Emu clunk. (1 Viewer)

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So as a bunch of us at the meet last night were talking how pretty much all of us had the clunk, and driving home it was really pissing me off, I went at a couple spring ends this morning.

I figgered if I didn't start doing something about it, it'd be really bad by the end of winter, not to mention everything a little harder to get apart.

This is what I was talking about...supposedly this was the "fix" suggested by the emu people, I don't remember where I read that, but it was on the internet, so it must be right. Real issue is probably spring eyes opening up, but that's not exactly an easy fix in your driveway.

This is how my front bushings came out.
j8rLmBZyKrkx_ylLvl-v0i3rYxFTjGaIpZalOB-HSItZcWVPamV-g_tUSCZzYBJ7TBUWkF2g8iFqK5YodMUTbotSQP0j7weFueJSsSXa9WQ007ApTFaaZnP6YZW19gHXu4_SJ6t95JDpTtuNNSM_W3TV6lotHJ5S7_N43bjGkpz2GypvMEtb_XickcTM7W2ja9-EVQEOQyfAe9-q4_9U0bw-8sx-iW5te3Tqs4JgG7UdS0au46_DOxd5iGMnDYPuBekn-sDsjfravLriUbNz_1jG2ll0BA-Qzmgqen2ogpmHg2GwZqd9bmdSalaxTCL5d9YGU-8jG1r6m4APof39K_YCHUWnASojlemouGzFV89XDUSJFM1Sy9rgBqZUGO5Xyv8Q-P8IhnCNJG34Vt8ONlEHMeZtPSmLmbS4t2xdb8A-zuhJbv5bT8BUc7Yu0eoiDwgiFFm01zOCWVoPmgIQDnMhr3TrSMPQGza5n2U4-yEYdHe_heAImO4gYNU0t7lKSkVU6T4ojiGPaTdd53FdLnF99KX0zZCCa94PKH_uMSNIaDG8c-J0EBGn8iNq1FDDgBt07PqsGcH1TEyuJwn3rhqGHwexaUrz5zIBR6DYhIOi_R7nCp2JTIxH9jE2__hIivm3ubd1QaJwDWQtBwlXss4M55JPPtGFbdmhnmAuQXHc6_kUp74jGn0=w441-h588-no


This sleeve should be a bit tighter than that in the eye....:lol:

So what happens is, your bushings may be tight in the sleeve, but the spring slides back and forth on the sleeve, eventually clipping off the cheeks on your bushings, which is what happened above. (the bushing shouldn't be able to go THROUGH the spring eye like that, even though those aren't emu bushings, it still shouldn't happen)

A7NZrN_koVjpIJDdklH89HUHGHM4ylwrAojom8ITUpTyzJQVCO-SJwkQRH6T2_YRxAhdeA_0f7vHhv_Os-LdTaHsBXwluYsjuUinh_srzeie3vupldQOEJva2gJ4pNT-blWPvkwAmURtIPXAauLeOkLrQLb8YjSlzKamiRUx2m2gjvems10Sxg8hm5ZBo1LkOAHYXcB2BCe6dSxTefR6At3c1bpYU-W8IRq4cm2X59Q9raET6qcqv2Zo1hGo0nGjrL96xbKtvWi-YoRyaeVNhQwAaEout_nALzppy3toTfUcc5tPsTqZ4la274mR9ME4mudVQeNSKhU0H-qviV9189MMI9VQcBWYQbkt0SiWoN8URM1O-xmQpyHJAbsAxONXgORiUVnmOsJmbjjvbdsVbqbhfjQEgkDevQNLq_07iaeNxckJajsakKKRZdurkj2LnL39WMZSiVC4OUGeRnqUtpa2ZXVpFh6zvza7cz3j9L5wF_khO8tXCwmf44P8m9Hl-HUds_uiP3lBQ1WytESsOdgHEAOBcNJKM2k4fDSBXj6UIus57xOCS5cMR4Jt6NUS9Rmm9D448A44zYCmjdOJmiH7ytypULJhleffjEQxkGbrCOtGZEHDilDZfP_8Q5s_TgPSMwTyuwjkGj3z1CeoFQa8hpYGlJyRsDcoELlP_C20L2G0Kd3KL50=w441-h588-no


Use your preferred method of beating the piss out of it so it's less round, and ram it back in. BFH or a piece of ready rod with nuts/washers on either end might be needed to get it back in.

And if you haven't ****ed with springs a ton, I've found it a lot easier to put them back in like this. Only put the inside bushing into the spring, then you can let the pressure off the various jacks to get the bolt lined up again.

It's easier to see to line up the pin this way, and the bushings don't jam and catch on the bottom of the spring mount .

1feirGDJ7ptW7ERH6MuELbYbhKmUEtosXx7NOzbp2rtEs-UBvJx3cd8bG1c4YWtiTiz-SmXwtVrCSnx5xOL79Zzji5EFIgICroeRQcCkAoXURmKE5CnMvNzgL6zp_AtpCn_FyBSuzrIhXo8pduQ3x-0SyFD7ikkDtTpKw-IYUKvYSusbop9q9-sQuMvJwmJBktx-hnVDzFvLk5JEDR8pCyEN5QFdlp_rHhx8rQ_LuNNwlAqu-hWHKD00Ohzzrr6OfmMTiiohssrDkV-ilILM2H3suUv-ZZ2eL3npLHjavyXlkMWqaGgHS46BcpQsBGTUNDXH6oEOWUoqijUqh849Qyb0Ub7erQMx10GF4TAE3mAHElc_-0Q4Hn7gF12mwPt8sZ0oVdMZ1JoKkdKxCPEoh33UASuwjJx69wts7QVgZ9E6qEAMezynyLfsh8nT2qIByR-QJvRI4cATEt8MSs6_83dQi2QyMfEffK_hynsiykXDNAnZGF57j2byZEppf7arJfidqBq2jJxkoCgic-SIe3yt2Yv7qbfydkjN0fZv3lUzt2ITB9ftherodAgTf_THF-V3Td_ULUGUW3U_7ZztjLiCqW-0iaOcg9A-VcZuQuQz6jJHmaLPQ0-aSU-SvJn73sS32nv-8prqdV4bUuEeyhZbUDyizwJCJOr6MdpAvDpKk232Un_eYGE=w441-h588-no


Just make sure your bushing will fit through that hole first. :lol: ( they usually do)


If you don't own a porta power, buy one. Possibly the most useful tool I've ever owned. Makes aligning spring eyes a thousand times easier. Mines just a P/A special, and I've had it for 20 years and used it a ton.

Truck was already less clunky when I lowered it down. Only did driver's side fixed ends today. Maybe the other side next week.

I bought two packs of emu bushings online, and discovered that's only enough to do two leaf springs, but it's probably the fixed ends making the noise anyways, so I'll start with them.

We'll see how long this fix lasts. I obviously needed the new bushings on that front one, so deforming the sleeve isn't much more work.
 
Some guys put a tac weld between that bushing and the dead end of the spring eye to keep it from moving back and forth. (The dead end because it won’t affect the temper or cause the eye to break)

4729B8B1-7C41-46F3-8B84-8E6DF781269A.jpeg

I would just do the dead end this is more weld than I would do but you get the idea
2B768BBC-504C-4EC5-B193-1EDB31468C6A.jpeg
 
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THAT’s too damned clean! City people, sheeesh’.......
I find this ‘clunk’ thing interesting. My little bit of input is these things wear out, much more rapidly than maybe they should. The breakable shambles are a pain in the ass but they need service and what surprises me is how hard old grease gets. I see those bits getting split and broken off all the time. The yellow OME bushings also get hard as old rubber too and at that point need to be pounded out and replaced.
 
Some guys put a tac weld between that bushing and the dead end of the spring eye to keep it from moving back and forth. (The dead end because it won’t affect the temper or cause the eye to break)

Yeah I read that too. Seemed a bit extra to me. I pressed the sleeves oval, then hammered them back so they were pretty much square. Went for a trip to town, the alarming ones under my feet seemed gone, but now I can hear the others. :lol: I think I'll do the rear shackle on the drivers side next.
Sooooo...how do I do that again?

Just kidding. :hillbilly: Nice work.

Easy now modern man. You've only got 73x more wear points in there to clunk, don't jinx yourself. :flipoff2:

THAT’s too damned clean! City people, sheeesh’.......
I find this ‘clunk’ thing interesting. My little bit of input is these things wear out, much more rapidly than maybe they should. The breakable shambles are a pain in the ass but they need service and what surprises me is how hard old grease gets. I see those bits getting split and broken off all the time. The yellow OME bushings also get hard as old rubber too and at that point need to be pounded out and replaced.
Sure, but stock springs go 30+ years, degrade to the point of being ready to break in half, and stay pretty much silent. Emu's with the sleeve that are only a few years old sound like you're about to lose an axle.

Seems like it might be a s***ty design to me. :meh:
 

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