Body Mount Bolt Torque | Ford Explorer Forums

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Body Mount Bolt Torque

Jet Ski Puller

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 2, 2001
Messages
385
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2
City, State
Clinton, UT
Year, Model & Trim Level
'08 Sport Trac 4.6
Just put my body lift blocks on and don't know what to torque the bolts to. I dont' have any instructions, and the OEM Service Manual doesn't even list it.

Anyone know this?

Thanks.
 



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Tight As Crap! I'm not exactly sure, and when I did it, we just hooked up the air hose to an 1/2 impact and ran it til it stopped. So I'm guessing 150-170 ft. lbs!

-Drew
 






yep i agree , when i did mine i just did them up as far as they would tighten,, b/l has been on for ages now and i havnt had any probz!
 






actually the bigger the bolt, the less torque is actually needed to secure it... i wouldnt be surprised if it only needs 80 foot/pounds...... so as tight as you can get it is good enough.....
 






just looking here... and i know its not for the explorer, but this guy knows his stuff, and his site is pretty much dead on.... he does all sorts of custom fabrication... anyways, according to what he found in the toyota fsm for the size of the body mount bolts and such its 30 ft/pounds! needed for it.....

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Docs/BodyLift_HowTo.shtml#TorqueSpecs
 






Yeah, I went up to 45ft-lb on the rear most bolts, and it's starting to just bend the body. I would be surprised if it's more than that.
 






Use the low German torque spec: Gooten-tight.
They also have a high German torque spec: Fookken-tight.

:P
 






I torqued mine to 85 lbs./ft. and used thread locker. No squeaks or rattles (so far).
 






I think the spelling"Fookken-tight" would be more like fikker.

The body bolts usually have some corrosion, and take more than a lugnut to loosen. Given their size, I'd suggest something around 40-60lbs.ft. Add some antisieze, good luck.
 






CDW6212R said:
Add some antisieze, good luck.

Anti-seize?? No way.... Thread-locker, sure, but do you want them to be able to work their way loose? Not on my ride....

-Joe
 






Anti-seize compound simply does not allow fasteners to corrode (rust, oxidize). It won't allow them to loosen on their own. It just makes future disassembly much easier. I did not use it on my body bolts but I use it any place where water/salt may come in contact with a fastener (underbody). Applying proper torque to any fastener will keep it from working loose. If that's not enough, there's always safety wire.
 






While I agree with you wholeheartedly, but, for all practical purposes, you want to apply a corrosion inhibitor to the EXPOSED threads, not in lieu of the thread locking compound. In theory, a properly torqued bolt needs no thread locker. However, in the real world, I've seen too many body mounting bolts come loose due to a lock of thread locking compound after a lift, not due to a lack of torque. People will swear up and down that they're not loose and that they used enough thread locker, but pull back the carpet and you'll see this:

126350.jpg


That's the first of four I've seen that came loose. On that particular truck, only one of the six bolts that held the cab to the frame was still tight. One had actually worn all the threads off from the rubbing.

Loctite is your friend when it comes to critical bolts. You can torque and safety-wire until you're blue in the face, but neither of them will secure the nut to the bolt like thread locking compound will.

For the ultimate in fastener retention, use Nyloks, thread locking compound, AND safety wire. Overkill? Absolutely. Necessary? Not normally. But you've got to admit it reduces the chances of it coming loose.

Just my 2 cents...

-Joe
 






HAHA yeah! Anti-seize is a LUBERCAINT. It works better on stuff like pinion splines.

i hate anti-seize, it gets everywhere. freggin creepin crud.
 






looks like a dam small washer used with the bolt in that pik, mine are alot thicker and stronger,,,there is no way you can tighten the body mount bolts up enough with insufficiant washers cause they just squash and bend under the bolt pressure, as the one in the pik shows.
 






Mine haven't come loose. *knocking on wood*. You all made me re-think, so I went out and took a look at the ones I could get to without removing a lot of things. Everythings tight. I believe we used locking nuts - so maybe that is why. Otherwise, I would stick with 50ft.lbs or more.

-Drew
 






me thinks about getting the 1/2" impact wrench and doing the bolts a once over.. its been over a year since it was installed.. hmm..
 






fangz said:
looks like a dam small washer used with the bolt in that pik, mine are alot thicker and stronger,,,there is no way you can tighten the body mount bolts up enough with insufficiant washers cause they just squash and bend under the bolt pressure, as the one in the pik shows.

Yes, you are correct about the washer size. That's what came with the kit, right or wrong. However, had the bolt been properly torqued with a thread locker installed, even if it lost its pre-load, it would not have backed out.

-Joe
 






The factory washers are excellent, keep using them. What keeps the factory body bolts exceptionally tight, originally, is the corrosion that occurs in the threads of the bolts, and bushings.

The factory body bushings are in two pieces, the opposite end from the bolt head has threads built into it. If those threads are corroded too badly, or aren't lubricated when reassembled, then the part will either strip from corrosion, or be unuseable next time.

I don't know what body lift kits do with the factory parts. If you use the factory pieces, add antiseize to them, work the bolts on and off to evenly spread it. That will keep them from further corroding.

If you don't feel confident in the holding power still, then add a drop or two of thread locker. The thread locking compounds do there job by plugging up the gap between the threads, just like corrosion. The difference is that the thread locker will fall apart when you apply loosening torque. Any large amount of corrosion will do it's very best to destroy both the bolt, and the threads in that special body mount(special order, if you are lucky). Regards,
 






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