Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt required

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LuckyLuke
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Joined: 10 Jun 2010, 11:54am

Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt required

Post by LuckyLuke »

SOS!

I'm after a bolt like the one below, preferable two.
It's a mounting bolt for a Nitto M12 front rack.
The M6 thread screws into the Canti boss, the rack tabs mount on the M5 thread, onto which the nut goes.
A Google search using "Nitto M12 rack bolts" and similar search terms has been unsuccessful.
I wondered if there might be a non-bicycle specific part solution, but my search has been hampered by lacking the vocab to even describe the bolt...

Please advise!

Best wishes,

Luke

Nitto M12 Canti rack mounting bolts.jpg
Nitto M12 Canti rack mounting bolts.jpg (24.66 KiB) Viewed 1772 times


Nitto M12 rack.jpg
Nitto M12 rack.jpg (3.71 KiB) Viewed 1772 times
fastpedaller
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Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by fastpedaller »

Half way there... maybe.
If you do a search on 'stud connector' it reveals readily available connectors which are a hex bar with a thread right through. they are available in stainless as well as BZP.
You could use a piece of 6mm studding (or a bolt with head cut off) to go into the cantilever mount. Get a 5mm stud connector and carefully drill a 5.2mm hole half way into the thread, and thread this with a 6mm tap. This can then be used as a 'nut' to hold the canti in position. A 5mm bolt carefully cut to appropriate length passed through the carrier mount hole will then fit in the other half of the modified stud connector. If using stainless steel you will need a very good quality tap to be able to cut the thread.
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531colin
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Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by 531colin »

botty wrote:Would these be any good?

http://www.compasscycle.com/brakesRHbork.html


These are the identical part, aren't they?...... :?

A cheaper alternative would be to drill out the rack to 6mm if there is enough metal, and use a combination of M6 studding, 2 thin locknuts ("half nuts") and a dome nut to finish.
Brucey
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Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by Brucey »

FWIW I agree with Colin.

If you are leery about drilling the rack to 6mm, you could run an M6 tap through it, then use studding with the threads relieved for a short length (where the rack sits) so that it can rotate freely and allow the whole affair to be installed. This has the slight additional benefit that it makes it more difficult for anyone to nick your nice new rack, too.

If there is no room for a conventional M6 dome nut, you could maybe use the nut from a 'V' pad instead; these have an M6 thread and a small OD. Once you are happy with the arrangement, a few drops of Loctite will make it secure.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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531colin
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Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by 531colin »

Going back to "fastpedaller's" idea.....
how about a bit of M6 stud in the frame, brake retained by an M6 stud connector with half the thread helicoiled down to M5 to take an M5 cap head screw to fit the rack.....better to have the rack fitted by a "compromised" component than the brake, and a bigger fitting helicoiled down in size is probably better than a small fitting drilled out and tapped oversize?
.....sorry, can't sleep.....
tatanab
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Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by tatanab »

I have one of these racks. The hole in the rack is already 6mm, so there's no drilling needed.

Depending on your particular cantilever/V brake these studs are not necessary. If your brake incorporates a central sleeve around which it pivots then these studs are not needed. If your brake has no sleeve and rotates around the cantilever boss itself (like old MAFAC cantis) then you will need these studs or something similar.

Edit to add that BOTH threads on my M12 fixing bolts are M6.
botty
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Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by botty »

These are the identical part, aren't they?......


Possibly but not sold as such. The OP did imply he wanted a SOURCE of such parts.
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iow
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Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by iow »

THESE velo orange ones are listed as fitting nitto M12 (assume they are M6?).
freshstripe may be able to get you some..
mark
LuckyLuke
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Joined: 10 Jun 2010, 11:54am

Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by LuckyLuke »

Hi folks, thanks for all your replies, much appreciated. Gotta love the collective wisdom of the forum.

botty wrote:Would these be any good?

http://www.compasscycle.com/brakesRHbork.html


Good spot botty, that's the one. Expensive though :shock:

Hi Fastpeddlar, Colin & Brucey. Thanks for your ideas, I'm afraid some of them are beyond my capabilities, and I lack the tools too.
Drilling out the tabs to M6 is manageable though.

I've measured the width of the metal surrounding the holes of the rack tabs.

Rack tab.jpg


(The tabs look pretty much like this, though this photo is from a Grand Bois M13 rack.)

There's 3.54mm of metal at the thinnest point. Do you think it would be ok to drill the tabs out to M6?

tatanab wrote:I have one of these racks. The hole in the rack is already 6mm, so there's no drilling needed.

Depending on your particular cantilever/V brake these studs are not necessary. If your brake incorporates a central sleeve around which it pivots then these studs are not needed. If your brake has no sleeve and rotates around the cantilever boss itself (like old MAFAC cantis) then you will need these studs or something similar.

Edit to add that BOTH threads on my M12 fixing bolts are M6.


Hi tatanab, I think my rack must be an older model or something, as the rack tabs deffo do not take a 6mm bolt.
Maybe they changed the design? The original bolts that came with my rack are definitely a combo of M6 & M5 thread.

iow wrote:THESE velo orange ones are listed as fitting nitto M12 (assume they are M6?).
freshstripe may be able to get you some..


Hi iow, another good spot, unfortunately they are M6 both ends, which seems to be ok for some versions of the Nitto M12, but unfortunately not mine.
Big shame that Nitto don't sell these as an aftermarket part / spare part. Also, Nitto's website isn't helpful at all.

Thanks again folks.

Best wishes,

Luke
fastpedaller
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Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by fastpedaller »

531colin wrote:Going back to "fastpedaller's" idea.....
how about a bit of M6 stud in the frame, brake retained by an M6 stud connector with half the thread helicoiled down to M5 to take an M5 cap head screw to fit the rack.....better to have the rack fitted by a "compromised" component than the brake, and a bigger fitting helicoiled down in size is probably better than a small fitting drilled out and tapped oversize?
.....sorry, can't sleep.....

I like that idea - It's certainly easier to achieve as well.......tapping a thread in stainless isn't easy to do and is expensive if you need to buy the tap.
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531colin
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Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by 531colin »

Image

I have to say, Brucey's is my favourite fix........tap those holes M6, theres plenty of metal, relieve the thread on just that bit of studding where the rack goes, and you are home.
LuckyLuke
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Joined: 10 Jun 2010, 11:54am

Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by LuckyLuke »

Hi folks,

Thanks for your advice thus far.
It's just dawned on me that I've made a schoolboy error.
I actually have a Grand Bois M13 front rack (made by Nitto), rather than Nitto's own label M12. :oops:
Apparently, the main difference is that the M13 is smaller and better finished.
Another difference is that the M12 rack has canti / rack mounting bolts with M6 threads at both ends.
Mine has the M6/M5 bolts made of rocking horse poo. :roll:
Brucey
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Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by Brucey »

LuckyLuke wrote: .
Mine has the M6/M5 bolts...


most of the advice above reflects that quite accurately. Basically you have two main choices

1) shell out for 'proper bolts' eg these http://www.compasscycle.com/brakesRHbork.html or

2) modify the rack a little so that you can use a more readily obtained/fashioned M6 bolts plus spacers etc.

BTW 'relieving the threads' as suggested for an M6 stud/bolt won't affect the strength significantly and can be done with a metalworking file. Basically you remove the tops of a couple of the threads, so that you can still just see the bottom (root) of the thread. The modified bolt will then spin within a hole that is tapped M6, allowing installation. If you want the holes tapped out to M6 any engineering shop (and most good bike shops) will do this in a couple of minutes.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LuckyLuke
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Joined: 10 Jun 2010, 11:54am

Re: Nitto M12 Front Rack - Advice on hard to find bolt requi

Post by LuckyLuke »

Thanks Brucey.
I decided to go for option 1, fearing that I would bodge option 2.
Thanks one and all for your help & contributions.

Best wishes,

Luke
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