Cruising Sailors Forum Archive

Torque the heck out of the bolts?

Not so sure that is good advice. I'm not an engineer or fiberglass expert, but a fiberglass expert told me many boat makers torque bolts too tight and this results in crushed layup, which actually weakens the structure in the most critical areas such bolts are placed (e.g. chainplates). He told me that when he grinds the area to do repairs he finds these problems (white opaque areas where the layup is crushed, when good solid layup is translucent).

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