Saving old shackles when replacing bushings?

[cxh10]

I'm on a budget this summer and am looking for the cheapest route to at least slightly improve my ride quality. I'm wanting to replace my old bushings (half of which are the original rubber ones) and replace the bolts with the greasable type. My question is how hard is it to keep the shackles and hanger pings in re-usable shape when doing this. I'm pretty sure they are the original shackles so I'm sure some of those bolts will be on there pretty good. Just soak the bolts for a week or so before removing them? Thanks.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I going to guess you will find they are rusty and half eaten through. I would not bother.

Either get new shackles, or if cash is really tight, you can run 9/16 regular (grade 8) bolts.

 

[FF LC FREAK]

X2 on not reusing your old stuff. At the minimum, I would use new bolts. Making your own shackles is pretty easy, also. This is from another post that I wrote, but the info is from different gurus on this board:

It is pretty easy to make up your own set of shackles. I went to a local steel place and bought 3/8" x 2" flat stock and had them cut it into 6" pieces. I took a 5/8" drill bit and drilled the holes. A drill press will make this much easier, but I did it with a hand drill. Make sure you use some cutting oil to keep from quickly ruining your drill bit. Since you have stock shackles now, you will have to buy new 5/8" x 5 (I think) bolts and nuts. You will also need new bushings with an ID of 5/8".

When I did it, I think I had about $35 into new bushings, shackles and bolts.

Good luck!

 

[e rock]

I'm wanting to replace my old bushings (half of which are the original rubber ones) and replace the bolts with the greasable type. My question is how hard is it to keep the shackles and hanger pings in re-usable shape when doing this.

It's been a while, but I think the stock shackles have the pins ("bolts") integrated into one of the side plates. So you can't just replace the bolts and still use the same side plates. And it's just not worth the effort to get the stock shackles gun-drilled and tapped for zerks.

Get some aftermarket shackles or build your own and use greasable bolts.

 

[cxh10]

Damn, well I'm thinking next summer or whenever I have spare time and cash I'll be investing in an OME suspension kit but I need to do something for now to soften the ride a little. I know replacing those old rubber bushings should make a noticeable improvement and having greasable bolts should help. I saw spector has a set of 4 greasable anti-inversion shackles for lilke $170 that sounds like a decent price. I'm guessing I'm going to have to go ahead and replace the hanger pins while I'm at it. Any more recommendations?

 

[e rock]

If you're going to replace it all next year, I'd wait until then to do the greasable pins. Just smear the new bushings up real good with some marine-grade grease when you're assembling and that should do you just fine until next year. Poly bushings will last longer, but are stiffer and WILL transmit more vibration & shock to you than the rubber ones.

Of course, that means no sawzall for getting the old ones out, but the hot wrench is still fine and will save you a lot of fighting and cussing.

 

[cxh10]

Hmm well if they are only going increase the shock and vibration is it really worth doing at all before I put in new springs and shocks? I was under the impression that poly was an upgrade because they held their shape better and would allow the spring to move a little easier. This is the primary reason I was planning on replacing the bushings. Should I just hold off a year?

 

[e rock]

Hmm well if they are only going increase the shock and vibration is it really worth doing at all before I put in new springs and shocks? I was under the impression that poly was an upgrade because they held their shape better and would allow the spring to move a little easier. This is the primary reason I was planning on replacing the bushings. Should I just hold off a year?

They do hold their shape better, but I'd say the difference between new rubber and new poly is negligible when it comes to allowing the spring to move as long as they're installed correctly and the shackles aren't pinching the bushings.

Your level of motivation will have to determine what you're willing to do. If the old bushings fall right out (highly unlikely, but...), replacing them with new rubber would be relatively cheap and easy. If you have to burn out the old ones, it's considerably more work and stinkiness, but still relatively cheap. I'm not sure if OME uses the same bushings as stock springs, so the new ones may be useless to you in a year anyhow.

People have done many things to soften up the ride of a stock 40. Some pull the spring packs apart and coat them with graphite-impregnated paint to help the leaves slide better within the pack.

What shocks do you currently have? Again, it's silly to buy new ones that are just going to be replaced in a year, but they may be causing more grief than you know.

 

[cxh10]

Haven't replaced them since I bought it 2 years ago and there's no clear large writing on them I can see (haven't looked too hard). As best I can tell it's a set of old rancho's which I know even if they're still in good shape (probably not) are notoriously firm especially for a rig that sees much more highway than off-road like mine. I'm not so desperately strapped for cash that I couldn't shell out for the shocks this summer...I just know you save a little if you do it all at once as a package deal. My rig is currently lifted about 2.5 inches with stock shackles so I'm thinking if I get measurements and verify the Emu's will probably fit. You think this is probably the better idea?

 

[e rock]

My rig is currently lifted about 2.5 inches with stock shackles so I'm thinking if I get measurements and verify the Emu's will probably fit. You think this is probably the better idea?

That's a tough call. If it were mine, and I had the money, and I wanted to smooth out the ride a bit, and I was planning to replace the springs next year with a similar-sized lift kit, doing the shocks now would make sense.

I hate repeating work (which usually means that small projects end up following rabbit trails and turning into huge projects), so other than losing the package discount, you're not out any extra time or hassle.

What springs are you currently running? Also make sure that the shackle bolts aren't overtightened which will pinch the bushings and make everything extra stiff. They shouldn't even be putting any pressure on the bushings at all.

 

[DSRTRDR]

from my experience:

replacing the bushings will most likely improve your ride considerably; it did on my truck and it was like night-and-day because they had worn out to the point where metal was running on metal

do you need greasable pins? not necessarily

new shackles necessary? it depends how the old ones look (someone else still wanted my 30-year old ones )

the bushings sure made a difference

 

[Fast Eddy]

Should I just hold off a year?

For $25, it's worth it even if it's only going to be one year. The front ones will help the most, so do them first. They really help with wandering syndrome. A torch will help greatly to burn out the old bushings. It was a PITA without it. Put nuts on the studs before you hit them with a hammer if necessary to save the threads. The ones in the rear of the front springs are the hardest to deal with, especially on the exhaust side.

I probably could have used some new pins, but I didn't have them at the time and just reused the pitted ones with lots of grease. They seem to work great. I wire wheel cleaned them as well as I could. The pin end only rotates a couple degrees anyway.

Tighten the adjustment at the drag link and the center arm while you're at it.

 

[cxh10]

Well it's been a year and guess what? I'm still a broke college student who didn't get any suspension work done last summer besides new OME shocks which made a vast improvement. I think I'm going to go with the last suggestion made and just replace all the bushings and then clean up and regrease the old pins/bolts. I guess if something looks dangerously worn or I damage something in the process then the plan might change but I have to be frugal for now.

P.S. $25?! I'm looking at a set on CC that's like $63. Is this a rip off? Also, I'm planning on using poly bushings because the rubber oem one's are too damn expensive unless someone knows something I dont.

 

[EWheeler]

What about this set. Are these cr-ap? The guys sells a lot of parts for 40's and has good feedback.

eBay Motors: Toyota Land Cruiser Polyeurethane Bushing Kit FJ40 e-80 (item 300223121593 end time May-14-08 22:12:40 PDT)&

 

[Fast Eddy]

What about this set. Are these cr-ap? The guys sells a lot of parts for 40's and has good feedback.

eBay Motors: Toyota Land Cruiser Polyeurethane Bushing Kit FJ40 e-80 (item 300223121593 end time May-14-08 22:12:40 PDT)&

Those are a great deal for the price. Once you see what shape your shackles are in, you might post up on the wanted forum to replace any really bad ones for cheap from someone who's upgraded.

Careful not to beat on the threads when you remove them. Use a torch. Trust me.