Dana 35 bearing cap bolts

[Shannon Neal]

I recently had a bang come from the dana 35 while pulling off from a red light while in second gear. Trailered her home and pulled the diff cover. Turns out, my left hand side diff bearing cap bolts had backed out and broke the lower one. This chewed up my ring gear pretty good. Anyways, parts are on the way. My question, can the bearing cap bolts (not the ring gear bolts) be reused? One broke so i'll have to replace it for sure but was wonder if the others need replacing also. I've been in this diff a couple times now over the years and have never changed them out. Also, does anyone know if I could just find a matching grade 8 and slap in there? I've spent the last hour reading through a service manual but it doesn't say one way or another from what I could find. Thanks!

 

[MichaelGH]

I would not reuse the one that backed out, but didn’t break. I would be afraid it was tweaked and weakened, in some capacity.

I would go to a local pull-a-part and remove a couple bolts from a Dana 35 differential to use.

 

[CharlesHS]

The question that should be asked IS....
How did the bolt loosen and back out IF it was torqued properly ?
The torque listed in the Factory Service Manual and the Forums torque listing for 1997 Dana 35 in '97 is 80 ft/lbs.
What is the condition of the bearing caps ?
Since you are replacing the left side bearing cap bolts; I would also recommend replacing the right side bearing cap bolts (4897 482AB).
I would also recommend adding a small dab of the blue loctite to the bearing cap bolts when torquing them.

 

[Shannon Neal]

The question that should be asked IS....
How did the bolt loosen and back out IF it was torqued properly ?
The torque listed in the Factory Service Manual and the Forums torque listing for 1997 Dana 35 in '97 is 80 ft/lbs.
What is the condition of the bearing caps ?
Since you are replacing the left side bearing cap bolts; I would also recommend replacing the right side bearing cap bolts (4897 482AB).
I would also recommend adding a small dab of the blue loctite to the bearing cap bolts when torquing them.

The bearing caps appear un-harmed. I assume they backed out the first time due to not being torqued properly and no loctite put on. It's been over a year since I last rebuilt it.

 

[Shannon Neal]

The question that should be asked IS....
How did the bolt loosen and back out IF it was torqued properly ?
The torque listed in the Factory Service Manual and the Forums torque listing for 1997 Dana 35 in '97 is 80 ft/lbs.
What is the condition of the bearing caps ?
Since you are replacing the left side bearing cap bolts; I would also recommend replacing the right side bearing cap bolts (4897 482AB).
I would also recommend adding a small dab of the blue loctite to the bearing cap bolts when torquing them.

Turns out, I assume this is why it actually backed out. Take a look at the marking letters that are circled. I guess we got in a hurry on last install and completely missed this. Also not the boss shoulder of each bearing cap, all photos I've seen online show the thicker shoulder of the bearing cap to point towards the inside of the diff. Whoops.

 

[CharlesHS]

Turns out, I assume this is why it actually backed out. Take a look at the marking letters that are circled. I guess we got in a hurry on last install and completely missed this. Also not the boss shoulder of each bearing cap, all photos I've seen online show the thicker shoulder of the bearing cap to point towards the inside of the diff. Whoops.

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Thank you for the pictures....
That clarifies where the problem is....