driveshaft bolt removal

[andy10v]

I agree, however when you come to a set that somebody has had a go at with an allen key or a torx bit.... (and not bothered cleaning it out)

[Error404]

haha, yes we've all been there! No accounting for muppets

[driftin jo]

They should not strip if you clean the heads out properly and get the bit properly seated, they are designed for very high torque bolts

A good technique is to first scrape out all the crud you can with a small screwdriver or such, then spray a little wd40 in the there, then insert the spline bit and hammer it in.

This will clean the front half or so out of the spline but it will more than likely not be all the way in as it will have pushed rust and crud up ahead of it that will now be in the bottom of the hole compressed preventing in going all the way in.

The trick is to now remove the bit and scrape the crud out and then hammer the bit back in, it should now be all the way in and you can undo the bolt with no fear of stripping the spline out.
If your bolts are very clean you could probably omit this but I doubt they are crud free unless someone replaced them in the last few years.

[S2TORNADO]

A good technique is to first scrape out all the crud you can with a small screwdriver or such, then spray a little wd40 in the there, then insert the spline bit and hammer it in.

This will clean the front half or so out of the spline but it will more than likely not be all the way in as it will have pushed rust and crud up ahead of it that will now be in the bottom of the hole compressed preventing in going all the way in.

The trick is to now remove the bit and scrape the crud out and then hammer the bit back in, it should now be all the way in and you can undo the bolt with no fear of stripping the spline out.
If your bolts are very clean you could probably omit this but I doubt they are crud free unless someone replaced them in the last few years.

sound advice. you only get one chance to do it properly with the spline drive all the way home.
once its chewed its chewed and you'll regret the extra 30 seconds time you tried to save!!

[andyg plym]

well went to machine mart and ot the set alex attached.....end result allbolts out,and gearbox out through the front and a happy camper.Thanks guys-especially alex(error 404) and also stu (4wheeldrifter) for his helpfull post on removing box once engine already out