Hi Everyone,

This may be a simple question, so excuse me if I am overlooking the obvious.

I will be re-torquing my wheel spacers soon. I know the recommendation is to re-torque at about 500 miles.

When I installed the spacers I used red Loctite. When I re-torque, what should I do if any of the bolts tighen more during the re-torquing? Should I remove that bolt and reinstall Loctite? Or, should I consider it good after it is torqued to spec?

Thanks

Jeff

 

Set your torque wrench to 5 ftlbs less than your original torque. If it clicks , good to go. If it moves, redo. Doubt if they moved though, mine haven't in over 20,000miles

 

The only reason for retorquing is because of bolt stretch. Since they are only going to stretch so much.....unless you over torque, the proper method would be to remove the nuts, reapply locktite and reinstall the nuts and torque to spec. If you only go over the nuts with a torque wrench and some tighten up, they will break the bond that the locktite has made and possibly work loose over time.

Now, all this being said......I HAVE to tell you that I don't have a lot of experience using wheel spacers. I have torqued a lot of stuff through the years and this is how "I" would handle it. Maybe David Johnson from Northridge will chime in. I would do whatever he recommends, even if it's contrary to my recommendation.

 

x2.............................

 

Bolt stretch? Could use some more of that .I know my nuts have stretched over the past few years, wife has had em locktighted forever it seems.

 

If you have actual red LocTite on it should take quite a bit of torque to be able to break the loctite and tighten them further. I don't have the specs in front of me but it shoudl take about 300 ft/# to break it.

Ah, here it is:
http://www.kraftindustrialsupply.com...ans/262-EN.pdf
You'll notice that is usually takes about 250 degrees of heat to break red loctite and if heat is not applied 280 to 350 ft/# to break.

Red loctite is serious stuff. I keep both a 50 ml bottl of it and blue around and I use a lot more blue than red.

 

Wouldn't you think a wheel stud gets at least 250 degrees? I would. They do have brake disks behind them. Also too....what if the stud(s) have stretched just a touch and now the nuts are just a bit loose? You won't know that unless you remove them and do it all over. I'm curious to see what a manufacturer says here. Maybe we'll here from Teraflex. Speaking of Teraflex, their wheel spacers are made from steel, while all the others I've seen are aluminum. I also wonder if the retorquing procedure would be the same for each? I don't know how those of you running aluminum spacers sleep at night. I just wouldn't do it. No how, no way.

 

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your feedback.

I agree with all of you... even when those opinions are different to each other.

It's pretty easy for SpiderTrax to tell you to re-torque; but, apparently, not tell you exactly how to do the re-torquing.

It would be nice for one of the suppliers or manufacturers to tell us exactly how we should do it.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Jeff

 

WWWAAAAYYYYYYY tooo much info MK!

 

Loctite, Permatex, Permabond, etc all manufacture anaerobics to mil specs. So they should all work the same, but there are differences. Loctite is by far the leader.

Anaerobics cure in the absence of air. The contact surface can trigger fast polymerization, and they cure much faster on active metals, like brass. Slow on plated bolts. Accelerators can be purchased, as well as cleaners.

When they cure, they harden to a different hardness based on mil spec, which also dictates the color. Heat breaks them all down.

Purple = soft for screws/small fasteners

Blue = for nuts and bolts you want to remove with tools someday.

Red = as hard as mild steel, can ruin threads in removal if no heat. It's red for a reason.

Green = usually a bearing retainer, and theoretically can turn a slip fit into a press fit. Comes in thick pre-assembly versions, and "thin as water" formula that can be applied post assembly and wicks in.

SO.... x2 on using the blue more than the red. I'd use red in any safety assembly, like spacers/adapters.

Use green whenever assembling bearings and it will prevent the bearing or race from ever spinning and destroying the bearing.

If you move the nut/bolt assembly anytime after the initial cure has begun, you break the chains of molecules that are forming, and weaken the cure. Assemble with the nut and bolt wet. Torque it and leave it. If you check it later, and it's loose, or you force move it, you need to start over. Heat, remove, clean, re-apply and reassemble.

I think it's best to apply to the nut and the bolt and allow the nut to carry it in and down. If a blind hole exists, put the threadlocking compound in the hole, and it will be forced up around the bolt upon insertion. I always wet both the nut and bolt with the threadlocker.

The products are huge labor, time, and money savers when used properly. Hope this helps!