Go to O'Reilly For Leaf Spring Ubolts

[Bruzilla]

I was looking for a set of U bolts to go on an 8.25, 8.75, Dana 60 rear, and I saw sets on ebay for $60-$70 shipped. I checked with NAPA, and they were $75. I checked Advance and Autozone and they were $62 and had to be shipped to my house. I went to O'Reilly Auto Parts, they were in stock, same maker as the rest (Balkamp), and $42 out the door.

 

[65-440]

Can you post a part number, I was looking for a set last month and was getting nowhere with the local parts stores.

 

[69a100]

Judas Priest man, I paid nowhere near that when I did my 300 about 20 years ago and I got them from NAPA. I'm guessing I paid about $20+ for 4 of them.

 

[monaco66coupe]

I have some NOS U Bolts for my 67. But A friend at the Dealer has some new in stock for the dana 70(99 Pickup) He believes they are the same. So, I'm going to take my originals in and match them up. If the are, that could be another source as well.

 

[Bruzilla]

Judas Priest man, I paid nowhere near that when I did my 300 about 20 years ago and I got them from NAPA. I'm guessing I paid about $20+ for 4 of them.

I was pretty shocked at the prices too. I just bought a set of used Lakewood traction bars in great shape for $20. Cost of the four U bolts, nuts, and washers to install them? $32. And the damn things are only like 3 x 3.5" bolts!!!

 

[flypaper]

do they have the flat spot in the middle like oem
or are they round all the way thru?

 

[Yatzee]

There are axle u-bolts and then there are something else. Considering the torque that is put on the nuts when you tighten them you had better make sure you've got the right grade of steel. I have seen axles "wrap" up because the u-bolts were sh$t and the damage was phenominal. You'll get what you pay for. I recommend OE on this one and I don't care what you pay for them because they are exactly suited to their purpose. Remember that these bolts have to conform to the axle tubes and stretch evenly when torqued and I doubt most aftermarket ones can meet the quality of genuinely engineered ones.

 

[Kern Dog]

Good point. The stock ones that I am familiar with have a waffle pattern on the underside that grips into the axle housing .

 

[monaco66coupe]

The 99's are wrong. I think the parts guy was looking at the 80's 9 1/4. I'm still hoping he turns up some correct originals. You never know! Bruzillas prices are good too, if they work, they work.

 

[hunt2elk]

I've bought a couple sets from Mega. $50. but they have the correct flats for the top of the housing.

http://www.megapartsusa.com/products.asp?cat=666

 

[Bruzilla]

There's also an issue here with the cars they're going on. If you look on ebay and most vendor sites, they sell 3" bolt sets for all 8.25/8.75/Dana 60 applications, but my car is a 74 and 73+ cars use that rubber isolation mount and I'm damn glad I decided to pull one off and use it as a reference because it's a 3 1/8th bolt, not 3".

 

[Kern Dog]

I've boughten a couple sets from Mega. $50. but they have the correct flats for the top of the housing.

http://www.megapartsusa.com/products.asp?cat=666

Boughten?

 

[hunt2elk]

Boughten?

Fixed it for you Kern Dog. Never was any good in English class.

 

[BBishere2]

I'm surprised that O'Reilly had Balkamp parts - that's a NAPA brand - and they don't get along with O'Reillys...

 

[Cranky]

There are axle u-bolts and then there are something else. Considering the torque that is put on the nuts when you tighten them you had better make sure you've got the right grade of steel. I have seen axles "wrap" up because the u-bolts were sh$t and the damage was phenominal. You'll get what you pay for. I recommend OE on this one and I don't care what you pay for them because they are exactly suited to their purpose. Remember that these bolts have to conform to the axle tubes and stretch evenly when torqued and I doubt most aftermarket ones can meet the quality of genuinely engineered ones.

I've seen axles wrap up with the stock u-bolts too. With enough power, you can break anything. Also, the u-bolts are not designed to keep the axle from wrapping but to keep it in place on the pads. The job of keeping the axle from wrapping belongs to the spring pads.....of course, the u-bolts help. The flats help keep the u-bolts from digging into the housing tubes like a rounded bolt will do and once they do their damage, they become loose and then the axle has the ability to wrap easier.

 

[cwhubb]

I'm not impressed with "o really's" parts quality, checker was a mecca for cool quality gizmos, gauges, you name it but it all went to hell when o reilly bought them out.

 

[440roadrunner]

I'm surprised that O'Reilly had Balkamp parts - that's a NAPA brand - and they don't get along with O'Reillys...

Same here. Balkamp was NAPA's "catch all" line "back in the day."

 

[threewood]

Mancini's has the correct stock u bolts, waffle pattern with nuts for $43 + shipping. Torque is not very high, 45ft/lbs a body and 50 ft/lbs b body according to my manual. Too much torque and the springs cannot flex like they are suppose to.

 

[hemihead]

About a week after you torque them ( after you drive the car say 25 miles or so ) Retorque .

 

[YY1]

I usually go to a place that does semi or heavy truck brake and axle work.

I've never paid more that $10-$15 a piece.

They have straight stock bought bulk with different thickness, different lengths and different thread lengths.