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RE 1600 bolt

Hypoid

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
Location
Golden, CO
I've searched and read, it seems the driver's side bolt is known for wallowing out the hole in the mount.

I'm there now, but I bought mine used, with a buggered up bolt. I found an exact replacement at my local hardware, no problem, or so I thought...

My question is this: How long is the shoulder of the stock, RE bolt?

The bolt that came with mine has a 2&1/4" long shoulder. That leaves 1/4" of actual 5/8" diameter sticking in the frame bracket, leaving another 1/2" in cut threads that in no way measure the 5/8" diameter.

As I expected the next size up in the hardware bins has an inch longer shoulder. Is there a 4 & 1/2" long x 5/8"-18 bolt for this kit?

TIA, Mike
 
I couldnm't find the bolt I wanted. I cut down a longer one to get more of the shoulder filling the mount hole.
 
Thanks for the replies!

To follow up, I am using the stock TB bracket. Even after drilling a second bracket, I'm not too happy with the whole idea of this bolt being held in single-shear. I tightened the bejeezus out of the bolt, and still see an ever-so-slight movement.

My first thought was to fill the hole with a longer shoulder.

Old:
UPLOADS212.jpg


New, longer bolt with more thread cut down the shoulder. BTW, my new best-friends at Fastenal ordered the die for me:
UPLOADS214.jpg


Still room in the bracket with the longer bolt:
UPLOADS215.jpg


After horsing around with this configuration I came to the conclusion that it is bound to fail. A quick measure of the bolt shows 0.615", my decimal equivalent chart shows 5/8" @ 0.625", a 0.010" difference. It may sound nit-picky, but I drilled the second bracket carefully, in a drill press. When I did a test fit, I was surprised at how loose it felt. I did not bother to measure the hole I just drilled.

Since I am cheap, I don't see myself buying the RE bracket that actually works. I see the factory bracket having a date with some scrap metal, and a welder, and the afore-mentioned drill press. A 5/8" x 5" bolt should work just dandy without cutting any more thread.

I see a bracket that supports the bolt head also:

UPLOADS217.jpg
 
If you don't want to put the RE bracket on, put the stock bracket on the bench and weld on some u-channel and make your own. Putting it into double shear is critical to making this work correctly. I've yet to see or hear of anyone that has used the stock bracket in single shear that wasn't ultimately disappointed.
 
i had that for a while and couldnt get it to stay tight for the life of me, i finally torqued it with a 1" impact wrench and welded the nut on to get me by and then bought and HD track bar...night and day difference
 
I can look for a photo but in the meanwhile you might want to look into a left threaded 3/4" shank tie rod end for the end of the trackbar and use a stock trackbar bracket with the stock sized hole.
 
Here's the piece that Kevin's Offroad sells. Note that the original bracket appears to be stock.

trackbar2.jpg
 
Wow, that is pretty simple, much less complicated than what I was thinking. How much room is there between the bracket and the spring perch when you have that side stuffed?
 
Wow, I guess I did neglect this for awhile!

I don't know what track bar is in the pic from Kevin's Offroad, but it is not the RE 1600.

One of the minor details of the 1600 is that it is made for 3 & 1/2" max lift. It has a bend to clear the front diff housing, thus the bracket needs to face forward a little. I did some tinkering, used the top mounting holes to the frame as a reference and came up with a 6.5* turn to meet the track bar end.

The problem:

UPLOADS232.jpg


The solution...for now:



Now that I see how much room I have with this budget boost, I'll probably make a complete bracket from 1/4" and have more room around the front axle. Gawd I'm cheap!!!!!
 
Just to be clear, the 1600 is good for that lift height in that orientation in single shear. Add the proper bracket and it works for larger lifts.
 
That's pretty clever there jeeperjohn! I was at the junkyard last weekend, looking at WJ brackets and wishing they just unbolted. ;)

Do you have any pics of it bolted on? How well does it stuff?
 
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