Ok, this is a known issue and subject to a factory recall, but this is getting to the ridiculous stage.

I keep breaking steering bolts. Nearly 10 in the last 80k miles I had had this one.

The first time my son was driving and they all broke in quick succession, leaving him stranded, luckily within sight of home

Its always in the same place, where the thread joins the shank.

I carry spares with me. They snap with a loud bang when tight parking. I have come to recognise this sound.

Once the first one is broken, the other 2 have excessive force on them, and break quite soon after, so its best to attend immediately, on the side of the road even

The bolts are Grade 8 from specialist. They snap due to brittleness, so maybe I should try Grade 5?

I came across an XJ that had suffered the same fate, blocking the traffic, I felt under for the owner, all 3 bolts snapped, told him and said get a tow truck

I will make more comments once I have got some feedback

What torque are you tightening them too? And how old is your torque wrench? Good bolts should not snap like that.

Same jeep in your bio? 2" lift? Is the steering stock or aftermarket? Tire size?

was 2" now 3.5"

265/70/16

The cause is clearly flexion on the unirail against the box, as the original items were Loctite in and a major pita to replace

I have seen many examples were the frame rail itself fractures, hence steering braces, plating, and an entirely upgraded kit that involves steel inner brace to replace alloy OEM, a plate with welded pipes that goes thru rail etc

I do them up very tight without a Torque wrench, although I have them, I would estimate 100ftlbs

I think in my case, there is no alternative but to attempt to brace the steering box and add stiffening plates and braces on the unirail

Its a known fact of mechanical engineering that where the thread joins the shank is a weak point (which is addressed if its a critical application)

They are snapping like a rifle shot due to a characteristic of Grade 8, Grade 5 are more ductile

I totally agree there is no way they should be snapping

I even make a hacksaw cut in the end of each bolt so I can wind the broken stub out on the roadside.

I thought I had the problem licked with some mods I have done

Maybe I just got unlucky, as a might kerb shot has bent the **** out of my LCA mount, Every suspension part took a hit. A less stout vehicle would be a write off

I don’t want to sound patronizing here so bear with me. Reminds me of a guy I knew who had a wheel fall off while he was driving. He was telling me now he makes sure the lug nuts are tight by standing on the tire iron and jumping on it. Well, since you can tighten a bolt till it snaps, if you tighten it 98% of the way to failure it just takes a bump to pop it. I think less torque and a touch of thread locker is your best bet.

I found a spec that says 70ft.lbs. for the steering gear box bolts. I would try that with a torque wrench. I also wonder if you have some flex in the frame adding to the stresses.

Do you have the shim between the box and the frame?

"The cause is clearly flexion on the unirail against the box, as the original items were Loctite in and a major pita to replace"

umm..yes, that is the cause...undoubtedly afaic, as per my previous musing.

You are right about somethings here of course, and I have been holding out a bit on all of youse

After the huge pita of getting Loctite bolts threaded stubs out of the steering box, I abandoned Loctite altogether and went with Copperslip.

They did loosen off, and break much sooner than expected.

I was aware that this was a risk, so I fitted slightly longer bolts, and a special tapered washer & nut to prevent them backing out again

I only did this with one bolt, and appears to have done its job, the other 2 are very difficult and need a slightly different approach

We will see. All new bolts will be fitted, they are 1/2" longer than stock, and custom sleeves and machined nuts will be fitted to ensure they do not back off.

I will use one of my Torque wrenches, and re-check them.

I will update this forum.

Yes I do, and it is not cracked

I will later post a link to some of the very heavy duty items I have seen in USA, Iron Rock may be one ?

The most heavy duty kit has a bearing that fits over the steering box snout (you have to remove the Pitman arm to fit it)

The unirail does have thru tubes fitted. I am going to swap the factory alloy bullbar off my spare onto mine.

It has a massive reinforcing plate/bracket on the outer rail, and I would fab up inner plate, top and bottom bracing, and brace the unirail against each other

I remind everyone this is a factory recall, and very unsafe. There is many cases

If I do not import a kit, what I will d