The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the National Street Rod Association and/or StreetScene Magazine.
Yes, Cotter Pins Are Necessary
very fast. After the nut was tight- ened and the cotter pin installed to make sure the nut stayed tight, the car drove and handled fine. I would like to stress that every- one take time to check all suspen- sion and steering nuts to make sure all cotter pins or lock nuts are properly installed. This is one of the main items we check during a normal NSRA Safety Inspection. Dick Confer Michigan State Team Think Safety I thought I’d share an incident that happened during an inspec- tion on a rod with a Flathead engine that still had the foot- engaged starter in it. One of our Safety Team members was check- ing for the high beam headlights and when the owner was asked to turn them on he accidently hit the starter button. It started in reverse, and the car took off, knocking another team member out of the way but unfortunately pinning the owner’s wife. She suf- fered a lot of cuts, bruises and a broken ankle but made a full
recovery in time. Our team mem- ber, who was knocked out of the way, also suffered some scrapes and bruises and fortunately she’s okay as well. This was a freak accident that could have been much worse. We should take this as a wakeup call to always be vigilant as to what’s going on during an inspection because you never know what, or when something like this will hap- pen. During an inspection the car owner will be asked to apply the brakes several times so please lis- ten to the inspector. We’re just try- ing to prevent a terrible accident or injury to anyone. Roy Drumm Michigan Safety Team
I recently inspected a nice ‘66 Chevelle that needed a little TLC. One of the things on the owner’s ‘To Do’ list was to find out why the steering was a little sloppy and why it wandered on some roads. After it was driven a few hundred miles, the problem got much worse. Since most of the steering system was new, it was puzzling that the steering felt so bad. Upon a further detailed inspection, I found the lower left ball joint did not have a cotter pin in the castle nut. The ball joint nut had loosened so it was only hold- ing by four threads, and this allowed the ball joint to wobble in the tapered hole in the bottom of the steering knuckle, causing the steering to feel very mushy and loose on uneven road surfaces. If the car had been driven much far- ther, the nut would have fallen off, and the left front corner of the car would have dropped onto the ground. This could have been cat- astrophic if the car was moving
Jacked Up
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Every street rodder has used a floor jack at one time or another and knows the jack must be able to roll slightly to keep the jack pad centered on the lift point. I’ve noticed that some floor jacks have very small wheels or a roller in front instead of wheels. The small- est piece of debris on the floor can jam the wheel or roller causing inertia to move the jack pad off center. Always check the location of the jack pad to make sure it did- n’t shift before you put the jack stands under the car. Trust me on this issue, it cost me an oil pan and a bunch of labor because of the problem I just described. Dick Confer Michigan Safety Team
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78 DECEMBER 2025
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