Axle Bolt Question

Corbin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Location
Athens, Oh
TDI
06 Jetta, Reflex Silver
I just replaced the right side cv axle on my 06 Jetta in preparation for holiday travel. Of course I forgot something:

I forgot that the axle bolt is a single use TTY bolt. I want to get on the road tomorrow. What are the odds NAPA or other parts store will carry this bolt. Is it always a dealer item? If I do find one from a parts store, can I trust it?

Secondary question: the new axle I installed made a grinding noise for the first couple minutes of driving. It went away promptly. Maybe the grease just needed to get distributed. Anybody ever hear of this? I've not encountered this before. It is a new VW OEM axle.
 
Last edited:

Mongler98

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Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Where did you gett the cv axle? is it a remand? Hope its a quality one and not from any box store or remand core. if it is, its garbage and i would not drive around on it unless you had no choice. the remand process is so bad and the parts are junk.

as far as your axle nut, you will be fine for now if you put some blue locktight on it. every car i have ad i never replace the nut even if it is one you bent in the tab on. blue locktight actually has more holding force by 500% than the deformed shape of the one time use design of a nut. Ever try and take one off with a socket and wrench? the blue locktight takes an extra 100ft lbs to take off in my experience. we did some tests with this years ago at a shop i worked at. torqued various new nuts and old nuts on and off and found that on average it took about 100ftlbs of force to take them back off vs no locktight on a new nut. clamping pressure and rotational torque have logarithmic like scales of force. what this means is 10ftlbs of force equates every 10ftlbs =doubling the force. now this tappers off quite a bit due to thread stretch and deforming of the threads.

Point is, its been proven over and over that locktight is just fine for this. If you were driing a 200mile and hour porsche i would advise against this lol, but its a daily so your fine. Now i know im going to get crap about this but the fact is that unless you need a to measure bolt stretch or a engine component or a critical area like the bolts on the flywheel, or heat areas like exhaust manifold nuts and studs and what not, blue locktight is better. Red locktight is PERMANENT, sometimes you can get it off with heat but its difficult even then. one time use things are for dealerships and parts company to make money. Why do you think the bolt for my 04 ford escape is $48.~~ from the dealership?

TLDR:
put blue locktight on it, hope your axle lasts a while for your trip, dont trust it. fingers crossed. Good luck
 
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AndyBees

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Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
YTT bolts "stretch" which is why they need to be replaced. Their use has been around over 30 years.

I don't think the Axle Nuts are YTT. I believe it has more to do with the crush design as they are like a lock nut.

And, there is a "tightening" procedure for the axle nuts that should be followed to seat the bearing ........ may have been why you heard the grinding! The sequence requires a certain amount of torque on the nut and then roll the car forward a certain amount, etc., to finish the torque process. It's all in the Bentley
 
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Corbin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Location
Athens, Oh
TDI
06 Jetta, Reflex Silver
YTT bolts "stretch" which is why they need to be replaced. Their use has been around over 30 years.

I don't think the Axle Nuts are YTT. I believe it has more to do with the crush design as they are like a lock nut.

And, there is a "tightening" procedure for the axle nuts that should be followed to seat the bearing ........ may have been why you heard the grinding! The sequence requires a certain amount of torque on the nut and then roll the car forward a certain amount, etc., to finish the torque process. It's all in the Bentley
Oh, wow. Interesting. I didn't know there was a tightening procedure. Maybe I'll re-torque the bolt tomorrow.
 

Corbin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Location
Athens, Oh
TDI
06 Jetta, Reflex Silver
Where did you gett the cv axle? is it a remand? Hope its a quality one and not from any box store or remand core. if it is, its garbage and i would not drive around on it unless you had no choice. the remand process is so bad and the parts are junk.

as far as your axle nut, you will be fine for now if you put some blue locktight on it. every car i have ad i never replace the nut even if it is one you bent in the tab on. blue locktight actually has more holding force by 500% than the deformed shape of the one time use design of a nut. Ever try and take one off with a socket and wrench? the blue locktight takes an extra 100ft lbs to take off in my experience. we did some tests with this years ago at a shop i worked at. torqued various new nuts and old nuts on and off and found that on average it took about 100ftlbs of force to take them back off vs no locktight on a new nut. clamping pressure and rotational torque have logarithmic like scales of force. what this means is 10ftlbs of force equates every 10ftlbs =doubling the force. now this tappers off quite a bit due to thread stretch and deforming of the threads.

Point is, its been proven over and over that locktight is just fine for this. If you were driing a 200mile and hour porsche i would advise against this lol, but its a daily so your fine. Now i know im going to get crap about this but the fact is that unless you need a to measure bolt stretch or a engine component or a critical area like the bolts on the flywheel, or heat areas like exhaust manifold nuts and studs and what not, blue locktight is better. Red locktight is PERMANENT, sometimes you can get it off with heat but its difficult even then. one time use things are for dealerships and parts company to make money. Why do you think the bolt for my 04 ford escape is $48.~~ from the dealership?

TLDR:
put blue locktight on it, hope your axle lasts a while for your trip, dont trust it. fingers crossed. Good luck
It is a brand new VW axle, not a reman or Chinese one. Maybe I'll re-torque with locktight to get me through the trip, then replace later. I get a little paranoid and superstitious about the TTY bolts!
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
The tightening procedure is a bit different from car to car as I recall (actually, nut design if I remember correctly [multipoint vs 6 point]).

I do not have a manual that covers your '06. So, you should do an on-line search to find the correct procedure. Once found, if it were me, I'd loosen each nut, then move the car maybe one or two rotations of the wheels (forward and then back) and, then re-torque the nut per the proper procedure.

Then, drive more, worry less!
 

Corbin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Location
Athens, Oh
TDI
06 Jetta, Reflex Silver
AndyBees I don't think the Axle Nuts are YTT. I believe it has more to do with the crush design as they are like a lock nut.[/QUOTE said:
Oh I see what you're saying. It's not a nut on my car though. It's a bolt, and is definitely supposed to be a single use bolt.
 

volmaniac

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2003
Location
McFadden's Ford, Stones River NMP M'boro, TN
TDI
02 Golf GLS
Here is the tightening procedure for mk4 bearings. It may not be as critical since you are replacing the axle but not a bad idea to follow it. edit I see Andy pointed out that you have a mk5 so you should see if this applies.

The technique for the pre-load for wheel bearings is outlined by VW and in the Bentley Book. It is very specific and should be adhered to.

Once the bearings are installed on the axle shaft and the vehicle is on the ground, tighten the 12 pt nut to 150 ft lbs (200 Nm), then loosen 1/2 turn. Turn the wheel 1/2 turn by rolling vehicle, then torque wheel nut to 37 ft lbs (50 Nm) + 1/6 turn or 60 degrees.
 

Corbin

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Location
Athens, Oh
TDI
06 Jetta, Reflex Silver
Here is the tightening procedure for mk4 bearings. It may not be as critical since you are replacing the axle but not a bad idea to follow it. edit I see Andy pointed out that you have a mk5 so you should see if this applies.
Oh great. Thank you! I'll try to do some searching to see if it applies to mk5 vehicles.
 

narongc73

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
VA/OH
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
tight as you can without a 4ft breaker. i've replaced the bolts and reused many times. no failures in 200k miles
 

AndyBees

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Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Oh I see what you're saying. It's not a nut on my car though. It's a bolt, and is definitely supposed to be a single use bolt.

I went to IDparts' web site... a 2006 Jetta is designed like all the rest, the use of a Nut on the end of the Axle.

So, question, are you talking about CV Joint bolts?

EDIT: Well, excuse me ........... looks like the A5 uses a bolt! Wow!
 
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Mongler98

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Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
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98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
cv joint bolts? wth are you talking about. can you provide a part number or link please. i am unaware of ANY bolts on ANY cv axle. Do you mean the hex alen bolts that connect the cv axle to the trans axle on the transmission? (trans axle bolts)? I am unaware that they are one time use. those you want to torque down properly with some blue locktight for sure and make sure the threads are spotless, brake cleaner with the straw and a .22 rifle bore brush and an air compressor or canned air. clean the threads and mating surface, blue lock tight at the end of the bolt, put them all in and cross torque them to spec, probly about 20fltlb and go voer them again. i have had them back out on multiple cars that did not do the procedure right. they are bolts. again its stronger than one time use deal bolts or nuts.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Mongler98, he's talking about the one and only bolt that screws into the end of the Axle to hold the wheel on.

The MK5 uses a Bolt not a Nut.... which, I admit that I was not aware!

I've never purposely replaced CV Joint bolts on any VW that I've ever owned and I've been driving them since 1973......... changed numerous CV Joints in Beetles, Rabbits, Jettas, Golfs, Vanagons, etc. When ordering kits, if they come with new bolts, yep, I use them! Never used Loctite either.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
what the hell? i would be afraid to over torque that bolt unlike a nut. then again it would be easier to drill out a bolt than it would be to take of a stripped nut lol. VERY INTERESTING. I would still go with locktight if your reusing the nut or bolt. Most of the time a bolt one time use is due to deformation and stretching of the threads and bolt shank. torquing it down changes its shape, take it off and put it back on and its going to deform MORE every time you put it back on and torque it down, this will deform and stress the bolt. seeing as this holds the wheel ON THE CAR (i think) i would not reuse it more than a few times and would defiantly replace it if i had it on hand. But in your case OP, just locktight it on for now and change it next time you are in there or have your tools out. you will be fine this time for sure but reusing it would be questionable and for the risk, not worth it as it comes with the axles. A nut on the other hand is not going to shear off or snap vs a bolt, strip out sure but thats from over torquing it not from the stress of deformation.
What an odd thing to do on a car. never have i ever seen one. guess its better or cheaper, probably cheaper.
 
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