Thread locker required?

[traildog]

I recently had my differential gears swapped for 4.88 due to larger tires. After ~12k miles, the rear axle blew up. The bolts in the rear diff did not have any thread locker on them. Shouldn’t there have been?

 

[grubworm]

yeah...the differential will get hot and cool off, and that could cause the bolts to loosen over time. also, the differential sees a good bit of vibration.
I've heard that NEW bolts that are properly torqued would not necessarily need thread locker, but definitely use it if reusing bolts.

 

[smritte]

I always have. But I also always use new hardware.

 

[Kent R]

This happened to a member as he was pulling into PNW Expo last year, same issue with no lock tight.
The shop should fix it for you.