Loose wheel on freight truck axle

[Bill Wilkins]

Just to satisfy your curiosity do it to a half inch nut and bolt and see what happens.
BGBill

[kenrinc]

Good points. I've not heard of anyone using thread locker to glue an axle to a wheel but I guess it wouldn't surprise me I typically use 680 which will retain and seal up to .015" clearance but have also used 609 and 620 as well. 620 is the "high heat" version if you don't know. Irrelevant for driver axle bonds but could be useful for something else. As was noted, Loctite has an expiration date. I typically keep them for 1 year sealed in an air tight container. After that they get thrown out.

As was noted, when used properly, Loctite is insanely strong for this application. It is a amazing how difficult it is to remove an axial assembly such as a driver/axle when done properly. Which brings up another tip. If you've designed your driving box assembly to use sealed bearings and you use Loctite to assemble the driver/axles there is a high probability that you will have to replace the bearings in the driver/axle assembly that you need to disassemble. The heat needed to "shock" the Loctite into failure will absolutely ruin the bearings on the other side of the axle. Ask me how I know

Take the time to learn how to properly use it. Clean joints and complete coverage of the surface is very important. I had a crankpin spin on me that had been Loctited in the driver. If you ever look at a "failed" axial assembly using retaining compound, you'll easily be able to determine if the joint released due to shear or bad assembly technique. I had a crankpin spin on me and when I removed the pin I knew immediately it was my fault. I had one "wipe" of Loctite on about a 1/3rd of the circumference of the assembly. I was amazed I got 4 separate run days or about 12 hours out of it.

Ken-

[cbrew]

Ken, i just assembled wheelsets using 680 with a date of 5/2015, but it is well over a year old, should i be concerned?
all joints are cleaned with acetone and the wheels are spun to make sure the product is distributed evenly and set to cure over night
Thoughts?

[littleevan99]

I remember seeing something that said that Loctitie doesn't usually go bad that fast. As long as it comes out of the bottle it should be fine. Of course I could be wrong. I have a bottle of 609 that I've been using for just about everything that needs a retaining compound. So far none of the parts joined with it have failed just from testing things. The bottle has an experation date that went up about 5-10 years ago. But we just started using it about 8 months ago.

[cbrew]

ok, Thanks. the product is flowing the same it did when it was delivered off the brown truck. so i am not going to sweat then

[kenrinc]

Chris that date seems fine to me. 2015? Mine were all really old in years. I do this just as practice, my guess is the reality being that it will more than likely last much longer than that and I do keep some older stuff for "one off" jobs that aren't critical. Before I threw away my older bottles of 609 and 620 I did notice that it changed color from it's initial color. It looked a lot different from when new. It did still come out of the bottle but I figured after 10 years it might be safer to purchase something "current".

Ken-

[110HLW]

I've not heard of anyone using thread locker to glue an axle to a wheel but I guess it wouldn't surprise me

I work in a good size machine shop were the foreman think thead locker works on anything/everything! That's all he will ever get, even though we (the machinist) had asked for the right stuff for the job! I just work there.

[DavidF]

I've not heard of anyone using thread locker to glue an axle to a wheel but I guess it wouldn't surprise me

I work in a good size machine shop were the foreman think thead locker works on anything/everything! That's all he will ever get, even though we (the machinist) had asked for the right stuff for the job! I just work there.

Silly foreman, he should know only duct tape is for everything....

[cbrew]

Chris that date seems fine to me. 2015? Mine were all really old in years. I do this just as practice, my guess is the reality being that it will more than likely last much longer than that and I do keep some older stuff for "one off" jobs that aren't critical. Before I threw away my older bottles of 609 and 620 I did notice that it changed color from it's initial color. It looked a lot different from when new. It did still come out of the bottle but I figured after 10 years it might be safer to purchase something "current".

Ken-

yeah,, it sure looks like 2015 but then i read they only give one year heck it can be 2010
anyways Thanks!

[prr094]

I just realized that this is not something that your local Lowe's or HD carries. My local Grainger's had it the next morning after calling to see if they had any on hand. I plan to do the repair over the weekend. I will let everyone know how I make out.

Russ