Rear pinoin strap bolts?????

Ok went playing with some locals and got stuck as hell in some stickey Carolina Mud! In the course of getting winched and strapped out the rear DS strap bolts let go. When I looked after I got home after hosing it down, three of them were sheared. I searched but did not find what I was looking for. What are you guys using behind the 4.0 to kep the DS in place?

Ghost said:

Ok went playing with some locals and got stuck as hell in some stickey Carolina Mud! In the course of getting winched and strapped out the rear DS strap bolts let go. When I looked after I got home after hosing it down, three of them were sheared. I searched but did not find what I was looking for. What are you guys using behind the 4.0 to kep the DS in place?

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Replace that nasty old strap & bolt setup with a u-bolt setup. Tom Woods or any other driveline place can set you up.

It's two little ubolt straps with nuts behind them. Just drill out your yoke & tighten it up. Last time I bought a driveshaft from Tom Woods he included it in the kit.

You should be able to buy u-joint u-bolts from Pep Boys. They're blister packed in the HELP! parts aisle. The ones that will fir the XJ u-joints are listed for Ford pickups. Find the strap replacement kit for the XJ in the same display, then find the u-bolt with the same width as the distance between the holes in the strap.

i thought about doing this but im leaving the straps as a neccesary "weak"link.... if you modify the existing yoke i would question the surface the nuts will contact on the back,,, if it is not flat/level the nuts may not give the proper clamping force to stay tight.. i had thought about usung a yoke off another fullsize D44 as a donor but i couldnt find one with the XJ u-joint size..1310 i think... i gave up on the idea for the time being but i recently saw a combination 1310/1330 ujoint in the RE catalog that might solve that problem...
another thing i'd like to point out is that the straps are supposed to be relpaced after each use.. they stretch when they are torqued.. this may have contributed to you failure....
let us know how this works out for you
mike

i sheared the bolts off just like you, i replaced it with u-bolts just like was suggested. later a tore the entire yoke in half.

later i was told by a jeep tech it is best not to re-use the u-bolt straps and bolts. the straps are the strongest design for THE FACTORY YOKE. it's supposed to be a one use only. since then i've replaced the joint, yoke, and straps. been running hard with no probs -just my experience take it as you wish