Where did you find the rear axel perch's,or what did you use? I need to do the same to regain the right pinion angle when I go taller with my Bronco.By the wat Sweet Bronco you have.

 

I've used JBG for a few things. I like them too, but the price should be close to the same, and I have a 4wheelparts store like 7 miles away. I could get a torch on the nut to heat it up, but I don't have a torch and I don't have any experience with one. I tried grinding the rivets off yesterday, but that didn't work out too well. I think maybe I just didn't give it enough time. I'll try again this weekend.

I don't think I'm going to do the shackle flip, since I want my truck to be level I'll be doing a lift kit on it, probably around march or april, so until then stock height is fine. Thanks for the suggestion, though

 

I got my axel perch's at a local off road shop Mt. logan off road. You should be able to get them at any off road shop like 4 wheel parts or even a trailer shop. Mine are longer then the stock so more is on the leaf spring, it is supost to help with axle rap but Iv put in a 1" block to level my Bronco. so it dosent realy help me.

 

ok, it's been over a month since I updated this thread, but I thought I'd let you guys know how it's going. Hopefully someone else can get some benefit from my trial and error

I finally bought a real grinder to get those rivets off. I hat to cut off one of my exhaust pipes in order to get clearance... but I don't really like that dual-exit look anyway. I used a sawzall and some 18tpi blades to cut the old bracket off in pieces, then pounded flat everything that I couldn't cut off. A BFH is a very good tool . This gave me enough clearance to get that angle grinder in there and destroy the rivet heads fairly quickly. Then the air chisel punched them out with no problem.

Since my old spring hanger had rusted through, the shackle bolt was free from the hanger without removing the nut. This presented a problem. After several days of re-applying penetrant and trying every which way to loosen that bolt, I gave up. My steel cutter made quick work of removing the bolt ends. I then though I would be able to punch the bolt out of the bushing... no such luck. The bolt had fused to the inside sleeve of the shackle bushing.

Well, crap. How do you get a bolt out of a bushing if it's fused? Turns out you have to destroy the bushing. I used a few drill bits (they kept breaking off) to drill out the old bushing. The cordless drill I had was useless in this effort, so I bought a high-speed air drill. Tool #4,184 bought for this project . I then went to my friendly ford dealer and bought a new bushing and new shackle bolt. When the parts guy brought me the new bushing, I noticed that it had a metal sleeve on the outside. My old one did not, and I explained that to him. He replied that all Ford bushings have that, so he was sure it would work. ~$28 later, I brought the new parts home ready to install and drive!

ugh. the bushing did *not* fit. Turns out that Ford made two types of shackles. One came with the bushing molded in, the other was modular, meaning that the bushing was a seperate part. They sell replacement bushings for the second type, and they sell replacement shackles for the first type. The cost for a new shackle is only about $15 more than the bushing... but I decided not to get one. Replacing the shackle means destroying the bolt on the other end and replacing the spring bushing. Rather than take a chance on causing myself to need a new spring, I called JBG.

http://www.broncograveyard.com/

These guys rule. Not just because they sponsor this board, but because they are helpful, cheap, and fast. Today I ordered a new bushing (polyurethane) designed specifically to fit a shackle like mine. Of course, the product is a Daystar product, but JBG helped me figure this thing out and found the right part for me in less than 10 minutes. Assuming that it works as it should, my baby should be back on the road this coming weekend. Thanks, JBG.

I'll update again once I have everything back together. I wish I had been taking pictures this whole time. If anyone needs help with this sort of project, let me know. I have approached it from every possible angle, and I now know what works

 

Ive worked in 3 differant spring shop's,and played around alot at home,and every ford shackel has the outter metal sleeve around the rubber.i know some shackel have Nylon sleev's where the bolt goes threw making it easy to get the bolt out.The Nylon wear's out making the bolt loose in the inner sleeve of the bushing.But hey your on the right track now,and good luck with the project.

 

Acutally, some Ford shackles have a molded-in bushing. This bushing fills the inside of the shackle and has no outer metal sleeve. Ford Carries both type of shackle, but they don't offer a replacement bushing for the type I have. Energy Suspension makes a bushing makes a part specifically for this application... so I think they would be wasting their time with that if it didn't exist

 

i replaced one of those in my 1990 F150, i drilled out the rivets, and was carefull not to hit the gas tank. then drilled the bolt out of the shackle, cause they DO NOT come out easy. it takes time, but it works, just wear glasses or youll get an eyefull of road dirt. then to put the new shackle i used grade 8 bolts and LocTite. its not a fun job, especially on my rusty wreck of a pickup

Good Luck

 

cape cod truck same issue, the whole suspension is messed in my truck, it likes to hop around alot. i have alot of work ahead of me it seems.

 

I paid somebody $750 to do it for me. Best money I ever spent.

 

Wow,I would repalce the whole rear spring setup(front/rear hanger's,and shackle for $500.Someone made some good money.Did they replace spring too?

 

A couple of years ago I had to get the hangers on my Bronco replaced as well. Bought a pair from Stengel Bros for $47.20, and paid my mechanic $200.00 to put them on. Seeing the prices on some of you guys posts, looks like I got a good deal.

 

Did both front and rear hangers on both sides, and 4 wheel alignment. Everything cost a little more here in Orlando Florida.

 

I guess it pay's off a little here in NY!

 

I have the same issue with my 88 2WD F150. Only both Shackles are completely gone. The rear leaf is held on by chains wrapped around the bed frame. I'm going to replace the rear shackles and purches, but I want to get all the parts I need together first before I go hacking at the truck with my Angle grinder.

I found a complete rearend Shackle and Purch replacement kit for $108 +Shipping here: 338-1948K

Could anyone tell me if there's anything else I need for this, such as the bolt and bushing that goes through the leafspring, and where I could find it? And is this a good price, or if I should try to find these items somewhere else?

I've never done any kind of mechanical work. I'm in Electronics, and could rewire this truck up and down, I could take apart and reassemble the computer to give the truck better gas mileage, but this mechanical stuff really intimidates me.

Thanks

 

Is it possible that the spring hanger can completely break from the frame and poke up through the bed of the truck? That is the case on one side in the rear of mine. I let my brother use my truck while I was out of town and he promised to replace both rear spring hangers. It never got done and now one is poking through. Other then patching the bed, can I still get away with just replacing the spring hangers/shackles or do you think the frame is damaged as well. I got the truck back within days of the hanger coming through the bed and it has been sitting in my driveway since, not being driven at all. Thanks for helping this rookie girl!!!