johnnychimpo
1/2 ton status
I bought all new front susp. bushings for my '90 Sub. Whats the easiest way to remove the shackle hanger bushings in the frame? Mine are in good shape but I'm putting in greasable bushings for cool points.
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Shackle hanger bushing removal
- Thread starter johnnychimpo
- Start date
mollyman
1/2 ton status
FIRE! I replaced all the bushings in all my leafsprings and did the frame bushings you are asking about. I hear people complaining how bad it is but I got them all done (10 total) in about 2 to 3 hours. Went to Lowes and bought a little botle torch. The rubber starts to flake at first but hold the torch on there (I mean hold the fire full blast right on the rubber) and it will start to melt. As soon as it does have a pair of big pliers ready (ones that you don't care if they get messed up) and you can pull it right out. With half of it out you can drive out the other half. I hope this helped, good luck!
johnnychimpo
1/2 ton status
I did my rear springs that way but wasn't too crazy about fire underneath my truck. Any one have another way?
I usually take a 1/4" drill bit & drill holes in it all the way around. After you get about 8-10 holes in it you can drive them out w/ a hammer.
I used a flat screw driver and went around sliding it in between the bushing and the mount and kinda broke the seal that was holding it in, then pulled it out.
johnnychimpo
1/2 ton status
was the bushing 1 pc or 2 pc like the polys?
It was the original rubber bushing, not sure if it was one or two. hmm i just did it about a month ago. It was in a 74.
on my '79, it was a lot easier than i thought it would be. i used a large bolt to drive out the sleeve. then I used the bolt to pry out the rubber bushings. i just stuck the bolt in an inch or two, then pushed down on the bolt. the bolt dug into the bushing, and after some pushing, popped it right out. took about 5 minutes to get each side done.
mine the bushings were two piece, and it was really easy.
mine the bushings were two piece, and it was really easy.
johnnychimpo
1/2 ton status
I tried that & broke two bits. I'll try a torch & a fire extinguisher.
ive done about 10 of these now, and while fire is the fastest way, i didnt want to do that on the truck, so i used the drill method.
Using a crappy 1/4" wood bit, you can chew through the rubber pretty fast, making 8 or more holes all the way around. Then go in with a large pair of needle nose pliers and start ripping out rubber. Eventually, it will come out, then you just have the metal sleeve left in there. To get the sleeve out, you can either cut it lengthwise with a saws-all/hack saw, or get a sheetmetal cutting bit in your impact hammer and have at it. Once its cut lengthwise, you can pry it out of there pretty quick. Or maybe you get lucky and the impact hammer will drive it out of there for you
yes you will probably break some drill bits (figure 1 drill can do 2 bushings) but they're cheap, and i wouldnt use your best drill for this either (if you have options) as i ended up using a lot of side cutting with the drill (REALLY bad for drill bearings) but i was using an old drill we keep for those kinds of things
Using a crappy 1/4" wood bit, you can chew through the rubber pretty fast, making 8 or more holes all the way around. Then go in with a large pair of needle nose pliers and start ripping out rubber. Eventually, it will come out, then you just have the metal sleeve left in there. To get the sleeve out, you can either cut it lengthwise with a saws-all/hack saw, or get a sheetmetal cutting bit in your impact hammer and have at it. Once its cut lengthwise, you can pry it out of there pretty quick. Or maybe you get lucky and the impact hammer will drive it out of there for you
yes you will probably break some drill bits (figure 1 drill can do 2 bushings) but they're cheap, and i wouldnt use your best drill for this either (if you have options) as i ended up using a lot of side cutting with the drill (REALLY bad for drill bearings) but i was using an old drill we keep for those kinds of things
johnnychimpo
1/2 ton status
So there's a sleeve in the shackle hanger too! I fought the rear spring bushings for 3 hrs. Not fun.
yeah, but they're much easier to remove than the ones in the spring eyes (at least mine was). I just used a bolt that was slightly bigger than the sleeve was (it was one of the old bolts I removed to remove the springs), and pounded on it with a little sledge hammer. The sleeve is pretty much the exact same thing used with the poly busings. Then I just used the same bolt to remove the bushings.
I'd try this route before melting it with a torch. I'm pretty sure mine were original, and with as easy as they came out, I wouldn't mess with burning them.
Seriously, once I realized there was a sleeve in there, I had all 4 rubber bushings and sleeves out in 10 minutes or so.
johnnychimpo
1/2 ton status
Do you mean the sleeve the bolt rides in or is there an outer sleeve between the hanger & the bushing?
the sleeve the bolt rides in. no outer sleeve between the bushing and hanger.
