Rear spring leaf shackles

[Brandylionroar84]

Omg this rusted leaf spring shackle has been the biggest pain! Has taken me 2 days. Still have one bolt to remove. Gave up for the day.

 

[joney]

Omg this rusted leaf spring shackle has been the biggest pain! Has taken me 2 days. Still have one bolt to remove. Gave up for the day.

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It looks like a PITA too! Best wishes.

 

[TribeZ]

Oh wow. Thats some impressive rust. Good luck on try 2.

 

[Brandylionroar84]

 

[Brandylionroar84]

Bracket us off. But bushing is stuck. Spent 4 hours with it and nada! Tried torch, butane and map, tried free all, sea foam, freeze off, sledge hammer..pry bars..clamps.

 

[joney]

Bracket us off. But bushing is stuck. Spent 4 hours with it and nada! Tried torch, butane and map, tried free all, sea foam, freeze off, sledge hammer..pry bars..clamps.

There may be a tool for that..https://www.carid.com/gear-bearing-pullers.html No expertise on my end, just a search.

 

[Pete Deering]

I had the same problem with my driver side rear. The bolt was rusted too the sleeve. I used a harden steel drill to drill out the bolt. I try a heat, air hammer. Just stay with, you'll get out. There r video on YouTube of what not to do. The drill method was one of them.

 

[Brandylionroar84]

Seems my leaf spring is stuck on frame

 

[Josh P]

Where did you place the jack? It isn't clear in the picture.

 

[Brandylionroar84]

I was told to place it under shock absorber. Triangle plate with perfect size round divot for bottle jack and a jack stand a lil towards front.

 

[Brandylionroar84]

Where did you place the jack? It isn't clear in the picture.

ignore the random jack right there supporting nothing lol

 

[Josh P]

I was told to place it under shock absorber. Triangle plate with perfect size round divot for bottle jack and a jack stand a lil towards front.

You need to take the weight off the spring by jacking the car up by the frame.

 

[Mbrooks420]

You only Jack up under the shock plate if NOT working on the spring. Frame for sure for any suspension work as mentioned above.

 

[J_C]

Bracket us off. But bushing is stuck. Spent 4 hours with it and nada! Tried torch, butane and map, tried free all, sea foam, freeze off, sledge hammer..pry bars..clamps.

A couple of things to try with the bushing (using a saw or angle grinder to cut the bolt off flush if necessary), is a hole saw barely under the diameter of the bushing (I'm thinking around 1-1/8" diameter but I could be wrong, I mean that should be just enough to clear the fastener and not be rubbing the saw against the spring metal much if at all), or use a regular drill bit and let the momentum carry it around the perimeter of the bushing, pulling it out over several laps around it. There are some youtube videos out there showing the technique, maybe I can find one...

[Edit]... okay this isn't the one I was thinking of but shows the general technique.



Another option is just drill into the bushing, several holes around the perimeter till it is weak enough to press out.

 

[efBrianM]

Are new bushings available for the rear springs and shackles? For that matter, the LCA's in front?

 

[Mbrooks420]

Leaf springs are pretty generic, I’m sure they’re available.

New control arms are readily available, I assume you can get just the bushings.

 

[swshawaii]

Are new bushings available for the rear springs and shackles?

Google is your friend (GIYF)

explorer forum leaf spring bushings - Google Search

For that matter, the LCA's in front?

1995 FORD EXPLORER 4.0L V6 Control Arm Bushing | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

 

[efBrianM]

Leaf springs are pretty generic, I’m sure they’re available.

New control arms are readily available, I assume you can get just the bushings.

Google is your friend (GIYF)

explorer forum leaf spring bushings - Google Search

1995 FORD EXPLORER 4.0L V6 Control Arm Bushing | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

Somehow I had it in my head that new bushings would be hard to find, obviously I didn't do any searching before I posted. Sorry 'bout that.
I do appreciate both of you replying though.

My profile only mentions a '95, but also have an '01 Sport. Probably won't get to the rear leaf bushings very soon, but good to have the info.

I put new LCA's on the 95 awhile back because of worn ball joints. The TB's don't fit as snug as they did in the OE arms, and they make noise going over small bumps. I still have the original arms and will probably service them with new ball joints, and since there already off, new bushings, then re-install them to get rid of the noise.

Looking at the RockAuto link, it looks like it's the same bushing used on the driver's side and passenger side, and on the arm itself, leading to trailing edge.

Thanks again
Brian

 

[Brandylionroar84]

Leaf springs are pretty generic, I’m sure they’re available.

New control arms are readily available, I assume you can get just the bushings.

 

[Brandylionroar84]

Not in my area with a month wait and through dealer ship. The rubber section any way. Been fighting it for 2 weeks