Dont let this happen!!
 

This is'nt new info to some of you, but keep an eye on driveshaft bolts, My car developed a bad vibration on deceleration, i checked under the car to inspect u-joints, and noticed all 4 of my d/s fasteners backed out, almost all the way,(finger tight) i dont know how it hung on while lauching hard as he11 that night before.

wow
 

hey you might of just helped me out. the other day i was on the highway and was comming down from 90 something mph and the car was vibrating and it only did it when i was deaccelerating. I am definiatly going to check those bolts tomarrow.
thanks

Yeah you got lucky that you caught it when you did....It would have sucked if it happened at the track.

I've had the same thing happen to me. Just after the track as well. I'll take some luck once in awhile.

yeah, its a good idea to crank those babies down after swapping driveshafts. You need to get a pipe and put it over the end of a box end wrench to get some real tourqe on them.

Ditto to Mach 1 comments, I have a 12mm wrench with a slight bend to it from tightening mine with a pipe over the wrench....I would also add a little locktite to the fasteners.

lol..yeah, my wrench has a slight bend in it also....dam cheap craftsman wrenches....

I don't care how tight you get them. If you don't use some locktite they will come loose.

Yea, i didnt have any locktite, but i think i will pick some up, i knew that was probaly the cause, along with some 5k launches on sticky tires.:p

That is absolutely not true at all. I have had many driveshafts off and never used locktite on the bolts, and have never had one come loose.

Make the bolts tight enough, and you shouldnt have any problems. The problem is getting enough leverage and torque on the bolts since they arent the easiest to get a socket or wrench on. If you put a open pipe on a wrench, and get them nice and tight, they will not come loose. You dont have to kill them, but put some good torque on them.

I am against locktite also. Ever worked on a car where the previous mechanic (haha) used locktite like wd-40. It aint fun.

Everytime I'm under the car (oil change or whatever) I check most bolts under the car, including driveshaft bolts.

One thing I kinda don't understand though, why isn't it made so nuts (and maybe a lock washer) go on the other end of the bolts? Looks like there is enough space to fit nuts in there. I dunno, to me it just feels like there'd be a little more assurance of them not turning themselves out. I never really had a problem with them coming out, they always seem tight as I left them when I check them, but I've wondered about that question.

If you notice when you take the original bolts out they have a thread sealant (locktite) on them. I would highly recommend cleaning the bolts up on a wire wheel, loctite them and torque them to the manufactures spec. Depending on what type of locktite you use will determine how hard they are to remove later. Red locktite is considered permanent (or really, really tough to remove), blue is for bolts you want to be able to remove. Over torqueing the bolts puts undo stress on the bolts and make them more prone to snapping under load.

....
 

I agree with Beemer. I always use blue locktite and they have never backed out at all. I've never used a pipe to get them tight. I however have used a pipe or two trying to get them out :) Overtorqing the bolts will make them weaker and hurt their tensile strength.

On a side note, when I bought new bolts from Ford, they had a thread selaer on them already.

JMHO.

Anybody know what the torque spec. is on the driveshaft bolts?

As far as Im concerned, if you need a pipe to remove them, installing them with a pipe isnt going to hurt them. Like I said already, dont kill them, but the pipe gives you the extra leverage you need to make sure they are snug enough to not back out on you.