I'm in the process if rebuilding my front Drive shaft of my DII 65000 miles and I'm taking my time and going slow. The question I have is about the 8 nuts that I removed from the front and rear of the drive shaft. I want to replace these, so should I go to the dealer and get them or can I go to home depot or someplace like that to replace them. They had a lot of Tq on them so I’m wondering if they are special or not?

 

Hardware store, they are nothing special. Try for grade 8 but I believe the stock is only grade 5. Good luck. Glad to see somebody else willing to DIY this task.

 

Yeah I got mine from Ace Hardware... Grade 8 3/8" with 24 threads.

 

I think the Rave recommends replacing them because they're locknuts, but I reused mine with no issues. And they actually don't get a huge amount of torque. Front prop bolts only get 35lbs. Rotoflex bolts on the rear get 56lbs.

Different strokes.

 

Quick tip, make sure the centering ball is pressed completely down in the hookes joint. If not the last u joint you put in will not be centered. It seems simple enough, but if you don't get every millimeter out of the centering ball it will make your life miserable.

 

I have reused mine 3 times with no issues, save your money.
Are you replacing both the u-joints and centering ball?

 

Yep I'm doing it all. The reason I ask about the nuts is because they were on there pretty tight. I was worried about getting one of them off without stripping it. I did get it off without stripping it completely but I'm not going to put that one back on so If I have to buy one I might as well buy eight. I was just making sure they we not some special bolt.