Rear end saddle bolt Torque

Bruceynz

Bruceynz

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Hi Guys,

Does anyone know the torque settings for the tiny we bolts that hold for the saddles that go over the cross on the rear end, there are 2 caps and 4 bolts. Where I have tried to draw the red lines.

Thanks
Bruce

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I agree, 170 inch pounds (54 N-m).

I have broken those bolts before - and it is hard to get in there with a torque wrench to do it correctly.
BudW
 
My small kd tq wrench went down to 10 ft lbs so I dialed in 14 and got an adapter to drive a smaller socket and they are done, 14 doesn't seem much.
 
They're basically valve cover bolts, just a higher grade. Torque only needs to be enough to stretch the bolt a certain amount to keep it under tension and not loosen. Doesn't take much on a 1/4" bolt.

Side note: The straps and bolts are fine for stock or mild performance but, at a certain level it's best to switch to a yoke that uses u-bolts. Much, MUCH stronger and are good insurance. I've got a billet steel u-bolt style in my car. Came from Denny's Driveshaft, along with the driveshaft itself and billet trans yoke.

This type:
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Ok do you think they will hold the mag ok with RV type cam? Also do they only go on one way, the holes look center in the saddle but they seem to sit outwards a we bit on the cross caps and they have yellow paint on them

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You will be fine with your 360, especially with an automatic. The bolts don't really hold against rotational torque, most of that goes to the yoke itself. There is a load on the bolts when the u-joint operates it will try to "twist" out of the yoke. That puts a tension load on the bolts. I have seen them break, usually with a big block and 4-speed though. Another advantage of the u-bolt style is they support the u-joint cap better. They have less surface coverage but more support, if that makes sense. Hard to explain what I'm trying to say.

The straps can go on either way, they always hang off the outside edge of the yoke a little.
 
New mopar ones are fairly inexpensive. I usually put on new bolts and straps when I pull the driveshaft.
OOPS, didn`t realize your not in the US .
 
I've found the correct-size u-joint u-bolts in the "Miscellaneous/HELP" section of the auto parts store, not sure how it is in NZ but there aren't that many different sizes of u-joints to begin with.

The u-bolts are stronger because they act a bit like a spring as you tighten down the holding nuts, it keeps a constant tension pulling the u-joint onto the pinion yoke whereas the stock bolts and straps become "solid" as they're torqued down so anything that happens to loosen one of the bolts even slightly will make the whole assembly loose and the u-joint will pop out. Also the bolts attach right at the center of the mating surfaces (near centerline of u-joint bearings) which puts more stress on them. Like Aspen500 said this is more important with manual-trans cars with lots of torque (big block) because the driveline gets "smacked" with torque on a hard launch instead of a more even push like an auto trans and that hard "smack" is what breaks things.
 
I'd try to avoid using "HELP" section parts for something critical. Made in China usually and I've seen way too many Chinese parts fail, or be bad right out of the box, lately and that's if the part is made well enough to actually fit in the first place. There is a reason the price is lower.
 
If the Help stock is old Made is the USA I would think it would be fine but the made in China stuff just scares me.
 
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