Should U-joint retention bolts really be 13-17 ft/lbs?

[robroy]

Good evening!

I'm now ready to torque the U-joint retention bolts, which are just like these ones:



The 1972 Ford Truck Shop Manual, on page 15-05-8, lists a torque value of 13-17 ft/lbs for these bolts. I suppose the bolts are very small but this torque still seems pretty light duty compared to what I'd expected. Isn't it true that these bolts are directly responsible for not shearing in the face of a significant portion of the engine's power?

Also, what are those funny green splats on the new bolts--are those built-in thread lock patches of some kind?

And would you use thread lock on these U-joint retention bolts or not?

Thanks very much for the wonderful advice!
Robroy

[robroy]

One more question: do folks actually torque these, are do they typically install these and just guess on the torque? I might be tricky to get my torque wrench to reach all of them.

Thanks very much!
Robroy

[fordman]

i just use a end wrench on them and get them evenly as tight as i can when dealing with those types of botls and connectors. .

[robroy]

Hey Fordman thanks for replying!

i just use a end wrench on them and get them evenly as tight as i can when dealing with those types of botls and connectors. .

Yeah perhaps that's what people typically do! I wasn't sure about this. I'm also not sure how the rules change when there's an unusually large amount of power going through the drive train. Surely things like this get more critical the more they're stressed.

Does anybody torque these things?

Thanks very much!
Robroy

[wildcard]

I just replaced all of mine and didn't torqoe any of them. Just tightened them like fordman said. I have never known anyone who torqued them including men who build their own racecars.

[robroy]

Hey Wildcard thanks very much for your reply!

OK, I guess folks don't torque these huh.

So does anybody know how much stress these bolts are really under? It's hard for me to imagine that such little bolts that don't get carefully torqued can hold up to much.

So if ya'll don't torque 'em, do you use thread lock on them?

Thanks again!
Robroy

[70_F100]

robroy, the green spots on the bolts are Loctite or a similar threadlocker.

The bolts actually don't have a lot of stress on them. They simply hold the strap against the bearing cup. The stress is delivered directly to the pinion yoke.

Just tighten them down with a box-end wrench and it's "Happy Motoring"

[heep70]

Hand wrench. Make sure all is clean so the lock tight works.

[robroy]

Hey 70_F100 thanks for replying!

OK, I'll stop worrying about these bolts and just tighten 'em up!

Thanks again,
Robroy

[robroy]

Hand wrench. Make sure all is clean so the lock tight works.

Greg, thanks for replying!

OK, I'll go ahead with my wrench! And I'll make sure it's as clean as I can make it.

Thanks again,
Robroy

[robroy]

Today I finished the drive shaft install! I guessed on the torque for the little bolts, as advised. I found that this wasn't really very hard to do, since the bolts seemed to have a pretty firm stop at the end of their travel--I just gave it a good shove after screwing them in all the way.

I also used some medium strength (blue) thread lock on the bolts that hold the T18 area together, since they didn't come with any funny thread lock patches stuck to them.



Thanks for the outstanding advice!
Robroy