I just replaced my auto hubs with superwinch manuals. I've read here about the hex bolts backing out but what happened to mine appears to be different. The bolts did not loosen, but the hub itself seems to have seated farther in so that now it is loose. The bolts can not be tightened further, so I just took them out and used some lock washers to take up the extra space. Is it normal for them to hit "bottom" and not tighten any further? They were much harder to back out this time than they were originally which also seems weird.ÂÂ
From what I've seen posted here, people have problems with the bolts backing out because the stock hubs used dished surfaces with cone washers (or something like that) and the aftermarket ones are flat so they don't have enough surface contact. My stock hubs and bolts were flat however. Actually, they didn't look like stock auto hubs in that they didn't have anything printed on the outside and didn't have the rounded end, but they were auto hubs and they didn't work. The new manuals work fine.
I've only fixed one side with the washers so far and am going to wait a day or two to see if it holds so I don't have to do both over again if it doesn't. I was going to use locktite as well but it really seemed that the bolts had not come loose, only the hub had seated in farther. Weird.ÂÂ