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aftermarket leaf springs and stock u-bolts

G

Gaffed

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Cantonment, FL
I just purchased 6" front and rear Superlift leaf springs. Is it a must to buy longer U-bolts or will the springs work with the stock length u-bolts? Yes, I did attempt to search this. Way to many results and when I attempted to sort there none were the exact topic I wanted.

Thanks,

Chris
 
Gaffed said:
I just purchased 6" front and rear Superlift leaf springs. Is it a must to buy longer U-bolts or will the springs work with the stock length u-bolts? Yes, I did attempt to search this. Way to many results and when I attempted to sort there none were the exact topic I wanted.

Thanks,

Chris
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save yourself the hassle and do it the safe way and buy a new set of u bolts.
 
Lots of people will debate using U-bolts over again. My thought on it is that as long as the U-bolt is in good condition and doesn't have any visable defects they're good to use over. However, if you have nylock type nuts i would ALWAYS replace those. With that being said if you have plenty of length to accept the new springs thickness then yes you can use the stock ones over again. Another thought of mine is that if the U-bolts in question are original equipment then they have been in use for many years and i personally would change them.
 
Some people say that you shouldn't reuse u-bolts at all. I don't understand why, they're not torque to yield so there should be no reason that they can't be reused.

In any case, there is no way I would reuse an old stock set of u-bolts.
 
Only way to know if they WILL work, is to either get a response from someone that has done exactly what you are asking, or just wait until you get them. Measure the thickness of the spring pack on your truck now, the new ones, and the amount of threads leftover on the stock u-bolts as-installed.

I don't believe GM tended to leave more than about one inch of "unused" threads.

My u-bolts are wrecking yard-used, the rears have been on there over two years, (the previous were also re-used, lasted 4 years until I swapped to the 14SF requiring different u-bolts) the fronts have been on there since 2001, all get checked for tightness regularly, and haven't been loose yet. I don't put a lot of miles on it, don't tow, and don't wheel hard, but when I drive I don't drive it easy.

In good shape, no reason you can't reuse them, no different than any other bolt on your vehicle that you re-use. Lug nuts, caliper bolts, drum brake backing plate bolts, you name it. All under heavy load, all the time, just as big a catastrophe if they fail on the road, I doubt most replace those every time they monkey with them.
 
My bad, I didn't see that you were talking about replacing the u-bolts with stock length replacements. Its likely you will be able to do that.
 
Okay, I'll definately go with new stuff. I'll get a little longer than stock incase I go with zero rates down the road.

Thanks guys!
 
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