Anyone Else Lost a Heat Shield Yet?

[Lurchinark]

Actually brought mine into the local triumph dealer and after looking at it he noticed micro cracks running through the attachment points for it. supposedly the titanium heats fast but cools fast also. components fail after that thermal abuse. The dealership is checking to see if im going to need a new exhaust header.

 

[rick danger]

Interesting experiment. Seems like the SS doesn't have to get all that hot to turn gold. Still might be pushing the limits of the JB weld. Celsius there. So 400-450 F

These things are cheap as chips. Amazon.com

 

[Journeyman]

I have a temp reader like the one above. I'll probably bolt the shield on once the epoxy fully cures and go for a long ride. Then, do some shake and pull test'n and also hit the headers with the heat reader to see where it's at.

I'm not super confident, but cautiously optimistic.

 

[rick danger]

I wonder if you could have backed it up with a mechanical connection. Like grinding 2 slots on either side of the "nut" with the thinnest Dremel wheel you could find. Then squeezing the sheet metal into the slots with a big pair of pliers or clamp.

 

[Journeyman]

I wonder if you could have backed it up with a mechanical connection. Like grinding 2 slots on either side of the "nut" with the thinnest Dremel wheel you could find. Then squeezing the sheet metal into the slots with a big pair of pliers or clamp.

That's a good idea. If, or when, this fails I'll try that or something similar

 

[zenbiker]

No, but I know what I’m torquing the next time I’m in the garage.

 

[zenbiker]

I guess they work like a rubber well nut. Like what holds the little windshield. The tighter the screw, the more it compresses/expands the rubber. in the hole. I think maybe the thing for those screws is anti seize, and regular checking/tightening. Maybe the rubber hardens/shrinks from the heat over time?

This is the first and only time I've heard of this issue but definitely will be checking the torque on these bolts. I'm surprised there wasn't rattling before the shield actually fell off.
The holding brackets, obviously didn't break so the bolts had to back out all the way??
If JB Weld can actually hold at those temps, about which I am skeptical; it would seem that using that on the threads rather than anti-seize would be the rational thing to do!

 

[Kiwicol]

Putting JB Weld onto threads means you'd never get the screw undone again. If you're worried about bolts loosening, maybe use a touch of blue loktite?

 

[rick danger]

This is the first and only time I've heard of this issue but definitely will be checking the torque on these bolts. I'm surprised there wasn't ole before the shield actually fell off.
The holding brackets, obviously didn't break so the bolts had to back out all the way??
If JB Weld can actually hold at those temps, about which I am skeptical; it would seem that using that on the threads rather than anti-seize would be the rational thing to do!

I don't think the bolts backed out. The round, threaded hole, top hat looking thing , came off. With the bolt/screw still in it. BTW ignore my post you quoted. I posted that before I fully understood the whole contraption . You can see the picture @Journeyman posted of the shield after he found it on the highway... And he JB welded the threaded top hat to the sheet metal bit it came out of. I think it's supposed to be spot welded on

 

[Journeyman]

@rick danger is correct on the above- it isn't your bolts coming loose, although it wouldn't be a bad idea to check those from time to time.

Rick, you also recommended some kind of mechanical backup to the JB Weld earlier. I had an idea that didn't work using a nut and lock washer because of the limited access space behind the bracket (one of mine was split, btw). Problem is a standard nut for that bolt is smaller than the opening in the bracket. I tried to slip a larger washer and lock washer in and semi succeeded, but there is no way once everything is in place to hold the nut still while tightening the bolt. Ran into other issues not worth going into.

Ideally, if there was room to pass the top hat between the bracket and the pipe and then use a spacer to replace the offset of the top hat (usually on the other side) that would work, but there isn't enough space to get the top hat in.

A spot weld is the answer. Looking for a local friend