Re-Torque Propeller Shaft Bolts - 4 WD

if you are considering a drill/tap on the driveshaft, make sure that the wall thickness is enough so that the zerk doesnt bottom out on the male splines

also, iirc, zerks are npt which is a tapered thread pitch. dont bottom out the tap to prevent your zerk from threading all the way in before it gets tight, unless the driveshaft is more than 3/8 or so thick. tapping pipe thread into anything thinner than a pipe fitting is kind of hard as it is difficult to guess how far to run your tap in

 

Why not just drill and use self tapping zerks??? No tapping required.

 

Hahaha, self tapping zirks? not a bad idea but where would the "self tapping" end of zirk go ? (it'd have to break off so grease could pass thru it)....

 

Yeah, this is SO true right here! The only thing which I closely follow torque specs to is engine internals because those are critical tolerances.

Other then that I follow german torque spec: guttentight!

 

Been there done that... Yamaha 2003 RX-1, clutch bolt torque spec 105 footpounds later revised to 85. You can never get to 105, the bolt STRETCHES before it gets there.

 

I think you're confused on self-tapping vs self-drilling. Self-tapping just cuts its own threads as you drive it into a smooth hole.

I'm not a fan of self-tapping zirks because they contaminate the thing you're trying to grease with bits of metal from the tapping process. Its probably OK for heavy machinery where its just a two huge pieces of metal and a 2+ inch pin, but not where the grease is for bearings that would be sensitive to metal. At least not unless you have some means of cleaning it before greasing.

 

Not confused at all, self tapping IS self drilling, a thread alone isn't going to self thread shit unless theres point or bit to either pierce the metal(pointed end) or a bit in front of it to drill ahead of the thread, trust me I've been using self tappers for about 30 years doing commercial sheetmetal..

 

There is a lot of difference between a self tapping zerk and a self tapping screw or tek screw, but I wouldn't recommend using one, both for contamination reasons, and the fact that you are not trying to tap threads into mild steel. I suspect there will be some difficulty tapping the spline tube even with a quality tap due to the hardness, let alone a self tapper. Don't drill out to 1/8 NPT either, a 1/4-28 straight thread zerk would be way more gooder!

 

Personally I've never seen a self tapping zirk

 

https://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=58790
http://www.sri-supplies.com/zerk-straight-1428-self-tapping-58790000.html

 

I only know about them because on my Camburg Upper Control Arms you have to screw on the self taping Zirk fitting. The hole is pre drilled two on each arm total of 4. You simply take the provided Zirks and slowly screw them in to the pre drilled hole they are very slightly tapered. They get tight.

I was worried about metal shavings going into the space, but I had access to this area prior to installing the bushings. And No metal shavings were found. They work great