So i've gots this AC 3" lift a few months ago, but my centerlink and TRE's are damm near shot, so when they were doing the alignment they had to put like 12 shimms on each of the two UCA bolts on drivers side... i was like OK... have been planning on getting calmini steering for a while, but havent gotten to it yet... drove it and didnt care for this whole time, then yesturday we went mudding

spun some cookies, got into some pretty deep and nurly pud muddles with a couple kewl jumps... everything was all right... then i'm driving up this gravel road, and my truck is REALLY hard to control - its all going left then right then left then right... scary ish...

got out to look just to find that both bolts that hold the UCAs on have backed up at least a half inch, so they were barely holding on there by the last few threads...

of course it was raining, and i had to literally lay down in a puddle to fix it... i used hand tools and a breaker bar to tighten those up as tight as i could... took it in to LesSchwab today so that they check it all out - and their air tools couldnt get it any tighter... they said it should be OK to, and i quote "drive the ish out of"... they said that they never torque those two bolts, just get them as tight as they can, but not too tight that they strip...

i dont like hill-billy explanations like that, so...

what is the correct way of tightenning those??? there's gotta be torque specs somewhere...

I hope you got longer bolts in there. Should be at least a couple threads showing after done torqueing... I don't know the size of bolts in there . What are they 17mm hex head bolts and nuts?

I'd say those are good for 75 foot-lbs.

Might wanna use some boltlocker/blue loctite( medium on ther as well as lockwashers.

MOst bolts you can torque by "feel"

Huh? Basically when the rate of torque required starts to go up exponentially( alot) you've reached a good point to stop. Or snap off the bolt

Mark where the top of the nut sits on the bolt when torqued, unbolt, drill a 1mm hole through the bolt at that point, torque those puppies down, and safety wire it. Use 30-35 thousandths stainless safety wire (not bailing wire).

That and Bille's blue loctite will keep those on no problemo.

I torqued mine to 110 foot pounds, and used blue Loctite. The stock bolts are good for about 1/4 inch of shims. I attempted to put 10 mm longer bolts in mine, but they bottomed out before the head hit the spindle. I got some grade 10.9 bolts, they seemed to be harder than the stock bolts.

You may have trashed the threads. If so, I have had success Helicoiling them for a friend. If they pull out again, with Loctite, you may have to repair the threads.

-Spike

I have a tap that I went and bought for this purpose if any of you local guys need it.

hey thanx for the quick replies guys

i think (hope) the threads are OK, cuz the bolts went in nice and smooth (still with a breaker bar though so who knows)...

i will be getting calmini steering any day now, so after i re-do the alignment i will use the locktite (i cant believe i didnt think of that one myself... duh) i hope i dont have to safety wire nothing cuz thats kinda rigging stuff - it SHOULD work without....

110 lbs sounds good to me, but does anyone have a more exact spec??? what torque do ya'll think the threads will start stripping at???

quote:

Originally posted by ILYA:
i hope i dont have to safety wire nothing cuz thats kinda rigging stuff - it SHOULD work without

So settle for the loctite and a split-lock washer.
If the threads are wiped a little ,back them up w/ a nut. I take it there's a fixed female threaded portion that the bolts thread into- not a "loose nut", so to speak ( like me ).
Of course this only works if you get longer bolts and can even get a nut on the other side. I've never looked at this upclose. My 71 dat p/u was like this, tho- striped out and wouldn't hold torque...

tight's tight, too tight's broke. That's the measure I use, I don't have a torque wrench.

don't see how calmini steering is going to solve a camber problem. If they are using that many shims, no steering kit is going to help that.

Unfortunately for some (myself included when I had them) the AC arm's are way too short for the 21 series trucks. If you just bought them call AC tell them your problem and see if they will send you a pair that are longer.

That is actually the best fix. Like it was mentioned the steering won't cure this particular problem.

quote:

i hope i dont have to safety wire nothing cuz thats kinda rigging stuff - it SHOULD work without.

Well I dont know how safety wire is "rigging stuff" when its purpose is ensure that that nuts dont back off bolts; a standard procedure on every aircraft flying and damn near every racing vehicle. Kinda baffled by that.

Of course it should work "without," but obviously the crud that AC sold you isnt safe, as you have found, and no amount of torquing seems to ensure its safety, so why not do something that is known to keep people safe.

Oh well, good luck

-i've had the AC arms for a few months now, so i can t exchange them... they did look a bit short for the lift though to me too... bastards!!! (they killed kenny)

-to mount the UCAs there are 2 bolts that screw INTO the frame - so theres no nuts... thats why safety wire is "riggin stuff"... the only thing i can do is wire the bolts to the UCAs themselves

-steering is supposed help cuz my CL and TREs a f***ed, so they cant get a good reading during the alignment... every time they put it one the machine they get a different reading - or so they say... although they are a bunch of clowns there, so i dunno what to believe any more... i do need that steering anyways, so i ll get it and then we ll see...

-unless ya ll know of a better steering option?

-Q: are the calmini UCAs that much better??? would it be worth getting those instead??? i know that SAS is the way to go, but i like to drive TOO fast, so its not for me...

-i only lifted it 2" on the front for now, and plan on running either BFG 32 or Maxxis 33 (which are smaller OD)

Yes the Calmini arms are that much better.

Yes the steering is good.

I fit 32s (bfgATs) with no aftermarket a-arms just a slight crank and a "few" shims at each bolt.

what makes calmini UCAs better???

quote:

Originally posted by ILYA:
what makes calmini UCAs better???

They fit correctly and there is no need for a ridiculous amount of shims.

If you bought the AC set, even for a few months, get a new set. They know full well they are short. I would have thought after selling these arms for more than 5 years now the problem would have been fixed.

No steering system, no matter who makes it, will fix a camber problem. camber is not affected by steering. The worst, most worn, steering system in the world will not make camber better or worse. Camber is NOT controled by the components replaced by a steering kit.