Secrets for removing leaf spring pins (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Nov 2, 2021
Threads
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Messages
100
Location
Goldendale, WA, USA
Toyota part number 0448260040, the leaf spring pin for a 60 series Land Cruiser. If left alone for thirty-six years, it is a real pain to remove! While very sturdy, the design is prone to seizing up and options are limited for extraction.

springpin.JPG


I'm in the middle of installing an OME lift kit on my '86 HJ60 and the factory suspension is putting up more of a fight than anticipated. Progress is slow and there is no rush, but the project is just about halfway done.

The first pin took two weeks to remove, and the second took around twenty minutes. The nuts came off easily enough with enough penetrating oil... As well as a trip to civilization to buy a 1/2" impact rattle gun. An impact driver, 1/2" breaker bar, and 1/2" ratchet are all requirements for this job unless you're very strong and even more patient, then you might be able to get away with just a breaker bar. After no success with a 4 1/2" angle grinder and a cutting wheel, and destroying six Sawzall blades, I found a method that worked! The pin is made out of some very strong stuff.

The pins came out with two main tools and some optional ones, with a 3lb hammer and a 12" Channellock being the stars of the show. What worked was to exercise the pin back and forth with blows from a hammer to alternating ends of the pin. It did not perceptibly move at first, but eventually it backed out enough to get the Channellock on it. Gradually working the pin in and out and rotating it, a pry bar could fit under the plate, and from there it didn't take much more persuasion. A bigger Channellock and perhaps a bigger hammer would have made things easier.

What methods have you Mudders found success with? It seems feasible that a 6" cutting wheel would have reached the pin, or at least 12 of those bimetal Sawzall blades would have made it through eventually. The idea for the hammer and Chanellock came from somewhere on Mud, but I wanted to make a more detailed thread for the next guy to find.

Cheers!
 
You need fire and you need to say f**k a lot.

You may have seen me using the vice grips. I found a very large, odd shaped pair that seemed to grasp enough of the edge of the hanger pin plate that i could turn it and break it free from the rubber, but in the end, fire and a lot of anger was what made it happen for me. I didn't have a lot of time and had to get it done in a weekend.
 
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I use large channel locks go grab the edges and turn it.
 
Hit it with your purse, buy new ones ahead of time
 
Instead of channel locks I use a pipe wrench.
I tried this, but I couldn't get a decent grip. Maybe it was just a cheap pipe wrench, but it just wouldn't stay tight enough. Hell, the vise grips wouldn't budge unless I used my bottle jack for leverage, and half the time they would just pop off rather than move the pin. It wasn't until I hit it with fire that things finally started coming apart. I also used a vietnam war era m16 bayonet to cut and rip chunks out of the holes as I went just so I could get fire deep inside. It was a real nightmare for me. Easily the biggest PITA I have had to deal with on this truck. By far. I always suggest going straight to fire. And a bigger hammer is almost always a good idea.
 
I took a mapp gas torch to my old bushings. You have to hold the torch on it for a while so get in a comfortable position. Eventually they start to melt and the pin will just pull right out.

More frying means less prying! Patiently burn them suckers out.
 
I used a big propane weed burner to burn out the one stubborn bushing when removing the front axle from my '89 FJ62 donor vehicle. Only took about 30 seconds.
 
Instead of channel locks I use a pipe wrench.
This I have a old pipe wrench that has earned it $ with leaf spring pins and turning stubborn Tre's as well.
 
Ok I know its waaaaaaay too late to suggest this, (like 25 years too late) but leaf spring hangers and shackles require maintenance. Every 6 years or so, the shackles and hangers should be disassembled and greased and bushings replaced.

It’s not mentioned in the maintenance manual (though it should be) so everyone ignores them - and pays the price decades later.
 
Ok I know its waaaaaaay too late to suggest this, (like 25 years too late) but leaf spring hangers and shackles require maintenance. Every 6 years or so, the shackles and hangers should be disassembled and greased and bushings replaced.

It’s not mentioned in the maintenance manual (though it should be) so everyone ignores them - and pays the price decades later.
I'm sure the next person to dig in to the suspension (probably me) on this rig will appreciate the greasable shackles and pins that are going on now!
 
definitely a job where you need to have f***s to give on hand before starting.
Very import they coincide with BFH contact first. Then release the hounds!
 
I use an angle grinder with a 1mm cutting wheel.. you can get the wheel up and cut the pin - if its stuck its going to be corroded and due for replacement anyhow. Not sure why it didnt work for you?
 
I use an angle grinder with a 1mm cutting wheel.. you can get the wheel up and cut the pin - if its stuck its going to be corroded and due for replacement anyhow. Not sure why it didnt work for you?
If I ever have to go through that again I'll use a grinder. The one I had on hand would not fit against the leaf spring in a way that allowed me to get the disk in the pocket. If I had been smart I would have gone and bought a larger grinder that could take a bigger disc. Most of the suffering we endure is because of our own idiocy!
 
I might be stirring up a can of worms, but I'll second OSS's notion that these pins and bushings need to be disassembled and re greased occasionally. Greasable shackles, while a step forward, do not distribute the grease very well, and you get parts of the bushing that get no grease, even as grease spills out the side of the bushing when you put the grease gun on them. Only disassembly and relubrication will prevent the rust and corrosion that will eventually seize these parts solid, even if you religiously use the zerks to grease them.
 

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