Major leaf pack install... FAIL!!!

So after having my new set of Wheelers 5 leaf pack for a week I decided today was the day to install. went over to a friends house to put these and the 5100's on (he has air tools) it took around 2 hrs. to remove one U bolt there was no rust showing at all. I also sprayed pb blaster on them for the last 7 days each day. We got one off and relized that it most likley has had som locktight or something on the threads. So it sits in his driveway me driving his car and really PISSED OFF! I thought i took in account every bad scenero. long story short had NAPA order me new u bolts and the will be in fri. CRAP Crap Crap (hell with installing the front 5100's im taking it to a shop instead)

 

If there's locktight on them just get a propane torch and heat the nuts up a bit. Also, you need to install new u-bolts any time you replace the springs anyway.

 

^heat up the nuts

 

^this. I think even vAuto zone will have u bolts. cutt the old ones off with an angle grinder or torch and get to work!

 

I didnt think I had to because they were not all that rusty. I got some ordered from NAPA for 68.00 bucks will be here on fri. I am guessing it is locktight but dont know for sure there is a whitesh substance on the top part of threads.

 

Went there and they nor Oreileys had any that matched up not even in a longer lenghth, Napa was the only one that told me they could order them

 

In most cases, the old U-bolts are just cut off, quick work with an angle grinder. Same goes with old shock bolts. New bolts are cheap insurance anyway.

 

Truth^ Just like grade 8 bolts "supposedly" when you tighten them once it tweaks it. Thus will never be able to be torqed down properly again. That being said there is probably noone who actually follows those guidlines OP Sounds like you need breaker bar+5 foot long pipe over breaker bar promise you it will come off (in one peice or 2). Unless the socket breaks but you should be fine with an impact socket.

 

Did the breaker bar and pipe thing to get the one ubolt off and since i got them ordered from napa i am gonna cut the rest of the suckers off and throw them in the bottom of lake BLUE RIDGE!

 

Yup, just get new ones. U-Bolts tend to stretch when mated with the HI-Nuts..

 

Your problem is most likely thread stretch which happens to about 95% of U bolts, they can appear rust/dirt/mud free but the test for them is how hard it is to loposen them, example: You break one of the nuts loose & it backs off of the U bolt to where you can see daylight between the nut & anything it made contact with, you think "Hmmm WTF is going on ? this nut ia hard as hell to turn & its not touching ANYTHING !" This.... is thread stretch, the threads on the U bolt have acually "stretched" making it (the nut) actually get harder to turn instead of getting looser, this U bolt will have to be cut off. As for reuse, I've had mine on & off 4 times & still using originals, my thread stretch was minimal, but if $$$ isn't an issue get new ones, if you're dirt ass poor like me, then you re use where possible.....

 

You could use a cheater bar to break free the bolts. If me and my friend can get U-Bolts off A 92 Chevy 2500 to get a 14-Bolt using an improvised cheater bar using an exhaust pipe off of a 99 Camaro in a junk yard. Then you can def do it with an 01.

 

The white stuff isn't locktite..it's corrosion..

I know because my grade 8 hardware on my lower BJs has the same stuff..and it's def not locktite because I PUT THEM IN MYSELF..and they haven't broke..over the past 1.5 years. Grade 8 ftw.


I'd rather stick with worn u-bolts then using Vatozone u-bolts
Just like the idiots who install aluminum blocks in their trucks...I broke 2 sets of aluminum blocks, and I personally have seen damage from when aluminum blocks break.. bye bye rear end.



Protip: Put a jack and wood under your overload when un-torquing u-bolts. It will save you from a mini heart attack, and possibly a smashed finger between your wrench and leaf pack

 

This make the most sense to me i had to use a breaker bar and a 4 ft. pipe all the way to get the nut off. I must have had the worst case of thread stretch then. Gonna cut them off and STILL throw them in the bottom of Blue Ridge lake.. And drink several malted beverages as i flip them the middle finger!

 

Huh? Which language was this grammar derived from?

 

He's replacing the whole pack, not adding a add a leaf. So I'm sure there's no need for that in his case.

 

Lol, I feel your pain man, been dere , done dat !!

I feel for anybody that lives in a cooler ,wetter climate & having to deal with removing ANYTHING from undercarriage, absolute hell....

OFF TOPIC:

Doesn't anyone use that old spray undercoating that used to smell like you just paved a highway when you were done ?? ( I think it was creosote based) Anyway that shit was a 4 can, once a year application from bumper to bumper underneath, nothing got thru that stuff, but they probably had to stop using it due to EPA reg. (this stuff actually worked!)

 

Unless you have a impact wrench and compressor with some balls the next move is the acetylene torch!

 

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Naww man not paranoid just careful nothing wrong with that,

For the record though the axle alignment pin is what holds the pack together for the most part, as long as its not sheared or loose, you're good to go