Advice for a better loctite to solve rear suspension hub clicking

My rear left suspension hub lasted two years with red loctite on the splines and is now clicking again. The splined hub for the wire wheel is new.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a product that better than red loctite so that the clicking will not come back in my lifetime?
Also might anyone have an excess halfshaft end like circled in the photo below?
Thanks
Dennis
69 OTS

Dennis,
Consulted with a Loctite design engineer and his recommendation was to use Loctite 518 - Flange Sealant on the half-shaft splines. Itā€™s Medium strength so disassembly at a later time would be possible. Very important consideration IMHO.
Copied this description from their Internet site:
LOCTITEĀ® 518 cures when confined in the absence of air between close-fitting metal surfaces. It is an anaerobic gasketing material designed for use on rigid iron, aluminum, and steel flanged mating surfaces. LOCTITE 518 fills gaps up to 0.25mm and forms a flexible, chemical-resistant seal that will not tear or decay. Parts disassemble easily, even after extended service. Typical applications include sealing close-fitting joints between rigid metal faces and flanges. It is also used as a formed-in-place gasket on rigid flanged connections, e.g. transmissions and motor housings.
The engineer also recommended Loctite 243 for those applications requiring a threadlocker.
Beware of fake products being sold via various Internet sites. Genuine Loctite products are made by Henkel, made in the U.S.A. - not China!
I havenā€™t reached that stage of restoration yet but after a lengthy discussion over the phone I feel his recommendations should be correct for my IRS rebuild. Not affiliated with Loctite or any firms selling the product! Just a little Jag experience under my beltā€¦

Stay Well and Happy Trails,

Dick

Good Idea, Dick. Thanks for doing the reseearch.

Thanks Dick.
What I wonder if the Loctite 518 is strong enough to resist the torque as the description says it is flexible. I would have thought something that hardens might be better. Even if very tough to take apart!!
Dennis
69 OTS

Hi Dennis,
In my opinion, flexible would be desirable. Where shock loads are concerned (rapid reversal of load due to acceleration and braking), in my opinion, the Loctites that cure hard would be more subject to fatigue.

ā€œTough to take apartā€ is an understatement where some of the Red Loctites are concerned, to the point where disassembly by pressure only is impossible (without damaging something). Heat is required to destroy the properties of the Loctite and it needs to be a soaking heat; there is just too much air space insulating the area where the heat is required for a localized flame to be of much use, Just for this purpose, we have a commercial, electric Pizza oven that is large enough to take the whole Half Shaft, Hub and Hub Carrier assembly.

Brent

Dennis,
When I began the discussion with the Henkel/Loctite engineer I furnished him pictures of the half-shaft spindles to allow him to better address a suitable product. He indicated 518 was used in numerous ā€œlikeā€ applications in industry and would be very suitable for the spline shaftsā€¦ The 518 would not set until well after assembly if assembly was not delayed.

Most of the box stores wonā€™t carry 518 so you may have to order via the Internet. Just make sure itā€™s a USA made product. I opted for the 1.69 Fl Oz/Cont. 50ml size as that should me more than ample to coat both shafts.

Stay Well and Enjoy Happy Trails,

Dick

You have done great research! What is the consistency of the 518 when you use it? I suspect it is not watery like regular loctite??

Dennis

Hi Dick
I ran across this comment under Loctite 518 on Amazon.
Did you use an activator?
Dennis

Amazon REALLY needs to include the fact that you ALSO NEED TO ORDER the activator separately.
This requires the spray activator on NON-Active metals like aluminum.

A long time since I had my OTS series 2, but I recall having clicking rear hubs due to the wheel splines being devoid of grease. Your new hub may be the culprit.

Iā€™m wonder if he is taking into account the reversal forces that the splines take on the cars? Generally industrial uses would be in a constant one direction?
Iā€™ve used red loctite on my ā€˜40 and XJR hub and yes it can take some getting apart, and it has to be cleaned off prior to reassembly.

Hi John,

It was making the click before I bough the new splined hub for the wires wheels to mount onto.
Then it clicked with the new hub. Then loctite cured it for 2 years but now it is backā€¦
Dennis

Dennis,
As I stated, Iā€™ve not reached the point in my '74 OTS restoration to overhaul the IRS. The engineer did mention an activator but for this application he felt it would not be required. There would be nothing wrong using the activator I guess, just another added expense though.
Henkel /Loctite makes many, many products. To classify one just as ā€œRed Loctiteā€ is nebulous at best. The accompanying product number (e.g. 518) is needed to correctly identify the product along with itā€™s application/purpose.
Again, ease of removal is as important as the sealing/filling properties. After going over various Henkel products he felt Loctite 518 offered the best features to meet the spline mating application.
Dick Maury may have some insight into what professionals use in IRS rebuild.

Stay Well and Happy Trails,

Dick

FYI - you can download the technical data sheet (TDS) and safety data sheet (SDS) for the Loctite products from their website. Looks like itā€™s a gel-type consistency and a couple of activators are identified, but not required:

https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/us/en/product/flexible-sealants/loctite_518.html

Iā€™ll reinforce this message! I was in the market for some Loctite 638 retaining compound and saw it advertised on Amazon at a too-good-to-be-true price, but with free returns. I bought it just to see. It was made in India, which baffled me a little bit because Henkel does have facilities in India, and the bottle/packaging was very convincing to me. It even had some of the characteristics of the anti-counterfeit bottle Henkel released last year (according to this Youtube video, at least).

I tried it out the Amazon product in a bench test and while it did ā€œretainā€, it was certainly not nearly as effective as the ā€œreal dealā€ 638 I purchased from McMaster-Carr.

I requested a return for the Amazon product and received a refund, without the need to return the product.

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Dick,
Are we talking about the splines on the wheel that match same on the hub, or the splines on the half-shaft onto which the hub locates?

Splines on the half shaft that go inside the hub!

Dennis

When you guys started talking about these products for locking up the inner hub splines in thought you might get to these products, as they are directly applicable to our situation. Retaining Compounds

Iā€™ve used 609 in a few instances and suspect you canā€™t get it apart after - I couldnā€™t, even with high heat. Anybody know anything about this line of Loctite products? The rear hubs on both my cars are driving me crazy! Used blue thread locker. Itā€™s ok until the hub heats up, then when cold it goes silent again, but that is not a solution.

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Hi Terry
This looked good as it referred to splines!
Dennis

I couldnā€™t find a tech sheet for this one. Most have them and describe assembly and disassembly - this one doesnā€™t. But I agree it looks good for what we are doing.

Terry
I have sourced a spline from David Boger in the USA. I learned about him through the Forum.
He may have more splines.
My wire wheels and hubs they locate onto are new and did not solve the clicking problem so the problem is the spline of the halfshaft.
Dennis