Axle bolts connect a vehicle’s drive axle to a wheel hub or axle shafts. They are made of hardened steel and commonly installed with a liquid thread-locking compound and lock washer. They are used to secure the axle to the wheel hub in fully floating type axles and to connect the outer half shaft assembly to a drive yoke or flange in vehicles with independent suspension. Adding a spacer eliminates the need to add longer axles when installing a vehicle lift kit.
There are two types of axle bolts, and each does almost the same job. Axle bolts are strong bolts made of hardened steel used to connect a vehicle’s drive axle to a wheel hub or to connect axle shafts. Commonly consisting of axle bolts and lock washers, bolts are often installed using a liquid thread-locking compound as well as a lock washer.
On a fully floating type axle, as is typical of heavy-duty trucks and other heavy trucks, axle bolts are used to secure the axle to the wheel hub. Commonly made up of eight axle bolts, the bolts are placed through the axle flange and threaded into the corresponding bolt holes in the wheel hub. To remove a fully floating shaft, the bolts are removed from the shaft flange and set aside. The axle shaft is removed from the wheel hub and removed from the axle housing. In some high-performance applications, bolts are used to secure a drive flange to the wheel hub, and a straight shaft with a slot on each end is held in place between the differential and the drive flange.
On vehicles with independent suspension, axle bolts are commonly used to connect the outer half shaft assembly to a drive yoke or flange that protrudes from the differential. Typically used in four or six bolt kits, the axle shaft is held securely in place and connected to the center section of the driveshaft by heavy-duty bolts. For four wheel drive vehicles, adding a suspension lift kit involves removing the bolts and separating the axles at the flange. Usually an aluminum or steel spacer is added between the drive flange and axle shaft, requiring longer bolts to compensate for the thickness of the spacer.
Adding a spacer eliminates the need to add longer axles when installing a vehicle lift kit. On some extreme lift kits, the spacers are designed in such a way that two complete sets of axle bolts are used to install each side’s spacer block onto the axle. Instead of a single bolt running through the shaft, spacer, and drive flange, a short bolt is used to connect the spacer to the drive flange. Another short bolt is used to attach the shaft to the spacer block. Using two bolts per side is often stronger than using one very long bolt per side.
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