Driveshaft bolt solutions?

[Willber]

Got two aftermarket driveshafts on my car, the bolts supplied with them were greased to high heaven so i opted for Volvo ones but they keep coming loose and I get clunking and axle ping.

The XC90 ones are no longer available.

Whats the latest / best solution? Just put some strong loctite on and hope for the best?

Anyone else find theirs come loose?

Cheers

[Ripmax]

The later version of the Volvo driveshaft bolts come with thread locker pre-applied. Try blasting the grease/muck out of the threads on the driveshaft with some brake cleaner, before putting the bolts in.

If they're torqued up correctly they shouldn't come loose. Not too sure off the top of my head what the figures are but I think its ??Nm then 90 degrees.

[John97Tdi]

I'm looking at the same situation with my XC. I had 'ping' from a rear driveshaft so bought a new bolt and torqued it to 35nm + 90 deg. Ping came back in about 3 weeks. I've now got similar noises from the front so I want to change all the driveshaft bolts but since they are all use once stretch bolts I want to do it right the first time.
There are many apparent 'solutions' out there,the legendary,and no longer available, XC90 bolts, adding locktite to the threads,putting locktite on the splines,putting plumbing sealant on the splines, introducing additional grease into the CV joints,either by removing the boots or injecting through the bolt hole. All of these have apparently worked for some people but like I say I want to do this once rather than repeating my above experience so any 'definitive' solutions to axle ping welcome!

John

[Willber]

Originally Posted by Ripmax

The later version of the Volvo driveshaft bolts come with thread locker pre-applied. Try blasting the grease/muck out of the threads on the driveshaft with some brake cleaner, before putting the bolts in.

If they're torqued up correctly they shouldn't come loose. Not too sure off the top of my head what the figures are but I think its ??Nm then 90 degrees.

Yep, tried those and they came loose! Its 35nm + 90 degrees.... I also cleaned the threads up before putting the new ones in.

Ive removed them and re-applied some loctite 243 which is oil/grease resistant so will see how that goes (I know theyre supposed to be used once, but its not like the wheels are going to fall off if they come loose again like they already have!) Even if they snap its not terminal

There are an XC90 bolt copy available on amazon from the US but quite pricey.

I'm tempted to try proper threadlock that requires heat to undo as a last resort.

[IainG]

Hi

Even if they snap its not terminal

No but it very annoying!!! especially on a Sunday!
Snapped mine putting it in. New bolt had loctite on it, I torqued up and did the extra turn. It snapped.
Eventually I realised the internal thread had old loctite still in so after the initial torque it had locked with the loctite so when I did the extra turn it just snapped. Panic. Luckily there was 5mm of thread sticking out, bit of heat on the shaft to soften the loctite and it just spun out. After that and on the other side I ran a tap in the thread to clear out the old loctite first and just before the new bolt with loctite on. However looking at the bolt that snapped (FAG bearing and bolt) it didn't look as good as the Volvo one I took out. So the Volvo ones went back in again! on both sides.

[CricketyJimin]

Out of interest since I might need one someday soon, where did you get the driveshafts from, and are you happy with them?

[Willber]

I have a J&R passenger side one and another aftermarket one on the driver side (from euro car parts). Yhey seem OK, not as well built as the OEM GKN ones but have done around 10k on them so far.

[Thassos]

i have replaced the bolts many times, never had a problem with them loosening but my driveshafts are original parts, and always using volvo bolts which have the larger washer on them (i think from xc90), could the thread or material of your aftermarket driveshafts be slightly different causing them to come loose maybe due to expansion when warmed? 35nm + 90deg sounds correct.

[john493]

You could Loctite the splines into the hub, but if you need to change the CV joint or wheel bearing they will be a nightmare to dismantle. Avoid if possible.

[ASt85]

Originally Posted by john493

You could Loctite the splines into the hub, but if you need to change the CV joint or wheel bearing they will be a nightmare to dismantle. Avoid if possible.

Agreed - the best way is a completely clean and grease free internal shaft thread and either new Volvo drive shaft bolts or comparable OE spec generic torque bolts.

Re-using the old bolts is not a good idea as they have already been stretched to their design characteristic limit so re-using them and fitting them to the quoted torque plus 90° stretches an already stretched bolt beyond its designed limit.

NB the reason the older XC90 wheel bolts with the rubber cone inserts were discontinued was due to observed and recorded moisture retention which lead to corrosion of the drive shaft and wheel bolt threads which could have lead to "catastrophic failure leading to cascading system failure" ie loss of traction and/or directional control; it implies that re-using previously used bolts runs the risk of achieving that same outcome.