Diagram of WM doll skeleton

[Dutch_Husband]

Thanks BWheeler for a detailed how-to!

I appreciate everyone's input. At this point, I think I will wait. The issue is not that pressing, but when it is, I will know how to attack the problem.

Thanks again all!

[Stepford_CT]

How do you intend to tighten a WELDED bolt/nut?? The bolt is welded to the u-bracket. The nut is welded to the bolt shaft. The mere fact that it's welded prevents it from coming loose or being tightened. It's not moving.

I did not realize both ends were welded. It was my understanding that the nut was welded to keep it from falling off, but you could still tighten the bolt. Now that I look closer at the photos, I see what you mean... the nut is welded to the bolt, not to the bracket.

That would mean you cannot tighten a loose joint, except by cutting the weld. Whose great idea was that?
I'm glad I asked lots of questions before cutting!

Precisely why my next doll will be a 6YE. Ball joints are MUCH less complicated and less prone to failure.

Do the ball joints never get loose? It would seem that eventually they would, just from wear & tear, and no way to tighten them since there is no bolt/nut involved.

I appreciate all the input on this! Thanks.

It was the CHINESE who came up with a CHEAP skeleton design. That's why USA is the only country in the world to go to the moon 6 times. But you really can't blame the Chinese for their lack of skill. After all, they're only allowed one child per family and they usually kill off the girls which is why the Chinese guys will now have to marry foreigners because they ran out of Chinese girls. But I digress. But it does help answer your "Whose great idea was that" question.

Loose is better than FALLING APART!!!! If I don't keep going into my doll's pelvis to continually tighten the nut, her let would literally fall off with only the TPE keeping it attached. It would be analageous to a dislocated hip.

The bolt on the WM skeleton u-joint BROKE!!! And it broke at the head end; the head snapped off of the shaft. I removed the u-joint and the broken off bolt shaft that had the nut welded on to a mechanical engineering company in my city and showed it an engineer who told me that he cannot explain why the bolt broke and that it was a MANUFACTURING DEFECT!! In other words, the bolt was NOT made to ANSI standards and was defective. Now, due to the fact that I had my doll for about a year before the bolt failure, TDF isn't going to step up and get me a replacement doll from WM and I don't expect them to. Jeff was kind and good enough to get TWO u-joints for me so that I could repair my doll; so I have a spare in case I need another one.

One last thing about my doll's accident. She was being placed on a bar stool that has a back support. I was moving her legs so that she could sit properly. I had done this before with no problem. As I moved her thigh upward a bit to adjust her balance, (remember, she is sitting) the bolt broke. That's all I can tell you on how it happened.

Regarding the ball joints, I assume they have a "castle nut" or some way of adjusting tightness. On their website, they give you three tightening options.

[Stepford_CT]

Ball joint get loose too DH. And yes, how do you tighten them? I can cut off welds with my dremmel. It is at least possible.

I would gladly pay real cash to see you get a Dremmel inside a doll to cut a weld. Just name your price.

I know it can't be done. I have a Dremmel 4000 and it didn't help me a bit.

[Stepford_CT]

If the bolt and nut are welded together, but not welded to the joint, then the way to go is to use a hot knife to put a very small slice in each side, one at the bolt head and one at the nut. I always use a hot butter knife, and the slice would only have to be the width of the blade, no more. The TPE will stretch to where you need it. Then, put a socket on each side, one on the bolt head and one on the nut, and crank them to loosen. You will either break the weld or the bolt, guaranteed they don't use grade 5 or 8 bolts on these joints, they're softer than that. Either way, now you simply replace the bolt and nut. Once you're done, heat the knife back up, separate the incision, stick the knife inside and close the incision while sliding the knife out.

The bolt head is welded to the u-joint assembly at both sides (the u-shaped metal part that is key to the whole thing). The nut is welded to the bolt shaft at the other end.

The bolt head is not accessible via wrench or socket since the width of the u-shaped part is exactly the same length as the length of the bolt head and you have a bolt running through that space between the "wings" of the u-shaped part; that bolt attaches to the doll's leg and controls inward/outward motion (opening/closing her legs).

Now, can somebody tell me how anyone can tighten a bolt in this configuration? It can't be done.

[BWheeler1]

Going by the photos that Grim posted, I don't see where the bolt head is welded to the u bracket. I also don't see how you couldn't get a socket on there if the TPE were cut. By feeling around at various joints on my dolls, I also can feel both the head and nut. If the head really is welded to the u bracket, why couldn't you just break the bolt as I said and then if it destroys the u bracket, replace that as well? All that would require is a slightly wider cut into the TPE to remove and replace it. I know if it were my doll, I'd sure as hell try it. But maybe I have a different view on this, because whenever I've run into problems with metal parts, I just make a new one. It isn't exactly rocket science.

Edit:. If you are referring to the bolt that goes between the two wings of the bracket and not the one that goes through the two wings, I can see how that would be hard to get to. But you should still be able to break that bolt and change both the bolt and bracket.

[Stepford_CT]

Going by the photos that Grim posted, I don't see where the bolt head is welded to the u bracket. I also don't see how you couldn't get a socket on there if the TPE were cut. By feeling around at various joints on my dolls, I also can feel both the head and nut. If the head really is welded to the u bracket, why couldn't you just break the bolt as I said and then if it destroys the u bracket, replace that as well? All that would require is a slightly wider cut into the TPE to remove and replace it. I know if it were my doll, I'd sure as hell try it. But maybe I have a different view on this, because whenever I've run into problems with metal parts, I just make a new one. It isn't exactly rocket science.

Edit:. If you are referring to the bolt that goes between the two wings of the bracket and not the one that goes through the two wings, I can see how that would be hard to get to. But you should still be able to break that bolt and change both the bolt and bracket.

Here is a pic of the u-joint assembly. You can clearly see the bolt is welded to the u-joint. You can also see you CANNOT get a wrench or socket onto this bolt because there is a bolt running through the holes; that bolt secures the thigh to the skeleton and is responsible for the leg being able to move inward/close and outward/close.

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If you really want to do this then go ahead. Nobody listens to me anyway. You will regret doing this. Her joint will require periodic tightening as the nut works itself loose do to torquing; the movement will cause the bolt to "stall" causing the nut to loosen.And nothing will keep it from coming loose and eventually coming off. You will find that's the reason both the bolt head and nut are welded the way they are. And while you're at it, tell me where youi plan to buy a replacement u-joint? They don't carry them at Home Depot or Lowes or any hardware store since they are custom made doll parts. And when you show her the part you're looking for, tell her it's for a sex doll and look at her facial reaction.

As I said, NOTHING will stop the nut from coming loose. NOTHING!!! I've tried for 15 months to keep mine from coming loose and I've tried them all - JB Weld, Loctite, locknuts, lock washers, nylon nuts and none of them worked. But if you insist on deliberately breaking your doll's joint to prove me right, go ahead. Like I said, you'll regret it.

[grimreefer24601]

Ball joint get loose too DH. And yes, how do you tighten them? I can cut off welds with my dremmel. It is at least possible.

I would gladly pay real cash to see you get a Dremmel inside a doll to cut a weld. Just name your price.

I know it can't be done. I have a Dremmel 4000 and it didn't help me a bit.

I've done it. Many other people have as well. It can be done.

I have dolls to repair. I'll do it again.

[Stepford_CT]

Ball joint get loose too DH. And yes, how do you tighten them? I can cut off welds with my dremmel. It is at least possible.

I would gladly pay real cash to see you get a Dremmel inside a doll to cut a weld. Just name your price.

I know it can't be done. I have a Dremmel 4000 and it didn't help me a bit.

I've done it. Many other people have as well. It can be done.

I have dolls to repair. I'll do it again.

I'd love to see a video of you cutting welds with a Dremel without destroying the doll.

[grimreefer24601]

It's not just me. Many of us have cut these welds. I've replaced full hand plates.

I can point you to other member that have used a dremmel to cut welds on dolls.

You don't know what you're talking about.

I've repaired several dolls. I have many friends who also repair dolls.

[BWheeler1]

Going by the photos that Grim posted, I don't see where the bolt head is welded to the u bracket. I also don't see how you couldn't get a socket on there if the TPE were cut. By feeling around at various joints on my dolls, I also can feel both the head and nut. If the head really is welded to the u bracket, why couldn't you just break the bolt as I said and then if it destroys the u bracket, replace that as well? All that would require is a slightly wider cut into the TPE to remove and replace it. I know if it were my doll, I'd sure as hell try it. But maybe I have a different view on this, because whenever I've run into problems with metal parts, I just make a new one. It isn't exactly rocket science.

Edit:. If you are referring to the bolt that goes between the two wings of the bracket and not the one that goes through the two wings, I can see how that would be hard to get to. But you should still be able to break that bolt and change both the bolt and bracket.

Here is a pic of the u-joint assembly. You can clearly see the bolt is welded to the u-joint. You can also see you CANNOT get a wrench or socket onto this bolt because there is a bolt running through the holes; that bolt secures the thigh to the skeleton and is responsible for the leg being able to move inward/close and outward/close.

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If you really want to do this then go ahead. Nobody listens to me anyway. You will regret doing this. Her joint will require periodic tightening as the nut works itself loose do to torquing; the movement will cause the bolt to "stall" causing the nut to loosen.And nothing will keep it from coming loose and eventually coming off. You will find that's the reason both the bolt head and nut are welded the way they are. And while you're at it, tell me where youi plan to buy a replacement u-joint? They don't carry them at Home Depot or Lowes or any hardware store since they are custom made doll parts. And when you show her the part you're looking for, tell her it's for a sex doll and look at her facial reaction.

As I said, NOTHING will stop the nut from coming loose. NOTHING!!! I've tried for 15 months to keep mine from coming loose and I've tried them all - JB Weld, Loctite, locknuts, lock washers, nylon nuts and none of them worked. But if you insist on deliberately breaking your doll's joint to prove me right, go ahead. Like I said, you'll regret it.

Did you not see the EDIT where I said if you are referring to the bolt between the wings that I can see how hard it would be to get to? Did you not get that I was talking about the one going across? Did you also not read where I said whenever I run into problems with metal parts I make a new part? Did you not see where I earlier said thinking as a mechanic and fabricator? Never once did I say a damn thing about going to Home Depot or Lowe's. I am not some dimwit who thinks that if you can't go to a store and buy it, then that's the end of it. If you have a saw and a welder, as I do, then you don't need a damn store. I am used to working on vehicles that are so old that parts don't exist for them readily anymore. If I had to list all the shit I've had to make because I couldn't find it anywhere, I'd be here all day. Besides, you said so yourself that you got a replacement bracket from a vendor. So like I said, there's no need to cut anything, just snap the damn bolt and put in the one you bought.

And as for the bolt loosening, crimp the damn threads. Or spike the bolt to the nut with a chisel. Or drill into the end right where the threads are (between the nut and bolt) and tap the hole, and thread a screw into that to keep it from turning. It's how they keep scope mounting bolts on sniper rifles from loosening, no reason it shouldn't work here, or is a sex doll more of a precision instrument? So don't say "NOTHING will keep it from coming loose". I've just listed three ways off the top of my head, and I could still come up with more. Just because YOU can't think of a way to do it most certainly does NOT mean that there isn't a way. It only means that YOU are too incompetent. And for the record, I wouldn't have tried ANY of the "ingenious " ways you did. Because I already know they wouldn't work.

Finally, you said "nobody listens to me anyway ". This is probably because you're full of it and don't know what you're talking about.

[Stepford_CT]

It's not just me. Many of us have cut these welds. I've replaced full hand plates.

I can point you to other member that have used a dremmel to cut welds on dolls.

You don't know what you're talking about.

I've repaired several dolls. I have many friends who also repair dolls.

As I stated, show me a video where you cut the doll open and did these repairs. I want to see how big a cut you make in order to access the pelvic welds, cut the welds with a Dremel, replace the joint, and seal the incision and make it look like out of the mold brand new.

[Stepford_CT]

Did you not see the EDIT where I said if you are referring to the bolt between the wings that I can see how hard it would be to get to? Did you not get that I was talking about the one going across? Did you also not read where I said whenever I run into problems with metal parts I make a new part? Did you not see where I earlier said thinking as a mechanic and fabricator? Never once did I say a damn thing about going to Home Depot or Lowe's. I am not some dimwit who thinks that if you can't go to a store and buy it, then that's the end of it. If you have a saw and a welder, as I do, then you don't need a damn store. I am used to working on vehicles that are so old that parts don't exist for them readily anymore. If I had to list all the shit I've had to make because I couldn't find it anywhere, I'd be here all day. Besides, you said so yourself that you got a replacement bracket from a vendor. So like I said, there's no need to cut anything, just snap the damn bolt and put in the one you bought.

And as for the bolt loosening, crimp the damn threads. Or spike the bolt to the nut with a chisel. Or drill into the end right where the threads are (between the nut and bolt) and tap the hole, and thread a screw into that to keep it from turning. It's how they keep scope mounting bolts on sniper rifles from loosening, no reason it shouldn't work here, or is a sex doll more of a precision instrument? So don't say "NOTHING will keep it from coming loose". I've just listed three ways off the top of my head, and I could still come up with more. Just because YOU can't think of a way to do it most certainly does NOT mean that there isn't a way. It only means that YOU are too incompetent. And for the record, I wouldn't have tried ANY of the "ingenious " ways you did. Because I already know they wouldn't work.

Finally, you said "nobody listens to me anyway ". This is probably because you're full of it and don't know what you're talking about.

The bolt is hardened steel. My drill bit had no effect. As for crimping the threads, what with? Spike the bolt to the nut with a chisel? What is that?

Your methods would require me butchering, and I mean butchering my doll. I would have to make such a large incision as to destroy the doll. Here is a pic showing where the u-joint is inside my doll.

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Here are pictures of the u-joint assembly. The bolt is welded in place as part of the assembly.

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So since you think I'm full of it and don't know what I'm talking about and you claim to be the expert, why don't you post a video showing how you fabricate this piece and how you replace one in a doll in a way the doll looks like brand new when you're done. I just might learn something new which I'm always open to doing.
BTW, here are pics of the failed u-joint. You can see it snapped at the head end.

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[BWheeler1]

The bolt is hardened steel. How did it break? I guess in order to snap it, I wouldn't be able to do it myself. I'd have to have you do whatever you did to break it. Yes, I could absolutely make a bracket like that, that kind of work is first semester basics in metal fabrication. As in any kid who takes shop for a month can do it. Post a video on myself replacing that bracket... why? My dolls aren't broken. Why would I replace it when I don't have to? To shut you up? Yeah, sure. I'll cut my perfectly good dolls open just for that.

In an effort to end this argument, I'll try to help you. Take your u bracket and bolt that you have there and install it, as I'm sure you have since you said it won't stay tight. Use a sharpie and make a mark on the end of the bolt across the nut and bolt so you can then take it out and thread the nut back on when it's outside the doll. Then do exactly that. Space the nut out with a washer as much as it would be spaced out by where the bolt goes through in the doll. Basically so it's in the same position it would be inside the doll. Now, your drill bit wouldn't go through, right? You're not using the right kind of bit. You need a chrome moly drill bit. This kind of bit will drill through hardened spring steel without a problem, it would most definitely drill through that bolt. Drill a hole all the way through the nut and bolt, and when you put it back in the doll, put a.cotter pin through it. Or any kind of pin that works for you. Or even just use a castle nut and just drill the bolt. Be sure to use the drill on low speed and use cutting oil. High speed will ruin the bit before you can get the hole drilled.

[Stepford_CT]

The bolt is hardened steel. How did it break? I guess in order to snap it, I wouldn't be able to do it myself. I'd have to have you do whatever you did to break it. Yes, I could absolutely make a bracket like that, that kind of work is first semester basics in metal fabrication. As in any kid who takes shop for a month can do it. Post a video on myself replacing that bracket... why? My dolls aren't broken. Why would I replace it when I don't have to? To shut you up? Yeah, sure. I'll cut my perfectly good dolls open just for that.

In an effort to end this argument, I'll try to help you. Take your u bracket and bolt that you have there and install it, as I'm sure you have since you said it won't stay tight. Use a sharpie and make a mark on the end of the bolt across the nut and bolt so you can then take it out and thread the nut back on when it's outside the doll. Then do exactly that. Space the nut out with a washer as much as it would be spaced out by where the bolt goes through in the doll. Basically so it's in the same position it would be inside the doll. Now, your drill bit wouldn't go through, right? You're not using the right kind of bit. You need a chrome moly drill bit. This kind of bit will drill through hardened spring steel without a problem, it would most definitely drill through that bolt. Drill a hole all the way through the nut and bolt, and when you put it back in the doll, put a.cotter pin through it. Or any kind of pin that works for you. Or even just use a castle nut and just drill the bolt. Be sure to use the drill on low speed and use cutting oil. High speed will ruin the bit before you can get the hole drilled.

I pointed out over a year ago in a previous post that there is no way to know where to drill into the bolt to put a cotter pin. As you can see from my pic, her back is intact. So is her front. I made the incision in her right side “directly above” the joint when I did the repair and replacement in September 2017. I used the least invasive way I could think of which is why I went the anal route to tighten the nut.
Also keep in mind I didn’t take shop in high school and i graduated in 1975. I majored in digital electronics and graduated in 1984. I’m just a lonely unhappily married consumer who bought a doll for companionship. I never dreamt nor thought I would be doing structural repairs on her and had I known of such scenarios I would have thought more about buying one.

[BWheeler1]

This is where we have two different backgrounds. I am used to building vehicles from.the ground up and customizing. I've had to build my own body mounts to put truck cabs from the 40's on frames from the 90's. I've had to make my own motor mounts, and even had to build my own structural pillar posts for my 1928 Chevy truck because back then they used wood with metal panels nailed to it. So this kind of stuff is easier to me.

If you can get in there to tighten the bolt, then like I said mark across the bolt end and nut, like where they weld the nut to the bolt. Make a line. Then take the bracket out and put a washer or two on the bolt to space it out as much as the part it bolts to would and tighten it until the mark lines up again. Then drill the hole. You might also give it about a thread of room and then when you put it back together, put a lock washer in there. As you know, a lock washer will not keep that nut tight. But the cotter pin will hold the nut in place and the lock washer (the split type) may keep enough tension between the bracket and where it attaches to keep the joint from being loose. Also, if you drill the hole and it's a little bit loose, you can try just putting a thin flat washer in there to make it tighter, like using it as a shim. You might have to grind a washer down a little until you get it right where you want it, but it will work. At any rate, drilling and pinning the bolt and nut will definitely keep the nut from coming off and her leg from hanging on by the TPE. Another tip is, if a hole for a cotter pin would be too big, then just use a little piece of wire instead. Not cheap soft wire, hard wire. If you know anyone who has a MIG welder, ask them for a piece of welding wire a couple of inches long. MIG wire is hard, but bendable.

Just remember, use a chrome moly bit and cutting oil. Drill a little way in, and put a drop or two of oil in the hole. Then drill a little more and put another drop of oil in. Take it slow. Don't try to do it all in one go, and use low speed. Too fast or going too far at once will heat the bit too much and ruin it.

A tip for the TPE, nothing cuts it easier and cleaner than heating up a thin knife, like a butter knife. You can then heat the knife up again and use it to close the wound by putting it in the cut and pulling it back out as you close it. It will melt the TPE on either side of the knife and then when you pull it out it will melt together.