"Steering Bearing" torque setting, securing the bearing boot and bearing Options

[captjm]

There is a two bolt bracket that secures the steering gear shaft "steering bearing and rubber boot". How tight should these bolts be? The bolts are M8 x1.25 x15 mm socket head. I did not find a torque setting anywhere and securing them too tight might just damage the rubber? Any thoughts?

[Superhawk996]

Good n’ tight is standard German torque when in doubt. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

The metal clamp goes metal to metal with the chassis below it. It is designed to put minimal compression on the needle bearing / rubber that it is holding.

Standard MAXIMUM torque for an M8 grade 8 fastener is around 30 Nm (22 lb-ft).

70% of this value is about right for this situation. Let’s call it 15 lb-ft or there abouts.

Otherwise look up the specific torque for Allen Head fastener (usually grade 10.9 or 12.9). That value is going to be much higher than what is actually needed here.