14 bolt axle flange bolts wont stay tight

R H · Mar 12, 2015

Flange bolts and nordlocks. shoulder of the bolt needs to fit snug in the axle flange, or the axle will work back and forth causing the bolt to loosen.

Beerj · Mar 12, 2015

Jwhit55 said:
Flange and cap style, but I was having the same issue with the Yukon shafts also

Did you reuse the same bolts? If so, that remains the only constant and would be a likely culprit

zukimaster · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Re: Re: 14 bolt axle flange bolts wont stay tight

ranger11 said:
That's my thought bolt them how a wheel or hi steer arm mounts.

PS ford power is living on the edge. Wanna live forever buy a Chevy.

. Ford power is living on the edge! Everytime you go ride, you wonder if it will make it back to the trailer without blowing up!

TBItoy · Mar 12, 2015

I'd dowel the drive cap to the hub.

toyota01 · Mar 13, 2015

Those axles are easy to put underneath anything,but they dont reach their full potential unless there under FORD POWER!! :flipoff1:

Might want to check for a recall!! CHEVROLET: Constantly Having Every Vehicle Recalled Over Lousy Engineering Techniques.

Sorry not much help to the op just chevy owners.

payne97 · Mar 13, 2015

I had the same problem with a stock SBC on propane so it may be the horsepower
put a alignment bar from spindle spindle probably bent

Jwhit55 · Mar 13, 2015

I should've known this would become a Chevy vs Ford thread!! Thanks everybody for the input!! hopefully some of these ideas will fix the issue

bdillon2372 · Mar 13, 2015

JohnG said:
Remove all bolts and clean holes with brake clean and blow out with compressed air. Remembering everything you put in a blind hole has only one way out! Do this multiple times till you have no oil residue at all. Get good quality studs. It should be course thread, get the other end fine thread. Add red Loctite to threads and install studs. Install axle, install nuts. Re-touque every ride till they quit moving.

This should fix it if you don't have something bent like axle flange or housing.

This is what I had to do, got tired of having to check the bolts literally between every hill, the studs cured the problem

40spline.com · Mar 14, 2015

Hey Jamie, I see this problem all the time and there's even a huge thread on Pirate about it. Your housing isn't bent and there's nothing wrong with the install. This is just common in big horsepower apps. Here's what fixed the issue on my personal ride. Get you some of the high strength 12 point flange bolts and nord-locks. You can get these from McMaster Carr. Pull the flanges and soak them in brake clean or whatever solvent then allow to dry. Then spray the **** out of the hub holes with brake clean. Wear goggles because it'll shoot right back out in your face. Let everything dry up really well. Cover the bolts in red loctite, RTV everything, and install with the nordlocks and torq the **** out of them. Since doing this I haven't had them loosen at all. I still check them every ride and they stay tight, occassionally I can get like a 1/10th of a turn on them after a long weekend if I cover a lot of ground.

We've actually discussed using a tapered bushing and matching taper hole in the drive plate that acts like a collet gripping the stud diameter. But that's kind of a pain for the end user that just wants to reuse stock hub bolts or off the shelf hardware. Hope this helps.

TBItoy · Mar 14, 2015

Re:

I think it would be cool to use studs and small lug nuts for the axle shaft. Just have to cut the correct taper in the drive flange.

40spline.com · Mar 14, 2015

Re:

TBItoy said:
I think it would be cool to use studs and small lug nuts for the axle shaft. Just have to cut the correct taper in the drive flange.

Without getting too technical that's basically what I touched on in my last post. Hell maybe we'll do it, we'd be the only ones doing it and I like doing **** like that. That's how heavy truck axles are done.

TBItoy · Mar 14, 2015

Re: Re:

40spline.com said:
Without getting too technical that's basically what I touched on in my last post. Hell maybe we'll do it, we'd be the only ones doing it and I like doing **** like that. That's how heavy truck axles are done.

Yep, I had a Dana 70 that had studs and conical split washers like you were referring to. Sometimes they can be a bear to remove when they lock down on the studs (like some steering arm studs and Toyota hubs/flanges).

I've seen steering arms that came with lug nuts instead of the conical split washers and that seemed like a much easier/service friendly way to accomplish basically the same thing (converting shear load to axial load/locating components).

Bonus that it wouldn't require machine work to the stock hubs like dowel pins.

Jwhit55 · Mar 14, 2015

40spline.com said:
Hey Jamie, I see this problem all the time and there's even a huge thread on Pirate about it. Your housing isn't bent and there's nothing wrong with the install. This is just common in big horsepower apps. Here's what fixed the issue on my personal ride. Get you some of the high strength 12 point flange bolts and nord-locks. You can get these from McMaster Carr. Pull the flanges and soak them in brake clean or whatever solvent then allow to dry. Then spray the **** out of the hub holes with brake clean. Wear goggles because it'll shoot right back out in your face. Let everything dry up really well. Cover the bolts in red loctite, RTV everything, and install with the nordlocks and torq the **** out of them. Since doing this I haven't had them loosen at all. I still check them every ride and they stay tight, occassionally I can get like a 1/10th of a turn on them after a long weekend if I cover a lot of ground.

We've actually discussed using a tapered bushing and matching taper hole in the drive plate that acts like a collet gripping the stud diameter. But that's kind of a pain for the end user that just wants to reuse stock hub bolts or off the shelf hardware. Hope this helps.

Thanks, ill tear them back down this weekend and try this!!

BUG-E J · Mar 15, 2015

Jwhit55 said:
Thanks, ill tear them back down this weekend and try this!!

Tack weld them. Save teardown time for more :drinkers:

time!

BUG-E J · Apr 7, 2015

Noticed my drivers rear leaking and all the bolts were loose. Looks like its miller time! :****:

bad80cj · Apr 7, 2015

BUG-E J said:
Noticed my drivers rear leaking and all the bolts were loose. Looks like its miller time! :****:

You mean fatty natty time! :drinkers:

jayphizzle · Apr 8, 2015

I know this doesn't apply to the 14 bolts, but I have to do it in my rear Rockwell every trip. They have lock washers on them and i'm not running any crazy horsepower. I just tighten as needed, but then again, I'm just a lazy ass :JRich:

payne97 · Apr 8, 2015

It's bent

Markrobinson · Oct 16, 2022

Bumping this thread for old time sake…

I can't put hubs on a 14 bolt without thinking of this post. I never met John but still got help from him through the forum.