Yes, with more gap between the clevis ears, it means that the clevis pin is in less of a pure shear condition and instead carries both the shear and a bit of bending. That doesn't necessarily mean that there is a problem, although I suppose it could be argued that if the pin is capable of the extra load then it is of bigger diameter and longer (read heavier/slower) than it would otherwise need to be, but that's kind of splitting hairs. Tod -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces+htmills=bright.net@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces+htmills=bright.net@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Gilbert Landin Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2004 12:22 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: turnbuckles Todd, No the chainplates are not thicker than 1/8 of an inch thats about the thickness of the swag itself. MMM intresting point I had not noticed that the thicker the pin the thicker the jaw width.( The better to fit a thicker chainplate, grandma) ((littlle red rididng hood)) I thought the thicker the pin the heavier duty the application. But its still putting the stress on the body and bolt regardless of pin size. OK ....thats better, if thats the case I should be able to replace the 1/2" pin t-bolts with a more readily available 1/4" pin. I will hold off on ordering them until I gather some more data. gilbert ----- Original Message ----- From: <htmills@bright.net> To: "'For and about Montgomery Sailboats'" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 10:55 PM Subject: RE: M_Boats: turnbuckles Gilbert, Busca's t-bolts were a dead ringer for the ones in the West catalog; her tops are not that large, just 1/4". That diameter works pretty well because then the gap between the clevis ears isn't excessively larger than the thickness of the chainplates. Sounds like you have oddball t-bolts. Are your chainplates really heavy too? When setting Busca up one of the first times, I found (the hard way) that the t-bolts can bend if the shrouds are allowed to flop over to the sides out of position while the mast is being raised. Now, I always check them prior to hoisting. Tod -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces+htmills=bright.net@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces+htmills=bright.net@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Gilbert Landin Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 7:47 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: turnbuckles I am replacing my t-bolts on my shrouds, it looks like all of them have some bend to them, some more then others. Anyway Im trying to figure the specs. I went to west marine, they sell the whole turnbuckle. I was able to size mine with one of theirs. It looks like a 1/4" bolt . My question is the t-top of my bolt measures 1/2" in diameter, thats twice the size as anything they have in the same bolt size. Looking thru internet vendors they list a "pin/jaw width" size of 1/4" which is kind of standard on the different sites. Has anyone that has changed t-bolts on a M-17 remeber having to downgrade to 1/4" pins? gilbert _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats