07-01-2020, 11:42 PM
The thing which really keeps the joint done up is tightening it to the point which generates just the right amount of tension in the bolt. In modern industry this is established by extensive bench tests and the parts are highly consistent, enabling precise setting torques to be established. Self-locking nuts use some of that torque - worse still a variable amount - to enable their locking features, and interfere with the torque vs clamp force relationship, making the joint less reliable.
Vintage builders don't have bench test labs at their disposal and in any case no two cars or components are the same, so the right tightness is far more a matter of individual judgement, and a 'safety net' in the form of a locking feature has something to be said for it. But the less - and more consistently - that locking feature interferes with the torque vs clamp force relationship the better. On that basis I'm with Ruairidh, Nylocs every time. I wouldn't use the other types in this application.
Vintage builders don't have bench test labs at their disposal and in any case no two cars or components are the same, so the right tightness is far more a matter of individual judgement, and a 'safety net' in the form of a locking feature has something to be said for it. But the less - and more consistently - that locking feature interferes with the torque vs clamp force relationship the better. On that basis I'm with Ruairidh, Nylocs every time. I wouldn't use the other types in this application.