At Sobb this past weekend I discovered that my Ivannpah has fine thread bolts on the rear tires?

Very disapointing. I needed longer bolts to borrow big foot tires but was stuck. Pl, Apexx and Libre riders all had spare bolts to loan but the standard is clearly a loose thread. The jam nut does the job.

I blame myself for not being tooly enough to have been on top of this but think folks might want to know that the Ivanpah bolts will not match the rest on the playa. Be sure and have spares of your own!

Does any other maker use fine threads ?

Yes, there are 2 thread pitches in that size metric bolt. Ivanpah uses the fine and at least Apexx and PL and Flexi use the coarse thread. The fine thread has a tighter engagement and is less likely to back out on the left side if everything else goes wrong. I'm sure it was a decision process but not sure of the reasoning to depart from the rest of the industry.

I started out using fine thread bolts for my buggies also. My thoughts were the same , that it would take longer for a fine thread bolt to back out. I am limited by my supplier of the threaded nipples to only fine thread. I find the course thread easier to work with if it gets dirty. The fine thread tends to bind if you get dirt in them and are a hassle sometimes. I am slowly going away from having any kind of threaded inserts. All future buggies will use an external nut so any bolt and nut combination can be used.

All future buggies will use an external nut so any bolt and nut combination can be used. -Van does this mean that you are going to a tab type wheel attachment on the Black Widow as you did on the Cricket?

yes, that is the plan. I am still trying to come up with a design that will fit the style of the black widow buggy. The square tab fits with the square axle well. I need to design one for the round axle. Once I get it tested, I will stop using the threaded inserts. Without the threads, like on the cricket, you can use 20mm bolt/nut combo or 3/4" nut/bolt combo from Home Depot.

I can get you fine thread 20mm bolts in pretty much any length from our local supplier. Special orders usually only take about 7 days to get in as well. Let me know what length you need and I can get a set of bolts out to you. The only real important measurement is the length of your hub to make sure the shoulder of the bolt doesn't exceed this. The bolt can go into the axle the full length to maximize thread contact. I usually measure the hub, then get a bolt that will extend into the axle a minimum of 1 to 1.25 inch after the jam nut.