Started on my front end rebuild. Of course the first thing I touch I have an issue. I went to pound out the old shackle bushings.
First one I did, I had to hit out, but it didn't take alot of force. I attributed it to being thin on one side--it was not completely worn through though. Cleaned the hole and went to put the new bushing in, it fell through the hole. WTF!
Second one I had to use some force hitting it, and once it started to move it came out---with about as much interference fit as I expected. Put the new one in and it went in with a minor interference fit--not near as tight as the one that came out.
OK, so what do i do now? It almost seems as if the O.D. on the bushings are a bit small. I and what about the one that just falls through the leaf spring? I mean it has to have about .003-.004 clearance If I was to guess. The old bushings had not spun within the spring leading me to believe the spring itself is OK. The one new bushing that had some interference fit I may remove and put some sleeve retainer on it. The real loose one?....No idea what to do.
Anyone?
Something I thought of while trying to get to sleep last night, what if I turn the welder down and make a couple of passes with the welder on the outside of the bushing to get it to snug in the hole. I figure four passes perpendicular to each other then grind down on the weld until i get the desired interference fit I need. Then add some Loctite sleeve retainer before install.
The new bushings are split, aren't they? Why not just spread them a little?
Been my experience the split bushings are often too loose both in ID and OD. I prefer to make my own on a lathe. You can match the eye holes exactly and get a good fit on the shackles. I use bearing bronze. Easy to machine. In fact the early Fords used bronze.
Or go to a bearing store and ask them for some bushings to fit the i.d. and o.d. you need. They're probably a stock item.
Sometimes you can take the spring eye, and clamp it in a vice, and squeeze. That may do the trick. I'm with Richard. I always use bronze bushings. Why wear the shackle?
Sorry, but another crap reproduction part are those split steel bushings. Use bronze like suggested, it'll be worth the small effort.
Steve, the problem is if I spread the bushing apart, it'll then be too loose on the shackle.
I guess I'll have to see if I can find some bushings to fit correctly. I figured it must be the repo part, but I also figured most don't have this issue.
Richard, great idea on the custom bushings, but I don't have a lathe.
For what it is worth I made the bushings for the front end of my 26 coupe out of Nylatron as an experiment. That was about 10 years and thousands of miles ago. They don't seem to be worn any.
That's a good idea, Paul. I have a ton of bearing stock, though. Chad, if you send me measurements, I'll wack you out a pair. Add several thousandths to the OD for a press fit, though. Tmorsher@icloud.com
I've always been able to buy the correct bronze spring bushings from Chaffins. Never have had a problem with them, in fact, I've got to install a bronze brake cam bushing today in my Ruckstell housing. I hate driving out those pins on the brake cams!
The spring mfg. '"T" Springs' has both steel or bronze bushings. But if the bore of your perch or spring end is oversized from wear, then new parts mfg. to the needed size is what you should do. These bushing need to be pressed in to hold fast.
http://www.t-springs.com/11b.html
I used aftermarket split steel bushings for my suspension rebuild both front and back. No issues, fit perfectly, no reaming. Proper lubrication is the key to long life if its either steel or bronze bushing.
I had a chat with Lang's today, the actual hole size for the bushing is supposed to be 11/16" or .6875". The repo bushings are running around the .693 area on the outside dimension. Between the spring and perch measurements on the inside, I am running anywhere from .695"-.716".
That's quite a bit of difference! As I mentioned before, none of the bushings were wore through, and none were spun within' their bores. However, I will add that one perch bushing that proved to be most stubborn to remove had no oil hole in it. So maybe someone at some point put oversize bushings in this thing. I wouldn't doubt it if that was common way back when.
Thanks to Tim, he has stepped up and agreed to make me a set of custom bushings, so that will be the direction I will go.