Drive/Propshaft Bolt Torque Spec?

Hello,

Needed to move the driveshaft to get to the handbrake in the tunnel (another story) and found the nylocs holding the driveshaft & rearend flanges together were loose. Maybe 1/32 play between the shaft and axel flanges. Seems odd. Is this correct? If not, what should these should be torqued too?

Thank you.

Chris

Hi Chris, this is going to sound like a smart alex answer but it is not. Make them as tight as you can get them with an average size 3/8th drive rachet handle and a approx 6" open end or box wrench. If your a really big muscular guy don't make them quite that tight. I believe you are talking about the bolts that hold the rear universal joint to the pinion flange. I don't believe nylocs are original to any Healey. My BJ7 has nuts with lockwashers. After tightening good by hand I have never had any of these come loose. Not on my Vette either, and I can tell you the six u-joints on my Vette get stressed alot more than the Healey's U-joints. Also I mentioned an approx 6" wrench because if you put a longer box wrench on these bolts you can strip the threads. Cheers: Dave.

Real tight - don't think they have a torque spec other than a generic one for a 3/8" bolt.

You should replace the nylocs. FWIW - I'm using grade-8 bolts with grade-8 stover all-metal locknuts. Never had anything loosen up.

steveg said:

Real tight - don't think they have a torque spec other than a generic one for a 3/8" bolt.

You should replace the nylocs. FWIW - I'm using grade-8 bolts with grade-8 stover all-metal locknuts. Never had anything loosen up.

Click to expand...

For suspenders, use some threadlocker.

Its important to torque them crosswise , then again. They will draw up tighter the second time you try. I think they more than likely weren't tightened properly to start with, rather than worked themselves loose. The rears are hard to get two open end wrenches on from underneath.

Guys,

Thanks for all the feedback on this, lots of good stuff here. I'm planning on replacing the bolts/nuts as recommended, adding blue thread-locker and tightening the bolts (but not too tight) in a cross pattern.

Again, thank you for the suggestions.

Chris

Here's a torque guide for various bolt grades: https://raskcycle.com/techtip/webdoc14.html Assuming you're using a zinc-plated, grade 5, 3/8 - 24, use 30 ft-lbs. (The table at the bottom gives correction factors for plating.)

Thanks John. I'll bookmark this for reference.

John Turney said:

Here's a torque guide for various bolt grades: https://raskcycle.com/techtip/webdoc14.html Assuming you're using a zinc-plated, grade 5, 3/8 - 24, use 30 ft-lbs. (The table at the bottom gives correction factors for plating.)

Click to expand...

Roger Menadue supposedly never used a torque wrench, relying on his mechanic's "feel". I have absolutely no argument with John's book value, but I prefer "real tight" as specified by Steve Gerow.