Hi everyone,
I'm hoping I can get some feedback regarding the rear leaf spring U- Bolt top-plate on a 1991 Chevy K1500 pickup.
I have attached two gif drawings for reference. Here is the download link for the drawings, only 201.19 KB...
When I installed the top-plate, the nut on top of the leaf spring center-bolt would not go all the way through the hole in the top- plate. If anything, the hole in the new top-plate looked a little bigger than the hole in the old top-plate. I went ahead and torqued the U-bolts to factory specs of 81 foot-pounds and followed the correct tightening sequence, thinking this would force the nut through the hole in the U Bolt top-plate (it seemed close enough).
The ends of the top-plate are now clamped tight against the top of the leaf springs. However, the center of the top-plate is not touching the top of the leaf springs. The nut on top of the leaf spring center-bolt was not pushed all the way through the hole in the top-plate. I can only guess that its' designed this way for some reason but I wanted to check to make sure. I replaced the drivers side today and I'm replacing the passenger side tomorrow. I cannot just look at the old one that is still on the passenger side because there is so much rust present, I cannot tell if there used to be a space there or not. According to the factory service manuals I have, there does not appear to be any other spacer or anything that would "take up" the space.
I did not install the plate upside down, it's installed just as shown in drawing A and that's how the plate was originally installed as well.
I would really appreciate any feedback anyone might have on this.
Thanks John