Axle Nut Info from Assembly Plant
09-06-2007, 06:29 PM
#21
Melting Slicks
As for a higher torque value... there was a thread (among many) floating around on this subject a while back where one member snapped his axle shaft either one or more times... more or less right behind the axle nut... the thought was that perhaps too much torque was applied to the axle nuts. I happen to believe that this was not the problem, but it was a theory that was bouncing around in the threads which is why I mentioned it.
If you already torqued on new nuts with thread locker, my guess is that'll you'll be fine... at least if you do not drag race at the track regularly. Seems that the drag race guys have a lot more issues with axle nuts, axles, etc.... as you'd expect. Severe service requires a lot more attention.
09-06-2007, 06:49 PM
#22
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big axle...big nut....big torque.....little problem
If the nut and the thread isn't designed for the higher torque specification it will do damage to the thread...that's all. Every thread (pitch and diameter) will have a maximum reusable torque that can be applied. Depending upon the percent engagement of the peaks and valleys as well as weather it is a cut thread or a formed thread will all combine to determine the maximum torque that can be safely and repeatably applied
Considering axle diameter and hardness , I can't see a problem with 140 ft lbs of torque....and (almost all) automotive axles have cut threads.
09-06-2007, 07:08 PM
#23
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As per the service manual, thread locker and a new nut are not specfied. But here is the art work for how to anchor the rotor while torquing the nut. Anchoring the rotor with the drift is very important for acheving the correct axle nut torque.
Insert a drift or punch into the brake rotor cooling fins and against the caliper to prevent the wheel hub and bearing from turning.
Begin to install the drive shaft retaining nut onto the drive shaft by hand.
Slowly tighten the nut to draw the drive shaft to the wheel hub and bearing.
Tighten
Tighten the drive axle spindle nut to 160 N·m (118 lb ft).
Remove the drift or punch.
Install the tire and wheel assembly. Refer to Tire and Wheel Removal and Installation .
Lower the vehicle.
Insert a drift or punch into the brake rotor cooling fins and against the caliper to prevent the wheel hub and bearing from turning.
Begin to install the drive shaft retaining nut onto the drive shaft by hand.
Slowly tighten the nut to draw the drive shaft to the wheel hub and bearing.
Tighten
Tighten the drive axle spindle nut to 160 N·m (118 lb ft).
Remove the drift or punch.
Install the tire and wheel assembly. Refer to Tire and Wheel Removal and Installation .
Lower the vehicle.
09-06-2007, 07:15 PM
#24
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As per the service manual, thread locker and a new nut are not specfied. But here is the art work for how to anchor the rotor while torquing the nut. Anchoring the rotor with the drift is very important for acheving the correct axle nut torque.
Insert a drift or punch into the brake rotor cooling fins and against the caliper to prevent the wheel hub and bearing from turning.
Begin to install the drive shaft retaining nut onto the drive shaft by hand.
Slowly tighten the nut to draw the drive shaft to the wheel hub and bearing.
Tighten
Tighten the drive axle spindle nut to 160 N·m (118 lb ft).
Remove the drift or punch.
Install the tire and wheel assembly. Refer to Tire and Wheel Removal and Installation .
Lower the vehicle.
Insert a drift or punch into the brake rotor cooling fins and against the caliper to prevent the wheel hub and bearing from turning.
Begin to install the drive shaft retaining nut onto the drive shaft by hand.
Slowly tighten the nut to draw the drive shaft to the wheel hub and bearing.
Tighten
Tighten the drive axle spindle nut to 160 N·m (118 lb ft).
Remove the drift or punch.
Install the tire and wheel assembly. Refer to Tire and Wheel Removal and Installation .
Lower the vehicle.
09-06-2007, 07:58 PM
#26
Le Mans Master
As per the service manual, thread locker and a new nut are not specfied. But here is the art work for how to anchor the rotor while torquing the nut. Anchoring the rotor with the drift is very important for acheving the correct axle nut torque.
Insert a drift or punch into the brake rotor cooling fins and against the caliper to prevent the wheel hub and bearing from turning.
Begin to install the drive shaft retaining nut onto the drive shaft by hand.
Slowly tighten the nut to draw the drive shaft to the wheel hub and bearing.
Tighten
Tighten the drive axle spindle nut to 160 N·m (118 lb ft).
Remove the drift or punch.
Install the tire and wheel assembly. Refer to Tire and Wheel Removal and Installation .
Lower the vehicle.
Insert a drift or punch into the brake rotor cooling fins and against the caliper to prevent the wheel hub and bearing from turning.
Begin to install the drive shaft retaining nut onto the drive shaft by hand.
Slowly tighten the nut to draw the drive shaft to the wheel hub and bearing.
Tighten
Tighten the drive axle spindle nut to 160 N·m (118 lb ft).
Remove the drift or punch.
Install the tire and wheel assembly. Refer to Tire and Wheel Removal and Installation .
Lower the vehicle.
09-06-2007, 08:09 PM
#27
Burning Brakes
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I checked mine with a torque wrench @ 145 ft/lbs and it's tight from the factory after 5000mi. No Problem, as I would suspect 99.9% of the cars would be.
..jack
..jack
09-06-2007, 08:23 PM
#28
NCM Life Member
Thread Starter
As per the service manual, thread locker and a new nut are not specfied. But here is the art work for how to anchor the rotor while torquing the nut. Anchoring the rotor with the drift is very important for acheving the correct axle nut torque.
Insert a drift or punch into the brake rotor cooling fins and against the caliper to prevent the wheel hub and bearing from turning.
Begin to install the drive shaft retaining nut onto the drive shaft by hand.
Slowly tighten the nut to draw the drive shaft to the wheel hub and bearing.
Tighten
Tighten the drive axle spindle nut to 160 N·m (118 lb ft).
Remove the drift or punch.
Install the tire and wheel assembly. Refer to Tire and Wheel Removal and Installation .
Lower the vehicle.
Insert a drift or punch into the brake rotor cooling fins and against the caliper to prevent the wheel hub and bearing from turning.
Begin to install the drive shaft retaining nut onto the drive shaft by hand.
Slowly tighten the nut to draw the drive shaft to the wheel hub and bearing.
Tighten
Tighten the drive axle spindle nut to 160 N·m (118 lb ft).
Remove the drift or punch.
Install the tire and wheel assembly. Refer to Tire and Wheel Removal and Installation .
Lower the vehicle.
If there is presence of the nut "indexing and/or looseness"
Save The Wave,
John
09-06-2007, 08:53 PM
#29
Thanks! 
Yes, very interesting... especially since many of us had speculated that thread locker as well as high torque might not be the best thing for the situation.
Of course, thread locker and high torque would be the most typical cure for any typical situation where a given nut tends to loosen. Hopefully the engineers thought this through for this specific situation and didn't just rattle off the textbook answer for a loose nut.
We learned from the axle chatter issue that responses from GM about curing a problem may or may not be correct... at least not the first time.
I torqued my original nuts to spec (one was loose) and did not use thread locker. My intention was/is to simply check the torque regularly every 5k miles or so (or at every oil change, whatever). I may continue to do this and only take more extensive action if I note one or both nuts starting to loosen again at any point... or until we know for sure that GM's new cure is indeed the most appropriate course of action.
The only bad thing about using thread locker is that once you use it, you can no longer check torque without disturbing the locking bond and/or the bond will not allow you to achieve a true accurate torque reading. Until we know 100% for sure why these nuts lose their torque, I may continue to check torque periodically (which means no thread locker)... because i'm not yet convinced that it's the NUT that's merely backing off, losing torque... the loss of torque may be coming from something wearing, stretching, moving etc with respect to the axle itself... if so, thread locker will not help.
Will give this a little more time to unfold. In the meantime my axle nuts are torqued nice and have been holding torque.
Yes, very interesting... especially since many of us had speculated that thread locker as well as high torque might not be the best thing for the situation.
Of course, thread locker and high torque would be the most typical cure for any typical situation where a given nut tends to loosen. Hopefully the engineers thought this through for this specific situation and didn't just rattle off the textbook answer for a loose nut.
We learned from the axle chatter issue that responses from GM about curing a problem may or may not be correct... at least not the first time.
I torqued my original nuts to spec (one was loose) and did not use thread locker. My intention was/is to simply check the torque regularly every 5k miles or so (or at every oil change, whatever). I may continue to do this and only take more extensive action if I note one or both nuts starting to loosen again at any point... or until we know for sure that GM's new cure is indeed the most appropriate course of action.
The only bad thing about using thread locker is that once you use it, you can no longer check torque without disturbing the locking bond and/or the bond will not allow you to achieve a true accurate torque reading. Until we know 100% for sure why these nuts lose their torque, I may continue to check torque periodically (which means no thread locker)... because i'm not yet convinced that it's the NUT that's merely backing off, losing torque... the loss of torque may be coming from something wearing, stretching, moving etc with respect to the axle itself... if so, thread locker will not help.
Will give this a little more time to unfold. In the meantime my axle nuts are torqued nice and have been holding torque.
09-06-2007, 09:07 PM
#30
Melting Slicks
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I posted this information at the end of an existing thread. It was suggested that I start a new thread so that anyone with the problem can see the corrective action.
I used the Owner Feedback at http://www.bowlinggreenassemblyplant.com/
to ask about the Axle Nut issue.
I received a reply and asked for permission to post the fix on the forums. The information I received is as follows:
If there is presence of the nut "indexing and/or looseness", do the following:
1. Remove existing nut
2. Apply Goodwrench # 12345493 (also known as Loctite 272) on threads in area where nut finally seats
3. Install new nut (p/n 10257766)
4. Torque nut to 190Nm (140 ft-lb), static
5. Allow 24 hours cure time.
Note that a NEW nut is required and the torque has been increased from 118 ft-lb to 140 ft-lb.
Save The Wave,
John
I used the Owner Feedback at http://www.bowlinggreenassemblyplant.com/
to ask about the Axle Nut issue.
I received a reply and asked for permission to post the fix on the forums. The information I received is as follows:
If there is presence of the nut "indexing and/or looseness", do the following:
1. Remove existing nut
2. Apply Goodwrench # 12345493 (also known as Loctite 272) on threads in area where nut finally seats
3. Install new nut (p/n 10257766)
4. Torque nut to 190Nm (140 ft-lb), static
5. Allow 24 hours cure time.
Note that a NEW nut is required and the torque has been increased from 118 ft-lb to 140 ft-lb.
Save The Wave,
John
I know the axle is where the wheels are, and it isn't the tire lugs?
So does it mean removing the wheels?
LEX
09-06-2007, 09:38 PM
#32
rear wheels pull off the cap in the center of the wheel you will see a retaining nut torque to 118 or 140 34 or 33mm socket it varies
Last edited by dashotgun; 09-07-2007 at 10:24 AM. Reason: edited for clarity
09-06-2007, 10:01 PM
#35
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I just tightened mine this morning and they were both loose. I only tightened them to 118 because that is what I thought they were supposed to be. I got about 1/2 a turn on them until the click. Mind you, I only have 867 miles on the car so who knows how loose it would have been after a couple of thousand.
So my question now is should I get new nuts and do the process with locktite to 140 foot lbs? Also, is the 140 "official guidance" or Bowling Green back-channel?
So my question now is should I get new nuts and do the process with locktite to 140 foot lbs? Also, is the 140 "official guidance" or Bowling Green back-channel?
09-06-2007, 10:02 PM
#36
I'm "Apache" a psycho dog
) two axle nuts, and 272 loctite to 'fix' this, luckly i have a TQ wrench.This could get quite expensive for something that should be a warranty item.
A TSB should be issued for this, nuts coming loose (or any other part for that matter) should be addressed by Chevy.
09-06-2007, 10:15 PM
#37
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While this is great info and personally appreciated by me, i would now have two purchase a 34mm socket, (don't have one of those ) two axle nuts, and 272 loctite to 'fix' this, luckly i have a TQ wrench.
This could get quite expensive for something that should be a warranty item.
A TSB should be issued for this, nuts coming loose (or any other part for that matter) should be addressed by Chevy.
) two axle nuts, and 272 loctite to 'fix' this, luckly i have a TQ wrench.This could get quite expensive for something that should be a warranty item.
A TSB should be issued for this, nuts coming loose (or any other part for that matter) should be addressed by Chevy.
09-06-2007, 10:21 PM
#38
Le Mans Master
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The instruction says to remove the wheels. Are most people simply leaving the wheels on and doing it via removing the cap? Could this make any difference by having the axle loaded with the cars weight when tightening the nut?
Just wondering......
Just wondering......
09-06-2007, 10:25 PM
#40
Race Director
While this is great info and personally appreciated by me, i would now have two purchase a 34mm socket, (don't have one of those ) two axle nuts, and 272 loctite to 'fix' this, luckly i have a TQ wrench.
This could get quite expensive for something that should be a warranty item.
A TSB should be issued for this, nuts coming loose (or any other part for that matter) should be addressed by Chevy.
) two axle nuts, and 272 loctite to 'fix' this, luckly i have a TQ wrench.This could get quite expensive for something that should be a warranty item.
A TSB should be issued for this, nuts coming loose (or any other part for that matter) should be addressed by Chevy.
100%This is NOT normal wear or abuse. It's a factory defect, period. GM cannot expect everyone to go out and buy a torque wrench in order to keep their new car from falling apart. And I wholeheartedly believe this issue will be resolved by GM even AFTER warranty ends as soon as more owners realize they have a problem.
I checked mine at the track last weekend and it took a good 1/4 turn to get to 100'lb (couldn't remember the exact torque so now I have to do it again). Not sure how I feel about the loctite.