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Article to 4 Wheel Drive & Sport Utility Magazine ( Cód. : 223 )

por el Profesor 4x4 de All Parts USA.

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Fecha

Mayo-2003

Contribucion de

ElProfesor4x4 (Argentina)

Email

profesor4x4@comcast.net

Web

http://www.patagonia4x4.com.ar

Keep it tight!

A drop of prevention is worth more than

a bad day on the trail.

(Or how the right adhesives and sealants can save the day.)

Photos and text by Daniel Starc.

If a cheap, easy to get and easy to use product can stop that annoying little bolt from working its way loose from its rightful place on your rig for the tenth time, would you use it? If such a product can hold some key parts of my 4x4 in place and prevent catastrophe, I’d run to buy it, wouldn’t you?

Many of us know about thread sealants and Crazy Glue™, but usually that is all we know. We know that we can buy and use some sort of threadlocking compound to retain bolts, and we also know that if we wanted, we could suspend ourselves with a hardhat from a beam with Crazy Glue™…yeah, we also know about Teflon™ tape, which we use to seal pipes and "wet" systems. But that is usually all we know, or all we care to know. Well, my fellow four by four fans, I am here to tell you that we have an ally by the name of Loctite. The more we know about their automotive sealant and adhesive products, the better our "sealed" rigs will fare out on the trails, staying tight and together for much longer than "non-sealed" rigs. Racecar mechanics and builders have relied on them for decades; some will not put a vehicle together without these compounds. Gear shops use it, most good mechanics use it, so should you.

I should stop right here and say that I am in no way associated with the Loctite Corporation, and I am getting zero compensation for writing this. I am writing this article because I have been a very happy and convinced user of their products for almost two decades. A drop on the threads or the surface to be sealed is usually all it takes, so a small bottle will last you for years. I have raced and/or abused many different types of vehicles over the years, and a common reliability factor has always been Loctite. I say just "Loctite", as this word has, over the years, become a generalized term used by most folks when referring to any type of retaining, sealing and/or locking compound. But "Loctite" is not just one compound, not at all. Fortunately for us, the Loctite Corporation has developed an extensive selection of products for just about anywhere in your 4x4 where you have to hold, retain, lock and/or seal components, regardless of their material composition. Metal, plastic, rubber, glass? No problem. High temp? Sure. Vibration resistant? Yep. Wicking? Of course! Before writing this, I thought about putting up some of the information I got from Loctite on a couple of charts, but it would have been too large, too technical and too boring to read. So instead I decided to list what I have been using for a long time, and let the reader decide what he or she may need. Let’s look at some of their most commonly used products first, then we will investigate a little further. Many of these products are sold to industrial outfits and large manufacturers only (believe me when I tell you that most vehicle manufacturers have an account with the Loctite Corp.) but are available to the general public, so your local parts shop usually carries half dozen of them, and they can order for you the ones that they don’t usually carry or keep in stock. Rummaging through my garage, my well-used trail toolbox (the big one, the one I use on long trips) and my little weekender-trip toolbox, I found sealants, retaining compounds and adhesives, and I will list them below highlighting some of their characteristics. These are the ones that after many years of use I feel I should always have around, just in case. I was truly amazed to find out that all the ones I had, except for a lonely tube of Duro Crazy Glue™, were made (or at least sold) under the Loctite name! Talk about cornering the market… Their product line is divided into:

· thread lockers,

· thread sealers,

· retaining compounds,

· instant adhesives,

· gasket / flange sealants,

· activators,

· accelerants

· and other.

Threadlockers

These are formulated for locking, sealing and holding threaded fasteners in place

Compound 242: removable grade, for up to ¾" bolts, works to 300°F, blue in color. This is probably the most common type of Loctite threadlocker sold; can be used in most threaded fasteners on your 4x4. Compound 272: high-strength, high-temp (450°F) threadlocker, for up to 1,5" bolts. Red in color. I use this one for bolts that must stay put and need no frequent removals, especially in the engine compartment. Requires between 200 and 220 foot-pounds of torque to break treated fasteners loose.

Bolts of all sizes can be retained, locked

and sealed by a Loctite product

Compound 277: high-strength threadlocker, resists shock, heat and vibration, for large bolts. Protects threads from rust and corrosion (most of them do). Red in color. Same as compound 272 except better suited for larger bolts. I use it in suspension and steering bolts & nuts. Requires over 275 ft./lb. to break loose treated parts.

Compound 290: wicking grade for preassembled parts, up to ½", works to 300°F, green in color. Used to seal welds and porous metal parts. Great for those bolts that are already assembled or that you forgot to treat before assembly. 85 ft./lb. break strength.

The three most commonly used Loctite threadlockers and their distinctive colors,

which makes them easy to identify in a busy shop environment.

Thread Sealants Designed to prevent leakage caused by vibration loosening, tape shredding, sealant evaporation, damaged threads and temperature cycling.

Compound 592: (not pictured) high strength thread sealer, instant cure. 10,000 psi. resistant. Working temperature range is –65°F to 400°F. Compound 545: (not pictured) for high pressure fluid power systems, up to 10,000 psi, such as hydraulic systems. I built and assembled a leak-free braking system with the help of this one. Great stuff. Purple in color. Holds pressure like crazy. Will not foul valves or filtering systems, as Teflon tape can. Operating range –65°F to 300°F. Compound PST: a gel replacement for Teflon tape. It contains emulsified Teflon, hence the name PST, "Pipe Sealant with Teflon". Much, much better than tape! Use it wherever you used the old Teflon tape, and you will never use tape again.

Retaining Compounds

Formulated to increase the shear strength of cylindrical assemblies

Compound 609: used to hold bearings and races in place, 3,000 psi shear strength, works to 300°F, green color. Use in axles, bearing races, etc. Great to retain things such as u-joint caps, shafts, etc.

Instant Adhesives

High performance, application-specific instant adhesives, with choices in viscosity, cure speeds, thermal resistance, substrate (material) compatibility and gap-filling abilities.

If you thought that Crazy Glue was good…these are the best there is. All three are Military-Specification (mil-spec) high-strength adhesives. They are absolutely amazing. You can literally hammer on the bonded areas, and it won’t even chip! They are the Arnold Shwarzennegers of instant (cyanoacrylate) glues!!

Compound 380 ("Black Max"): a toughened formulation, for close fitting parts, black in color, 3,750 psi shear strength. Simply unreal for jobs where a truly tough glue is needed. I’ve heard stories of cars glued bumper-to-bumper with the help of this stuff, a primer and an accelerant (more on these last two items later on the article…).

Compound 415: gap filler, metal bonder, clear in color, basically a crazy glue on steroids for metals.

Compound 416: gap filler, plastic bonder, clear, basically the crazy glue for plastics.

I also have three types of crazy glue, one is the gel type (so it won’t run), one is the one used for adhering rearview mirrors (a nice glass-to-metal bonder…), and your classic crazy glue formulation, the only non-Loctite product I found in my personal inventory. I have reattached a small tooth filling on the trail using the gel type…I’ve also tried the "regular" crazy glue and ended up with half of my lower lip attached to my lower teeth…(don’t try this at home!). As you can see, the uses are endless…

Gasketing / Flange Sealants (Silicone)

Best suited for large gap applications and stamped metal assemblies.

Compound 5699: oil and water resistant gasket maker, excellent for differential covers and similar applications (rigid flanges). Grey in color, fast curing. Handles up to 400°F so it works just about everywhere in your rig. Excellent resistance to gear oil, ATF, glycol and water; non-corrosive. Need to make a gasket? This one can more than likely do the job...

Other I also carry the classic old standby, Cold Weld, the two-part mix that we all know and love. But I find myself using others unless the gap to be glued or filled is too wide, then the Cold Weld comes out (seen below with 3 instant glues).

Activators and accelerants

I do not have any of these in my personal inventory at the present time, but I cannot leave them out. Loctite has designed a line of activators and accelerants ("A & As") that greatly enhance some of the properties of the aforementioned products. They improve the gap-filling properties and greatly reduce curing times. They also help treat the surfaces to be bonded. I had a small spray bottle to accelerate my Compound 380, and when the accelerant (an aromatic amine formulation) and the glue came in contact, the glue seemed to "boil" as it fumed and sizzled…in seconds, it was fully cured. For example, some of the adhesives fully cure in 24 hours without A & As; with them it takes 2 to 3 seconds! Folks in the NASCAR pits, where seconds count, use A & As.

How to use them

Most Loctite sealants and adhesives are applied by simply putting a small drop on the part to be treated, be it a bolt, nut (whichever is easier to access), race, sleeve, etc. A & As are sprayed or brusehd on. Another nice thing about them is that unlike other products, they do not change the true torque readings of a bolt or nut.

The top left picture shows the most common Loctite compound, number 242, which can be used on most bolts on a 4x4. It’s blue in color. The top right image shows a higher strength thread locker, Compound 272, red in color, being applied to the same bolt. In the bottom picture (above) you can see the wicking compound (green in color) entering the already assembled threads. I will simply say that I’ve counted over 140 sealants, threadlockers, adhesives and realted products in the Loctite literature, and over 20 activators and accelerants. Here is a taste of what they offer: 11 threadlockers, ranging from formulations for small plastic fasteners, bolts with light oil contamination, stud lockers, high temp lockers, wicking, permanent fastening…8 anaerobic gasket/flange sealants, for aluminum, flexible, high temp, slow curing, fast curing, for robotic applications…14 silicone-based gasket/flange sealants, from oil resistant, mil-spec, water resistant, water and oil resistant, low odor, copper mix, or compression formulations…11 thread sealants, such as low strength rapid fixture, hydraulic, medium strength for coarse threads, low halogen, low sulfur, Teflon-free, instant, etc…11 retaining compounds, 31 cyanoacrylate adhesives (the crazy glue family…), 18 light-curing adhesives (activated by light), 30 medical adhesives and 10 engineering adhesives, used to replace spot welds and other mechanical joining methods in assembly lines (some are strong enough to replace spot welds in automotive and equipment manufacturing!)…and I am leaving out electrically conductive adhesives, thermally conductive adhesives, conformal coatings, encapsulants, porosity sealers…need I say more? If you need more information, contact Loctite through the source information provided below or go talk to your local parts shop professional. As you can see, a whole vehicle can be improved just by adding a little drop (of the right compound, of course!) here and there. Things will remain together, tight, and rattle-free. This will also help reduce surprises on the trail, such as when you stop to check on a thunking noise coming from under your rig only to find that you’ve dropped essential parts somewhere back on the trail, probably in the deepest mudhole or down a crack in the rocks. A treated bolt, nut or component is much less likely to loosen up and fall off, believe me. I rarely (if ever) have to stop for those reasons, and when I get back home and do a check, I rarely find things that need retightening. The way to ensure that you will use them is to keep them handy. I do, and I have made a point out of putting a drop every time I assemble something, whatever it is. Having just the basic 242, 272, 290 and PST around is all you need for a good start. With most of their products priced between 5 and 20 bucks, it is hard to ignore the benefits that they can provide you and the peace of mind you’ll have when you hit the trail…Keep It Tight!

By Dan Starc

danstarc@aa.net

http://www.4x4argentina.com

http://www.patagonia4x4.com.ar

Drawings and specifications courtesy of the Loctite Corporation.

SOURCE INFORMATION

Loctite Corporation

1001 Trout Brook Crossing

Rocky Hill, Connecticut 06067

1-860-571-5100

Adhesive and sealants specialist:

1-800-323-5106