Wallowed out drive shaft hub bolt holes.

OLDBULL8

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On my 92 the left rear wheel would lock up and skid when braking. Finely got around to see why. Pulled the wheels off and the brake drum, drum had rust about half way around it, thought this is what's making the shoes grab, sanded the rust off. All the brake components looked just fine. So putting it back together and wheels on, I noticed the wheel would rock but not the hub. Holy Crap, all the hub bolts were loose, turning it I see that the bolt holes are really wallowed out, taking the bolts out, one was even sheared.
Bolts are 3/8" or mm don't know which for sure. My thought's on a fix.

Drill out the bolt holes to 63/64", ream out next to 1/2", do this 3/8" depth into the hub itself.

Have my buddy make bushings OD .502, ID to fit bolt OD., length to fit depth. With a .502 OD that would give a .002 press fit which the bolts could press them in. Blue Loc-Tite on the bolts, Red Loc-tite on the bushings OD.

Anyone got a better way to fix it.
 

Dieselcrawler

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Are you talking about the axle shaft bolts? It is common for them to come loose under heavy loads. I have found studs and nuts that fit the hub hold it much tighter. As for your hub, find another one. If needed I have one on the shelf.
 

catbird7

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I had a re-occurring issue with the axle bolts becoming loose on my old 74 F250 and the problem was resolved by simply installing new lockwashers! However the "stud" idea sounds like a better solution
 

riotwarrior

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Lost me @ driveshaft hub bolt holes...

Which friggen holes and where exactly are they...a pic would be clearly best description at this point.
 

OLDBULL8

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I'm talking about the axle drive shaft with the drive shaft flange on it. You can unbolt it and pull the whole drive shaft out, don't know if it's a Dana 80 or a Sterling.
 

crash-harris

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That's the axle shaft. Driveshaft is what drives the pinion.

Studs and nylock nuts will fix that. The class A axles have the axle shaft retained with studs, nylocks and small washers.
 

laserjock

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If it's a sterling those bolts are actually 7/16 Bill. If the shaft holes are wallered, I'd probably just swap it out. They aren't that hard to come by. Put a fresh o-ring on it. I've got the size somewhere. Had a thread a while back on replacement bolts which are a special do-dad. There was a link to an article on studding it too. You have to counter drill the hub a little to get the stud to work. That lets the center section of the stud act sorta like a shoulder.
 

icanfixall

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Much easier to change the axle shaft Bill. Just the idea of the setup to drill and fab up bushings is making the point the hard way. Don't know the correct torque on those axle bolts but best to use some blue loctite on them and buy new bolts designed for this application. Not the run of the mill home depot grade 8.
 

OLDBULL8

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To clear things up, here is a couple of pics of the hub, and the broken bolt. Yeah I know there is a wheel lug missing, anyone have of the nut/ring nuts? Need four, one missing on each wheel.

The damn bolts must be mm, ran a 12-1.75 mm die over them. There a grade 8 for sure, milli muckers grade them different, there damn hard I know, had to drill starting with a 1/16" drill, then keep stepping up to a 7/32" to get a easyout into it. Ruined three sizes of those Craftman left hand drills.

Don't know what rear end it is, Dana or Sterling, but I can pull the shaft out with no problem by just unbolting the hub flange 8 bolts. No oil will come out. Never worked on a rear end before, except on my 84 Motor Home F350 chassis which is the same, only to do new brake shoes.

Now, I'm just going to get new bolts and lock washers. Bolt the SOB up and let her go as is. Yeah, clean out bolt holes good and Blue Loc-Tite.

Actually measured the bolts OD, there .454, the bolt holes are .458, the waller from side to side is only .480, thats only .022 slop.

With the bolts loose and turning the wheel, it seemed to be a lot worse than it actually is.

@laserjock don't think there 7/16" bolts, but will check that out for sure before buying any bolts. Bolt head take a 5/8" socket so they could very well be 7/16". Dearly hate the mix of MM and SAE. A 7/16" bolt should measure .437 OD.

Thanks guys for all the suggestions.
 

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typ4

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Go to a dealer, 92 up could very well be metric. I found this out getting bolts for the 91.
 

franklin2

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So putting it back together and wheels on, I noticed the wheel would rock but not the hub. Holy Crap, all the hub bolts were loose, turning it I see that the bolt holes are really wallowed out, taking the bolts out, one was even sheared

The above statement from the very first post has me wondering. Why can he wiggle the wheel because the axle bolts are loose? The axle and the bolts that hold it in do not support the wheel/brake drum. He might have a wheel bearing problem, or the spanner nut may be loose that holds the wheel bearings. That would explain why the axle bolts are loose and one is broke off. The axle is trying to do the job of the wheel bearings. If this is true, a broken axle may be the next thing that happens, if the little bolts stay tight.
 

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