Check Your U Bolts

[Nate670]

Hey guys… Public Sevice Announcement for all the 88-98 guys- check those rear differential u bolts. Doing this on my 99 Denali today. It’s amazing how little metal is left hidden under the rust. Did my sons stepside a few months ago - one of his actually broke. Fairly cheap peace of mind- a couple hour job and about $150.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

That's some rusty looking crap there

 

[GrimsterGMC]

Hey guys… Public Sevice Announcement for all the 88-98 guys- check those rear differential u bolts. Doing this on my 99 Denali today. It’s amazing how little metal is left hidden under the rust. Did my sons stepside a few months ago - one of his actually broke. Fairly cheap peace of mind- a couple hour job and about $150.

Had the same issue with mine and didn't realise until I had to re-stack the leaves due to previous owner putting a long leaf on the very bottom to give it some lift. Those bottom plates hold all the mud and you can't see the rusted section from a quick visual inspection. Mine had just passed the 6 monthly safety inspection required in New Zealand and I took the old u bolt in to show the inspector, as he is a mate of mine, and he had no idea and will now be checking a lot more thoroughly in future.

 

[Nate670]

Yeah probably the most overlooked safety concern on these trucks. They look good until you rattle the rust off

 

[Boots97]

Can relate. I brought my 97 K1500 I bought at auction to my local GM dealer for new steering components and an alignment. My U bolts and rear axle were rusted out and I ended up getting all that replaced while I was there. Wasn’t fun, but glad I got it fixed bc I didn’t even notice that all of it was bad.

 

[Boots97]

That's some rusty looking crap there

Another normal day in the Midwest and the Northeast.

 

[johnckhall]

Did mine about a year ago. When I was working underneath my truck treating some rust, I could see they needed replacing. Cheap fix for much peace of mind.

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[tpass]

That's some rusty looking crap there

the crap is all in Arizona, the rustbelt has rust

 

[someotherguy]

This can happen to all vehicles with this design of leaf spring U-bolt/saddle arrangement. These pics are from a truck I parted out back in '06, solid Texas truck with no rust. All it takes is for dust/mud to collect in there and the process begins.

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A lot of you 4x4 guys are already aware there are kits that flip the U-bolt/saddle to a style much like a lowered truck with a flip kit uses, but without a drop - the bolts go up and through a flat plate where no crud can collect. That would be my recommendation for anyone in a rust belt area, or anyone that drives where you see a lot of dirt or mud.

Richard

 

[Nate670]

I was actually thinking about filling the saddles with something to at least keep all the crap from collecting in there. We talked about this when we did the step side not that long ago- but never did it. The saddles are already full of gravel dust/mud/and whatever nasty stuff they’re putting on the roads in the winter.