Loose Shackle Bolts From Factory??? *PICS*

[PnrFab]

While under my brand new TT this afternoon giving everything a once over and just trying to familiarize myself with everything under neath, I noticed the nuts for the shackle bolt wasn't tightened all the against the shackle/spring hanger. Was this an oversight from the factory?

Look closly at the top row of nuts. Most have about 1/8 - 1/4 gap from being tightened all the way up to make contact at least.





I'm new to TT but I'd never leave a shackle bolt that loose on a truck I've worked on, and I'll probably be fabing up some sort of gusset work for those spring hangers...look like they're ready to buckle!!..haha

[Huntindog]

hohenwald48 wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

hohenwald48 wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

DanKirk wrote:
I believe the bolts are shouldered bolts. I bet the nuts wont tighten any more, they are tightened all the way to the shoulder of the bolt.

We have a winner. I have done a LOT of spring/shackle work over the years. Those are standard shoulder shackle bolts. That way the spring is left free to move as it should....

Ditto this. It's difficult to tell in a picture but all the visible shackle bolts appear the have the same amount of thread showing so it is likely they are all tightened down against the shoulders. However, the U-bolt nuts are clearly not tightened properly.

The U bolts are probably fine. They are often not centered when in the bending tool perfectly... This pic appears like that. If torqued properly they will work fine... However, I have found that it is a good idea to recheck these soon after installation. They often lose some tightness intially, then are fine. I think it is the spring pack settling together the first few miles.

I don't know about those U bolt nuts. The one closest to the camera looks to be about 1/8" up off the top plate. Hard to tell for sure.

I blew up the pic... I could make an argument either way. Best to hit them all with a torque wrench just to be safe. As I said before, they do tend to loosen as the spring pack seats... What I find interesting is that I usually only see that once on springs.. Wheel studs can take several tightenings before they settle down.

[hohenwald48]

Huntindog wrote:

hohenwald48 wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

DanKirk wrote:
I believe the bolts are shouldered bolts. I bet the nuts wont tighten any more, they are tightened all the way to the shoulder of the bolt.

We have a winner. I have done a LOT of spring/shackle work over the years. Those are standard shoulder shackle bolts. That way the spring is left free to move as it should....

Ditto this. It's difficult to tell in a picture but all the visible shackle bolts appear the have the same amount of thread showing so it is likely they are all tightened down against the shoulders. However, the U-bolt nuts are clearly not tightened properly.

The U bolts are probably fine. They are often not centered when in the bending tool perfectly... This pic appears like that. If torqued properly they will work fine... However, I have found that it is a good idea to recheck these soon after installation. They often lose some tightness intially, then are fine. I think it is the spring pack settling together the first few miles.

I don't know about those U bolt nuts. The one closest to the camera looks to be about 1/8" up off the top plate. Hard to tell for sure.

[midnightsadie]

heck on my 1996 F250 ,I was running a wire from battery back to the rear bumper, came to the cross member under the tranny and theres NO BOLTS on one side ,all of 250 miles on my new truck.

[Huntindog]

ScottG wrote:
Even if they wont back off, that's way too much slop.

These are not precision suspension setups. They are meant to have slop.
It allows for a lot of the necessary sideways movement the suspension undergoes when it is in a sharp turn. Less slop, would mean more stress on other things such as tires, bearings etc.

When traveling straight down the road, the axles find the center spot.
This also means that the installation doesn't have to be perfect. That is a good thing as it seems that the hangers of often not welded on perfect.. Yet there are few reports of problems from this. Probably due to the 'slop".

[PnrFab]

TucsonJim wrote:
This is normal. If this is a Lippert built chassis, torque the nuts to 50 ft/lb to make sure they are tight. There is nothing wrong with your set up. Here's a picture of the nuts and shackles while on the bench.



Jim

Yes shouldered bolt like others have suggested and like picture above as well. I went back underneath to take another pic. Glad I asked, cause this seems really weird to me to not have the shackle snugged up against the leaf spring but I guess is normal :? Like I said before I'm new to this TT thing.

[TucsonJim]

This is normal. If this is a Lippert built chassis, torque the nuts to 50 ft/lb to make sure they are tight. There is nothing wrong with your set up. Here's a picture of the nuts and shackles while on the bench.



Jim

[Lynnmor]

ScottG wrote:
Even if they wont back off, that's way too much slop.

Crawl under most any trailer and sloppy fits are the norm. When I rebuilt all that junk, I made my own shackles and allowed much less clearance. I found that the shackles were made with cheap metric dimensioned steel instead of the 1/4" that is specified. The cheap junk locknuts were replaced with quality nuts.

[ScottG]

Even if they wont back off, that's way too much slop.

[Huntindog]

hohenwald48 wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

DanKirk wrote:
I believe the bolts are shouldered bolts. I bet the nuts wont tighten any more, they are tightened all the way to the shoulder of the bolt.

We have a winner. I have done a LOT of spring/shackle work over the years. Those are standard shoulder shackle bolts. That way the spring is left free to move as it should....

Ditto this. It's difficult to tell in a picture but all the visible shackle bolts appear the have the same amount of thread showing so it is likely they are all tightened down against the shoulders. However, the U-bolt nuts are clearly not tightened properly.

The U bolts are probably fine. They are often not centered when in the bending tool perfectly... This pic appears like that. If torqued properly they will work fine... However, I have found that it is a good idea to recheck these soon after installation. They often lose some tightness intially, then are fine. I think it is the spring pack settling together the first few miles.

[hohenwald48]

Huntindog wrote:

DanKirk wrote:
I believe the bolts are shouldered bolts. I bet the nuts wont tighten any more, they are tightened all the way to the shoulder of the bolt.

We have a winner. I have done a LOT of spring/shackle work over the years. Those are standard shoulder shackle bolts. That way the spring is left free to move as it should....

Ditto this. It's difficult to tell in a picture but all the visible shackle bolts appear the have the same amount of thread showing so it is likely they are all tightened down against the shoulders. However, the U-bolt nuts are clearly not tightened properly.

[budwich]

X2 ... otherwise people would crank them so tight as to collapse shackle onto spring and then having an issue thereafter.

[Huntindog]

DanKirk wrote:
I believe the bolts are shouldered bolts. I bet the nuts wont tighten any more, they are tightened all the way to the shoulder of the bolt.

We have a winner. I have done a LOT of spring/shackle work over the years. Those are standard shoulder shackle bolts. That way the spring is left free to move as it should....

[WNYBob]

Shoulder bolts are not threaded like the picture shows!

[DanKirk]

I believe the bolts are shouldered bolts. I bet the nuts wont tighten any more, they are tightened all the way to the shoulder of the bolt.

[mayo30]

This would be the time to do your research on suspensions.Yes they are lock nuts and have a correct amount of tension.No you don't want flex in the bushings and U bolts are tightened a certain amount and method also, as the stretch of the bolts etc. all becomes involved.Not all as simple as it looks for sure.Nothing you can't do if you know what to do.Have fun.Be careful what experts you listen too.