BP, you are right. There's no way the U-bolts could come down straight without either removing the plates that go over the top of the axle or replacing them with some that are wider. The shape of the Skidderz plates moves the U-bolts out farther, but the top palte won't allow that. That's why they come down at an angle. I would think they would develop some proper top lates to fix this problem. I don't know what the effect of slanted U-Bolts may be.