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2nd Generation Shackle Bushings Revisited

Post number 6 has been selected as best answered.

just wanted to throw my 2 cents in here.the 2nd pic with bushings installed is on my 91,while i dont have any problem with anyone useing my pic id just like to say that i used a set of energy bushings i had left over from a 1987 an older chevy model i never used.if i remmeber the spring eye fit ok but the frame one i had to trim for width an open inside id.abit to fit the steel insert. it was some work but i had more time on my hands then money to buy new, i noticed a big difference in the ride after i did this install you can really tell the bushing were no longer binding like the rubber ones did plenty of teflon lube an anti sez paste on the bolts
 



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Ive been trying to do this for the last to days. I got the bottom bolt out in 10 min but unfortunatly its the top one giving me hell and i can swing the sledge enough to get a good hit in that small space. ive been soaking it in pb blaster and hitting it with an air hammer a sledge and even the ball joint press but i cant get it out any sugestions?
 






Ive been trying to do this for the last to days. I got the bottom bolt out in 10 min but unfortunatly its the top one giving me hell and i can swing the sledge enough to get a good hit in that small space. ive been soaking it in pb blaster and hitting it with an air hammer a sledge and even the ball joint press but i cant get it out any sugestions?

Are you talking about trying to get the upper shackle bolt out? Can you turn the bolt with a wrench/breaker bar/impact gun or does the bushing turn with it?

I'm surprised the ball joint press doesn't work, maybe you need a bigger one. It must really be stuck. Try Freeze-Off type penetrating lube, never tried it myself, been looking for an excuse, let me know how it works.

Are you planning to replace the bushing? If so, sounds like torch time.
 






Yeah the upper bolt it wont budge at all and a cant try to turn it now cuz i cut the bolt head off to try and knock it with the air hammer. I picked up a new bushing from ford but it came as one piece with the inner sleeve rubber bushing and outer sleeve. If i burn out the old one do you think the ball joint press will work to press in the new one?
 






I have read every thread on this, but still no solid answers, so I'll revisit it.

Has anyone actually tried installing "91-94" polyurethane shackle bushings in a 2nd gen?

91-94 Explorer Polyurethane Bushings:
Energy Suspension 4.2124 (full shackle kit)
Daystar KF02019 (full shackle kit)
Daystar KF02022 (frame bushings only)
Prothane 6-1019 (full shackle kit)
Prothane 6-810 (frame bushings only)

All the respective manufacturers' sites list them for a '91-94. 4wheelsupply.com and flexplorers.com/store/exp4x4 list KF02019 for 91-98. www.jackit.com/catalog/chapters/bushings.pdf lists it for 91-01 in one spot, but the KF02022 for 91-94.

LMC Truck lists the same part numbers for their leaf springs, shackles, upper shackle bolts, shackle to spring eye bushings, and shackle to spring eye internal sleeves for the 91-94 and the 95-01. The Warrior 153 shackles fit both 1st and 2nd gen Ex's. All this tells me that there should be absolutely no difference between the 91-94 shackle frame bushings (or spring eye bushings) should be any different.

Are the manufacturers just too scared to advertise 2nd gen Explorer suspension components because of rollover liability?

Now the other problem is, out of the few posts on here about these bushings, there have been at least two guys who said the frame bushings did not fit even on their 1st gens (one said it was too small, the other said too large).

Well, if no one has tried it, I'm convinced and I'm going to. So does anyone have a recommendation as to which company? I just need the frame bushings, so I guess ES is out, but I'll call them to make sure. I know none of them will admit they fit a 2nd gen, but I'm going to make sure their frame kits are the same bushings offered in their respective full shackle kits, and to confirm with them their return policy when they don't fit.

The first pic is on a '93; the second is a poly on a '91; the 3rd is from a '93; and the fourth is the KF02019 kit.


I have a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport SUV 2Door

I did this with http://www.ebay.com/itm/361259889777?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

It worked just fine, No noises and nothing sways. I think ford just wants you to buy the super expensive stuff. No difference between the rear ends from the 90's to early 2000's. Everyone is just afraid after the rollovers which was just improperly inflated tires.
 






I have a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport SUV 2Door

I did this with http://www.ebay.com/itm/361259889777?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

It worked just fine, No noises and nothing sways. I think ford just wants you to buy the super expensive stuff. No difference between the rear ends from the 90's to early 2000's. Everyone is just afraid after the rollovers which was just improperly inflated tires.

6-7 years too late but hey better late than never. :D
 






i replaced my shackles withe the warrior shackles got like a inch of lift out of them too . i had 6 months before replaced them with some i got from rockauto.com those had come with replacement bushings in my ignorance i just went ahead and replaced them in my driveway. i removed the old ones in the springs witha torch a air hammer and various pry bars and such,

to get the new ones in i sprung on an idea cobbed together with a 8" long grade 8 bolt washers a socket wrench socket and just a wrench, i was able with not too much effort once i figured out thiscobb job to just tighten the bolt and it slowly drew to new ones in i did soak the area with pb blaster and i did clean out the sleeve they go in with some emery cloth abrasive strip on a dowel in a drill to get the rust cleaned up it reamed it lightly i like the way the truck sits now and the warrior shackles are several times thicker than stock as well as heavy paint of same kind on them :)

http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-153-Rear-Heavy-Shackle/dp/B0017M6F2W
 






Sorry, guys. I know I said I was going to get them, but time and money constraints kicked in.

The stock bushings are pressed in, and I read someone said they were pressed in using a 8 katrillion ton press or something, soooooooo that's why they don't even bother selling stock replacement bushings, because no non-full-blown-auto-manufacturing-facility is going to be able to do that service.

The way bushings are made, they have an outer metal shell, then rubber in the middle, then a skinny metal tube in the center that holds the bolt. The outer metal tube is what's permanently pressed into the frame.

Poly replacement bushings don't come with the outer metal shell, you are expected to reuse the old one, which is a good thing, because you don't have to press it out. So you drill/torch the rubber bushing center out and then replace it with the poly bushing which has a new inner metal tube.

I don't see any reason why these poly bushings would not fit. The two questions are:
1) Are they manufactured properly to begin with to even fit 91-94's as advertised? I would just go ahead and order them, say you have a 91-94 though, and if they don't fit, return them. (Of course do this before you drill/burn out your old bushing!)
2) How are you going to remove the rubber of your old bushings? I was thinking of using a hole saw.
Has it been confirmed the Energy 2.2124 R bushings include frame bushings for the rear? And do I just need to order 1 for both sides?
 






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