I ended up using a 4" grinder.

I hadn't thought of maybe going up and compressing the spring some to get the spring eye bolt to clear the bed bracket but then it probably wouldn't work as well for me without any wt. in the bed. My jack might have maxed out before the spring compressed enough but then as I said I didn't try it. You probably had a little taller tire than my 31's. I had a little daylight under them before the truck came up off the jackstands.

 

Seemed more appropriate to ask here, instead of in a new thread. This is my next job as my passenger hangar is held on by a small piece of rusty metal at this point. The leaf springs look like they are under a heavy load, if I start to cut off the rivets arent they going to snap downward? How do you put them up into the new shackel?

 

You need to jack the truck up and support the frame (carefully on high quality jack stands sitting on a firm base) so there is no load on the springs...if you are doing it at home on the ground or in the garage try to get the frame up to a point with the tires are just taking the weight of the axle. This way you can carefully use a jack to move the axle up align the new mounts. Be careful and if you dont have or cant afford the right stand/jacks to do it safely just run it to a shop