Half shaft bolts

Graham - welcome to the Half-shaft Motel horror story. They are always tight, and quite difficult to remove.

I have replaced the bolts, but used the old nuts. I, too, have considered replacing the nuts with nylocks, but wondered why the factory went with the self-locking split type nut. Could it be that the proximity to the exhaust manifold may lead to such heat that nylocks might be compromised?

In the car one needs to use a open wrench on the nut to keep the shaft from rotating. However, the nut will stop against the flange, and simply removing the Allen bolt without holding the nut is possible out of the car. Place the shaft in a vice (with appropriate rubber-block or pad protection as to not scar the shaft).

I suspect nylocks will work. Let us know.

Jim S.

 

Here are the factory updated torque settings from the tech bulletins.

Not sure if what you want is in here, but this is all I have.

DM
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Hi. Here's a thought.
It looks like there's room to approach the bolts with an impact wrench & hardened allen-type socket. Adding to what Jim S. said, after you chuck the assembly up in a vice, give each bolt a couple of light-to-moderate blasts with the impact. (Don't forget the eye protection.) The jarring should back them right out. If a bolt shears, it was time to replace anyway!
Good Luck.

 

they are flexlock or expanding nuts. they hold better than nylocks of the same size and resist vibration and heat better as well. the mechanicle torque of the split top is greater than the std nut.

and these buggers are hard to find. i'm missing a nut and have been searching for awhile.

 

1/2" breaker bar with short allen end works fine. Hold nut with open end, move bar. Rotate axle so bar has room to move. Once moved switch to ratchet. WD 40 sprayed on everythig about 10 minutes before trying helps a lot. Use a torque wrench when putting them back.

John

 

When I replaced mine this past winter, I sprayed various rust and gunk disolvers on the bolts before breaking them loose. After two or so good sprayings, the only trouble I had was not rounding off the inside of the bolt.

 

GT Car Parts, Phoenix. See Dave's Sticky for phone.

John

 

My tuppance worth,
Don't loose your cool
Soak well, soak again.
Apply heat to the nut, a small butane blow torch is fine
Use a socket or ring spanner rather than open end
If you have access to an impact wrench great if not,
I'd say tap judiciously with a heavy hammer rather than heavy taps with a light hammer. Repeat as necessary. If all else fails use a nut splitting tool.
Hope you get it done without loosing skin

 

The bolts respond extremely well to a NEW 1/2" drive allen socket on an air impact wrench. The snap action will break them loose where it can take enough force to round off the hex drive if you're trying to use a breaker bar.

For where there's room to swing a hammer, a drive type impact wrench will work well also, just make sure you hit it straight on.

On the 308s, one side of each half-shaft nut fits up almost snug against the side of the joint. I find that I can jam a screwdriver blade into the space & it locks the nut in place better than an open end wrench will. Also doesn't tend to fall off at awkward moments. It looks like this trick should work on the Dino half-shafts as well.


To keep the brake rotors from turning while fighting with these, slip the end of a pry bar (or screwdriver) in one of the rotor slots & jam it against the caliper. I use a bungee to hold it in place on 308s.

If at all possible, replace the crown nuts & the bolts. While they can take a lot of torque, it tends to deform the threads from triangles into sawtooth shapes, that get progressively worse each time the nut is torqued down.

 

I took the ones off "the heap" today, easy job to do with a 3 foot bar and 1/2 inch drive allen key! They all cracked fine! Even easier when the rear manifold and boot are missing!
Alasdair

 

I would also suggest you use a good 6-point socket (Snapon or Elora etc) as these offer a much better fit onto the bolt head. the regular 12 points are a bit of a sloppy fit & anything tight you tend to wrap your knuckles when they slip off or worse round the head.
If your in the UK I could lend the correct socket, let me know.

Mike

 

Are they soaking?

 

You might want to wire brush the gunk off, get them nice and clean so the wd40 will penetrate and your spanners, wrenches or whatever will have a better place to grip.

 

Perhaps a silly question, but why did you take them off in the first place?

 

What, you think he's got something better to do?

Mark

 

Torn boots or bad bearings?
Yes, I've seen the restoration posts, but wondered what you found - or are you just digging into everything because you want to freshen it all?

 

A fabulous product I use is call PB Blaster. Use like WD40, but it penitrates much better. Available at NAPA, or the UK equivalent. Hope this helps.

 

I 2nd Robert, PB Blaster & Kroil are the top penetrating oils.

WD-40 is so-so as a penetrating oil, but great at displacing water & leaving a protective wax coating (Which is what it was designed to do in the first place).