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

[Stan H]

I'm Free !!!! , the Rattle clink clank is gone.
I swear it even road a touch better ...lol it was just a relief with that LCA not clacking and rattling . Checked the opposite side also & it was so tight I couldnt put any more on it .. thanks again @WILDHOBO & @Hootbro

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[WILDHOBO]

I'm Free !!!! , the Rattle clink clank is gone.
I swear it even road a touch better ...lol it was just a relief with that LCA not clacking and rattling . Checked the opposite side also & it was so tight I couldnt put any more on it .. thanks again @WILDHOBO & @Hootbro

Final solution? Hammer it with an impact? Different bolt, or both?

 

[WILDHOBO]

I'm Free !!!! , the Rattle clink clank is gone.
I swear it even road a touch better ...lol it was just a relief with that LCA not clacking and rattling . Checked the opposite side also & it was so tight I couldnt put any more on it .. thanks again @WILDHOBO & @Hootbro

And you get all the credit. I was just typing on my phone. You were the one that found the clunk. Finding them is a pita sometimes.

 

[TheTrailGeek]

@WILDHOBO So I made a video, possible that it had worked loose this weekend I will add some loctite. But what I noticed is that there is no damage to the LCA and the sleeve for the bolt is 100% intact...But the hole in it is bigger than the bolt . Also the holes in the bracket are about that same size. That bolt must be super hard as it was taking alot of abuse. There was not only up and down play but left and right .
As you will See in the pics I found a hard washer the correct size and used it to take up the remaining slack . I actually had to tap it into place using a punch and then a chisel and a plastic HF dead blow hammer.
After looking at the holes in the bracket I believe going to the hardware store and finding an extremely hard bolt just a little bigger would be the ticket .
I used a large screw driver for final alignment then a love tap from the HF dead blow hammer .
And thwn the bolt was through. With zero slack remaining and no chance of bending the bracket inward I did not hold back and put the Come Hither on it.
This bolt is a fine thread M-12 or something super hard like that so even though I did not have my impact I used a very long 25mm end wrench and a ½ ratchet and a 21mm socket on the head side of the bolt. It definitely should be locked into place . I could not budge it the tiniest amount after that.

I still think I may hunt up a bigger bolt same length and strength . Possibly at Graingers or somewhere like that.

Man, that sounds a lot like a noise I've been trying to track down on my rig. I might have to take a closer look at that when it comes back from the dealer.

 

[Stan H]

Man, that sounds a lot like a noise I've been trying to track down on my rig. I might have to take a closer look at that when it comes back from the dealer.

Check the pictures out also

 

[Stan H]

And you get all the credit. I was just typing on my phone. You were the one that found the clunk. Finding them is a pita sometimes.

I was over a week hunting that down
How I finally found it was I had parked downhill with the front end uphill and the LCA was out of rearward tension on the bolt allowing me to finally get something to move ..lol

 

[Stan H]

Final solution? Hammer it with an impact? Different bolt, or both?

Final solution: I am going to get a different bolt but I had a very long ratchet and a long end wrench and squeezed the milk out of it and added a hardened washer beside the LCA sleeve to eliminate side to side movement also .

 

[WILDHOBO]

I was over a week hunting that down
How I finally found it was I had parked downhill with the front end uphill and the LCA was out of rearward tension on the bolt allowing me to finally get something to move ..lol

Tricky. It took me over a month when my first control arm clunk occurred. I didn’t know what it was at the time, or where to look. They were fine just installed, but I found later that more torque was needed when I added bolt through skids. They kept loosening up until I realized that. Now they’ve been silent for over two years.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Final solution: I am going to get a different bolt but I had a very long ratchet and a long end wrench and squeezed the milk out of it and added a hardened washer beside the LCA sleeve to eliminate side to side movement also .

If you leave the washer, no harm, but I’d bathe that washer in Antiseize.

 

[TheTrailGeek]

I was over a week hunting that down
How I finally found it was I had parked downhill with the front end uphill and the LCA was out of rearward tension on the bolt allowing me to finally get something to move ..lol

I live in the mountains and only really experience this phantom clunk on curves going up hill or when I stop accelerating going uphill. Downhill, it's quiet as a mouse. It's been driving me nuts cause I can't find anything underneath that looks out of sorts and when I put the lift on, I torqued everything to spec. I do have the AEV geometry correction brackets and have even considered removing them to see if it goes away after that. I have the Metal Cloak bolt set and the UCA bolts didn't fit in the brackets so I have the ones that originally came with it when I bought it. It's been at Jeep going on a month now with the exception of one weekend back here where I discovered the paint disaster. I have so much to do when it gets back.

 

[JAsh1967]

Am I mechanic now?
I installed these today:

Glad I had a cheater bar to get the one bolt off, and a BIG thank you to @Metalcloak for including bolts of the right size and thread to use instead of the stock bolts.

I might go back under in a day or two, put the washers and nuts on the back side with some blue loctite.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

The whole stable is giving me problems at the moment.

TJ was charging at 13.3 volts. Which seems like enough but Odyssey says they need 14.2-14.5 to charge and I've been chasing draining battery issues for a couple years now so threw in a new alternator today and it's charging at 14.2. So that's cool. It's idling now to see if it actually charges it.

Subaru is trying to catch itself on fire. I can't tell where the oil/grease is coming from. I thought I fixed all the leaks.

Ram has a nasty exhaust squeak. Everything is tight when I shake it. Need to get it hot and jack it up and hit all the exhaust brackets/clamps with an impact.

And this inner fender kit on the Gladiator... I've been buying from Savvy for 15 years so I sort of know what to expect but this whole experience has been an absolute clusterfuck. Mild steel (or aluminized) metric hardware in front, stainless standard in rear. Trimming needed EVERYWHERE. For "bolt on" in the rear and "straight forward" installation in the front it's crazy it's taken me multiple days. They recommend the Motobilt washer bottle. It doesn't fit. Wiring in the way. Brackets in the way. Studs in the way. Def fill tube in the way. Crazy amount of work. BUT, I know all that results in more clearance so I've been persevering. And the AAL light kit.... it looks quality. But the drill-less brackets to hold the fenders down don't really work and the lights themselves came with missing bolts that hold the whole assembly together...

"Tiny" tires to get in in and out of the garage. Crazy those are 32s and it came on 33s. So much room for activities!

 

[NULL POINTER]

Am I mechanic now?
I installed these today:

Glad I had a cheater bar to get the one bolt off, and a BIG thank you to @Metalcloak for including bolts of the right size and thread to use instead of the stock bolts.

I might go back under in a day or two, put the washers and nuts on the back side with some blue loctite.

Good job. Looks good and very smart addition to your JT. Just curious, did your stock bracket break or was this pre-emptive? I did not need a breaker bar when I did mine as a pre-emptive reinforcement.

When I did mine, I had the added joy of the RockBlockz mud flap mounts which use some of the same holes as the MC reinforcement bracket. I had to do a little grinding on the RockBlockz brackets for the rear in order for them to fit with MC reinforcement brackets. No problem resusing all the stock hardware.

EDIT: now that I think about it, after the install I went and got a longer metric bolt for each side and a nylon lock nut. Also, this post from @Jaxmax shows what you have to do to use these with the Rock Blokz mudflap brackets. I found that post very helpful when I did mine. Thanks Jaxmax. https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/rear-sway-bar-reinforcement.56763/post-951306
Helpful thread to justify use of the longer bolt. (48) Check Your Rear Stabilizer Frame Bracket Bolts - Mopar New Bolt Length | Jeep Gladiator (JT) News, Forum, Community - JeepGladiatorForum.com

 

[WILDHOBO]

The whole stable is giving me problems at the moment.

TJ was charging at 13.3 volts. Which seems like enough but Odyssey says they need 14.2-14.5 to charge and I've been chasing draining battery issues for a couple years now so threw in a new alternator today and it's charging at 14.2. So that's cool. It's idling now to see if it actually charges it.

Subaru is trying to catch itself on fire. I can't tell where the oil/grease is coming from. I thought I fixed all the leaks.

Ram has a nasty exhaust squeak. Everything is tight when I shake it. Need to get it hot and jack it up and hit all the exhaust brackets/clamps with an impact.

And this inner fender kit on the Gladiator... I've been buying from Savvy for 15 years so I sort of know what to expect but this whole experience has been an absolute clusterfuck. Mild steel (or aluminized) metric hardware in front, stainless standard in rear. Trimming needed EVERYWHERE. For "bolt on" in the rear and "straight forward" installation in the front it's crazy it's taken me multiple days. They recommend the Motobilt washer bottle. It doesn't fit. Wiring in the way. Brackets in the way. Studs in the way. Def fill tube in the way. Crazy amount of work. BUT, I know all that results in more clearance so I've been persevering. And the AAL light kit.... it looks quality. But the drill-less brackets to hold the fenders down don't really work and the lights themselves came with missing bolts that hold the whole assembly together...

"Tiny" tires to get in in and out of the garage. Crazy those are 32s and it came on 33s. So much room for activities!

You’re in it.

 

[WILDHOBO]

You’re in it.

Also I’m jealous of the TJ

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