U bolt question

[Arctic Taco]

Hello All,
Newb to this board I am starting the process of getting my new(to me) 85 LWB all set up. I started with adding some leafs from a 79 3/4 ton SR5 2wd. Now I need some clamps, I'm thinking about using the old ubolts. Anyone know what the bolt size is? I tried a 14mm x2.0 but it looks small. Correction, it is right I just have to get the correct thread pitch.

Might just go with a 9/16 SAE fine thread, which looks like it would work.
Anyone have some OEM numbers? I'll add a pic later today
Thanks

 

[KidVermicious]

Pretty sure those ubolts are designed to stretch under torque, and aren't supposed to be reused. I'm not saying you're guaranteed to die a fiery death if you do, but a fresh set of ubolts would solve your problem of not knowing what pitch they are.

 

[Arctic Taco]

Thanks Kevin,
Actually the plan is to reuse the u-bolts as spring clamps not for the entire spring pack itself. New u bolts are already in place, these would be for the 'keeper' clamps.
I only ask since I am currently at a remote work site and don't have town type support. I figured someone might have the info so I could order a set of dies to thread them down so they could be used as keeper clamps. A trade off, aftermarket keepetr clamps run about $20.00/pr and would cost about $30.00 to ship- good old UPS- where as I could get a die for about $15.00+ and be able to repurpose the old u-bolts as clamps and even get tolls out of the deal, for the same or less $$.
Cheers

 

[KidVermicious]

Oh, copy. Cool idea. I don't know what size they are, mine aren't stock and I'm willing to bet they aren't the same size.

This thread says M14x1.25 - 4x4Wire TrailTalk Forums: rear spring u-bolt thread size. M14 sounds about right, so maybe order up whatever die you feel like in that size and a couple nice nuts to go with it?

 

[Arctic Taco]

Thanks for looking, I actually got the idea off a thread with Doug on the tacoma world board.

www.tacomaworld.com/forum/suspension/194386-tacoma-spring-refurbishing.html

Well a trip to the shop and I tried a 14mm x 1.25 and it was too fine. That sheds some light....
It looks as though it is - 14mm x 1.5
the 14mm x 1.25 is a spark plug thread according to the Irwin tap and die set I used and is too fine.

So both size hex dies are on order anyway (add to the collection) and pick up some 1/4" x 1-12" strap in town along with some more nuts and and away we go....