Staking axle nuts?
 

Back in November I upgraded to a SS differential with 1LE axles/hubs and torqued the axle nut to 199 ft-lbs per the service manual. Last night at the track in the staging lanes some one stopped me and said my axle nut was hanging off the wheel. I'm thinking it started backing off last time I was at the track when I had very bad wheel hop, the vibration was just enough.

Question is, I've been reading people staking the axle nut to prevent it from backing off. Can I do this with the Camaro axle nuts?

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/attach...1&d=1426942494

The only axle nuts I ever stake are on Hondas, and maybe a few other import cars. They have a little flat spot on the end of the axle looks like a keyway on the crankshaft where the pulley goes on. You just hammer the thin edge of the axle nut in there. I guess if you really wanted you could grind off a square on your axle and fix the threads so you could stake your nut but I don't think its needed. If a wheel hop is going to break loose a nut torqued to 200ft.lbs. I don't know if a little piece of bent metal is going to stop it.

A lot of these newer cars I work on recommend replacing the axle nut anytime it is taken off, like its only good for one tightening. The ford trucks have ones that even say "don't reuse" right on the nut. I'm not sure if our cars use a lock nut or not.. apparently not if yours came ALL the way off to the end of the threads.

My original V6 axles didn't have grooves but the 1LE axles do. The service manual I have is for 2010 so there may have been a change on the 1LE.

You can hit it with a chisel and deform it right at the threads if you want. Getting into the threads a little bit won't hurt, it'll clean up when you remove it next time. That's a common way to do it on different applications.

How did you tighten it last time? They might be torque to yield, which means they should be replaced. A big ass impact gun will usually yield it enough that it is fine, although not an official recommendation.

I bought a 25-250 ft-lbs torque wrench just for this job, torqued it to 200 ft-lbs. But this was in November and the temp was 20 degrees in my garage, don't know if that might have been part of the problem also. This was on the passenger side, will take off the driver side and see what the torque is on that one.

It was all brand-new parts during the install for the axles, hubs, and nuts. I have to order a new wheel center cap so might as well order a few more axle nuts too, just to make sure.

When I took my axle nuts off my SS, they were staked from the factory so when I installed the 1LE axles I staked those too. The pinion nut looks just like that axle nut (different size) and it is staked as well. That thin flange at the end of the nut is what is meant to be staked. I just put a punch on it and give it a few whacks with a 48oz maul.

Some axle nuts are purposely distorted (oval shaped) so they can't work their way off. If you reuse it too many times it will approach round, and since they can't be staked, create a problem. If I reuse an axle nut on my Silverado, I put Loctite on it. I don't really like reusing them, but when you take CVs out frequently, chasing down axle nuts gets old.

Thank you, will stake them now, my V6 axle nuts weren't but they were smaller.

this is the problem i have with my GForce axles. even with loctite they still come loose

That ain't good. The mfg should have provide a nut that won't losen, i.e. lock nut of some form, one you stake or a castle nut with a cotter pin.

CV axles have to have a way to compress with the independent suspension. If that outer slides inward and then you go over a bad bump and it jams, the CV joint won't like that at all.

Once you have it torqued to spec, give the nut a good hit with a small drift pin over the groove to deform it into the groove. We use these in Aviation all the time.

We use a Lock nut on our axles, do you want me to see if they fit the stock on and if not if we have any for it.

Thanks, will see if the locktite holds first though.

When I initially installed the axles I had the suspension in full droop, maybe the axle got hung up in the hub causing a false torque? This time I jacked the lower control arm until the axle was parallel to the ground so maybe that will help also.

I also have your one-piece driveshaft, that thing transfers power immediately.