Hello to all,
Well I did the steering box and all went well, now I am going to replace the shackles and all bushings in my 53. The question i have is, do the new bushings need to be reamed after I install them to fit the new pins?
Thanks
Bill

 

Bill, Are you referring to the kingpins? If so there are two types of bushings, brass and nylon. The brass will require much agony and possibly some cussing, if you do them yourself. They must be reamed to accept the kingpins. The nylons, from what I understand, are a much easier install but are not nearly as durable.

A machine shop will charge in the neighborhood of $50-$75 per side to do the job and after doing mine myself, I would certainly pay to have it done next time

 

Bill and Tom,

On the king pin and spindle bushings, you may get a pleasant surprise if you look around for a machine shop. I got both sides line reamed to match my new king pins for only $30. I found a small outfit and I told them I would be willing to wait if it would cost less. They agreed to work my small job in whenever somebody was free. Six days later I got the spindles and king pins back, very nicely done, and a real bargain.


Bill,

If you are talking about the spring shackle bushings, I think you will only need to do minimal honing/reaming if you buy a complete kit (bushings and pins). I only had to hone two bushing sets on the rear springs to get them to fit nicely. I used a brake cylinder honing tool and modified it a little so it would collapse to the smaller diameter of the spring bushings. A little drill action with the honing tool and the pins fit just right. BTW, don't be as dumb as I am - do the honing/reaming BEFORE you put the stuff back on the truck.

 

I believe Tom is asking about leaf spring bushings. Please continue if you have any wisdom on that subject. I picked up a 2 inch rear lowering shackle from the No Limit girls at PF. I found them far more attractive than Blue Oval Rage. The more I think about it, it wasn't even close man.

 

Um, yeah. Waaaaay cuter than I could ever hope to be. I stopped to ask for a catalog and almost forgot why I was standing there.

 

Fenders

With all your expounding on the virtures of your fine machine was it the Shackles or the Girls you found more attractive than Rage?

 

Dick

Both actually. The shackles are pretty nice too with those red poly bushings and all. The bushings in the shackles fit the pin they gave me perfectly. I like No Limit products. Not sure if they made them but I believe they may have.

I am curious how hard it is to remove the old shackle pin out. We have a good spring shop nearby and I haven't done much spring work on old stuff.

And here it comes, .......................... the Niolon story again. See I had these shiney fenders on my truck that everyone thought were just fine (my wife for example), but steel what what I really always wanted and the truck is now, partially disassembled for a couple weeks. So I can't drive to the spring shop now.

 

Spring Shackle Bushings

One of my favorite subjects, I removed the fronts ones from my 48, so far, the pins were worn almost in half, made for an interesting project, why could I turn them yet they wouldn't come out? Nasty little ridges, solution - bigger hammer!
With the pin wear, the bushings themselves were just about completely gone, there wasn't enough there to get ahold of and they were fused in place, I ground the ends to get something to work with, found and old socket that just fit the spring opening and started with an even bigger hammer. Ya need someting like one of those 5lb dead blow jobbies to start and then work up form there.
This was done with all the front sheet metal removed, I will wait until I get the rest of the body off (its a Panel) to tackle the rear.

I can't stress enough - If your are going to keep the orininal suspension in your truck you MUST check the shackle pins and bushings.

 

Replaced springs on my 54 with sheet metal in place. Beat on pins to no avail. Removed zert, got long bolt to fit in place of zert, got pipe with ID to allow pin passage thru pipe, yet catch on hanger. Threaded nut on bolt (all the way to the head), thick washer next, then pipe. Screwed this into pin, then tighten nut while holding bolt still. Worked for me.

54at 50

 

Thanks guys, I'll probably attempt it this weekend. The bolt trick sounds like a good place to start. A nd you are right Dick, putting one of these 50 year old rides back on the road demands all the suspension and steering be thoroughly inspected.

 

Rear Leaf Springs - Removing Shackle Pins

Fenders,

Since I can do it- you can too. Removed mine recently for refurbishing. Fortunately for you- it was just last week- so I still remember the details.

Front Mount - Do it first. It is easiest- only has one shackle pin and one locking pin- and the shackle pin lines up straight with the holes thru inner side of frame that you have to insert drift into to drive out shackle pin. First, remove the nut off the locking pin. Locking pin is on frame side of mount and goes perpendicular thru spring mount. Then using drift, knock out the locking pin from the nut end. Once out, you will see pin is grooved- that is how it interlocks with the shackle pin. Then insert drift thru the holes on inner side of frame- the innermost hole thru frame is about 3/8 inch dia. - and using BFH- whack on drift til you see the shackle pin move- i.e. see the grease fitting end of pin move out. Took me a few good whacks to break it loose.

Rear Mount- Has two locking and shackle pins. Remove locking pins same as front. Top shackle pin removed by holding drift on angle from above frame and knocking out from frame side. Bottom shackle pin removed by inserting drift thru hole on inside of frame- on downward angle- and whacking again with BFH.

At first, when I looked with flashlight thru the access holes on inside of frame- I swore the hole did not go thru to the shackle pins. It did- but since everything was all same rust color- I could not tell that the pin was there.

After removal, I removed the old grease fittings. Soaked shackle pins in gas for couple days to remove the solidified grease. Fortunately, my locking and shackle pins are in reuseable shape. After degreasing and cleaning with wire wheel- put on coat of oil and slid back in. Of course they went back in much easier than came out.

Take Care.

 

Ron

Sounds good, but did I mention every piece of my truck is modified just to make things more challenging That would include raising the mounting location of the front of rear spring shackle/ mount. RMF made me do it. He kept taunting me that I wasn't as low as he was.

Anyway, the methods described by you guys will work. I'll just have to pull the springs off again (getting real proficient at that) and put them in the vice.

Love your signature block. Spent a summer out there once and you do indeed wash your air most every day.

 

54at50

Prior to the hammer method I tried something like you described, with the pins worn as much as they were it didn't work.
When the bolt broke it sounded like a 30-06 going off.

Safety goggles, gloves, flak vest comes to mind!

 

Like everyone said, the pins will require a drift and BFH. My dad made a little tool for removing the bushings. You can see it at the bottom of this page. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

This is starting to sound like an air chisel job but I will try to pull them with a bolt first. I'm not certified to operate a BFH.