Scary? Short U Bolts

Case in point. People which actually have knowledge of how fasteners work provide their opinion, and op ignores it. One person states they think it’ll be fine and op is on board with it.

 

mine are no where near that short but I also have stock leafs so not sure if you already have added a leaf or anything?

I also know that dealers undertighten these. Torque specs are something like 56 IIRC and between 55-60 they will stay snug, but 2 different dealers have put mine at what must be 25-30? which allows far too much travel and will loosen them big time. at the higher torque they'll stay snug without having to constantly retighten. but.... if mine were that short I'd be in trouble with as much loosening as Ive seen after dealer services....

 

I think you just want to be part of the conversation.

 

Trust me, I’ve driven that train into a TW shitstorm with a differing opinion. Made a lot of people mad, but who cares? I’m not saying your opinion is necessarily wrong. It’s your opinion.

What I’m saying is why did op even bother creating this thread if he’s going to ignore the advice? About 95% of people in here are saying to not run it like that, but he’s listening to the few people that say run it. He just wanted affirmation.

 

If by ignore it, you mean drive the 2 miles to work and home for the next two days and then replace with new bolts, then I guess you’re correct. You win!

 

He always wins!! Damn it!

 

Why even bother with the thread then? And why not mention your commute is only 4 miles round trip? That’s a key piece of info in asking if we think it’s safe or not

 

Would it be that hard to walk the two miles to work and home for the next two days just to be safe, and possibly save yourself a lot of headache and money?

 

why didn't you just wait till you have longer ubolts to do the shims instead of doing the whole process twice.

 

This is the same argument as the one about torquing/maintenance/proper practice of lbj bolts on first gens. Had a friends fail on an off ramp on the highway went straight through the barricade and totaled the truck. Could have been avoided with proper service techniques and following scheduled maintenance.

Don’t risk it, take the shims out till you have the correct bolts and then put it all back together.

 

It’s in the thread- the part where I am “arguing”.

 

Because I didn’t know that I would need longer bolts. The shim is 1/4” thick.

 

Yep, you’re right. I skimmed that post and missed that portion. IMO if you would have stated that from the get go in the OP, then a lot of this back and forth wouldn’t have happened.

 

Could be, should have stated it up front.

 

A spring shop can make you a set of U-bolts in about 20 minutes.

 

Correct

 

Hi! I've been lurking on this site for a good while, but thought I should reply to this topic. What I am stating is not an opinion, but is the best practice for torqueing bolts. By not completely threading the nut, you are reducing the amount of root area to distribute the load. This increases the stress applied to the U-bolt. Given that you torqued these to 75 ft*lbs, the bolt has become plastically deformed, and should no longer be used.

 

So I survived the two days without the new u bolts and got the new ones installed. I torqued them to 52 lbs and used blue loctite and they seemed to be good. Checked them today and one side was somewhat loose- meaning a couple of them turned maybe up to a full revolution before reaching torque spec. Is that common? Do I need to worry about this all the time and constantly check them?

 

I’d tourque them tighter, in a criss cross fashion, like a wheel. I torque mine to 80.

 

Had a feeling I'd find yo ass in here lol