Leer Bolts - Placement/Torque

LOL they are not getting any cheaper. I got mine used and spent some time getting the rear door to not let water in over the transom rail but since then I have had no problems at all with it.

 

Also when you crank the stock bolts it puts a bending moment on the bolt so it will bend over time which allows the cap to loosen and shift. I don't think it is possible to use the stock bolts (especially only 4 of them) and have a satisfactory setup if you don't want to keep checking them and have it not shift. My 8 clamp bolts have needed no maintenance in 13 months and the shell is still perfectly aligned.

 

Since the C clamps put pressure directly above the bed edge and not on an extrusions, how do you see deformity on the carpeted fibreglass?

The mounting system doesn't make a lot of sense from a physics standpoint. Every failure thats been posted has relied entirely on the stock bolts.

I thought maybe the point that wants to bend could be caused by a hole drilled larger than the others allowing it to flex rather than be pulled straight down. It's also the front passenger side where the cutout of the rail allows the block to rotate more than the others which could add to the problem. The dealer said maybe there was less fibreglass added to the mold.

We'll see what Leer has to say but since the bolts don't seem overly functional anyways it seems like it makes more sense to load up on clamps and move on.

 

The deformation I have seen with these clamps is the entire shell rail bends slightly into the bed rail. Pretty sure you can't get that with the stock bolts lol.

Since the stock bed rail nut is threaded with an unbalanced lever-arm on only one side of the bolt it creates a moment that bends the bolt. It makes no sense but is the stock cheap solution out there. The clamps I linked at least try to fix that moment in the bolt by supporting the other side of the nut which is a major improvement. Also the clamp jaw is longer so it forces the shell down on top of the bed rail instead of just creating a torque that flexes the shell down in a region that is not supported from below. Fiberglass shouldn't be torqued like that anyway, the stock bolt is a terrible design.

 

100% agree. It's counterintuitive because torquing those stock bolts causes the sides to flex inwards which actually gives you less surface contact and less grip making you more susceptible to shifting.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.