and bent the 2 legs in opposite directions, never a problem

 

[dbabicky]

About 25 years ago I was killing time in the library of the CW Post Campus of Long Island University and I ran across an SAE paper that covered this very topic. According to that paper the correct method is the one Tony posted with the long leg bent over the bolt/stud and the short end bent over the nut, cut to where it touches the washer. That sticks in my mind because of where I was when I read it, the fact that I was bored enough to be reading an SAE paper and because that's not how I had been doing it prior to then.

This was the way I was taught how to do it in Jet Engine Tech School in the Air Force. I do not know if the Air Force has changed their mind or not, but, it's how it was to be done on all Air Craft maint. as of 2004 when I retired.

 

[why worry]

I prefer to bend them over. Since I have had to remove things that others have welded, I can honestly say that it is a first class pain in the @#$% and can get rather spendy to boot!
Dave

 

[Schurkey]

I bend the end over the top and trim the lower piece short.

I use a diagonal cutter to pull them out.

^^^ That's me, although there have been a few times I've used a specially-bent "awl" to pull the pins out. Mine's like this, but lots older--black hard handle
https://store.snapon.com/Soft-Grip-Hose-Picks-Soft-Grip-Cotter-Pin-Puller-P823985.aspx


I guess I've been installing 'em "wrong" for three decades. Shucks.

How many of you turn the ball joint or tie-rod end stud so that getting at the cotter pin for installation (and therefore removal) is easier?

 

[493mike]

One other suggestion if I may: Antiseize the little buggers so they might not rust in place!
( I live in MI-salt capital of the world )
Mike

 

[GTO]

Another name for these is "presto pins". As for cotter pins, I do mine like the photo sstruckguy posted.

Never heard R clip or presto pin,these are called hitch pins around my parts.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Metal cotter pins? Sheesh, are you guys all made of money?

Plastic zip ties and JB Weld. Works great and my customers never come back to complain.

Hmm, come to think of it, they don't come back at all. Nah, probably completely unrelated.

.......

But seriously, this is where having one of those assortment packs of cotter pins from Harbor Freight, TSC, or Amazon comes in very handy. I like having those assortment packs for snap rings, E clips, roll pins, O rings, etc. Nothing like being in a repair in your garage or driveway and discover you need a 10 cent clip that just broke and it will take an hour to get to the store and back. That extra trip gets expensive, because you can't just go to the store for ONLY a single clip. I mean, check that shelf over there- more grease you might need. And some more blue towels. Maybe some grease zircs. You know, your grease gun could use a new whip hose. OOOOOH, they have new welding gloves.

Somehow those 10 cent clips cost me $200 in extra purchases.

 

[apollo11]

^^^ That's me, although there have been a few times I've used a specially-bent "awl" to pull the pins out. Mine's like this, but lots older--black hard handle
https://store.snapon.com/Soft-Grip-Hose-Picks-Soft-Grip-Cotter-Pin-Puller-P823985.aspx

I guess I've been installing 'em "wrong" for three decades. Shucks.
How many of you turn the ball joint or tie-rod end stud so that getting at the cotter pin for installation (and therefore removal) is easier?

I use angle dikes since I never re-use pins unless it's an emergency of some sort. Easier and quicker

Isn't that common sense?