HELP ASAP :huge problem with screws holding toms,

palo

Senior Member
I own a yamaha hip gig ,with floating toms and snare. i have started to notice that the wing screws that hold the arms where they sit are starting to give in and the drums swivel into weird positions at the slightest touch,no matter how tight the screws are . I Keep overtightening them until my hand hurts but nothing doing . I live in Ethiopia and can't get ANY SPARES AT ALL until i go home in summer,but my band here cant wait.This is horrible,mates.Is there anything at all I can do?HELP
 
Clean the bolt and female section CAREFULLY with brake cleaner (you can spray brake cleaner on a Q-Tip ear cleaner the apply to lug threads. REMEMBER brake cleaner will remove paint so be careful. This first step is not necessary but basically we want to ensure the theads on both 'sides' are clean and greese/oil free.

Go to auto store and buy Loc-Tite Blue. Apply a small amount, you do not need much, on the lug. Then tighten and wait an hour, or better still 24 hours for it to seal/dry/cure.

Again, get the Loc Tite Blue and NOT THE GREEN as it is too weak and NEVER EVER USE THE RED because you'll never be able to remove the screw unless you heat the assembly to 550F/290C!)

Hope this helps.
 
i think he meant the the tom arm mounts are coming loose not the lugs......

You are right, felt it was the typical lug problem.

Ok, to solve the tom mount you need something to 'fill the gap' between the arm and lug that is grippy. It could be as simple as a relatively think piece of plastic wrapped around the arm where the screw meets th arm or cutting a piece of a metal bottle cap, inserting it between the arm and screw and then tightening down the screw. Am not sure what resources you have at your location though i bet the metal bottle cap trick might work.

That reminds me, Soft Drinks that have plastic caps generally have a plastic insert. Look under the bottle cap and you'll see a translucent piece of plastic, remove it and that might work between the arm and the screw to 'fill the gap'. If the gap is big, maybe cut the plastic bottle cap itself???

Hope this helps.

PS: Apologies about previous post, it was 2am and was working an 20 hour day.
 
thank's guys,
had thought about filling the gap but couldnt figure out just how.will try your suggestion and see what happens.you saved my life,cheers!
 
I've had Yamaha tom arms go bad on me before. There's a top half and a bottom half of the socket with the ball inside. There are three bolts that screw into the top half holding the bottom half to it. What happens is the bolts strip out the top half causing the upper and lower half to seperate. When you go to tighten the wing bolt on top, this just seperates the two halves farther. Inserting additional materials will not close the gap, it will only force the two halves of the socket even farther apart.
The solution is to take out the three bolts that hold the socket together and then drill holes through the top where the bolts were scewed into it. You'll have to get some longer bolts as well as nuts from the local hardware store. Insert the new longer bolts through the two halves and use the nuts to tighten them together. This should make the tom arm as good as new. It won't look as smooth as it once did but it will get you by.
 
I would try putting a washer on the bolt if there is room. Maybe even a split lock washer. That should hold it.
 
I would try putting a washer on the bolt if there is room. Maybe even a split lock washer. That should hold it.

If i may be so bold and say DO NOT use split locker washers imho. They are a HUGE no-no in pro automobile racing as the 'split' actually ENCOURAGES the bolt to move outward (unscrew) and the vibrational forces only exacerbates this problem. Though yes, using a washer might help you IF the problem is the specific bolt threads having been deformed/stripped in the non-washered bolt. The washer then would mean that 'fresh' threads are being used, yet i somehow doubt that may be a solution BECAUSE...

If you analyze the various of the parts in question and how they work as a functional assembly you need a specific bolt depth that touches the mounting tube with sufficient force to hold the tube in place. This bolt depth is consistent washer on not.

As a a side note, here is a story about how a 20 cent washer (i use aero-grade stuff from Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies or Aircraft Spruce) cost me a Formula 2000 race, about $120 in shims and about 3 hours of engineering work at the track www.enjoythetrack.com/blogs/nhis071407/
 
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