Rear Sway Bar Reinforcement & Repair Bracket

[mx5red]

Is that not a shit ton of wheel weights??

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[Orange01z28]

No clue what that part was supposed to do. I just called it a heat shield since it was near the exhaust.

I was able to leave it on when I installed the brackets last night

 

[Aleph]

Just adding some notes from installing these on my new 2022 JTRD. The heat shield piece is on the passenger side, not driver, because everything diesel is opposite.

My May 2022 build has the too-short M12 x 1.5 x 56mm bolts (grade 10.9). I found M12 x 1.5 x 70mm(grade 8.8) with an unthreaded shank at my local ACE. 70mm certainly has enough thread to put a nylock nut on the backside if you want (I didn’t bother), but DO NOT go longer as you will bottom out the threads on the unthreaded shank, not on the endlink sleeve. If you’re not going to put a nut on the back, 60mm works too. I checked very carefully, and the 70mm is fine but you can’t go longer.

Correct torque on the big endlink bolt is 60 ft-lbs. Ordinarily I’d be very cautious about downgrading suspension bolts from 10.9 to 8.8. For instance 90 ft-lbs on a M12 x 1.5 grade 10.9 is OK, but would already be on the edge of deformation on an 8.8 if I’m reading the charts right. But given the relatively low torque, and less-critical safety hazard here, I think it’s fine. The links will also bend long before you break this bolt. But the proper course of action is to get the longer grade 10.9 bolt from Jeep.

The stock endlink bolt has an 18mm hex head, the 8.8 has a 19mm head. I think that’s all.

Why not use the bolts that Metalcloak provided? I’m searching around and it seems like a lot of people are using bolts from the hardware store instead. Not sure why people aren’t using the provided bolts?

My factory bracket is still intact and I don’t intend on cutting it. Are the Metalcloak-provided bolts only for if you remove your factory bracket?

I used the metalcloak provided bolts and now it comes out to under the frame rail which is slightly annoying

 

[WILDHOBO]

Why not use the bolts that Metalcloak provided? I’m searching around and it seems like a lot of people are using bolts from the hardware store instead. Not sure why people aren’t using the provided bolts?

My factory bracket is still intact and I don’t intend on cutting it. Are the Metalcloak-provided bolts only for if you remove your factory bracket?

I used the metalcloak provided bolts and now it comes out to under the frame rail which is slightly annoying

Because if yours is not broken yet, they send sae bolts, instead of metric. They’re assuming you’ve already wrecked your bracket’s threads.

 

[Aleph]

Because if yours is not broken yet, they send sae bolts, instead of metric. They’re assuming you’ve already wrecked your bracket’s threads.

The provided bolts appear to be metric though because the ones they’re labeled class 10.9, not grade 8 SAE, at the bolt head. Maybe they changed it?

this is what came from MC.

You scared me for a second. I already installed one side and you got me thinking I crossthreaded the factory bracket with an SAE bolt.

 

[WILDHOBO]

The provided bolts appear to be metric though because the ones they’re labeled class 10.9, not grade 8 SAE, at the bolt head. Maybe they changed it?

this is what came from MC.

You scared me for a second. I already installed one side and you got me thinking I crossthreaded the factory bracket with an SAE bolt.

I’m glad to hear they changed that. For a long time they were sae, including mine. That’s likely why many people still talk about getting their own bolts. It was how they were being shipped for quite a while.

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