89 B2 rear Leaf Spring brackets
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From: Bay Area, Calif
89 B2 rear Leaf Spring brackets
Hello everyone! I have a quick question. So, the brackets closest to the rear bumper--is it possible to bolt the leaf spring directly to the chassis and leave out the "drop down bracket" all together? or does the bracket NEED to be there? Just a thought. I have a JD stage 3 suspension lift and the *** is sticking up about 5 inches higher than the front. Thank you in advance.
Fleet Mechanic
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From: Rio Rancho NM
It won't work to do that. You need the shackle there to move back and forth as the leaf flexes up and down. Otherwise you won't have any flex or suspension movement at all. Do you have lift blocks in the rear you could remove? Did you lift your front end also?
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From: Yokosuka, Honshu, Japan
Is it a Duff 3.5" or 5.5" Stage 3 lift? What you could be experiencing is that the rear leaf shackle bolts at the top that bolt the shackle to the mount are seized / rusted into the bushing and not allowing proper leaf spring movement. Also, if the rear shackle had been previously replaced with longer shackles, that will do it as well. Another possibility is you may have lift blocks in there and don't need them. My question is, did you already put in the new front suspension parts? If you've installed the rear parts and not the front parts.... well, that'd be obvious...
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
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From: Bay Area, Calif
89 B2 rear leaf spring brackets
Thanks Powrstrkr--I thought so, but I thought I would check anyway.
Originally Posted by powrstrkr
It won't work to do that. You need the shackle there to move back and forth as the leaf flexes up and down. Otherwise you won't have any flex or suspension movement at all. Do you have lift blocks in the rear you could remove? Did you lift your front end also?
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From: Bay Area, Calif
89 B2 rear leaf spring brackets
Thanks Kernel-panic. Yeah, it's a Duff 3.5 lift and it is installed all around--Front and back, but the rear sits almost 6 inches higher (no blocks and the shackles are the stock ones that were there before the lift). I have just the pre-lifted leaf springs that Duff includes with its stage 3 lift. I bought this lift before the 5.5 was available. Since I just finished my build recently I had not noticed until the project was complete. I went out yesterday to a friends property to go over some stuff (rocks, ruts, etc) to make the suspension flex and it did. When I came home and measured--they had settled about 1/2 to 3/4 inches. Leon over at Duff said that things will settle, but I'm not sure that it will settle 6 full inches to be level. Maybe they did have the 5.5 lift and sent out the wrong springs though he (Leon) swears they sent the right ones.
Hey KP, is it possible that the leaf spring shackles are too tight and not allowing for sufficient play?
Hey KP, is it possible that the leaf spring shackles are too tight and not allowing for sufficient play?
Originally Posted by kernel-panic
Is it a Duff 3.5" or 5.5" Stage 3 lift? What you could be experiencing is that the rear leaf shackle bolts at the top that bolt the shackle to the mount are seized / rusted into the bushing and not allowing proper leaf spring movement. Also, if the rear shackle had been previously replaced with longer shackles, that will do it as well. Another possibility is you may have lift blocks in there and don't need them. My question is, did you already put in the new front suspension parts? If you've installed the rear parts and not the front parts.... well, that'd be obvious...
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
Last edited by fordtrucksj; Jul 4, 2007 at 09:49 AM. Reason: a thought
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From: Bay Area, Calif
89 B2 rear laf spring brackets
Yeah, what I did is I did some light wheeling to really make the rear flex and then I removed the rear traction bars and dual shocks so that it is a stock set up and loaded up the rear compartment with about 250 pounds of rock and the ride is leveling off. The difference is 4 inches vs. 6 1/4 inches. I am going to drive it like this for a week or so and let things settle a bit before I reinstall the traction bars.
Originally Posted by powrstrkr
Try to get a lot of weight on one rear tire and see how much stuff you get. You may have to start climbing a hill and get one rear tire on a rock to do that.
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From: Yokosuka, Honshu, Japan
Originally Posted by fordtrucksj
Hey KP, is it possible that the leaf spring shackles are too tight and not allowing for sufficient play?
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From: Bay Area, Calif
89 B2 rear leaf Spring brackets
The bushings, leaf springs, and bolts are all new and the shackles are the same ones, but I sand blasted them and refinished them. I think the issue is going to be settling and maybe JD sent out springs that are a bit more than the 3.5 inches they intended. I'll let you know how it plays out. Thank you for the replies.
Originally Posted by kernel-panic
The only thing I can think of, is, was it a pain in the rear to rotate the shackles to install the springs -- did you have to use a pry bar? Did you put new bushings in on the shackles / rear leafs? As I stated earlier, it could be that your pivot bolt on the shackle is rusted to the bushing and not allowing for proper settling. The steel sleeves in the bushings are supposed to prevent over-tightening, so that -SHOULDN'T- be an issue, IMO.
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