So I must have broken both shackle bolts on my front springs. I was going over a visual checklist of what is left to do when I spied the bolts I put in my shackles. Carriage bolts. They do have the square part that fits in the shackle, but I'm sure these are not safe to use. Anyone have the proper bolt/size/whatever that these should be? Thanks as always!
bolts The shackle kits I bought from our host had carriage bolts just like the originals I took off my truck. I may have my original shackle bolts still which I would gladly send you if you want, but replaced mine as general maintenance because they were old, not broken. 60 years of metal fatigue has its way with things sometimes. Not sure any of the truck vendors just sell the bolts or not and I am completely uncertain of what grade said bolts may be. Andy
They don't have any appreciable load on them as all they do is hold the shackles against the spring. I'd buy some grade 5 carriage bolts and use them.
From a facebook group I'm in... Bryan Niles May 7 Alright since this is a tech forum I guess I should show something I've learned recently. Don't buy cheap Chinese metal leaf spring eye bolts. After 50 dollars for 4 bolts and breaking 2 of them with virtually no torque on them I decided I needed to find a solution. The stock bolts are 11/16 which there are no suitable alternatives in that size. I found wet bolts for trailers in 3/4 inch. All I had to do was find bronze bushings that would fit the old spring to the new bolt which is 7/8 od to 3/4 id. The only ones available were a bit longer but with a tubing cutter and a file I made quick work of that. I also found out that my matco ball joint press fit perfectly to press the old bushings out of the leaf spring. The last part was to use a 3/4 step drill bit and drill out the old leaf mount which was a simple task. All in all this was a small amount of extra work and now I have beefier hardened bolts that are locked with a cotter pin keeping me safe. Moral of the story - Don't trust junk metal to support your truck. Part numbers for the bolt and bushing are Bushing - HFE Bolt- 126A1 Hope that helps someone out there. Bolt: http://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Redline/126A1.html Haven't been able to locate the bushings online. You could call them and ask where they get them from since they had to order the bushings for me. Decatur Spring Service 442 S Rte 51, Forsyth, IL 62535 Open today 7:30 am – 4:30 pm (217) 877-1933
Thanks, RWY. I certainly appreciate you efforts to get me that info! The only thing is, I was just wondering about the other end of the springs. The end that has the shackles/shackle bolts. I installed some plain old carriage bolts in mine just to get it together. I assume I must have broken the old ones. Andy, Thank you for your offer to scrounge your old ones back up! I need to call Summit today to order the Runtz (since our host doesn't carry them). While I am at it, I will order the new shackle bolts. (I assume they have them. If not, I'll check Classic) Thanks all!
Spring Parts Look up also Flagg , they make things for almost any application , by size , not year / model listing . Chinese carp is just that ~ crap . I prefer to find old hardware and clean and inspect it before re use .
I would first try getting that broken piece out and then using a 3/8" drive impact gun to try and remove it. Impact works better than straight pressure when trying to remove stubborn stuff. A little heat from a MAP gas torch on the housing surrounding the plug will help that as well. If using an extension for this, use an IMPACT extension (black one). That should solve your problem in short order. If you do not have a 3/8" drive impact gun and compressor, use a 1/2" drive with an IMPACT 1/2" to 3/8" adaptor. Electric impact gun will work too. Cheap impact sockets, adaptors and extensions can be had at Harbor Freight. Yeah, I know. Everybody hates Harbor Freight but SOME of their stuff really isn't too bad. Andy
