U bolt plates? ...and attention SOA drivers!

[Joopin]

Is that what they are called? You know, the plates that go under the spring pack and the U bolts come through them and hold the pack to the axle tube... Anywho... I just had this place make some custom U bolts for my D44 and D30 today, but when I was driving home something occured to me. Do the Ubolt plates need to be changed if an axle is swapped in with a larger axle tube diameter? I will be swapping in the D44 in place of the D35. Since the D44 has a larger diameter I am thinking the holes in the plates wont clear the axle tube to accompany the new u bolts.

Oh and I am doing an SOA so will the U bolts be flipped upside down? Figures I start thinking of this stuff when the start date is a week away!

 

[west747]

i am pretty sure you are correct in thinking that you need new spring plates. the larger tube might need a wider plate or at the very least wider holes in that plate. as for its loctaion i have seen the u-bolts facing down with the plate on the bottom as well as the u-bolts facing up with the plate on top. i would suggest that the latter is better for your offroading application. less crap to hang down and get hung up on.

also if you want the plate on the bottom you need ones that are shaped to fit around the tube.( in an soa set-up) the axles i got out of my 79 ford were set up like this.. 9 inch and dana 44..

 

[Snitty]

i would say to hit up a junkyard and get the plates from anything that uses the same tube.... the other two choices would be to buy some new, make some, or have some made... i do believe you'll have to replace them though... not quite sure on that, i can't remember if the holes are elongated to allow for adjustability or not