Ever have your WARN hub bolts break?

[Blue85]

I keep breaking the allen bolts that hold in my Warn standard locking hubs (10-bolt axle). They are fine in service, but when I remove them, they will just break off and that's just with screwdriver torque. It almost seems like some kind of galvanic corrosion is going on between the inner part of the hub and the bolts. What are these bolts even made of?

I have replaced two of them with stainless steel ones which are holding up fine so far. Unless anybody has any better suggestions, I will just get 10 more stainless steel bolts.

 

[diesel4me]

Never-seize

I had a few break,but after I replaced them with new bolts and used anti-seize compound on them I've never broken another one...I suppose wheel bearing grease would work too,at least for awhile...

I dont know about stainless bolts--they can be brittle,and very difficult to drill out if they break--I'd stay with regular allen head bolts,they are pretty hard steel too,grade 8 probably--no picnic drilling them out either if they break too... ..

 

[HarryH3]

I use stainless steel screws and slip a small O-ring over each screw. The holes where those screws go into the hub body are the only place on the hub that doesn't have a seal. The O-rings keep water out of the bearings (and the screw threads).

You also don't need to crank down those screws very tight.

 

[gotmud77]

I had a set that i could not get out so i ended up drilling the out and replacing and then using a like antiseze on them. That took care of the problem. I never heard of the o ring on the hub screw sounds like a good trick.

 

[Blue85]

The thing is, they aren't seizing up and they're not torqued down tight. I'm removing them with an allen screwdriver. When they break, a few threads have already been backed out. Then I can spin out the broken off part with my fingers. It's like they are starting to crack while they are in the hub and then when I start messing with them, they snap off.

It would stink to be on a trail or alongside a road and not be able to reattach the hub cover because all of the little bolts broke.

The stock auto hubs have O-rings on the screws and I never had any problems with them leaking. The warns let some water in before I started putting some silicone in with the screws. Of course, I haven't left the hub submerged in water for an hour since then, either.