Upper control arm bolts?

Installed mine backwards as well. No issues.

 

Pretty common thing here it seems. I guess you just gotta keep an eye on them

 

UCA bolts falling out while driving around???

For sheets and giggles go out and try removing your UCA bolt from your truck while it's just sitting in your driveway.

 

Agreed. The guy I quoted said he saw it 4 times wheelin. Was a little questionable.

 

Maybe it was the same guy, he just passed on the trail 4 times

 

Unless I'm missing something, the control arm bolts use self-locking nuts (and you should never re-use them once they are run up on the bolt) to keep them coming loose. Some people are afraid of the nut coming loose and the bolt falling out if it is installed from back to front.

Think about this. The crankshaft in your truck is supported by four vertical bolts and two horizontal bolts per main cap (3.5 V6). There is no lock washer used under the main cap bolts, and they are not self-locking. They withstand millions of explosions from the ignition of the fuel mix in the cylinder for over a hundred thousand miles or more and never come loose. The bolts on the upper control arm are in shear mode, so there is no force on the threads other than what you tightened them to.

Even if the main cap bolts use thread locker, anyone who has ever removed main cap bolts from an engine that has been in service for a while can attest to the fact that there will be about a quarter to half an ounce of the worst smell in oil that comes out of the threaded hole. So in effect, the bolts are lubricated by oil, threaded into aluminum, and are in a tensile condition with no lock washer and never back out.

 

Well I must be the weird one because I reused my bolts when I put my SPC UCAs on and it’s been over a year with lots of trail abuse and they still look cherry.

 

No reason not to reuse the bolts, unless of course you must cut them up to be able to extract them. I can only surmise you meant to say Nuts here, but said bolts instead?

The question at hand here is whether or not it is considered "safe" to reinstall the UCA mounting bolts from rear to front, rather than the original front to rear. I have not found the nuts to be of a locking type, or pinched on one side, or on the top to prevent them from spinning off on their own. This wouldn't be a bad option though, but I've not found them to be anything other than just normal flange nuts.

Proper torque is imperative of course, though I felt more comfortable with threadlocker blue, and then torque marks made with a paint pen. I have checked them, and found there to have been no shifting of these marks. If I really felt paranoid about these spinning loose, I would just spot weld them in place, take a chisel and fold over a thread ridge close to the nut, or even crossdrill the bolt and install safety wire. Lots of options here, likely the great majority of them are totally unnecessary.

 

I had no issues reinstalling the same bolts for the new UCAs in the original orientation.

My problem was the 3 hours it took me to get those 2 bolts out in the first place.

The only re-installation issue was trying to fit the new washers between the new UCA and the mount. Ended up using a crowbar with a thick rubber washer at the tip.

 

ok

 

Any tips or tricks to get those bolts out that you learned in those 3 hours?

 

What UCAs do you have?

 

Driver side wasn't bad, loosen the bolt and push it up and see what it's making contact with. Bend the sheet metal a little and it won't touch it. Then I had to remove one small electrical clip (not the huge one) to get it to come through.

Passenger side was a nightmare for me. When the bolt head is scraping against the inside of the engine compartment after you have already tried to bend as much of it out of the way as possible, use a punch to drive it out instead of continually trying to bend the sheet metal. I even cut the sheet metal to give the wrench more purchase room, but it didn't work and wasn't necessary. There's another sheet on top that you can't reach and mine was hitting there. I ended up having to punch the bolt out anyway. Unscrew the hard brake lines and move them a bit out of the way so you can hit the bolt with a bunch to push it out. Had I gone that route first, it would have been a lot easier and I wouldn't have cut the sheet metal - although you can't see it, but still. Ugh.

Putting it back in, I used a socket with extension and a breaker bar as a lever to push it back in against the sheet metal. The leverage point I used was against the top of the engine compartment near the washer fluid tank.

To get the washers to fit in between the new UCA and the mounting point, I used a hard rubber sheet with a crow bar to pry one side of the UCA away from the mount just enough to fit the second washer in. It took a lot of force on that crow bar to fit that last washer in.

I have the JBA UCAs.

 

Yeah me too. I didn’t have any trouble getting the bolts out or back in, but trying to get that thin washer in there was a huge pain in the ass. So much that I called JBA and asked them if there was something I wasn’t doing right, or if I even had the right UCAs. If not for that, it would’ve been a very simple job.

 

I used some big ole channel locks and bent the metal then bent it back but I’m not sure how much different it is from 2nd to 3rd gen.

 

Finesse it with rubber mallet and maybe screw driver lol

 

I've done it in both generations. 2nd generation is considerably simpler, requiring only a little bending as you described. Way more difficult in the 3rd gen.

 

I’m planning to cut and install backwards on my 3rd gen as I was looking today and I don’t even see how it could come out. I’d have to bend and hammer quite a bit and that seems stupid. What’s the torque specc on this nut/bolt? And recommend any loctite? I’ve seen blue mentioned.

 

Im not bothering arguing which way a bolt is safe, but i did install new UCAs this weekend by myself on jack stands, I did exactly what was in the video posted earlier in the thread and removed the bolt holding the power wires just under the battery tray on driverside and popped out the clips AC lines on the passenger side, bent the fender outward on both sides and tapped out the bolts using an 18" Screwdriver and mallet. Alone it was tricky getting them back in but its done and again doable. I almost did as stated and cut the bolts i even called to verify if my local shop had them, but when i realized if i cut it to get it out, Id have to decide well hell how's it gonna go back in. I questioned again moving the brake line and installing it reversed from stock, but i thought id rather have battery or AC issues than no bakes one day. (I'm by no means saying moving them would cause issues but id rather move other less vital items)


Again I'm no mechanic, just consider the job doable by most capable shade tree or driveway warriors.

 

I wouldn't locktite that bolt, it won't come loose, just ensure its tightened fully with the weight on the ground. Then retorque after driving.

I've never torqued this bolt, I just tighten it until I cannot tighten it anymore.