Hi, I've run into this a lot lately and had to say something. When you tighten the bolts on your pinball legs you do NOT need to over tighten until you can't possibly turn the leg bolts anymore. Good and snug is plenty good! You WILL strip out the metal plates and have to replace them if you go too far. If you are going to use a drill with a bit to put on your legs, set it on low enough torque that you don't strip them out. If you add a drink holder, a leg/cabinet protector AND the metal or plastic separator so the legs don't scratch your precious, for the love of all that's Holy, please buy the longer leg bolts. Pinball Life and most everybody that sells your favorite pinball parts have these regularly in stock AND you'll get an even better deal when you get a bunch of them, you know you'll need them. When you add all these EXTRA things, some people are even adding LEDs, your original leg bolt is barely in there. If you enjoy tilting and nudging you really should have a system in place to tighten your leg bolts every couple months anyway. If that machine falls on you or your guests's foot it's not gonna be pretty. It is a pain in the ass to move a machine already and set it up when you have a stripped out plate, so do yourself and the next guy that gets your machine a favor and don't over tighten them bolts! I had a machine I was moving earlier by myself and the leg and bolts went flying off, pinball smashed to the ground and busted up the corner a bit. Thank God nobody was hurt, the machine got a little damaged but nothing serious and it got me thinking, if the last person would've just done it right, this wouldn't happen. Check your machines, are you guilty of this? So....
If you add leg protectors to your machine, which just damages it worse unless you get the cabinet protectors and put it on first... Get longer bolts
If you just did a nice restore on your beauty and are adding cabinet protectors...get longer bolts
If your adding a Drink Holder... Get longer bolts
If you're LED crazy and have to have LEDs on the legs fine, but... Get longer leg bolts
Now you can maybe get away with regular bolts if you add just one of these but come on, you know something else glittery is gonna come along that you just have to put on those poor legs so... Get longer leg bolts
If you like to be a little rough on your machine... Tighten leg bolts every couple months or so
If you use a drill with a bit to put on the legs... Lower that torque
If your muscles are so hurt after tightening the legs... Go back to the top
If the machine is wobbly, don't keep tightening... You need to adjust the leg levelers dummy ( there's even a App!)
If you're dog and your wallet are both on a chain... You might be a redneck
If you don't understand how machine screws go in and out... Ask Dad or someone that knows
If you have a dumb question... Ask it, so you learn
Thanks for listening. Hope this helps some people out.