Guys who have removed bottom overload, check in..

[Jason]

This weekend, I am pulling out my daystar leveling kit on the front of my '00 reg cab 2wd truck, and going back to stock height. What I want to do, is pull my bottom overload spring, to lower the back some, but I want to know, what adverse side effects come from this? I figure without that spring, once everything settles back in, it should sit lower, no? I know I will probably need airbags to tow anything bigger than a bread box..

Will I need new u-bolts, or can I re-use my existing ones? What about the centering pin? Do I need a new one, or can I re-use the oem one? Is there a different spring I can pull to drop the ass, that would be better, and still allow me to tow my car, without needing to run bags??

 

[Jason]

Bump.

 

[CSIPSD]

Never reuse Ubolts...

I would go with a smaller block before removing any springs.

 

[Strictly Diesel]

If you are talking about removing the thick, flat bar from the bottom of the leaf pack, I've done it. My 2004 dually had that removed for over 70k miles with no issues. You may need to make a new shorter center bolt for the spring pack (I made a new one so I could keep the original if I wanted to put it back).

 

[Jason]

Thanks guys.

Joe, it's a 2wd, there is no rear block.

Dennis, could I just hit a hardware store, and buy the necessary size shorter bolt? The u-bolt deal sucks, I haven't thought aboyt having any made yet. Somebody had mentioned just loosening the ubolts, and sliding the spring out. May have to put that part of the project off til another day.

 

[shmoozer]

U bolts are torqued to yield, loosening or removing them means that you're going to need to use new ones. You should be able to go to just about any tire shop, alignment shop etc and have a new set made up.

 

[Jason]

Thanks for the heads up. The shop who made mine for my old truck, I remember it was like $70.00, but they have closed down since.

Which reminds me also...Mr. Patel, I think the u-bolts on the back of that '02 have been off, and then on a few times...

 

[Strokersace]

Dennis, good to know on your dually. You didn't experience any unwanted axle wrap? I assume you has air bags on the rear for the heavier loads?




For what its worth Jason, I've reused u-bolt numerous times on numerous trucks both front an rear axles and I've never once had a single issue, worry, or concern. Not one. Hundreds of thousands of miles on used u-bolts pulling very heavy loads across mountains and windy roads too.

When I've changed a suspension setup or swapped something, I'll torque to spec with wheels off and still on jack stands. Then once wheels are back on and full weight is down I'll torque again. Within the 1st 100-500miles afterwards, I'll retorque. 110 - 120ftlb IIRC. Usually check the torque again after a couple thousand miles just for kicks and haven't had one that had loosened yet.

Never once had a real world issue in my experience. But take it for what its worth, as I'm just one person...

 

[Strictly Diesel]

The overload will not "just slide out", there is a bolt through it. You have the c-clamp the pack together and remove the nut and bolt, remove the overload and put the bolt back in. The original bolt on my pack didn't have enough thread to be used, so I got something different. Been too long to remember the specifics.

I didn't run bags over the axle or traction bars, but I did have a Kelderman air-ride on my truck. I don't believe I had any significant axle wrap issues, setup worked great.

 

[Jayz]

Nothing wrong with re using u bolts! No idea where people come up with this crap. Yes they're torqued, not torqued to yield lol I've re used plenty of them, stock and aftermarket and some I've had made....never 1 issue.

 

[JMart]

I have removed them on two different trucks. My shorty and Creampie. On my truck I got a shim kit to change the pinion angle. It came with a new center bolt that was threaded all the way down so I used it. When we did Lance's truck we stuck a couple of washers on top of the spring pack to get the bolt tight. The top plate that holds the ubolts will keep the spring pack tight enough that we could get away with the washers, and it covers them. The u bolts ended up being to long to get a socket to tighten them down. We ended up cuting the ends off the ubolts so we could get it done.