OK, they are all in and torqued to spec! Yippeeeeeee!
But one of the front plates started to bend as I got close to the 90 ft lbs torque spec. The paint on the top of it started to crack and this made me very nervous. Should I be nervous? I think I will call steve at Man-a-fre on monday and see what we can do to get a replacement. I don't like it when I see metal bend that is not meant to bend.
There are other threads on here where people talk about the plates bending when they tighten them. Those plates are thick. I wonder if the piece that fits over the axle radius is too big so it does only hits the axle housing at the top and bend the plate to push the side down closer. Did they sit on the axle housing and touch around the whole radius of the notch before you tightened them?
There are other threads on here where people talk about the plates bending when they tighten them. Those plates are thick. I wonder if the piece that fits over the axle radius is too big so it does only hits the axle housing at the top and bend the plate to push the side down closer. Did they sit on the axle housing and touch around the whole radius of the notch before you tightened them?
Let me see if I am understanding your question right.
The plates on the front (the one's that are bending) do not touch the outside of the top portion of the bracket that held the factory u-bolts in place. They only touch the center section, leaving the sides to hang off and get bent.
I think he's asking if the portion of the flip kit that sits on the axle was touching the axle tube all the way around when you first set them on the tube? Or was there a slight gap between the cut out and the axle tube?
Ok.. The back one has the arch but still that might be why the fronts are bending due to the piece it pushes against on the axle housing. I don't know if people have had bending on both front and rear.
Ok.. The back one has the arch but still that might be why the fronts are bending due to the piece it pushes against on the axle housing. I don't know if people have had bending on both front and rear.
The whole thing would make me nervous too. I was present when slo60 has his break in the middle of the Rubicon, and that was a near disaster. It did break at a good spot in the trail though!
While it does clean up the underside of the spring, any bending or issues during install are only going to get worse with time, especially with wheeling time. Generally 4+ products are great stuff, but I don't think this one is fully worked out.
There used to be another type of lower spring plate that recessed the u-bolt nuts and cleaned up the spring as well as the flip kit, but without the flip. That looked like a nice set up. I believe Pin Head even made a set for himself.
talked to Steve at Man-a-fre and he is going to talk with Wizard about it, and then get back to me on wether or not they will send me a replacement part.
By the way, Steve is a very cool guy to work with and has made dealing with Man-a-fre a much better experience than I have had in the past. So to Steve I say
I talked with Steve and he said that it is something that they have seen a few times now, and is nothing to worry about.
For the record- I will travel with the factory parts in a box just in case it ever lets go on me. Bent metal makes me nervous. It only did it on one side for me, and that makes me think that this one piece is not right. They tell me it is fine, but if it ever breaks on me you can bet your sweet ass I will be calling someone a MAF and having a few choice words with them.
Might be wise to check all ubolts for tightness as part of your vehicle maintenance. If one bent maybe the others will. Are those 1/2" thick? If they keep bending causing the ubolts to loosen up maybe you could get a piece of 3/4" or 1" and make your own plate. Looks like you'd have enough ubolt to go thicker. I'd go with a square shape instead of dog-boneish, maybe the ears are just a little too weak for the force they need to hold.
OK, they are all in and torqued to spec! Yippeeeeeee!
But one of the front plates started to bend as I got close to the 90 ft lbs torque spec. The paint on the top of it started to crack and this made me very nervous. Should I be nervous? I think I will call steve at Man-a-fre on monday and see what we can do to get a replacement. I don't like it when I see metal bend that is not meant to bend.
Thanks for that info. It makes me feel better to hear it from the person that made them rather than the Company that is taking my money. Not to say that you didn't get paid for it, cuz you did. But I am the kind of person that feels better talking to the doctor rather than the nurse after surgery. Did that make sense? I hope so.
So, DT, what's the verdict? did you end up using the Isolators (U-plate and lower rubber pad)?
I'm getting ready to install my new Flip Kit with new OME's .... Did you ever get a consensus as to use the isolators or leave out? I was going to use mine - but after reading this post and others, I'm in limbo again
FWIW - I used these as my top spring plate on my SOA. I drilled them out to fit the new 5/8" u-bolts and added a center hole for the center pin. No bending here...Must be the goofy OEM pad that is letting it deform?
BTW - Those are 4Plus perches as well (limited edition extended length). Dave makes good stuff.
Kavik, ignoring all other variables for a moment...
Are your springs a touch wider than the stock perch? Wider would = more load bearing surface, and thus less bending forces applied to the dogbone/ears of the plate. It seems that way when comparing your pic to post #65 above.
Don't have the oem perch to compare...but you can see the width of the spring compared to the aftermarket perch. Remember, my u-bolts are considerably bigger in dia than stock. They are right up against the spring and 4Plus perch. I think the oem setup had more daylight between the u-bolt and the spring pack. So, I'm guessing that I'm confirming your suspicion that the lack of "overhang" may be the difference?
Edit - looked at post#65 again...The top plate is conforming to the shape of the oem perch (i.e. rounded) I doubt it could/would bend any farther, as Dave mentioned. Once it has seated down, it's not moving any more, unless you really put the hurt to it w/ a cheater bar and wrench.
one of the front plates started to bend as I got close to the 90 ft lbs torque spec. The paint on the top of it started to crack and this made me very nervous. Should I be nervous? I think I will call steve at Man-a-fre on monday and see what we can do to get a replacement. I don't like it when I see metal bend that is not meant to bend.
