Last weekend I removed the leaking rzeppa joint on the front driveshaft of my 2012 JKU. I replaced it with one of the Teraflex rzeppa joint kits in case anyone is wondering (I'll let you know how it lasts after some time). Anyway, I was meticulous about reinstalling the rzeppa onto the transfer case flange, no problems there. On the front driveshaft, I got it lined back up and the was in the process of hitting the 81 ft lb torque spec for the bolts, but the thread locker they supply dries FAST. So I was fighting that to an extent and even had to back one bolt off, reapplied the thread locker and it back on.

It looks like the driveshaft is mounted nice and flush to the front differential flange, but I was having a tough time getting the torque wrench to click. I had to use a little bit of strength short of full gorilla to get it snugged up. I know this is a dumb question, but this is my first time doing this job; is there any risk of damaging the drivetrain? My thought is, whatever I can apply has to be less torque than whatever the engine puts out or I'd snap the bolts before I broke anything. What say you guys?

 

I've always used blue loctite on those pinion flange bolts. What size torque wrench were you using? I ask because "gorilla strength" can be quite different depending on how much leverage you have from the torque wrench. For example, a 1/2" drive 50-250 ft lbs TW is usually ~2' long, a lot more leverage than a typical 3/8" drive TW. Anyhow, those bolts are decent size. I don't think I'd stress too much over it. If you're too concerned, remove them, clean the threads up and just use blue threadlock.

Speaking of cleaning up threads, I waited way too long in life before buying a nice set of thread chasers. Kits on Amazon are usually in the $60 range, and they are so handy to have. Just about every bolt I remove on things gets run through and cleaned up just for the sake of doing it.

 

You're about spot on with that. It was a 1.5-2', 1/2" drive TW. I think the loctite partially set up while I was getting the bolts in, so I had to apply a little extra force to get them fully seated as a result. I think everything is good and snug. My concern was whether me applying the extra force on those pinion flange bolts would've damaged a bearing or gear on that or the t-case.

 

When applying threadlock to several bolts, sometimes it's easier to put everything in and get whatever it is pulled into place, then back out a bolt, apply threadlock, re-install bolt and torque, then move on to the next one. Especially if working with red as sometimes that dries fast. That bolt would snap before you got anywhere close to damaging any bearings or gears IMO. I wouldn't worry about that at all.

 

That's a good tip, thanks! I'll keep that in mind if or when I do a project like this again.