I hate to say it, but loose bolts on a u-joint would have probably given out a lot sooner if the mechanic "forgot" about them. The centripetal force of the driveshaft spinning would have forced them apart rather quickly. Did you not check them that morning?
did they re use the bolts? at the mine i worked at, we reused them and used red loctite or theyd come out....mech told me that for highway, to be legal, had to use new bolts....no idea if thats true or not.
I've pulled dozens of u-joints in my time at a truck shop. If I reuse the u-joint I always just loctite the bolts in. I can't see the logic as to why you couldn't re-use them. They're just a regular 3/8" UNF bolt on the full round style.
If they are torque to yield then no you don't want to reuse them. That may be where thet don't reuse came frome
My mechanics helper ran a screw through a hot wire in my door after replacing window motor.600 miles from home and my cab starts filling up with smoke.fire dept had to be called.truck was towed to freightliner.entire dashboard and wiring and airlines had to be replaced.my insu rance company took care of the work in the beginning but they sent pictures and all imfo ration to his.they paid me for down time and repairs.being that it was alot of wiring.I sold the truck after that.electrical problems never end
Well the truck is parked at a shop for past 3 days because they cannot find the correct part. The part they want is : yock from transmission for the driveshaft. The transmission was changed by previous owner and they cannot find the serial number or what kind of transmission it is.
I bought used 2013 International with Maxforce engine truck 280,000 k ran beautiful Quite Smooth lots power. for 2 weeks then started using Antifreeze approx. 1 gallon every 2 hrs highway or running time . took to international dealer in Edmonton several times( where I purchased truck) . In 3 months truck spent about 1 month time there.guess what happened to my run/ I was looked at as unreliable ( did dealer care ) tried argue with them about problem they just wanted money it my problem not theirs that they can't fix it.Yes I ended up paying them thousands get the truck running for a day before lights and buzzers going off saying low coolant again. I'd just keep pouring coolant mixture in to make it a week to try get some income Finally they had truck A MONTH to get it right!! Only runs left was ones nobody wanted so I told them they could keep the truck
If the electrical system had been designed properly shorting any hot wire should have tripped a breaker or blown a fuse, sure the helper may have shorted the wire with a screw, but a blown fuse or tripped breaker should have been the result, not total melt down.
