installing AAL's

[Jamison]

I plan on installing aal's I got used this weekend. My neighborand I were checking it out and we notice that the holes for the bolts are not centered. Can you tell me which way they go? long side to the front or back?

[River Beast]

The bolts on your springs are not centered either... just put them on in relation to your spring setup... long on the long side...

also ensure you put them in the correct placmement... watch your U-bolt length... you may be needing new ones if they are not long enuf to handle the AAL.

[Jamison]

thanks RB did not even notice. The u-bolts "look" (about 5/8-3/4 longer) enough. Will it need to be any longeg than the aal depth?

[River Beast]

Just ensure you have enuf bolt thread coming thru the top of the nut.. otherwise you may have problems...

I hope they are full length AAL's and not the 28" short thick hunk of crap from ProComp... I wouldn't waste my time if they are... you'll ride like a BRICK!!!

[Hump]

Make sure you use some c-clamps to pull the springs together. Do not try to suck it all up with the center bolt. You'll strip it out and be all ticked off because you can't find any fine thread bolts anywhere.

[River Beast]

You can buy new spring pins... I did from a local 4x4 shop for $7

HEY!! Godd point!!! I forgot about that!! You will need new spring pins... the OEM's will most likely strip or snap off, plus they wo'nt be long enuf to go thru the extra leaf....

I know they come in various sizes, so you may need to measure the dia. of yours and match them up...

[ August 09, 2002, 03:42 PM: Message edited by: River Beast ]

[Stolen76]

On your spring pins... cut the new ones off about 1/4" past the nut and then mash them with a hammer to mushroom out the end. Just an added safety practice. It insures the nut won't come off and the next guy won't re-use them !

[ibnfe]

I personally would buy new u-bolts as well. I have never had much luck removing the old ones.
Anymore I just cut them off. It's quicker and new is always good. No questions about whether they are weakened/tweaked or the "oh-my-god" rush to the parts store 7 seconds before they close to replace the unexpected stripped or broken one.

[River Beast]

You make a good point on the u-bolts.... but most of the time they have to be oredered.. I never found any to buy and had to have mine made at a spring shop for $7 each... not a bad price!

PC knows all about TJ and Buddy at American Spring... ;) Great brothers that run a shop in Yuma

[irbob]

Jamison...didja get my email?

[Jamison]

sure thing Bob, I'm using the double shot method thanks for all the good info

[ClarkGriswald]

Yep spring shop for ubolts, they can bend em up whatever size you want.. I belive those are designed so that the nut cuts its way into the threads the first time you tighten em so as to lock them tight. ??? I have never reused them.

[andy d]

i have and have had no problems. i have a 3'cheater bar and crank those nuts up tight. its a bear getting them off though.

[ClarkGriswald]

Once, I was out in the black hills (south dakota) with some friends camping.. We were in my buddy erics chevy pickup (4x4) it was one of the newer types mabye mid 90's I guess. We called it the "smoothie".

He had a 4 inch lift I belive it was trailmaster. Had new control arms for the front and all that stuff.. it had been on for a few months before we went out west so all was good.......

Well, I was trying to find my way to this canyon/valley thing with a river running thru that I had been to years before and had ridden my quad thru with my friends behind me in a truck. We found these really cool walking sticks (we picked em up) they were all worm/bug eaten and have many lines/trails eatin in them. ya know under the bark. I have a few nice ones still. ANYWAY. We were tooling around on some back forest roads and all of a sudden .. Whack.. and BRRRRRRRRRRRBBEEERRRRRRRBRRR..

Somehow the Ubolts on the driver side of the rear axle were loose enough to where the spring pack had a tiny amount of play. That tiny amount of play of course adds up and it had sheared off the spring pin. The leaf pac had come apart and the tire was rubbin in the wheel well. Luckily the springs didnt come completly apart. They just sort of extended.

Well we had tools/jack ect.. had to scavenge a few logs to build a little platform so our floor jack would work, but we got the axle back into place by beating on it and the spring pac with a log.. (luckly there was logging goin on right where we were driving.. (the canyon is now no longer accessible by vehicles, thats why i couldnt find it)and there was a logging road goin nearby.).

So with the axle somewhat back into position and the leaves pounded back into position(somwhat). We used a chain and some rope and basicaly tied off the axle from the front and rear to whatever frame or whatever was good. We were close to a major road and were able to carefully sneak back to Rapid City, it was nearly 5 o'clock and we were asking local people at gas stations if there were any 4 wheel drive places around or whatever and some old man told us of a spring shop about a mile away.. we went there and the guy that ran the place came out with a tape measure and put the eyeball on the situation.. then got us the right pin/bolt and bent us up a new set of Ubolts. He stayed open about 15-20 min late to help us out.. way cool. And like todd said.. it was very cheap for some ubolts and the pin.. I belive it was that guy that explained the thread cuttin nut thing..

From there we hit a hardware store and got a big piece of pipe that would fit on our heftiest half inch breakerbar. And a single deepwell impact socket that was the right size.

Ha.. the best part was fixing it.. In a campground full of people,, here we are three michigan hillbillys with a jack and a bunch of wood blocks .. the truck just teetering on the jack.. (in fact all I did was tend the jack with my hand almost on my buddies foot/leg ready to yank him out from under there.. it was not a good scene. but all was safe..) here we are in the beautiful black hills .. near a damm in a big campground.. and a super loud resonating sound.. SQUEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!!!!! each turn of those old ubolt nuts with that breaker bar with the impact socket on there and a piece of pipe on it for leverage.. in the midst of it all I sort of noticed that all the folks in the nearby campsites had "gone out" heheh.. We also broke a brake line on that trip.. one of the ones on the rear axle.. goin to the wheel from the T.. we bought a coupler and put it back together and bled it in another campground hahahha.. that was a good trip.. funny how the most messed up things are the most fun youve had. hahahaha.

[Jamison]

great story, that would be a nightmare because I would probably be with the wife and kids. I fact we are looking at a trip to the national forest in the fall for the color change. Is it worth the few bucks, oh yea. so no aal's this weekend, need a few parts but soon.

[BIG BAD JON]

I love those kinds of stories! Thats why I keep a 20lb roll of bailing wire in the back of my Jeep! :D

[1974 Wagoneer]

Hey Jamison,

I did the AAL last fall. I had a few really bad bolts so I would recomend going out each night for a few nights before and soaking the bolts with liquid wrench or WD40 (some penetrting oil).

It may save a little tiem on youru back

[Jamison]

thanks Blaine, started already, about 2 weeks ago. The bolts don't look very bad, see I got mine for the old guy who drove it to the store (my Dad) it only has 55k on it. It is in great condition except for the paint and headliner. Headliner has been pulled and I am getting ready to redo it. I did have to get new exaust, brakes (first time they were done) and and ignition module. The dealer rebuilt the carb TWICE trying to fix the hard start. I got it fixed in two days here. Starts and runs good, need a tune up, I think I will start a TFI this week. It also has a few vac leaks. oh, did I mention it was $100. yea, I can afford a few repairs..