Bolts For The Middle Of The Driveshaft On An Ae86

[Sloth]

I was recently driving home from Melbourne to Canberra along the Hume when we heard a large thump. Shortly after we started hearing some grinding noises that sounded like they were coming from the engine, gearbox, driveshaft or diff.

 

To cut a long story short, it turned out that the bolts for the bracket that holds up the center of the two part driveshaft had come loose. This meant the driveshaft was hanging down and touching the exhaust. Since we were about 30kms from anywhere I went into emergency repair mode and discovered that the bolts from the seat mounts actually fit and was able to make it the rest of the way home (with a wobbly seat).

 

My question therefore is:

Is it ok to continue using these bolts? Or do I need to replace them with longer bolts or something special.

 

(As a side question, is anyone on here running a 1 piece driveshaft, as I'll probably need to replace mine soon and it sounds like less can go wrong if there is only 1 piece instead of two).

 

[Sam_Q]

yes its fine, both are rated for that kind of use

[Sloth]

yes its fine, both are rated for that kind of use

 

Thanks.

 

Spoke to my mechanic today who said the same thing, and apologized as he mustn't have tightened them enough after doing the service.