I have the Fabtech 8" lift and the front spring bushings were shot. I just replaced them today.Those things didnt have any rubber left in two of them. There is just under 35k on the lift. So am I going to be doing this again in 35k? By the way the stock bushings do not fit on Fabtech leafs and they don't offer Polyurethane. How long should these last? Thanks for reading! Jim

 

Same truck. Same lift. Same problem.
I have 90,000 on the lift and am on my third set of bushings. I was able to find the bushing on Stengel Bros. website for a fraction of what Fabtech is charging. They are listed as RB132.
I am currently doing some research to see if one of the polyurethatne bushing manufacturers makes or will custom make a replacement set.
I am sick of replacing the bushings and Fabtech has not stepped up to thet plate for any of the issues with this lift.

I will post my findings.

 

I'm not sure what brand my lift is, was on the truck when I bought it. The lift is not very old though...

Front leaf spring bushings were toast. Luckily, the eyes were the same size as stock so a poly kit fit fine. Just had the poly bushings put in yesterday and it feels like a new truck.

Good luck finding poly bushings!!

 

Hello there. I replaced them for the second time a few months ago. Found them at Valley Spring for 15 bucks a piece. Still a pain in the butt to replace. Also ValleySpring said the poly bushings don't last as long as the fabtech ones.

 

I'm looking to replace the stock leaf's with poly's this spring. How difficult is the project? Any info would be great.

Thanks.

Lou

 

There is a lot of good info about it on this forum, here is my experience.

I spent about a week spraying penetrating oil on the bolts at the leaf spring bushings and gathered all the tools. Brought a couple of propane bottles with me in case I needed to burn the bushings out.

Went to a friends house to use his 5-ton jacks, they wouldn't even touch the frame! Only a 4" lift and I couldn't get the front end off the ground by the frame...

I drove an hour to the hobby shop that my local Navy base provides for us active duty guys and rented a bay to put the truck on a lift. Quad cab short box.... Pulled into the bay and the truck was too long! I left the door open and got the truck lined up for the lift, got the arms on the frame and started to lift the truck. The lift is an old-school cable style lift and it started binding right away. The lift wouldn't take the weight of the truck.

I ended up calling around and got quoted for $175 to have them installed. It took the shop from 8am until 4pm to get all 4 bushings installed and they fought them the entire way. They told me they would be done at noon so they knocked the price down to $145 plus tax. I offered to pay the $175 because that is still a hell of a deal, but they refused.

$150 is well worth a days work if you ask me! And the truck rides great now.

 

Same issues a year ago. Found out the leafs werent fabtek but another company. Found the bushings and replaced them. Huge pain in the *** but got it done in 6 hours. Helps to have a 20 ton press in the garage.

 

I figured there would be others having the same problem.

I am trying to find a polyurethane replacement bushing for the shackle side of the front leaf spring. The spring is 3" wide and the I.D. is 1 3/8". The distance between the shackles is 3 1/2" and the I.D. of the inner sleeve is 5/8"

Energy Suspension makes a poly bushing that size but the I.D. of the inner sleeve is 9/16"

Anybody know who I could call to get one made?

 

Loudford,

The rear bushings in the front springs are not difficult to replace. Honestly, its easier to replace them if the are completely destroyed.

Disconnect the spring from the shackle.

Drill out the rubber that connects the inner sleeve to the outer.

Drive the inner sleeve out of the bushing

Use a sawzall to cut through whatever rubber is left and the majority of the way through the outer sleeve. Be sure not to cut into the leaf spring.

Use a chisel to break apart the outer sleeve.

 

I use a air hammer to get the old bushing out. My spring guy said that the Fabtech eyelets being small, the poly bushings don't last as long.

 

Thanks for the info. The rears are definitely gone so I'll probably do the fronts as well. I don't have access to a lift so this might be an issue. Jack from the hooks at the bumper?

 

Jim6liter,

Your guy may be right about the poly bushings but I need to prove it to myself. Also, I am not about to put a fourth set of rubber bushings in when I know they will fail.

It's a range of motion issue. The inner and outer sleeves of a rubber bushing do not spin. They are bonded to the rubber. When the spring articulates the rubber will flex but only to a certain point when it will tear away from one of the sleeves. As soon as this happens the bushing is done.

A poly bushing is more like a bearing. The inner sleeve should spin freely in the poly.

 

I am with ya, its getting old. Call these guys 6022750445. They should be able to get you the poly ones. Let me know, Jim

 

Just to offer a possible idea to those that seem to have no other alternative. You can purchase raw stock polyethylene in various diameters, lengths as well as hardness. Once you get your OD and length you can trim length as needed and if you have a lathe or precision drill press you can drill out your ID and install your metal sleeve which you can get from the same distributor. You could also probably find a local machinist to help you out with the lathe or drill work. The costs may be a bit more but you have what you want and can tell others you custom made them yourself. I made my own poly 3/8 dampners for my front coil spring spacers.

the first link, pick rods and disks then scroll down for poly material and then go from there.
For the second link pick sleeves and scroll for steel etc..

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr

 

If your looking for Rb 132 in Polyurathane look no further than suspension.com

I spent many hours on the phone and emails to energy suspension and Fabtech. I had replaced many rubbber rb132 bushings. Finding that bushing in poly was no walk in the park. Here is what I found front and rear eye poly bushings for fabtech s front 10 leaf pack 8 in lift super duty. That will get you the poly bushings and the sleeve. Just get a hold of suspension.com.... FYI might take 4-6 weeks so plan accordingly

RB132 = 2 x 2049 & 15.10.48.39 sleeve
RB198 = 2 2230 & 1 x .750 x 3.52” sleeve (N/A)

Rb198 is front eye of front springs.