Broken, then stripped diff cover install.

[Beancooker]

So I swapped out the rear diff cover yesterday. All was going well aside of a failed torque wrench. I overtightened a bolt and it snapped. I was fortunate enough that I was able to back out the broken end.
When I put another bolt in and tighten, I starts to get tight and slips a little. So the threads are stripped. The other 11 bolts went in just fine and are good and tight. There are no leaks. Everything seems fine.

That said, this is my 4 month old Rubicon and I am stressing out about this. Logic tells me that it should be fine, but what do you all think?

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[Carolina Jeeper]

So I swapped out the rear diff cover yesterday. All was going well aside of a failed torque wrench. I overtightened a bolt and it snapped. I was fortunate enough that I was able to back out the broken end.
When I put another bolt in and tighten, I starts to get tight and slips a little. So the threads are stripped. The other 11 bolts went in just fine and are good and tight. There are no leaks. Everything seems fine.

That said, this is my 4 month old Rubicon and I am stressing out about this. Logic tells me that it should be fine, but what do you all think?

Drill it out and use a helicoil thread repair. Done.

 

[Beancooker]

is it okay to drive in its current state?

 

[SlowPoke21]

If it’s not leaking I would think it’s totally fine to drive.

ugh. 4mo old….

 

[garyji]

Just curious. What are the torque values on those bolts. Seems like it would take a ton to snap one of them .

G.

 

[Beancooker]

34 foot pounds.

Yes, I am an idiot. I should have stopped when I was thinking, “this seems like a lot of arm strength for 34 pounds”

about the time I thought that, snap.

 

[Carolina Jeeper]

If it’s not leaking I would think it’s totally fine to drive.

ugh. 4mo old….

The oil is being thrown off of the gears at a pretty high velocity at highway speeds. If it weren't for that it may never leak with the missing bolt. I've never been one to trust a missing bolt on any oil pan or diff cover because of that.

If you leave cover bolts too loose or missing, a pressure washer can and will push water through to the inside of the diff.

 

[SlowPoke21]

This is true

 

[BuffaloBill]

When I swap‘d gears this spring, while putting covers back on using a torque wrench that had recently been calibration checked, I got the sensation that taking those bolts to the specified torque is so close to the what they can take before breaking or stripping.

Anyone else think the torque spec is a bit higher than required?

 

[Beancooker]

Cool. Thank you.

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