Rear leaf spring advice needed

[fishgeek]

Good luck, let us know how it goes. Greg knows more about this than any of us.

 

[Mo4130]

Good choice on the full ome. I used ratchet straps to hold the axel in place and also to slowly guide the springs into place and was able to do it by my self with hand tools in about 2 hours. Use anti seize as well so if you have to take stuff apart it won't be an issue.

 

[rockymtnbushwacker]

I have had nothing but praise for my MD ome kit. Sounds like you already made up your mind about getting a full pack. Buy once, cry once.

+1 Well worth the investment.

 

[justbecause]

yesterday i installed a 2leaf PGR leaf pack, that replaced the over load spring.
there is a detailed write up on clubfrontier. it was a very easy instal even with hand tools.
I like the new ride.

I have a set of 5100s all the way around, set to +1" in the front, now the back, with a truck cap sits pretty level.

 

[fortel]

yesterday i installed a 2leaf PGR leaf pack, that replaced the over load spring.
there is a detailed write up on clubfrontier. it was a very easy instal even with hand tools.
I like the new ride.

I have a set of 5100s all the way around, set to +1" in the front, now the back, with a truck cap sits pretty level.

I'll try to get over to clubfrontier and read it. Chime back in after you run them for a while, I would be interested if you have any of the squeaking problems that come with some of the AALs. Thanks

 

[jhberria]

I run a dealer single AAL with OME shocks in the rear. Great ride, no squeaking. Installed the AAL with less than 20k miles on the stock leaves, so I think it was a good choice for me.

 

[702krawler]

I received all of the parts from PRG this past Tuesday, and started my install of the rear springs last night. Ran into a problem when bolting the axle back up to the new springs. The u-bolts PRG shipped in their kit are approx. 1/4" wider than stock, not just at the bottom (which could be easily remedied), but the top radius as well. So it neither fits back in the bottom bracket holes, nor does it properly wrap the top of the axle. I contacted PRG and they insisted they sent the correct bolts and that they've sent those same bolts out with every kit in the past and I'm only the second person to ever complain about them. Be that as it may, I couldn't fathom bending the bottoms in, then somehow applying enough torque to the u-bolt nuts to essentially re-bend them around the top of the axle (without damaging the axle).

In any event, I contacted Nisstec, had them measure their u-bolts (which match the stock width), and ordered a set of theirs. I'll keep you posted.

Am I expecting too much? Would any of you guys have been OK with using the u-bolts originally supplied? To their credit, PRG has offered to refund my money for the bolts, so we'll see how that works out. See pics below.

 

[Robert Bills]

I had no problems with the U-bolts supplied by PRG. As I recall, placing them in a vise and giving them a light tap with a BFH was all that was needed for them to line up with the bolt holes in the spring plates.

Your photos don't show enough of your original U-bolts and the U-bolts you received from PRG to determine if they really are different sizes. Also, there are no photos of how the U-bolts supplied by PRG fit your axle tubes. Please bear in mind that when one begins to modify a vehicle not all aftermarket parts are simple bolt ons and sometimes "adjustments" need to be made. That is the nature of custom work.

 

[justbecause]

itll be interesting to see how the new ones compare to the PRG.

if you installed them and torqued them down would that make them fit correctly over the axle?

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Wow those are quite a bit off! I probably would have done the same thing honestly.

 

[702krawler]

My concern with torquing them down is that the only point of contact on the axle would be the very top of the axle (not the sides), since the u-bolt radius doesn't match the axle radius. I'm not sure I could apply enough force to literally bend the u-bolt around the axle, nor do I think I want to apply that much force to the axle.

 

[702krawler]

Robert, I'll take a couple of photos of how they fit the axles and post them up this evening. Essentially, there is a 1/8" gap on the sides (so the u-bolt only touches the top of the axle). Did you just have an issue with the ends being too wide, or was the entire bolt too wide (meaning the sides of the u did not contact the sides of the axle, as is my case? The stock Nissan u-bolts are uniformly 4.25" wide as measured from the outside to the outside, while my PRG bolts were uniformly 4.5" wide. If I made them fit, I'm concerned that I'd be exerting a ton of force on just a small portion of the top of the axle, rather than all around the top half in a semi-circle like the stock bolts appear to do. I don't know that I'd call this custom. The springs and such are definitely mass produced aftermarket parts, and the u-bolts, even if they have to be custom made, should just be slightly longer copies of the OEM u-bolts.

I'll also post some photos showing the u-bolts Nisstec sends out vs. these for the benefit of future purchasers. I don't have the Nisstec u-bolts in my hands yet, so there's no guarantee they won't have the same issue (though they told me on the phone they are the same width as stock).

 

[justbecause]

if you got the ends of the ubolts through the plate, would it not draw the rest of the ubolt tight around the axle as you tightened the nuts?

 

[702krawler]

That is the question. PRG says yes, the engineer in me says that a much better solution is bolts that are properly bent to begin with. I'd rather not use my (likely) expensive rear axle as the bending device to find out, especially if I can get different bolts from a different source that don't require me to take that risk.

 

[justbecause]

I'm still interested to see how the PRGs compare to the next set.

I need to order a flip kit soon; itll be nice to know ahead of the time if bending to fit is par for the course with new ubolts.