Are greasable bushing bolts strong enough.

[m-4x4-chevy]

I have an '86 K10. I rebuilt a Dana 60 and installed it in the front. While the old axle was out, I installed the ORD Front Upper Shackle Mount (HD, bigger shackle bolt, love it), ORD HD shackles, and the ORD greasable bushings with the bolts that have the hole drilled down the center. My questions are: Are the drilled spring and shackle bolts as strong as a solid grade 8 bolt? Have any of you guys broken these drilled bolts? Have any of you guys broken solid grade 8 or OEM shackle and spring bolts?

Another way to get grease into the spring eye bushings is to drill and tap a small hole in the middle of the spring eye itself and put in a grease fitting. The fitting needs to be exactly centered. This would allow grease to be pumped into the same open center area of the bushing where the grease goes from a drilled bolt. I did one as an experiment and it seems to work. This way I could replace the drilled bolts with solid grade 8's. Is this worth doing?

Your experience and recommendations will be appreciated.

 

[BILTIT]

They will not be as strong as a solid bolt but they should be strong enough for the job. Some have broken OEM shackle bolts.

 

[Blue85]

I don't think I will buy the greasable bolts again. In Michigan, my purpose for getting them was to keep the rust out of the bolts and sleeves. Everybody in the north knows that after a number of years you can't take them apart again because the sleeve and the bolt rust together solid.

The greasable one is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't put the grease "everywhere". It will find a path out and the grease will always follow that path, so some places don't rust, but the rest still does, so the end effect is the same. After a while all of the movement comes from the sleeve sliding in the bushing. For guys who live in the desert this design would probably still be effective in keeping the suspension free-moving. Rubber bushings don't rely on sliding and they will work practically forever.

The only surefire way would be to take the bolts out every now and then and cover the sleeves and bolts completely with grease again. Or you could go with stainless hardware, but I believe that is more brittle.

As to the strength of the drilled bolt, the very least important area has been removed. You can search, but I thought somebody posted information where the stock bolt was grade 5 and the drilled grade 8 was stronger.

 

[roadnotca]

I don't think those bolts will break under normal conditions. If you're "Mongo", that's a different story.
The least stress is in the center, which is where the tiny hole is. That's why your rollcage is tubing, and not solid.

 

[dleroy43]

I have them but wont get them agien.

They dont always take grease
The grease fittings dont last agenst rocks, making them expensive ungreasable bolts
GMs will always sqwiek

 

[m-4x4-chevy]

I'll leave them as is and grease them as long as I can. Somewhere I saw a large washer with a tube welded on to protect the bolt head and grease fittings. Maybe it was DIY4X. That may end up on my list of things to do. Here in AZ things don't rust and the ORD greased bushings work well, move easier and flex better. I have them now at all locations, front and rear. I like them and would recommend them.