69 Z/28 Day II Project (Air Force Brat)

[NorCam]

I tried that again today Mike. Those outer holes are aligned right on the edge of the spring perch and put the J-Bolt out of vertical alignment. When I did try them again today, I put the legs into the outer holes and the fronts into the stirrups but as you tighten the nuts the upper hoop becomes cocked at a slight angle over the diff and the angle of the fronts becomes more pronounced where it goes through the stirrup. It puts the nuts at the front into a slight bind although it's tough to see if the pictures below.

I tried this on the Nova a couple of years ago and had the same issue, so I relented to installing just the J-bolts as so many other people have done over the years. See the pictures of the driver's side below as I attempted it earlier today. Became another no-go and I figured those J-bolts had to be plenty strong enough for what this car will be putting out? Would they not?


Here's the little day 2 Nova before I changed out the u-bolts due to poor angles.


The holes are so close to the inside hoop that they align at an angle as they route up over the housing?


You can see the angle more with this shot. Messes with my OCD (LOL)


Here you can see the angle of the nut. The more you tighten it the worse it gets. Even with a washer it goes to bind on one edge?

If I recall correctly, I tightened the Nova down to proper torque on the J-bolts and those front bolts started to bend beyond the stirrups. Anyone else had any level of success trying to run u-bolts and j-bolts on trac bars. I always end up seeing people use just the j-bolts?