I bought the Energy Suspension polyurethane master kit about a year ago and I'm finally getting to the actual install. So far I've done the sway bar and track bar, and have one of the rear springs off. Here's where I hit the first major snag.

The shackle on the rear springs is a bear to get the bushing out of. I looked at getting a replacement shackle and found out that the OEM unit has a non-removable bushing. Well, not actually non-removable, it just isn't supposed to be removable... lol I took it in to work where we have a 50 ton press and managed to get the bushing out, but kind of tweaked the shackle a bit doing it. Does anyone know of a source for repalcement shackles that are not OEM and can take replacement bushings?

I will try to get some pics of the work along with some of the things I did to make the job easier. Here is a report on what I've done so far.

Front sway bar:
There really were no major issues with this one. It was fairly easy to unbolt everything, though I did go around and spray all fasteners with Liquid Wrench a day or two ahead of time. The rod end bushings are two-piece and the bar bushings are split and all installed quite easily. I did replace one of the 12X1.75mm flange nuts as the old one was a nylock nut(different than the other three rod nuts) and not to my liking.

Track bar:
This one was a bit more difficult. For one thing, those bolts are on there tight and it takes a lot of oomph(and a bit of heat) to break them loose. I wound up breaking a 1/2" drive breaker bar and had to run out to get a new one. The propane torch is your friend!! I also had to disconnect the drag link from the tie rod in order to get the axle end bolt out.

I have the one-piece cast bar which uses different bushings that the welded steel bar. The kit came with both sets of bushings. The old bushings were a bit harder to get out and I used the torch and the Harbor Freight press I have at home to do the job. It is a 12 ton press frame with a 6 ton bottle jack and yes I did max it out a few times. I had to use a Cape Chisel to get the metal outer shell of the bushing out of the track bar ends. The new bushings are one-piece units and the ends are sort of mushroomed so that they are larger in diameter than the part that fits the eyes on the end of the track bar. The other ones for the welded bar are similar. I tried to press them into the rod ends but had no luck. Every time I would get one side started the bushing would **** sideways and not go into the eye.

I ended up finding a pipe that was slightly larger in diameter than the bushing and some round stock that was slightly smaller. I cut the pipe and the round stock about twice as long as the bushing. Then I put the bushing inside the pipe and lined it up with the eye. The round stock then went on top of the bushing. Now when I pressed down on the round stock to force the bushing into place, the overlap between stock and pipe kept things in alignment until the bushing was forced into the eye. It worked well and was much easier than trying to work the bushing in by hand. During reassembly I did need to use a come-along in order to get the second bolt to line up, but I knew I would need to as that's what I had to do when I added the helper springs to the front end several years ago. If you have an adjustable track bar you could just adjust it to get the bolts lined up and then reset it for proper axle centering.

Rear springs:
Again, spray things down a day or two in advance and let the oil soak the hardware. The hardware is on there really tight so have the tools for the big jobs at hand. Once I had the spring pack out the spring end bushings pressed out rather easily. As mentioned above, the shackle bushing was not playing though I did get it out.

This is as far as I have come with the job. If anyone knows of a source for aftermarket shackles I would appreciate it. I will hold off on proceeding with the reassembly for a few days or until I can source new shackles. I will try to get pics but either my camera or compact flash card are being difficult and not playing. I'll have to see if I can find one of the old cards so I can get pics...

Once the rear springs are done it will be on to the fronts which I am not looking forward to. The snow plow mount is attached to the frame and guess what? There's no way to get the front spring forward bolts out without removing the plow frame. I'm really not looking forward to having to take that off just to pull one bolt. Maybe I'll see if I can drill it oiut just enough to pull the bolt...

On a side note, the kit also came with new bushings for a rear sway bar which my truck does not have. I looked at them and have found a site that offers them for about $200. Does anyone have both front and rear sway bars and what is your opinion on them? Would it be worth it to drop a couple bills to gain stability and performance? As always, any input is appreciated.