Thomabear
Silver Member
Sounds like a reasonable idea. So long as the balance is OK, which it should be, and that the ends are appropriately secured (hard to imagine a castle nut on such a small rod) it should be fine. I am not sure it will save a lot of time compared to using a powered wrench to work the bolts on the original system but it might. Make sure you let us know how it goes.
My F rotor has 48 stations so even with the impact wrench then re-torqing I'm looking at much more time verses breaking 4 nuts, sliding the rods out and letting all the hardware fall to the ground. I'm looking at swapping knives once a year so that will be a good time to dress up the cutting edges. You are right concerning the castle nut. I'm now thinking it might be best to use a nylock grade 8 nut instead. It will receive just enough torque to snug things up pulling between the outboard tabs. If retention becomes a problem (which I think it shouldn't) I could always drill the shaft and install the cotter pin. I'll likely use red thread locker on the opposite end or just weld the nut in place. I've already sourced the 12MM (4140) rods and die at McMaster Carr. Right now I'm just collecting opinions before going forward and looking for some time to get er done. I will definitely let everyone know how it goes.:thumbsup: