torque?
- Thread starter Ken Arms
- Start date
19Fordy
Well-known member
40 Ford U-bolts are 1/2-20 UNF. I go by this chart and torque mine to 80 foot pounds.. Be sure to use cotter pin.
https://www.autoandtrucksprings.com/pages/U-Bolt_Torque.html
https://www.autoandtrucksprings.com/pages/U-Bolt_Torque.html
JM 35 Sedan
Well-known member
Ken, I've never set those nuts to a specific torque specification. If I know I have the correct spring pack/correct number of leaves, a woven pad on top leaf, correct part number U bolts and spring bars, and the square head of the spring bolt properly seated into the square hole in cross member, I then tighten those four nuts by alternating sequencially between the four, a little at a time, until the cotter pins just begin to easily fit through the slots in nut and into the holes in the U bolts.
I've worked on a number of early Ford front & rear spring mounts that had damaged U bolts. Apparently in one case someone tried to tighten the nut on one side all the way down at the beginning of the assembly, and bent/disformed one leg of the U bolt, then tried to tighten the opposite nut and wound up stripping threads. I've also seen these nuts tightened so far down that the slots in the nuts were past the cotter pin holes in the U bolts. It's possible they had the wrong U bolts as well, that were too long to begin with. I've also seen these nuts tightened so far down that the spring was basically straight across, and could not function properly.
It's very important to get these springs correctly bolted in place if you want the car to ride and handle correctly
I've worked on a number of early Ford front & rear spring mounts that had damaged U bolts. Apparently in one case someone tried to tighten the nut on one side all the way down at the beginning of the assembly, and bent/disformed one leg of the U bolt, then tried to tighten the opposite nut and wound up stripping threads. I've also seen these nuts tightened so far down that the slots in the nuts were past the cotter pin holes in the U bolts. It's possible they had the wrong U bolts as well, that were too long to begin with. I've also seen these nuts tightened so far down that the spring was basically straight across, and could not function properly.
It's very important to get these springs correctly bolted in place if you want the car to ride and handle correctly
Last edited:
Lawson Cox
Well-known member
Ford mechanics did not use torque wrenches. Just good and tight. Equally where there is more than one.
bolt.