Upper Control Arm to Steering Knuckle Pinch Nut | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Upper Control Arm to Steering Knuckle Pinch Nut

grandfunk

Elite Explorer
Joined
November 30, 2012
Messages
23
Reaction score
2
City, State
Maine
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000 XLT 4WD
Working on the Explorer and it seems someone placed the incorrect pinch bolt in the spindle at some point and it is slightly bent. I would like to replace it with the correct part. Does anyone know a part number or size of the bolt I can get? It's my only car so its currently back on, but I want to replace it before having to get on the highway. I haven't had any luck with google, perhaps someone has a parts diagram that shows the bolt with the part number? The bolt I need is in red on the attached picture.

Thanks!

-Spencer

Pinch Bolt.jpg
 



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If you put the bolt back in, it should be fine until you need to remove it, which should be before years later. New upper control arms usually come with new pinch bolts. I have those as spares some place. The original bolts are stronger typically, and have a better nut and the bolt head.

So check out the UCA's, and consider when one or both might need replacing in the future. Look at the BJ boots carefully, and when the BJ is out of the spindle is the time to check that that BJ is fairly tight(not loose).
 






That makes sense why I can't find it. Thanks! Next time I'm in there I'll have to take a look. Times like these I wish I lived near a junkyard!
 






Yeah, there are dozens of OEM bolts and things that are really high quality and we can reuse them for decades. It's the other stuff that we have to keep up with to keep things going.
 






If it were mine, since it is bent I would wonder what's up with that, whether it is too small, or too weak, and considering the slight cost of a bolt I'd replace it.

I could not find a part #, so what I would do is look at the bolt on the other side spindle, same position. A ruler could be hit or miss but calipers, you can get an idea of the length, and as far as diameter it's going to be metric, medium-coarse thread (see what's available, you need a matching nut), and hardened to class 8.8 or better 10.9.

If the bolt on the other side was also replaced with the incorrect part, I'd still measure it and wonder if what happened was that someone used a the next size down in a standard rather than metric bolt size, see if it looks like the slightly larger metric bolt would fit. Again calipers are going to be much easier to use than a ruler, but if worst came to worst you could just pick up 2-3 different metric sizes at the hardware store then use the one that fits tightest.

Any bolt you choose should have a shank that extends past the BJ stud contact area, or better if closer to completely through both sides of the spindle, so threads are starting near the point where the nut is tightened down then if you need a washer to make that work, add one... I can't recall, maybe it has a washer or flange nut? If it has a flange nut (on the other side which is possibly the original or correct part?) then do add a washer if the replacement nut isn't a flange nut.

On a fastener this old, I would prefer a new bolt to one from a junkyard but this may depend on location, vehicle fasteners here tend to rust enough that sometimes you're lucky to get them off non-destructively, especially around the suspension where wheels kick up water and salted snow slush.
 






If you knew it was the correct bolt and it was just bent, it wouldn't be too bad...but it may be the wrong bolt altogether, so probably best to replace it. It's unlikely it would fail, but if it did you could lose control of the vehicle in a bad way.

J_C's advice is good. I don't think the length of the bolt matters THAT much as long as the shank is the correct length, you'll just have extra threads sticking out past the nut. You should be able to find something workable at the hardware store especially if you use a couple of washers for grip adjustment.
 






The stock pinch bolt is very strong and won't be rusted, unless someone left the BJ dry. The nut and the outer threads are really the only wear parts, you can get a used one and see if it's good very fast.
 






Yeah, it's definitely not the stock bolt. I had my brother grab one for me at the junkyard out in California (there are none around me in New England because all the cars here get too rusty). I'll swing by the hardware store until the OEM bolt gets shipped out. Thanks for all the input!
 






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