Question on maintenance item...

My maintenance schedule requires that if you are driving in special operating conditions, (offroad or towing), then every 5,000 miles the propellor shaft bolt needs to be re-torqued. First off, which bolt are they referring to and second, how many of you guys do this?

 

I'm no expert, but I believe it's referring to the bolts at each end of your 4x4's short drive shaft (the shaft between the transfer case and front differential). It's known as a "propeller shaft." I have 50K miles on my '06 and I've only checked mine once.

 

Just the bolts that attach the driveshaft (propeller shaft) to the rear diff and transfer case flanges. Same idea on the front prop shaft.

I only torqued mine after replacing the rear drive shaft (I took it off the re-grease the slip yoke).

I do all the other mtce items in the book, just never this one aside from the once. Wouldn't hurt if you have the time and the tools. I might do it at my next oil change.

According to the online FSM, the required torque is 65 ft-lb.

 

"Propeller shaft" is just another name for driveshaft, not specifically the front. There are 4 bolts on each flange, times five flanges on a 4x4, for a total of 20 bolts. I've never retorqued mine as a maintenance check, but one retorque at first service on a new truck isn't a bad idea either.

 

Mine are all assembled with blue locktight and I don't retorque them. I do grease the ujoints every 5K miles on the rear shaft, every 10K on the front.

 

I have 58XXX on my truck and I've towed a boat a couple times a week during the soft water season since buying it and I've tried a couple times to tighten them and both times they didn't move. The torque spec is high and good luck getting a torque wrench up there.