Sources for Greasable Bolts?

I'm about to toss another Inch under the wife's cherokee and Im looking at the Iron Rock Offroad Shackle. I like the price, and I like the adjustability. I would nver use a longer than 1.5" shackle for a few reasons, so The Rough Country and Iron man are out!. I need at Least an inch, so the Rusty's .75" is out. 1" is exacly what I need, I would buy a JKS, but they are expensive, so the IRO looks right. It is Adjustable from 1" to 1.5". Im liking this because a spare tire carrier is in the future for her rig, and i might need the extra boost to keep her level!

My only beef with the kit is that it is not greasable. This is the family ride, quiet exhaust, tires, etc... I dont want a lot of squeaking..LOL I know stock ones arent greased, but they are also metal/rubber sleeve bushings, not poly! I've seen the Warrior and Daystar poly Bushing/Bolt kits, but they are 60$!! plus I worry about whether or not they would work with the IRO shackle.

Where can you buy greasable bolts!?! I could just use the bolt and IRO's poly bushings and all would be well! I could see some Poly bushings in her future for other areas if i could just find a good source for greasable bolts in an a nice Grade 8 or comparitive steel

Got access to a machine shop? If you're set on having greasable screws, you can do them yourself with a little work.

I'm not fond of greasable screws - I know that the material down the centre of the screw isn't heavily loaded and can probably be removed safely - but I don't like removing material. But, you can drill down from the head end and stop about 1/4" from the threaded end, then tap for a zerk. Cross-drill small holes (.010"-.020") to pass the grease to the thread/grip surface. Holes should be spaced and probably drilled on a spiral to reduce stresses gathering in any particular straight line.

The screw can be bored in a lathe (best!) or drilled using a press - both will control depth - then you can cross-drill in a mill. Best way to keep the drill from walking would be to drill & tap a block of steel, then drill a guide hole. Use the block to guide the drill.

Bore a second hole to just clear the full-diameter shank of the screw (clearance of .002-.005" or so) and drill the guide hole just like for the threaded section. Same thing there. (Otherwise, you'd end up having to drill or mill slight flats on the grip/shank to present a flat surface so the drill doesn't walk. This is how the factories do it as well, just so ya know.)

The "jig" is similar to what is used to cross-drill the threaded ends of screws for safety wire or for cotter pin holes - a different style of jig is used to drill the heads for safety wire.

That said, why do want to lube the screws through the bushings? Don't the poly bushings still have the steel sleeves through them just like the "rubber" bushings, and doesn't the OEM hardware run fairly quietly?

The poly bushings make more noise against the housings and such - which is why the bushings themselves are greasable. Just something to chew on (greasable bolts are more common when the bolt shanks are to be used as pivot/hinge pins, where there is more friction involved.

most any trailer supply store will carry greasable bolts. they are used in the leaf sping, and leveling bars. i think they come in either 9/16 and 5/8, but there could be more sizes. check online and google trailer greasable leaf spring bolts.

for the added 1 - 1 1/2" you are looking for, you may consider a shackle relocation bracket. rough country makes a complete bolt on version, and H.O. makes a weld in version which seems heavier duty. search them here on the boards. useing a shackle relocation will also allow the use of the short (stock size) shackles. and if later you need a little more, you can then get whatever shackle size you need.

i havent seen any shackle relocator from rough country. i just recently browsed their site. do you have a link by chance?

go to rough country's site. click on "jeep add ons". then click on the XJ stuff. it will be the first thing listed.

Why not just add zerks to the shackles.

Thanks for the info on greasable bolts guys, making them doesn't sound too hard, but it sounds like unneccesary work!....lol. on the bushings, all poly bushings I've ever seen are just the poly bushing, they are not sleeved like rubber bushings! So yes, anything poly should be good and lubed!

brianglawson said:

Thanks for the info on greasable bolts guys, making them doesn't sound too hard, but it sounds like unneccesary work!....lol. on the bushings, all poly bushings I've ever seen are just the poly bushing, they are not sleeved like rubber bushings! So yes, anything poly should be good and lubed!

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In the XJ shackle and leaf bushings,sleeves must be installed.

RCP Phx said:

Why not just add zerks to the shackles.

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I am with this 1000% X 1000%.

Drilling holes in the bolts weaken them. Plus you will have to drill two holes,...one down the length or about 2/3 the length of the bolt and another across the width of the bolt. Instead, drill and tap a point in the shackle where it will be easy to get a grease gun to fit and then massage the bushings to allow the grease to spread onto/into the bushings.
There are shackles with grease fittings out there. If you get a picture of one you would be able to get some ideas of how to do it.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/16009_130.htm

does drilling a hole in a bolt weaken them? probably. remember too that these greasable bolts are made from hardened steal. i dont know the grade, but they are designed for this. put it this way, my 38' 5th wheel trailer at 15000 pounds has them. and if you have seen how short trailer leafs are you will see how they get alot of movement and stress. never seen a greasable bolt failure. ever. i would have no problem running them on our little jeeps.

The shackle from IRO is made by Rough Country.

http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=IROR&Product_Code=IR-X_1LS&Category_Code=XSP

2stix said:

does drilling a hole in a bolt weaken them? probably. remember too that these greasable bolts are made from hardened steal. i dont know the grade, but they are designed for this. put it this way, my 38' 5th wheel trailer at 15000 pounds has them. and if you have seen how short trailer leafs are you will see how they get alot of movement and stress. never seen a greasable bolt failure. ever. i would have no problem running them on our little jeeps.

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As I'd said - drilling down the centre of a screw probably doesn't weaken it overmuch (not because it's hardened steel, but because the centre material of the screw is very lightly loaded,) so that has negligible effect.

However, it's the cross-drilling that causes much of the trouble - since you're creating a stress riser in the screw that focuses strain and makes it more likely to fail.

When you select a sleeve for the outer bushing, either have the inside surface relieved with grease grooves to allow for lubrcation (one or two small spiral grooves will usually serve,) or have the bushing itself relieved in the same manner. This would be akin to the oiling grooves on the underside of the rocker arm pivot, if you've ever seen) one of those. I know that's how metallic bushings are generally lubricated, and I've seen the same thing on synthetic bushings in industrial applications.

i know currie sells grease-able bolts too so you can check them out. i purchased some for 7/16"