Shackle bushing broke in frame

longlivelance

The LH thread shackle bushing broke off inside the frame sleeve for my rear leaf spring. It was completely seized to the sleeve. Nothing worked while trying to get it to budge over three days, and it finally snapped. In an effort to extract it, it seemed like one mistake after the other, and I probably made things worse.

Can someone on here with more experience tell me if I blew it or not? And if I blew it, what are my options from here? I've got some ideas, but I thought it best to get some advice before I move forward. 

Thanks for any insight!

-Lance

lostmind

Air hammer with a muffler chisel
You need to collapse the sides

onerare39

LLL,

I noticed in this post and the one regarding the shock removal that the areas you are working on are not wet with any type of penetrant to assist with loosening rusted or bound-up parts.  Are you using anything like PB Blaster to soak the area first, before you try to loosen the nuts, bolts, etc. ?  PB Blaster works really well but you need to let it soak in first. 

John Forkner

Courtesy Man

Or a small sharp chisel to collapse the wall inward.say at 9 12 and 3 o'clock and try to twist it out then with some penetrant or heat. Gert

longlivelance

Thanks all, I appreciate the advice. I’ve never done a complete break down before and am learning as I go so all this insight is super valuable. 

I do use PB blaster on all of these. Usually let them soak overnight before even attempting. This was just super seized I guess. This probably looks dry from me torching it to try and get it to loosen a bit. 

It is starting to peel back on the inside with a chisel and air hammer so I’ll keep pushing in that direction and update how it comes. 

longlivelance

Thanks all for the tips and advice.

After a few swear words, air chisel, regular chisel, heat, smashed thumbs, fingers, and hands later, I finally got it out! I was able to peel it back on the inside and eventually towards the end it just shot out.

Now I see why it was so hard to get out, and the penetrant did nothing; it was completely fused together at some spots. Once I got it out, I could see the sleeve was completely rusted through in several places. 

Should this sleeve be replaced? It looks pretty rough. The passenger side also has a smaller hole in it from rust, but it is nowhere as bad. It also appears this may have been someone else's previous repair, as the welds are pretty shoddy (Though I have seen some crazy welds from the factory) on this end.

So my question now is, what can I do from here? 

35 Terraplane

If you can fit a hacksaw blade into the ID & have a single blade holder, two or more cut should let you collapse to bushing. Cut slowly and gently so as not to cut into frame hole. A little Tap Magic or the like cutting fluid will help. 

Geoff

You can replace it with rubber bushings, and  plates both sides, with plain pins.  

longlivelance

Thanks, @Geoff! I think I saw another thread where you recommended these over the silent U shackles. 

Are you talking about shackles like these? Would they just go through the holes that I posted above in the shackle sleeve? I found these at rareparts.com. https://www.rareparts.com/TRHS104N-35425-SHACKLE-ASSEMBLY

Geoff

Yes, they work fine, and never need lubricating. 

longlivelance

Excellent. This is going to save me from what I thought would be a much more difficult solve. 

With the rubber bushing going through the frame, should I prep and paint the inside of the eyelet it will go into to avoid further rust now that it won’t be using any threads for the bushing?

I’m probably about three or four weeks out from paint and reassembly. It feels like I’ve got the info I need to get there. I’ll post some pics once I get the frame and suspension all painted and put back together. 

Thanks to all for the help and guidance getting me here!

-Lance

Geoff

Just clean it of rust.  The rubber will compress in the holes when tightened up.  These work by the rubber flexing, rather than the pins turning  inside a bushing.