WTF - I'm really tired of this self-rescue operation - the driver's half-shaft has come off twice now - and the repair is a pain in the ass. I'm afraid I'm going to be mowed down by a texting teenager while I'm under the car getting these things back on.

twice now on the driver's side - and I checked the other side and those bolts were loose as well.

so now I've gone from DT (damn tight!) to RFT (really f'ing tight) - - -

anyone else have this happen?

what to do? New bolts?

thx

td

Clean,clean and red loctite.And new washers.The proper Schnorr washers.
Or perhaps the safety wire route. Im going to go that route,though ive actually had no problems without.Its nice insurance.

new washers.
had this happen a while back and learned (here) that the washers are not to intended for re-use. Get new ones
Gary

I went ahead and drilled my bolt heads on my dinky bench drill press and safety wired them for peace of mind.........1/16 bit and a little patience.....

You are going the wrong way!

They don't need to be tight, forgot the lbs torque but it's really low.
Like mentioned above, the threads need to be clean and you need to use new schnorr washers. Also make sure nothing is in a bind, like the gaskets etc.

If you use loctite, use the blue.
The threads on the flange and the bolt both must be very clean.

If you're not using a torque wrench, you should be.
I use 33 ft lbs (spec is 30 I think), never used wire, never had an axle come off.

Or if your using the modified type 1 CV's, shit can the gaskets and RTV the halves together. I had all 4 come loose. I shoud have listened to Eric.

Do each of the flanges the cvs bolt to have the two pins in them?

Did this happen on your way home yesterday. Not at the autocross, I hope.

HI Jim -

yah, on the way home - perfect ending [NOT!] to a great day of driving!

Guys -

thanks for all the thoughts - they are certainly NOT clean at the moment....greasy as hell.

I think this is a job for Super-McMark!

cheers

td

Chris is right.If you can get em super clean,then the blue is the way to go.Ive used the red on greasy stuff,and it seems to work better than the blue.

Threads (male and female) need to be clean. New schoor washer. Torque to spec. Safety wire to make you feel better.

Zach

Ahhhh! If Red loctite is used "correctly" then it requires heat to get it loose.

You should not need ANY loctite on these bolts.
There is clearly something else going on.



That was my first thought. Do you have the dowel pins?
The dowel pins take the shear forces from the torquing of the shafts.
If you do not have them, then the shear is transferred to the bolts which expect to be in tension their whole lives.

Stu

It's been stated herein but I'll try to be concise.

There's a couple of things that cause this:

1. Old shnorr washers. Use new ones.
2. As mentioned, if it is a newer type 1 CV without a new gasket groove cut into it, it will compress the paper gasket causing the bolts to constantly come loose. Use a liquid gasket compound along with the new washers.

At this point I would use new bolts as well. Agree with Andy K... make sure the pins are in and in good shape. Factory suggests 31lbft for torque.

Done right you shouldn't be having problems.

This happened to me twice. This subject sure comes up on the site often. I found on my car the output flange was no longer perfectly flat. I have the ability to correct mine. Since I did this, it hasn't moved. I believe when the cv's come loose and wobble, it causes the output flange to distort. It was mostly seen at the threaded holes. These were high spots. In this case, no matter how tight you make the bolts, they will work loose.

This is a good point. If the flange isn't perfectly flat the bolts won't hold their torque.

I believe you can fit my lock nuts behind the flange and the do not interfere with the flange and case.

Rich