Photo Courtesy of Terry Howe.

On a spring under axle vehicle, u-bolts need protection from hang-up on or damage from rocks and other trail obstacles. A common upgrade is a set of u-bolt "skid plates". These replace the stock u-bolt or shock plates and protect the threaded ends of the u-bolts. These skid plates cost about $100 for a set of 4 and still rob 1-2" of ground clearance. Inverted u-bolts as shown above leave nothing but the edge of the u-bolt hanging below the axle tube and can be put together for less money.

The u-bolt plates themselves are commonly found in the rear of ½ ton Dodge trucks and Vans. The plate shown above had a large shock mount on it that was cut off prior to installation on the Jeep. Some of the donor plates are setup for a larger axle tub diameter than your Jeep or 4x4. An angle grinder will make short work of matching the diameter closer to your axle tubes.

The square u-bolts themselves are custom made by most any automotive or truck spring shop. Bolts can be upgraded to 9/16" from the stock ½" for added durability. The width of the u-bolts is 2-1/2" in the rear of a CJ or YJ and 2" in the front of a CJ, 2-1/2" in the front of a YJ. U-bolts are also a maintenance item that need to be retorqued periodically.

Another area to be addressed for this conversion is shock mounts. The best suggestion, which gives further ground clerance increase is to weld tabs on the rear axle housing to mount the shocks to. Companies like Conferr and Currie Ent. Sell these pieces.

This conversion is simpler and more commonly employed on rear axles. In the front, most 4x4’s have cast in bosses on the differential side for the u-bolts to slip over which cause clearance problems with the Dodge style plates. Some patience in searching for a set of used plated in the junkyard and creativity with the sawzall and grinder will yield good results. Next time you are on a club run, stop me and check out all 4 corners of my CJ7 with reversed u-bolts.

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