Source for good U bolts? ~ UPDATED ~

papabug71 · Post by **papabug71** » Mon May 31, 2010 5:40 pm

Guys, where are yall finding good quality U bolts ?? Im wanting to pull the helper springs on the rear of my truck to drop the rear a little. Problem is, my factory U bolts dont have enough thread to tighten all the way down. Plus, I would be leery of reusing the originals anyhow. I've looked at all the parts houses, Advance, Autozone, Orillys etc. & all they have are the universal junk U bolts. They aren't half the quality of the original U bolts.

Any ideas ?

speed bump · Post by **speed bump** » Mon May 31, 2010 6:05 pm

Napa, take the size you want in and the will get you US made U-bolts.

Other than that talk to a spring shop or big rig shop and they can hook you up.

averagef250 · Post by **averagef250** » Mon May 31, 2010 6:46 pm

Around here spring shops build them in a couple minutes to your spec. They use quality specialized threaded rod too.

basketcase0302 · Post by **basketcase0302** » Mon May 31, 2010 6:50 pm

Always been the best option IMO, that way you can take them back if there is any fitment issue.

papabug71 · Post by **papabug71** » Mon May 31, 2010 11:35 pm

Dang, I wish we had a spring shop around here. We have a couple of machine shops that specialize in heavy stuff. I'll hit them up & see what they can do

I'll also hit the local NAPA & see what they have.

dcbullet · Post by **dcbullet** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 5:26 pm

I bet you have a spring shop around, you just haven't noticed them. We have a couple that I never knew existed until I had them build me the U-Joints. They did a great job.

papabug71 · Post by **papabug71** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 5:39 pm

We dont have a shop in town that specializes in springs alone. We have a couple of heavy machine shops around town. I've had them do work for me in the past, unrealted to the bump.

I bet they can make some. I still havent checked. Work. Work. Work. Its all I do anymore.

averagef250 · Post by **averagef250** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:27 am

If you really don't have a spring shop around let me know. I use Benz spring locally here on a regular basis and if you give me good specs I'll have them make them up and ship them to you in a flat rate box. They come with hardened washers and good nuts and run right around $10 a piece for 9/16" U-bolts unless you go wild with the length, in which case you should go to 5/8" U-bolts.

papabug71 · Post by **papabug71** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 12:12 am

averagef250 wrote:If you really don't have a spring shop around let me know. I use Benz spring locally here on a regular basis and if you give me good specs I'll have them make them up and ship them to you in a flat rate box. They come with hardened washers and good nuts and run right around $10 a piece for 9/16" U-bolts unless you go wild with the length, in which case you should go to 5/8" U-bolts.

Im going to head down to the mentioned shops in the morning. I'll let you know

papabug71 · Post by **papabug71** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 4:02 pm

Hey Dustin, I found a place locally that said they would make me a nice set of 4. They're a local heavy shop that rebuilds oil field stuff. They said it would be no problem.

I appreciate your offer

convincor · Post by **convincor** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 7:24 pm

just as an example you can get them from Summit.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SJA-12X234X812/
http://www.summitracing.com/search/U-Bo ... Rank%7cAsc

papabug71 · Post by **papabug71** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:11 am

Got the new U bolts installed tonight after I got home from work. Everything went smooth for the most part. Getting the springs lined back up to put in the new center bolts was the hardest part. The new u-bolts are some heavy duty mofo's. 100% American quality. I'll get them torqued down to 90 ft. lbs. per the machine shops specs tomorrow when I locate a good torque wrench. Mine is a POS & I dont trust it.

New stuff:

I made my own center bolts by rounding off the hex's on good grade 8 bolts like Dustin mentioned. They worked like a charm & are MUCH better hardware than the ones I took off (factory). I'll update with some before & after shots of the truck when I get everything buttoned up

The FORDification.com Forums