H3 High Clearance Leaf Spring Mounts

[Schwarttzy]

Awesome product Schwarttzy. Love them. Thanks Humman, your video served as a great guide to putting these on.

Thanks man, glad you like it. Just promise to get them dirty for me!

 

[Vdawg1115]

Thanks man, glad you like it. Just promise to get them dirty for me!

Well, they're not dirty......but they're pretty scratched up and dinged. They took a beating this past weekend and they're holding up great. I had painted them red and I just need to paint them again. I have no doubt they saved the bottom shock mounts as they're still scratched. Would have been a lot worse without these on. Thanks again!

 

[justin94tt]

So I got these as a Christmas gift from my parents, and went to install them yesterday. Ran into an issue with the supplied ubolts. They are to narrow at the top of the U to properly fit over the axle. I attempted bend it slightly which didn't work, because then it would not fit the mounting holes in the mount? Has anyone else had this issue?

 

[lsv_palana]

I have.. i have writed to Shwartzy - he says i need to bent u bolts.. i have bented u bolts and they fits. But dont tight too much.

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[RamRod]

I believe that this is common, just squeeze the bolts to the right width to make it into the new mount holes then tighten to spec.

This could be a function of getting a tight fit

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[Bowser-II]

Yeah I'm working on mine right now again, finally, after a few months delay. I'm trying two approaches. Using the factory bolts with spacers and then cutoff vs bending. The trouble with bending is getting all the holes aligned.

I know they're tight, but I was wondering Thursday if there is a difference in the diameter of the welded steps on the axle that the u bolts sit on. Maybe some years are thicker than others. My truck is a 2010. Is anyone who is using then having trouble with an earlier year?

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[justin94tt]

Mine is an 09 T Alpha and as I mentioned the ubolts are not wide enough where it cradles the axle tube.I will be pulling the stock Ubolt and taking measurements. Then will have a company make the correct sized ones.

 

[Schwarttzy]

So I got these as a Christmas gift from my parents, and went to install them yesterday. Ran into an issue with the supplied ubolts. They are to narrow at the top of the U to properly fit over the axle. I attempted bend it slightly which didn't work, because then it would not fit the mounting holes in the mount? Has anyone else had this issue?

When I put mine on I was able to put mine at a slight angle and then tighten the bolts down to 56ft/lb

You might try tightening one side to get the other side started, hopefully you'll understand my dilemma if I make the bolts too much longer they will be hanging down past the leaf spring bolt.

If you'd like to talk to me IM me and I'll give you phone number and work with you on it.

 

[Schwarttzy]

Mine is an 09 T Alpha and as I mentioned the boosts are not wide enough. I will be pulling the stock Ubolt and taking measurements. Then will have a company make the correct sized ones.

I'd like to get some information on that.

 

[justin94tt]

I'd like to get some information on that.

Pmed

 

[Bowser-II]

I used the original UBolt with a 5/8 spacer and lock washer for temporary duty. I still need to trim the bolts, but will wait till after I drive it around a bit.


Local spring shop quoted $25 per UBolt to fit something custom. May not be a bad deal.


@Eric
I tried setting the supplied bolts into the holes of the mounts and then seeing if I could slide the bolts up on to the strap before I saw your message above. It simply did not have the bend rad to do so. I think that is the only issue. Is it possible that you have were shipped a bad batch.

Sorry I do not have a picture of my attempt.

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[4speedfunk]

56 ft lbs? Try 156 ft lbs.


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[Bowser-II]

56 ft lbs? Try 156 ft lbs.


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I assume you mean spec (56) vs actual (156). But I double checked for my own sanity.


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[4speedfunk]

56 is "finger tight" for a u-bolt. I use a breaker bar with a cheater on mine.
The H3 10-bolt uses an odd-ball size tube. But Ruffstuff has the correct size u-bolts. Ask for the "14-bolt simple swap u-bolts"...they fit perfectly. And CRANK EM as tight as you can get them.


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[Schwarttzy]

56 is "finger tight" for a u-bolt. I use a breaker bar with a cheater on mine.
The H3 10-bolt uses an odd-ball size tube. But Ruffstuff has the correct size u-bolts. Ask for the "14-bolt simple swap u-bolts"...they fit perfectly. And CRANK EM as tight as you can get them.

This is what I have in the manual on my website under Hummer H3 – Rear Suspension, in it they say 56ft/lb

 

[RamRod]

Wow that seems very low.... but what do I know haha

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[Bowser-II]

Well a quick internet search turns up some consistent numbers from Dayton, Eaton, and Atlas. 56 lb-ft is probably correct (who would have guessed) for factory bolts.

The charts show that Erics 1/2" x 20 (I think that is the pitch) should be around 65 lb-ft for a grade 5 bolt.

I imagine that there will be a compromise between higher toque than spec, which is not wrong, and too high torque for the plates. Not being a mechanical or materials engineer, I can't guess precisely what that number is but I suspect it will be somewhere between 65 and 90 lb-ft based on the charts.

Someone could use a factory set of bolts and a set of Erics bolts with his plates and steadily increase the torque until the plates deflect or otherwise show signs of failure. They are rather expensive for that. I'll probably keep mine around 56~65 lb-ft and monitor the condition over time.


http://www.suspensionspecialists.com/techinfo/Ubolt_Information.pdf


http://www.eatondetroitspring.com/wp-content/uploads/ubts.pdf


http://www.atlasspringservice.com/2514982_22511.htm

The numbers and notes are all so close I think there is copying going on, or more likely a standard was developed years ago that all the suppliers are adhering to. I would not be surprised to find the GM engineer on the leaf springs was using the same original source.


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[4speedfunk]

Regardless of GM's manual, I will continue to "king-kong" u-bolts around here. This is true for H3's, Jeeps, full-size trucks...everything. I've had too many instances of them being loose. The stock H3 u-bolts are allegedly TTY, and they are not supposed to be reused but, I have re-used them on several trucks with no issues. Additionally...after cramming them as tight as you can...check them again one week later, and re-cram them even tighter. Its amazing how much they wiggle loose (or stretch) in the first 100 miles of driving.

About two years ago, I saw a buddy of mine stranded on the side of the road. He has a Ford F-350 quad-cab 4x4 with a Cummins conversion and a 5-speed manual. He has it all jacked up (like diesel guys tend to do), and he had 4" lift blocks on the rear springs. He had pulled out onto the highway and rolled into the throttle very hard at about 30 mph. Guess what happened? The entire rear axle housing rotated in the U-bolts! It f*cked things up big time! It broke the yoke and the u-joint, bent the driveshaft. I crawled under it and the pinion was pointing straight up at the underside of the bed!!! I told him to put it in reverse and gently let out on the clutch while I watched from beside the truck. He did this and the axle housing rotated back to its original angle. I reached up and the nuts on the u-bolts where loose. I went home grabbed a breaker bar and a socket...tightened the u-bolts...and sent him over to Patterson Driveline to get the driveshaft fixed. He drove it away but, it was ganked. The guy swears he tightened the U-bolts. This is not the first time I have heard this story...so check & re-check them anytime you have the axle out. I stand by king-kong on u-bolts.

 

[RamRod]

I just tried installing the set that I bought a while ago and after taking a looking at the spacing of the supplied Ubolts I decided to stop and check on here first, to me it looks like the radius of the supplied bolts are too narrow for the mount bolt hole spacing, has anyone else ran into this issue or is this the way it is supposed to be? (About 1/4inch off or so)

Pic's:

 

[rascole]

The bolts are clearly bent inward.

 

[RamRod]

The bolts are clearly bent inward.

That's what I was thinking, I tried to see if I could force them outwards... as a mear mortal I did not have the strength and that's when I started to think something was not right.... but the weird part all 4 are like this so that's the part that had me second guess myself

 

[rascole]

Eat some spinach and pull them straight.:giggle:

 

[Schwarttzy]

I just tried installing the set that I bought a while ago and after taking a looking at the spacing of the supplied Ubolts I decided to stop and check on here first, to me it looks like the radius of the supplied bolts are too narrow for the mount bolt hole spacing, has anyone else ran into this issue or is this the way it is supposed to be? (About 1/4inch off or so)

Pic's:

Sorry about the issue, I wish the U-Bolts were more precise when they are made, but this the quality that I get.

What I do is hold the U-Bolt by one of the threads in my hand and hammer the round part into something solid, like concrete or a good rock. Do this 2 - 3 times and it should open right up, careful not to over shoot the distance. If you happen to have something that can hold the U-Bolt with out damaging the threads, like a vise, a little bit of leverage goes a long way.

For me this is something I've grown up around and is normal. However it seems that I need to look into getting U-Bolts that are more precise.

Whatever the case, I'll work with you to get it figured out.