On one of the rear leaf springs ('95 YJ), the military wrap leaf rotated enough so that it is just touching the spring hanger. I put grease on it to try to minimize the friction there. Is this something I should fix by re-aligning the leaves or just not worry about?
Thanks
I would attend to it. If it moved, it is loose and won't get any better by itself. There is also a lot of wear potential there.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:
Thanks Mike. What should be tighter? The center pin or the u-bolts that clamp the spring to the axle? The spring clips are the bolt type and do not touch the sides of the leaves so they don't actually stop this rotation unless it gets really extreme.
When they shift, it is from loose U-bolts. This can shear the center pin really fast which can cause your axle to shift back under load which can cause your rear driveshaft to fall out.... Usually happens in middle of a swamp from what I have seen....
These u-bolts are stretch to yield type that sometimes cannot be used over. The bad ones no longer will hold a torque and do come loose like I have seen after a spring change.
The truck spring shop that did mine wouldn't re-use the old bolts because they were original 1986 vintage so they made me up new ones.
Mike
New u-bolts where used when my suspension was installed. I've also checked the torque after every wheeling trip and it took a few re- torques before they would stop loosening. I'll re-align them and then check the torque before and after each wheeling trip to make sure thay are not loose at any time. Thanks for your advice.
Those sound like dead bolts... They really shouldn't keep coming loose unless that have lost or maybe never had the tensile strength. Could they have gotten overtorqued when installed?
Mine never came loose after their install and that was over 8 years ago.
Mike
Interesting. I actually suspect a few other things. One is the aluminum degree shim that came with the lift kit. The other is the plate the bolts go through (an aftermarket plate), it seems to bow a bit when the bolts are torqued. Two of the bolts, I bought and installed myself so I'm sure they were not overtorqued, the other two I have no idea. Thanks for the ideas. I'm very seriously considering going all the way and getting a steel degree shim, new u-bolt plates, and new u-bolts.
Just an update. I re-aligned the leaves and checked the torque on the u-bolts. They are tight, no doubt about it, even gave them a little extra. One short drive was all it took for them to go right back to the mis-aligned position. I checked if they were really rubbing by slipping a piece of heavy paper between the spring and the spring hanger and it turns out they are really close but not actually rubbing. They probably do rub a bit when flexing but it doesn't look so bad now. I think I'll just keep checking the clearance and if it starts to actually rub with street use, I'll put some greater effort into doing something about it, maybe have a spring shop add an extra spring clip.
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