well I don't think I'm going to do my custom shackle idea I'm just going to buy stock ones and put them on, what are some symptoms that the spring and shackle bushings give that let you know theyre shot?

loose steering?
thumping noise that seems like its on floorboards?
a popping sound when turning the wheels at standstill?
vibrations?

I'm starting to get paranoid with winter around the corner and want this stuff done, I was wondering if I could drop by a ford dealer and pick up new shackles? or do you think it would be a rip off

I ended up buying an impact I got an ingersoll rand 2132g its supposed to be good for 600lbs of torque I figure worst comes to worst though, I'll just cut the upper shackle bolt off


"EDIT" also what size grade 8's do I need for the bolt that connects the spring bushing to the shackle and also the size for the upper shackle mounting bolt

 

anyone atleast know the bolt sizes?

 

when they go bad, it's just a little rougher ride. Doubt you'd notice. If yours aren't broken then you can just get new bushings for it. Why would you need to replace the bolts?

 

if you need, I've got an extra pair with polyerothane bushings I'm willing to get rid of.

 

no thanks on the bushings, but what happens if the bushings are worn then?

 

rides rougher

 

ok, also I would replace the bolts because I might end up cutting off them, I cannot find a place that sells the upper frame shackle bushings where di you ghet yours from?


also if I got bushings that were one piece do they need to be pressed, I like the idea of the bushings that are two pieces with the eye, but I havent seen pictures of one for the upper frame shackle bushing

 

they came in the leaf spring bushing kit I got from summitracing. 50 per axle. They are poly with a steel insert that the bolt rides in.

 

They are 5/8" grade eights. i believe they are 4" but ill let you measure that one.

 

Powerstroker, One of the symptoms on an IFS is spring sag. Spring sag will alter your camber setting and wear out your tires funny.

I just replaced mine and gained about 1-1/2" lift. This corrected my passenger side camber and made the driver side worse due to previous adjustment.

Spring Eye Bolt 9/16"-12 X 5" Grade 8, Shackle Bolt 5/8"-11 X 3" also grade 8. I alos used grade 8 Nylok nuts. The bushing kit I used is the Daystar KF02016.

I recommend having a grinder, sawzal, hack saw, several pry bars, more than one jack, air hammer, map gas torch or hotter for heating nuts as well as the standard tools and jack stands. I did not burn out the rubber. That method leaves a horrible mess and is difficult to get the bushing eye clean for the new bushing.

For rubber removal, I did the drill method as Wrecknball suggested in his thread. I used a 3/8" bit. Several holes, a lot of side load cutting, and the rubber pushed out, leaving the outer shell to deal with. If you look closely at the spring eye, the is a space where the eye meets itself. I cut the inner shell so that the saw blade was over that void so as not to cut the spring. Once cut, the shell will drive out with an air hammer.

I did the passenger side by just pounding out the bushing bolts and dropping the spring/axle down. Re-aligning the the mounting hole was a beech! The entire axle weight was working against me. For the driver side, I pulled the spring off of the axle. With the added work of pulling the U-bolts and later re-installing, I did not save hardly any time, but the job was much, much smoother. Also, removing the bushings standing at a bench , instead of sitting on the floor, was WAY better on my back!

I cleaned the eyes with wire wheel, scotch bright, and sand paper. The new bushing only needed a little hammer tapping to seat. I use high pressure silicone grease on the poly bushing (came with kit).

Good luck.


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the bushing is only 3/4" wall to begin with. Only way you could hain 1 1/2 is if both shackle and leaf bushings were 100 percebt shot

 

thanks for the help you guys, so I am just going to be doing the front upper frame shackle bushing right now, I'm not touching the leaf springs yet, so there is a sleeve on that pushing that needs to be cut/hammered out aswell?

 

Yep. Center steel to outer steel touching. Wrecknball had similar results. I did the right and left on different days. You could see the truck was higher on the right side, you could feel it when you sat in the truck. Did the left side and all came back level, but higher. Higher as in back-to-factory height, not lifted. That brought the factory camber adjustment back to correct. My alignment guy said the passenger side was dead on and the driver side was positive, meaning, the driver side was higher than the last time camber was set. A little adjustment, and all was good.

 

Yes. So does the shackle bushing, just smaller. I used the same technique on the shackle as on the spring eye.