Re: Loctite on axles splines?

[Joshua Van Tol <jjvantol@uswest.net>]

>Hmmm. I would say, having removed a sizable number of axle shafts in 
>the last few
>months at my new job (trainee tech, AKA CV joint guy)- there's no 
>rhyme or reason
>to why this is done. Some cars have it more than others. I've had four Audis
>apart, and none of them had it. About half the A2 GTIs had it- and 
>the majority
>of Volvo 850s. This last, however, may be be due to the fact that 
>this shaft is
>often coming apart for the first time since initial assembly, and the factory
>uses it. As a matter of course, the shop I'm at never loctites the splines. We
>have to use pneumatic hammers to push the shaft through when this locking
>compound has been applied. PITA!
>If you think of the forces at work here, I can't think of a single reason it
>should be necessary. Under what circumstance is the loctite going to be the
>deciding factor in holding the hub together??
>Regards,
>Rob

It almost certainly isn't a factor in holding the hub together, but 
what about keeping the splines from moving within the hub, and 
causing fretting? It could be that the loctite on the splines 
prevents some sort of noise or vibration that's caused by such a 
thing happening.

That's the only good reason I can think of for it being there...


Joshua Van Tol -- jjvantol@uswest.net