Okay so you all know how the driver side of my truck sags due to old springs on that side. Had a bright idea the other day. I have an extra frame from the parts truck still in the backyard and figured on just taking the entire front axle/spring assembly out of that and switching it with the one in my truck. So...number one son and I (and my daughter) had a little time this afternoon and had at it. Got the front shackles off and was surprised that the pins only wobbled a little bit, but I didn't remove the pins completely to check the condition of the bushings. However, when we took off the rear bolts they were badly worn due to lack of lubrication (they were dry as a bone) and the bushings had worn clean through on the bottom to the point that the spring eyes themselves have a little wear on them. My question is can I still put new bushings in these springs even though the eyes are worn in the rear? I'm more than a little afraid to take the shackles and rear bolts off my truck now for fear of having to replace the front springs if the wear is too much. New springs be a little dear for my low budget rebuild. I WAS hoping that the springs from the donor truck would solve the sag problem nice and easy (does it ever go easy?) without having to take the u-bolts off both sets of springs and dissasembling them all to find the best set of leafs to solve the sag problem. If the donor trucks main spring cannot be used due to wear on the rear spring eye, then I guess I am probably faced with a new set of springs as the driver side main spring in the truck is really sagging. Any ideas??? Also a shot of the kids removing the windshield this week. Hey Jess, how do you like the pic of my daughter working on the truck in a skirt? Remind you of someone you know? My best to all, Andy
Middle age sag..... Hey Andy, Almost all the springs that I've rebushed have worn into the spring. As long as it's not alot. Most of the driver side springs are dearched, have you thought of maybe useing the passenger side spring from your doner for the driver side? I would put in new spring pins and bushings while your at it. Chris
Yeah Chris that was my original thought. Just to take the passenger side spring off the donor truck and put it on the driver side. Maybe I'll just do that instead to see how it looks. Thanks for the advise. You are right on so that's what I'm going to do first. Might as well order up new bushings/pins front and rear and bolts for the rear attachments as well. Not going to re-bush until I test fit to see if the sag problem is corrected first though. Andy
Just use a vise and a coupla sockets to puch out the old bushing and the new one in Andy . I'd lay all the springs out and use the ones with the most curve in them... You should be good to go then . If you have a can of the Chrysler graphite heat riser lube , spray it into the leaves to soften up the ride...... LOVE the pictures ! .
