VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Rear Leaf Spring bushings?

Can I simply replace my leaf spring bushings by hand, mine are shot and just rattling?
Thanks

Yes. Make sure the holes in the shackles aren't ovaled out. If they are the rattling will not go completely away with new bushings. You'll likely need the full shackle.

More specifically the bushings are not pressed out and in? Watching youtube i noticed many people using methods that simulate pressing and pulling bushings with washers and a long screws. It makes sense if the bushing fits tight as to not vibrate. I don't want to remove old bushing and not be prepared to have to press it in the new.

I haven't done the rear bushings on my 38 Master yet but I did the front ones using my 30 Ton press. They took considerable force to move.

30 ton? eek

Of course it didn't take 30 Tons. That is just the rating of my press. That capability does come in handy for removing king pins.

I've replace all my spring bushings and in some cases I used a large "C" clamp to press them in. In other cases I put the old inserts in and drove those in with a sledge, removed the old insert and completed the installation. You may have to look around and see what various tools you can press into service, so to speak.

Brian

Might be worth a call to a dedicated Spring Shop. You want a place that can make up their own springs and knows how to put it all together properly.
Many of them work on commercial trucks so should be able to tell you right away what they can do and will likely be cheap since they are actually experts with springs so will be very fast.

There is a tool for taking apart U-joints and removing ball joints. I believe Harbor Freight carries it. It looks something like a big C clamp with a massive screw thread. It would probably do the job. I sometimes use it with an impact wrench.

I often use a long threaded rod that just fits through the bush with a piece of pipe larger than the bush outside and another a little smaller than the outside of the bush. With the rod through the bush put the larger pipe on 1 side of the spring with a heavy flat washer and nut, the smaller pipe against the bush on the other side and tighten it all up. Generally this will push the bushing out into the larger pipe. To fit the new bush replace the smaller pipe with the new bush and a flat washer between it and the nut.
Tony

I replaced the front bushings in the rear springs of my '37 Master Coupe using a method similar to what Tony described.

I was surprised how easily the bushings pushed. I used 1/2" threaded rod and nuts and turned them with a couple of regular length wrenches. A ratcheting box end wrench really worked great. A friend had machined a couple of special spacers. One went between the old and new bushing and one to push on the new bushing. He had cut a relief in the faces of the spacers so I would push on the outer steel sleeve of the bushings, not on the inner sleeve of the bushing. The inner sleeve is about a 1/2" longer than the outer sleeve.

I used a deep well socket as the receiver for the old bushing as I pushed it out and the new one into the spring eye. I think I have a few pictures. If so I will post them later today.

Here are a couple of pictures of the tool and process I used. The one limitation I encountered was that the deep well socket was not quite deep enough to handle the full length of the old bushing. In the "in use" picture you can see that the new bushing is about 3/4 of the way installed.

Remember to put the full weight of the car on the suspension before you tighten the bolt. Otherwise you will clamp the inner sleeve in a bind that will tear the rubber bushing.

Rusty
That is the setup I was referring to but as you noted a deep receptacle is required. I generally do it in 2 steps, remove old bush then reset to fit the new.
Tony

Hi Tony,

My hindsight is really good (almost 100%). If I had to do it again I would get a longer piece of pipe or tubing for the receptacle so I could do it in one setup.

You can see in the picture how short it was. That is where the old bushing bottomed in the deep well socket.

I have replaced many truck spring bushings and sometimes we learn by our mistakes, I didnt learn on the 1st 1. The other 1 I got caught with was using a receptacle smaller than the bush.
Tony