Shackle flip questions

[Jorwood]

I'm in the process of doing a shackle flip on my 1990 K5 and I've got a couple questions. First, must I unbolt the ubolts to do this or can I simply leave the springs connected to the axle like I want to?

Second, the shackle/leaf spring bolts. WTF is going on here? I got the nuts off no problem at all... but the bolts seem straight up stuck. Are they not supposed to spin inside the bushing whatsoever or is my Aircat's 800lb/ft just not up to the task? I have tried hammering them out and they have not budged. At this point I'm considering buying an air chisel.

I have searched but I can't seem to gather if the bolts are supposed to be able to spin or not and whether or not mine being stuck is an indicator of how to move forward.

Advice?

 

[mechted]

You dont "have to" unbolt the ubolts. BUT: your driveline angles may require adjustment (angled shims or rotate the perches, both of which require new ubolts). For now, assemble everything (Front and Rear lift, full drivetrain, approximate weight, and vehicle sitting level at ride height) and then assess if your driveline is good. Sometimes it is perfect with just the shackle flip. Sometimes not.

Yes... the leaf spring and shackle bolts are suppose to be able to move. Yours are likely rusted solid to the metal sleeve inside the bushings. Not sure what the best method is going to be to remove. Start with a big hammer and try to pound them out? The weight of the vehicle (or the axle) isn't on them right? Can cause additional binding.

 

[Jorwood]

Ok thanks... That atleast gives me some piece of mind knowing what the problem is.

 

[Jorwood]

And also explains why a 14 bolt I bought came with a leaf spring still attached that had the shackle mount from the previous truck still bolted to the spring having been sawed off the frame of the original truck...

 

[dremu]

The springs have a rubber bushing with metal sleeves, which are famous for becoming one very large, very immovable, mess. Now is a good time to torch that shit out and replace it all with poly bushings and greasable bolts.

-- A

 

[handloader90]

Use a sawzall between the shackle hanger and spring eye and cut threw the bolt, might need to do it on both sides of the spring eye if they're seized that bad. I belive I've done a few with a 4.5" angle grinder with a fresh thin cut-off wheel, either way works. If you don't have either of those you could probably slide a hack saw in the but you would get carpal tunnel from that lol.

That's the method I used a few years ago on a '76 K10 SWB that I had.

Works fine, be careful on the front spring hangers when you do this, don't let the sawzall get away from you and cut into the hanger. Shackle hanger doesn't matter since your replacing it.

Would be a good time to replace ALL the suspension bolts. I'm too cheap for grrasable bolts so I use grease and copper anti-seize on all my bolts or loctite depending on the application.

 

[diesel4me]

I've had success removing frozen shackle bolts a few times by removing the nut,grind or cut off the bolt head,then stack some washers on the threaded portion and put the nut back on and tighten it,preferably with an air impact gun..this "pulls" the remains of the bolt thru the bushing sleeve,then it usually spins right out once the rust bond is broken..

Sometimes the bolts are installed with the heads facing out,and there is not enough room to remove the bolt that way--it'll hit the frame..
In that case your better off just burning the bushings out and replacing them with poly ones as suggested..probably better off doing that from the beginning instead of trying to save a bushing that most likely wont be much good by the time the bolt comes out..

This is one place a little grease or anti-seize would have been a blessing,when they assembled the truck..

 

[Jorwood]

Do I even need to remove the shackle from the old leaf spring to do the flip? I'm currently working on getting the bolt out from the shackle mount and thought I'd just spare myself the trouble if possible.

 

[diesel4me]

I don't know if you can get the spring and shackle under the hanger without removing either or both..never tried it--all I can say is maybe..

You can use a loop of chain around the spring to use a long crowbar to force the spring downward,or use a come-a-long to pull the spring closer together into an arch ,maybe that will gain enough clearance to get it past the hanger.....