Broken 😞 (1 Viewer)

[oilfield75]

Broke a UCA long bolt. Luckily it happened in a Home Depot parking lot near home, and not along Big Bend's Old Ore Road (or any of the other remote roads) last week! Control arm end (bushing housing?) rammed into exhaust manifold, as far as I can tell. Hopefully no damage there or to brake lines or any other secondary crap.

Whee!

 

[Hehena]

The bolt sheared off or came loose and fell out because it was installed backwards?

 

[oilfield75]

The bolt sheared off or came loose and fell out because it was installed backwards?

Sheared, both ends are still present. Hard to get pics but I think the middle of the third pic shows the break.

 

[Roody]

Stock UCA or aftermarket?

 

[Hehena]

Stock UCA or aftermarket?

Looks like an SPC

 

[Hehena]

Sheared, both ends are still present. Hard to get pics but I think the middle of the third pic shows the break.

Is what I circled what you're referring too?

If so that's the center part of the SPC arm and not a sheared bolt so far as I can see. In fact I can't seem to spot the bolt at all.

 

[oilfield75]

Stock UCA or aftermarket?

SPC, recently replaced ~1 month ago after ball joints were worn (by a Toyota offroad shop).

 

[Hehena]

SPC, recently replaced ~1 month ago after ball joints were worn (by a Toyota offroad shop).

My guess is they installed the bolt in the wrong orientation, it became loose and fell out. It's a lot easier to install backwards, but it's dangerous.

 

[Rednexus]

Agreed. That bolt is probably a M14 which should have a shear capacity of over 20,000-lbs. I'd expect other suspension components to break first. Maybe if it was loose for some time and rattling around or mangled - otherwise, it seems more likely that it fell out. Either way, that's installation error and the off road shop should be responsible for getting your rig towed back to them and fixed at no cost to you.

 

[HVLA]

That bolt fell out. It didnt break.

 

[oilfield75]

I misidentified some of what i was looking at obviously. After reading yall's comments and researching install videos, I went and took some more pics. After rolling the truck off the flatbed, the UCA is kind of re-aligned and no longer resting against the manifold shielding. So its easier to see.. I think most likely the nut wasn't tight and backed off, what I thought was the washer and nut is definitely not, and I can see that better now. The bolt is present on the front of the UCA, I don't think it was this far slid out when it happened but this is how it sits now.

 

[Hehena]

99% sure it's installed backwards. Sorry this is going on I know how much of a drag this kind of stuff is myself.

 

[oilfield75]

This is passenger side, the bolt should slide in from the front, correct?

 

[Hehena]

This is passenger side, the bolt should slide in from the front, correct?

Yes. So if the nut was to come off the bolt can't fall out.

 

[Hehena]

Although if the bolt is in the correct orientation, I can imagine a scenario where under load, if the nut is completely missing, that cycling the suspension could walk the bolt up and out.

 

[re_guderian]

Although if the bolt is in the correct orientation, I can imagine a scenario where under load, if the nut is completely missing, that cycling the suspension could walk the bolt up and out.

This is true, ask me how I know... Mine also walked out and the UCA dropped in a parking lot (thank goodness). Both bolts were installed in the correct orientation, head towards vehicle front. I have yet to find a reliable way to torque that nut "at ride height" which is what the manual calls for. Closest I could do (after my initial f-up), was to measure the distance from LCA to UCA ball joint while the truck was on the ground, and then use jacks and straps to achieve that distance with the wheel off, and torque the nut then. So far that method has held up to extreme punishment, so I think it's good. I could not find a way to get a "normal" (all I have) torque wrench around wide tires to access the nut to be able to adequately torque it with vehicle on the ground and tire on. I'm sure someone on here probably has a better solution, probably something simple like turning the steering wheel to max, etc, but I think there is other junk in the way of the wrench/socket just aft of the nut, at least on the driver's side. Any way, I was sufficiently disturbed by this that I ordered a new UCA, not knowing what stress the ball joint and bushings had been under. Seeing your tire at that angle is disturbing, and makes you question whether you bought a Hummer or something similar...

 

[Rednexus]

You can't really "torque" the UCA bolt with a calibrated torque wrench at ride height. For mine I set it at ride height and went to town on it with an open-end wrench. They've been fine every since. I probably put 100 ft-lbs on them or so.

 

[jgalt]

^ ^ Either of the above works. The main thing is to achieve equivalent spring compression (to static ride value) before tightening.