Proper use of Loctite

[bigfutz]

I replaced my brake booster and am wondering about proper use of Loctite. All the nuts looked like they had blue Loctite applied heavily to the inside of the nuts and then allowed to dry before installing on the studs. They were a nightmare to remove. Should I follow that method, or just back the nuts off and put it on the stud and tighten down wet?

 

[Oldblue98]

Factory will use loctite on a lot of things, honestly before loctite was on the scene I never seen a booster bolt work loose on anything. But a drop of blue will not hurt, put it on and tighten wet.

 

[454cid]

I replaced my brake booster and am wondering about proper use of Loctite. All the nuts looked like they had blue Loctite applied heavily to the inside of the nuts and then allowed to dry before installing on the studs. They were a nightmare to remove. Should I follow that method, or just back the nuts off and put it on the stud and tighten down wet?

The factory gets bolts from their suppliers with thread locker already applied. It's designed to dry on the exposed threads and activate upon use. Most of us have Loctite 242 which is not designed to work that way. It would take forever to dry exposed, and then It probably wouldn't activate when threaded on to something.

There are times where I can't remove all of the OEM thread locker even with a wire wheel!

When I work on my truck almost everything gets anti-seize or Loctite, depending on what I'm working on.

 

[RichLo]

Same here with the loctite or anti-seize on everything. Its really cheap insurance.

As for the proper use of loctite, I use 'high-strength' for 90% of my uses (including sealing NPT fittings from leaking) or 'permanent' for the other 10% that really need to be locked down.

Then anit-seize on pretty much anything that gets hot, exhaust manifold bolts, O2 sensors, Spark plugs, etc

 

[Jared Jackson]

When using loctite on a bolt... I always ran one small strip down one side of the threads. Then drove the bolt in wet. I wasn't trying to cement it into place, just wanted to give it something to hold it from backing out.

 

[bigfutz]

There are times where I can't remove all of the OEM thread locker even with a wire wheel!

I soaked the nuts in acetone for a bit and the factory loctite fell right off.

 

[454cid]

I soaked the nuts in acetone for a bit and the factory loctite fell right off.

That's good to know, Thanks! I'll try that next time it doesn't want to come off while cleaning up the hardware with the wire wheel.

 

[Ken K]

I have high strength RED, medium strength BLUE, and GRN to be applied after nut is tight. Just don't let your son put RED on the lug nuts, like he did on a vehicle he worked on. Torch works great!

 

[bigfutz]

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Oldblue98]

You must be registered for see images attach

The last one should be come bleed or blister !