Thank you all for suggesting a video review on threadlockers. Pro-Seal: amzn.to/3j4wk1v JB Weld: amzn.to/34qHYA0 Vibra-TITE: amzn.to/2QnJBpz Loctite: amzn.to/2ErqKre Permatex: amzn.to/34qXDPM
@project farm Hey there bud. You should do a video on which company makes the best thread taps! Reviews are all over the board, and they all seem to be paid reviews.. Choosing cheap china bargain brands over USA made high carbon steel taps. Thanks again for all you do
Are thoes links afliated to you? cus I just bought the Vibra-TITE and need it for 2 projects: the bolts on my transmition keep backing out, and the bed frame squeaky :) (In a good way)
I’d love to see you re-due this video with the newer thread lockers and break them down between colors. I think your testing has come a long way since you made this video too!
Also agree, blues / mediums are supposed to be easily undone with tools just not come loose by themself. They should be tested for how consistent and predictable they are. As they can be used in tamper evident bolts. If machine applied they can give a very predictable undo torque which is hard for a user to replicate even if they measured it.
There's also loctite knockoffs that come in similar looking bottles but at a much lower price. Curious to see how those compare to the name brand. Would love a comparison between green, blue, and red thread locker as well.
Popped in to say that the first time I saw one of your videos, I was blown away by the meticulous details and preparation you put into each and every episode. Thank you for all the effort you put in to give us as consumers the information you discover.
Yup. When I worked in a bicycle shop, I was amazed at the amount of bulge you can get on a steel steerer with an aluminum stem stuck in it without any grease and then left out in the elements for a year or ten. Steel & Aluminium: best friends forever.
I was amazed that Loctite failed consistently before the other options. Looks like I am changing to a Vibra-Tite. Thanks for making these videos. They are a great learning opportunity for products that I've been told are the best.
I've been using Permatex for years, thread lock is a must with a Harley! And the residue it leaves can be somewhat reused, I reinstall my seat bolt 4-5 times before reapplying. But it looks like I may change to Vibra-tite when I need more! I really like how the gel stays in place!
great to see and all but maybe a criticism, medium thread lockers are designed just to prevent vibration from loosening, the absolute strength is really arbitrary, you could use a stronger threadlock if strength was a concern, then maybe 'that' test is all about strength, as long as the medium ads some resistance, it will overcome virbration, it needs some 'elastic' type ability not just the breakaway, but resistance after the fact too, like the plastic nylocs offer, please dont let this put you off doing tests!
I agree. Great comment. Although, it definitely gives me a better idea of how much force I can expect before the nuts/bolts need before I need to worry about them coming off.
Jusb1066 Exactly what I was thinking. I've got a whole collection of various threadlockers for a variety of scenarios. Back in the day I thought there was simply red and blue until I started getting into machining.
Very good, consistent testing. I suggest testing them under load, such as on cylinder head bolts, by bolting heavy steel bars to lawnmower body, on window regulator mounting bolts, etc. to get more of a real world scenario. Also, may be worth doing something similar with screws (lower torque than bolts) to see which is more appropriate for that application.
Alum will dissolve iron, and the vinegar and alum in pickle juice really works rust over fast, also, a mixtuer of 50/acetone and 50/ATF Dextron works as well or better than most rust penetrants.
Thanks for your great videos. Always helpful. I think even the worse one at 8 lbs is more than sufficient to accomplish what those using blue thread locker want to accomplish and that’s to prevent the fastener from backing out.
Locktite Blue has always served me well for tiny set screws that I do not want locked permanently. This is one of the tests where the strongest is not necessarily the best, if we need something really strong we would use red. This one may actually come down to the application you wish to use it in more so than strength.
Loctite Threadlockers.... Loctite purple is low strength Loctite blue is medium strength Loctite green is medium/high (in my experience if you use this, then don't expect to disassemble without a blow torch.....) Loctite Red is High Strength as in "It aint going anywhere......." Just use the colour that suits...... simple as that.
Did you watch and learn about other thread lockers in this video? Sounds like you argued with yourself the whole video convincing yourself locktite was the best instead of listening. Btw also you don’t need to teach about anything. Ever.
@@stu-oe5sg I have extensive experience of industrial adhesives and thread-lockers and therefore shared some valuable technical information. If you have a problem with that, then the problem is yours......
Thank you for this test. From an industrial perspective, removable means just that. Having high-load removable strength is typically not ideal, and therefore permanent types of different levels have a purpose. Very informative, thank you for this video.
I dripped some blue thread locker on a washer laying on a metal table and it adhered to the table. That tells me that thread locking products must be a form of anaerobic sealant. When i saw the washers in the testing wet with thread locker it made me think that it might skewed the results a bit. Great vids!
Surprised to see locktite do so poorly.Being probably the brand most think of when looking for a thread locker.As always, a good and thorough no BS test.Thank you.
This product is not meant for maximum strength, though. I've used blue Loctite (242) for many, many years, and it has always worked well (no screws/bolts backing out), and it is meant to be removed with hand tools without much force. Maybe the others are too strong for the intended application. The red threadlockers are intended for maximum strength.
I guess branding and advertising is what made me think locktite was the best you could get. Great video!!! Ever wonder which is the best oil filter?? I have. And i bet branding and advertising will leave a lot of people surprised!!
I would recommend in these test do a control with no product to see what the baseline is with no product. Then you can know how wuch each product is better than no product. Also maybe use a homemade product to compare. I do enjoy your clips.
that would take a lot longer and larger of a test than he has within his means, since threads galling even when torqued incorrectly isnt guaranteed to happen without an anti-seize applied.
Just found this page. It is a blast. I actually use silicon on bolts that are removed on a regular basis, but are subject to vibration, mainly my dirt bike and various parts on my Harley. I rarely use thread locker. Silicon's properties don't change over time and cleans of surfaces really easy. Since I am constantly doing something on one of the bikes, I find it works great, never had it fail once. Thread lockers, over time, still work, but always leave crap behind and make it almost impossible to torque bolts to proper specs without wasting a lot of time getting it all off.
I use to rebuild construction equipment and one of the things I rebuilt was K saws. The one brand had 4 little screws that held the air cleaner on. We tried several thread locking compounds and the screws would vibrate out and the concrete dust would wipe out the motor pretty quickly. After working there for a while I tried putting blue silicone I think it was permatex, over the screw heads. I would test run the saw and if it was all good the silicone would set up overnight and that stopped them from backing out. It didn't look great and the next time it needed work you would need to scraped it off with a razor blade but it stopped the problem. Just something to think about if you run into any issues like that. Keep up the great videos.
Since blue lock tight is medium strength thread locker, and it maintained the same sheering force for both before and after vibration (it's intended purpose), I would say that lock tight performed best. As far as high strength thread locker, the others seemed to be across the board!
I kinda shocked to see the blue fail as quick as it did. When I do flex plate or Torque converters, I always use Red, because of this test, glad I have.
Permatex Surface Insensitive (#24027) is their version of this, which has been around for a long time actually. It does have higher strength when cured but still performs in the "medium-strength" class (hand tool removal).
Great vids ! Thank you Myself i like the loctite blue in a “lipstick” tube #248 very easy to apply just a light swipe on 1 side of a bolt and survives years of harley vibration. Fyi Loctite has these tubes for blue red never seize, pipe thread sealant, gasket tack, copper antiseize i keep them all together on side of my box. On the harleys we loctite or safety wire everything almost as bad as mil-spec helicopter vibration. Try em ya might like em too. I have a pic of the rack i made to keep em standing like soldiers if you like to see it. Thanks again
Excellent video. I have a guitar with 3 stubborn parts that just don't seem to stay where I tighten them. The Vibratite would definitely get the job done, maybe too well, and these parts need to be able to come off for repairs. For me, the Loctite is the perfect application to keep the parts secure, and easily removed when access is needed.
I know this is an old video, but I never saw it before. Now I'm having flashbacks from decades of being a crane mechanic and dealing with bolts that were threadlocked from the factory. Great video! I'm gonna go sit in a corner and cry for a little bit.....
I have been really enjoying you're recent work. Thank you very much. How about a repeat of this test under hot and cold cold conditions? Even the epoxy under cold and heat would be awesome. Thumbs up and let's make it happen :)
I've been watching a few of your videos and I'm always impressed with the controls and very diligent detail planned for each experiment. please keep up the great work.
I really enjoy all of your videos. I love the fact that you don't have sponsors, it adds a lot of credibility to the tests. I also like that it's not always the best brand name that wins out. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for the test. I'm coming up soon on replacing the lower ball joints and outer tie rod ends on my 99 4Runner with almost 330k. One of the main issues is finding the right thread locker on each of the lower ball joint brackets, which seat four per side. Some people have mentioned using the same ones; however, with the amount of time and money, this isn't an option for me. I often hear from the offroad community that the mounting bolts can shear off from extreme use. I cannot thank you enough, for all your work and enthusiasm! Your as good as they come in this crazy world we live in! 👍
My first job was working in a small factory making molded rubber products. A few months after starting to work there, I got the job of mixer - making up batches of various synthetic compounds. Handling carbon black, various oils, etc made a mess of the hands. My boss gave me some stuff he had which, for some reason, nobody else had used. General Electric product, don't recall what the name of it was, but a white cream I out on my hands and it quickly dried. End of the day, hit it with water and the stuff instantly dissolves, carrying the oils and so on with it. That was many years ago, so I've no idea if it is still made or even what to look for, but it was a miracle product for sure.
Yes! I work in the oilfield, and have tried many different hand cleaners, best I've personally found is Joe's Hand Cleaner, I wonder how it stacks up with his methods!
I personally like Adam's hand cleaner... Smells great and gets the job done adamspolishes.com/collections/home-care-hand-soap/products/adam-s-hand-cleaner
Thank you for the recommendation! I plan to do a test on this, but I'll need to carefully design the test to ensure valid and conclusive results. Thanks again!
Awesome! I've heard old timers say that ATF/acetone 50/50 is the best penetrating oil going, would be great to have a fair test against commercial products.
Thankyou for keeping RU-vid to what it should be! You can tell you like learning through these expirements and you make them super informative and entertaining to us.
Thanks man am an auto mechanic for a Chevy dealer and this really gave me a good insight on thread lock I use to just use whatever now I know there really is a difference
You have no idea how much I value your tests. Please burn oil on a burner to show which one is the best. We did this one winter night in the shop and we was surprised which one did the best.
There’s not much to improve without getting a sponsorship, you would need to spend probably at least triple what you do to produce the videos to improve them substantially enough to at least quickly increase viewership; you do a great job and are highly appreciated
Your videos are very informative, I'm enjoying watching them and the ways you come up with ideas to test the different applications. A quick tip: To extent the shelf life of your thread locker of choice keep it in the fridge when not using it.
Project Farm It would be interesting to see how the VibraTite and ProSeal (blue) compare to the lowest performing red competitor. Also, do you have any other equipment or vehicles that could offer a more severe vibration/movement test than a walk-behind mower handlebar (which is mighty good at vibration already!)?
I really enjoy your channel, as an Mechanical engineer. In this case are there really a significant difference between theese? Will it really matter in a typical use case for medium threadlock?
You are a genius, plain and simple as that. I've been inside the bicycle industry for over 35 years doing product development for just about every major bicycle company in the world. Many of the top bicycle dSiigners are big fans of your PF test videos. For years I've been arguing with my colleagues about bicycle high-speed rotational wheel balance. I keep telling them it is just as important if not more important then aerodynamics when it comes to Rolling Efficiency, high-speed handling and above all safety. As I told them all, it all comes down to Newton's first law Inertia... A mass that is put in motion will continue in motion unless interrupted by an OUTSIDE FORCE (ie aerodynamics), or an OSCILLATION (ie balance). Anyways, it would be great if you contacted me and see how we can show the world if you combine great existing Aerodynamic technology to perfect wheel balance, you'll end up with the fastest, smoothest and safest bicycle wheels on earth. You see currently these top bicycle designers think wheel balance is silly and useless to increase performance. So my challenge to you is to find a method to prove if you speed balance a bicycle wheel it will give you a lot more distance and handling performance using the exact energy effort as before. Knowing you, this will be Child's Play... By the way, I was blown away how you bounce a double AA battery to see if it's new or used. Only PF! If you want to reply please contact me at dan@dynamicspeedbalance.com Sincerely Dan Sotelo
Brandon A The 190 proof stuff will, it's basically moonshine/ethanol (the main component of e85 and the stuff they mix with gas with nowadays instead of lead).
Also would be curious to see a lawnmower run off 100% Avgas (100LL) which has Tetra Ethyl lead, and a lead scavenger. My guess is it would foul the pistons, No sweat if you can't find it, I used to work at an airport, and that was the only place I found it
You can get up to 110 octane from race shops, but Avgas is not legal for street use, and I don' think they can sell it not if they are not an FBO ( Fixed base Operator). They might carry leaded fuel, but probably not
I think you may have applied the Vibra-tite incorrectly. Vibra-tite is generally applied to threads and allowed to dry first, which is different than other thread lockers. The benefit of Vibra-tite is that it will work over multiple uses of the same bolt, whereas threadlockers have to be reapplied every time you remove a fastener
I dunno, and maybe I'm remembering incorrectly, but the proper procedure for installing the tie-rods on a Volvo 240 is to tighten the inner bit down and then ding in the threads with a prick punch.
You can make a lock nut by beating (peening) a nut a little deformed. Lots of CV axle nuts come that way from the factory. You can recreate it yourself with a punch and some patience
Renewable Oilcan Rim I know that if you have no choice but to install a union on gas pipe in an wall , you are required to use a hammer & punch to lock the nut in place.
I dont know how anyone could give this guy a thumbs down, probably one of the nicest guys on RU-vid. And spending alot of his own time and money. If you dont like his stuff just watch something else. No need for the negativity.
Im not one to comment on videos much, but I honestly really like your content. The videos you put out are all very informative and scientific. The tests you do always feel like they carry weight and mean something. I appreciate you taking time out of your days to make these videos for us car and motorcycle (and lawnmower I guess lol) enthusiasts so that we can truly know what's best for our machines that we cherish. Keep the content coming man 😊
What a test this was! Revealing the true strengths and applicable textures in all these formulations. From this video; I personally like the Vibra-TITE formula myself, however I also have a lot of Loctite stock left over from past purchases. I think looking into purchasing some Vibra-TITE would be well worth it; as it is on a category of it's own, with it's paste-like texture! The stickiness of the Vibra-TITE could be an advantage on a bolt, that would have to make it's long journey through and engine bay's confined areas. Lol! Where others might drip right off! Thank you Project Farm!
Blue threadlockers are meant to be easy to remove while preventing screws/bolts/nuts from backing out in less demanding applications. I've used blue Loctite (242) for many years with excellent results (no backing out when there had been before without it), and it is easy (and clean) to take apart when I need to do that. The others might be stronger (and messier) than necessary. I will continue to use Loctite 242 or 243 because it just plain works, although I will consider the JB Weld product because it is also clean and should do the job. If I needed maximum strength for demanding applications, I would use a red threadlocker instead.
I just watched your video on rust blockers An interesting long term experiment might be to compare the performance of good rust blockers vs thread locker in a longer term test of bolts exposed to challenging environments. Ie salt, brake fluid, hydrogen peroxide, acid
Every day I come across a new video of yours in my feed, and no matter how ancient it is I always watch them. You make some of the best content I’ve ever seen on RU-vid and I hope you never stop doing what you do!
just wanted to say thanks man! i love your reviews and i have learned so much about products i use frequently. test are well thought out and replicate real conditions well but most of all i appreciate the fact that your not a fanboy or show bias for any certain brand or style of products and thats such a breath of fresh air when looking for an honest review/test of different products! seriously thank you and keep up the good work!
I like the intro on this one, it could even go a little longer and be cool ... Good test! I've always had good luck with Loctight blue and red for most of my dirtbike racing. We even used it in my engineering workplace with good results... but that was 20 years back and things change.
Another great video. Thank you for testing different brands of thread locker . One would assume they are all created equal, it’s a good thing you are here for us to help us decide what brand applies best to our specific needs. I wonder how much more strength the red thread locker has over the blue . I heard it’s only applied on bolts you don’t have to remove later.
Two things: If you get a digital torque adapter, you can set it to record the maximum torque that it sees. So you could just put the digital torque adapter between your ratchet and your socket, then slowly increase your force on the ratchet until the fastener breaks free, and the torque adapter will display the maximum torque it saw, which will be the torque at which the fastener broke loose. That way you won't have to go through the process of checking at 7ft-lbs, 7.5ft-lbs, 8ft-lbs, etc. Other thing is: I'd be interested to see if your results change at all after your opened containers of threadlocker have sat on the shelf for six months or so. A lot of times I'm grabbing an old tube of threadlocker that's been opened (and recapped, of course) and then sat on the shelf for months at a time and I wonder to myself if it's still any good or not. I have heard that you shouldn't use the red threadlocker if it's sat around for a while, but I don't know if that's true, and I don't know if it applies to the blue threadlockers. I hope you keep the videos coming, I am enjoying them.
I definitely need to buy a digital torque adapter. This is an excellent suggestion. Also, thanks for the idea on testing aged open threadlockers. Both are great ideas!
This was eye-opening. What cure time did you use between application and the first test? I use medium threadlocker ALL the time, lots of different brands, too. I generally treat it as generic, never thought the formulations would behave much differently (although I'm using it only to prevent vibration loosening, not to glue things in place).
Everyone viewing this needs to first understand that medium strength (blue) thread lock is not primarily designed to be very strong, rather it is specifically designed to provide some locking resistance but also to be able to be relatively easy to remove. A medium strength thread lock that holds too well and is difficult to remove could be considered defective or improperly made. Therefore, a test that rates primarily for maximum strength for this specific product is not a proper indication of medium strength thread lock effectiveness or its proper performance since they are actually designed to break free at a specific torque. This should have clearly been taken into account in this review. Loctite and other manufacturers provide the breakaway torque specifications for each specific product in their technical data sheets which are usually available online. This is carefully engineered into their products. A proper test would have compared the actual breakaway torque to the manufacturer's specifications. Use medium strength thread lock primarily when removal is more important than maximum strength. High strength (red) thread lock is designed to be more difficult to remove and is used where locking strength is paramount and removal is secondary or not required. Thread lock products come in many strengths, it is up to the end-user to carefully choose the correct strength which they require.
Loctite for blue (liquid) thread locker and fasteners 1/4"-3/4" Breakaway Torque (break fastener head loose): 215 inch pounds Prevail torque (achieve sustained movement): 53 inch pounds If I wanted to get as close to Loctite's specs, after seeing this test I would buy Vibratite.
Many industries compliment threadlockers with a type of lock washer. I've found that the best type of lockwasher is a serrated Bellville type. Also, hardware secured with low and medium strength threadlocking compounds can be removed with hand tools, whereas hardware with high-strength compounds must be heated before loosening with a hand tool. Locking nuts, such as those with nylon inserts are good for a limited number of tightening and loosening/removing cycles and take a bit more time to assemble.
Thanks, I was between Loctite and Proseal using your link. Went for Proseal for under 3 bucks Vs Loctite 6.09 same size. Plus Proseal has an easier to use container.
A lot of people don't understand this test loctite is clearly the best because it takes the least amount of torque to take it off but hold just as well with the vibration
Nicely conducted research, however blue threadlockers are demountable - designed to hold under vibration but release under medium torque with standard tools - so these actually performed as intended under the selected tests and none failed.
Excellent !!! Actually we have done hundreds of various vegetable oil tests both in real car engines and in 4 ball tester, and in most cases they work and last longer than popular synthetic oils! But they are also per volume more expensive that most synthetics, so no cost effective advantage, except in conditions where the oil leaks and you want excellent biodegradability - bugs and animals will eat the stuff. There is just one simple rule: If it is too cold to use PLAIN Water in your liquid cooled engine, it is too cold to use the vegetable oil, be it Soy, Peanut or Olive. Other than that it is perfectly fine to use it for over 30,000 miles or more. First real life vehicle test that I have personally supervised was done in 1977.
Sorry some how the youtube auto advanced to another video while I was writing the comment on the vegetable oil !> But I see you got it anyway, I will try to re post it under the right one !!!
I wonder if the differences would be more pronounced on a larger nut and bolt due to greater surface area of contact. I know this is an older video, but its still great. Thank you for making them.
That is very useful information to me, I am very surprised to see that loctite wasn't so good, I always thought that loctite products are very good. I really appreciate it when the test results have the metric values as well You are a genius, Thankyou very much indeed
Your content is superb. Well thought out, well delivered and edited. Now, what if a service manual references a specific product, like red loctite…they have recommended a specific product for its particular qualities. Would you choose a better product, or the specified one
I wish I could afford to send you some $$$ to keep these tests going... BUT, I SURE appreciate all the hard work you put into all of them. The buying public really has NO FRIGGIN IDEA just who's products are better, all I can think of is that they seem to put more $$$ into adverts than into the stuff they try to sell to us. So, that's where you come in every time! You seperate the BS from the TRUTH, and that's all we can ever hope to get these from all these manufactures if you hadn't been here to set us straight on all of it. THANK YOU MY FRIEND, THANK YOU!!!
One advantage I found with Permatex gel was the ease of application: no dripping or twisting it to apply. I could apply it before threading the bolt in at all
Thank you for making this video, I'm sure it was a lot of work and produced some concrete results. For me, most of the time, I want a minimal strength threadlocker that will stop something coming apart under vibration but will present a minimum barrier to disassembly later. I used to use Loctite 222 as the weakest threadlocker I knew of (there was talk of that being discontinued a decade or so ago). Mostly I still prefer to use spring washers rather than thread locker (for me at least they have been 100% reliable). Anyone: what is the best solution to prevent M5 nylon screws and nuts from vibrating loose ?
My favorite anti vibration sealer to use, knowing I'll have to take that apart for future maintenance, is Permatex Teflon thread sealant as it helps keep the nut on and inhabits corrosion on the treads.
Loved the video! However I stopped using the liquids when I introduced to solid/stick counterparts. (No mess) (wax like) Thought you might appreciate the information. Loctite 248 - Medium/ Blue Loctite 268 - High/Red Loctite 668 - High Temp/ Green (400 Degrees)
Just purchased blue loctite for the first time. Seems ok for the price. I had not even heard of all these brands and really let amazon do my recommending for me. I always enjoy your videos. Have you ever thought about doing a video in nylon rope , their stretch for applications like a tire swing?
Thank you so much for these awesome tests! It is amazing how the most advertised brands are so inept in their performance! I have never heard of Vibratite, but it is hands down the best! Thanks again!
@@ProjectFarm I think this test is being misinterpreted what you want is the lowest strength to take off but being able to hold well with vibration under those parameters the loctite is the best, the other ones take way more strength to take off for a medium strength but holds under vibration.
