What did you do TO your Gladiator today? [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS, NO GUN TALK]

[Jaxmax]

I believe all the brackets were manufactured the same, it's a split tab with the nut welded on the back side. With enough downward force the split was tearing open. (You know more about manufacturing than I do, but that split looks like a known weak point. Some guys welded the seam, I don't weld so Metalcloak for me!)

That's why the guy shipped me a sway link with a nut on it
And again I think the AEV links maybe had the wrong pitch, that's why his nut was super hard to remove and I think I had trouble with the metalcloak bracket at first. Can't confirm where the problem with the bolts started though

The bolts in the Metal Cloak kit are not the same thread as factory and are for repair when you have a split one, the factory bolts were a little short when doing mine and there is a thread here giving the longer bolt part number to get from dealer to make it real solid just like factory. My dealer parts man looked it up and found the longer bolt no problem. The brace is not that much money to spend and prevent it tearing out instead of watching for it…..Jack

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[KevinM60]

They all do. I recommend the metalcloak bracket before it fails. It will fail if you wheel it. The bracket will prevent it.

I checked mine and there are no splits on the bottom that I could find.
Either they did a good job of hiding it or if other years have them maybe they changed it?
The AEV bolt in the Link was the same thread and installed just fine.
I'm not sure what to make of all that but I have to agree that if it's been a problem preventive measures would be a good idea.

 

[WILDHOBO]

The bolts in the Metal Cloak kit are not the same thread as factory and are for repair when you have a split one, the factory bolts were a little short when doing mine and there is a thread here giving the longer bolt part number to get from dealer to make it real solid just like factory. My dealer parts man looked it up and found the longer bolt no problem. The brace is not that much money to spend and prevent it tearing out instead of watching for it…..Jack

I didn’t use the bolts they sent. I used metric bolts matching factory, but longer to allow me to put a lock nut behind the Oem press nut. It’s held up very well for about 30k miles.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I checked mine and there are no splits on the bottom that I could find.
Either they did a good job of hiding it or if other years have them maybe they changed it?
The AEV bolt in the Link was the same thread and installed just fine.
I'm not sure what to make of all that but I have to agree that if it's been a problem preventive measures would be a good idea.

If yours hasn’t failed, it’s hard to see.

 

[KevinM60]

If yours hasn’t failed, it’s hard to see.

That's what I meant about hiding it. You have to get under there and run your fingernail over it to try and find any hairlines. I couldn't find any which brought the comment about trying to hide it. You would have to fill it in with paint or primer perfectly to hide any gaps. What would be the point of that?
Now if you tweaked it and cracked it yourself then you would have something to see.

 

[Lunentucker]

I didn’t use the bolts they sent. I used metric bolts matching factory, but longer to allow me to put a lock nut behind the Oem press nut. It’s held up very well for about 30k miles.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...me-bracket-bolts-mopar-new-bolt-length.57878/

 

[WILDHOBO]

That's what I meant about hiding it. You have to get under there and run your fingernail over it to try and find any hairlines. I couldn't find any which brought the comment about trying to hide it. You would have to fill it in with paint or primer perfectly to hide any gaps. What would be the point of that?
Now if you tweaked it and cracked it yourself then you would have something to see.

Maybe they fixed it, but I hadn’t heard that. Mine was visible with no damage to either side. Mine is a ‘21

 

[KevinM60]

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...me-bracket-bolts-mopar-new-bolt-length.57878/

Lol. You made me go look. The upper bolt is about a 1/4" longer than the nut.
To think that they would use bolts too short is asinine. Without enough threads they will pull out and strip the nut. I've seen people do that in fixturing and we always give them a ration and tell them to take 2 minutes to get the right bolts.

 

[Shibbyjeep]

Installed bulletpoint rubigrid phone holder and Mopar "winch hoop"

 

[KevinM60]

Maybe they fixed it, but I hadn’t heard that. Mine was visible with no damage to either side. Mine is a ‘21

Not sure. Looking at the structure of the bracket and attached nut and the mechanical function it looks okay but they're using 1/8" thick steel reinforced by the nut. They probably saved a lot of money with a thinner bracket but a few fractions thicker would be a lot more sound.
How many people have you all heard of having this failure?

 

[WILDHOBO]

Not sure. Looking at the structure of the bracket and attached nut and the mechanical function it looks okay but they're using 1/8" thick steel reinforced by the nut. They probably saved a lot of money with a thinner bracket but a few fractions thicker would be a lot more sound.
How many people have you all heard of having this failure?

Quite a few actually. My original bolts were shorter than the back of the press nut. It didn’t even use all threads in the press nut. Several people had this happen during similar build times. Likely parts shortages.

 

[KevinM60]

Quite a few actually. My original bolts were shorter than the back of the press nut. It didn’t even use all threads in the press nut. Several people had this happen during similar build times. Likely parts shortages.

Part shortage stands to reason. Gotta keep that line going. I'm also curious about the number of bracket failures. I was going to look at the mechanics of that but without going out to look I'm thinking that heavy axle articulation can cause the bolt to twist upward enough to stress the bracket into cracking?

 

[mx5red]

Not sure. Looking at the structure of the bracket and attached nut and the mechanical function it looks okay but they're using 1/8" thick steel reinforced by the nut. They probably saved a lot of money with a thinner bracket but a few fractions thicker would be a lot more sound.
How many people have you all heard of having this failure?

Quite a few, luckily mine hadn't broken but I added it b/c of all this.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/broken-tab-weld-on-mojave-frame-no-warranty.53002/
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...ay-bar-end-link-mounts-back-plate-weld.53262/
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/rear-sway-bar-reinforcement.56763/

 

[KevinM60]

Quite a few, luckily mine hadn't broken but I added it b/c of all this.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/broken-tab-weld-on-mojave-frame-no-warranty.53002/
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...ay-bar-end-link-mounts-back-plate-weld.53262/
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/rear-sway-bar-reinforcement.56763/

That looks like enough reason to add the reinforcement before breaking down on the trail.

 

[Lunentucker]

Reduced my chances of hitting the wrong button by 11% ?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044D2NLI

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