should i upgrade shackles or fight it out?

i bought the coachbuilder shackle bushings to replace the pressed in toyota bushings in my rear springs. today i decided to tackle the project and it's not going well. my 80 is going to a shop monday, so i can't down project floodwater past this weekend. i hoped with the low mileage that swapping the pressed bushings for cb bushings would go quick, but the stock shackle pin is one with the sleeve in the spring.

at this point my options are put it back together until i get my 80 back and can spend some time pressing it all apart (hopefully, loosely assembling it and bouncing it down the road will allow stuff to loosen up after my heat/pb blaster routine this morning) and burning the rubber out.

or is it worth it to upgrade to ome shackles and then i can just cut everything out.

and thank you kolorado for thinking mag chloride was a good thing to spray on the roads

 

Give me a call 801-635-4872 I'll gladly go over easiest methods of removal and installation. We will Win the Fight!!!!

 

i don't have a good torch, but i've lit it on fire numerous times with the bernzomatic and pb blaster, i've drilled holes in the rubber, i've tried prying it out while beating it with a hammer. my puller tool is unfortuantely about 1/4" too short to press it out.....f#$@
i'm not known for my patience...so at this point, i just wanna get my sawzall out and make it all go away.

 

Rent the press tool from auto zone or oreillys with a good impact wrench comes out like butter

 

have the press tool, but it's not wide enough to get the bushing and the shackle at the same time. the issue is i can't get the shackle out. it's become one with the center bushing. i've burned the bushing, drill a bunch of holes in it. may try a come along on it today. for now i put it back together until i decide if i buy new shackles and go all postal on the shackles and cut them up to get it all apart, or the bushing finally disintegrates and i can get it apart and press what's left out.

 

Somebody made their own tool with all-thread, large galvanized coupling and other fittings and washers to pull it out.

 

so, for grins, i decided to try the right side shackle. it comes right out. so just left has become one with the sleeve. unfortunately, even with pb and a ball joint press and my air gun, the bushing is not coming out. even whacked the spring eye to see if it need a shock while under tension.

 

I don’t remember how thick the wall is on the bushing. Can you collapse it in with a punch and hammer once the rubber is out?

 

if the rubber center would even come out, i could cut it with a dremel but that rubber is pretty damn tough. i figured it would rip apart and the center would peel loose from the outer steel. nope

dropping this project for a while as i've put off changing the cam gear in my fj40 for five years and i hopefully found a occassionally occuring mystery noise on one of my 80s and will be pulling the front hub apart and swapping it with a spare today so i can drill out a bunch of broken studs

 

https://youtu.be/Li3RfCqoiJs
https://youtu.be/QbwT5DEYe6E

 

When i replaced the bushings, the tool i rented from autozone would not full press the bushing out. So i used a large socket to act as an extension for the press tool. That took care of my issue

 

Yep, sometimes you got to get creative. More often than not, I have had the wrong stuff to get a job done but found the right combination to get it accomplished anyways. Im no professional auto mechanic. The highly technical or special tools stuff I stay away from. Ie tearing down a motor, welding, extensive body work... But bolt on stuff, I pride myself on being a MacGyver LOL

 

Trying to bang that out as is wont go well, has too much sway. I would probably yank the whole leaf pack at this point and work on it off the truck.

Maybe reschedule the appointment with your 80 if it is drivable. Bushings are such a pain in the ass. Good luck.

 

80 is back to operational courtesy of parts off my builder carcass, so i can drill the three hub studs out at my leisure.

i was trying to avoid having to pull the leaf springs, but that may be the only way i can get them out. i'll give cb a call and see what his solution is. the fact that the pin doesn't move in the bushing explains why i've been noticing a lean. even jacked up with the axle hanging, the left side wouldn't droop as much.

i was using a ball joint press and it wouldn't even begin to press it out, depth was not the issue. i'll pull the springs and put them in my press. no air compressor to worry about then and it's been very unhappy but pressed out the control arm bushings in my 80 that tend to sound like a gun going off when they start popping loose.

never hated spring bushings until now

 

Yeah you can pull a leaf spring in maybe 15 minutes. Just go find a press and get ‘er done at this point. Harbor freight has a press cheap if you don’t have access to one.

 

Drill out the rubber from various angles.