axle instal

curious what the most efficient way is to re instal the front and rear axle and leaf springs.
seems this info is sparse, lots of searching with nothing solid.

I will take a stab,
wheel the axle roughly where it should sit under the frame (frame is jacked up), jack up the axle in the air and put the leaf springs on - inner frame pivots first then shackle ends - lower axle onto leaf springs and assemble the ubolt's and shock plate.
[difficult when no weight on the frame, so weigh down the front while you work on the back and opposite for front - so the frame does not jump up at you)

or

assemble axle to leaf springs separately, put rims or tires on and roll it to the frame then jack it up (harder to align leaf springs to hangers id say)

or?

further to this, any torque specs for the shackle bolts - frame pivot bolts?
u bolts?

 

I would do to first method you mentioned. Remember to put a third jackstand under the pinion because its going to want to rotate downwards. Try to have another person to help, its possible to do alone but its easier and safer with two people.

 

I am physically able to pick up the axle assemblies and just shove one end up on one spring, push it over and then shove the other side up on the other spring. If you have the springs out, then I would hang the spings from the frame mount end, set the axle on the springs and then just lever up the axle assembly with springs and put in the shackle bolt. If you are not physically able to do this, do the second technique and employ a floor jack, dolly or a combination to install. I never have help and use tools, jacks, hoists, come alongs or just good old plain brute force and ignorance to get stuff done.

 

This is the right answer.

 

This is the way I did it… makes it easy to do without help and without tweaking your back.

 

I agree, perfect

 

okay, how should the leaf spring fit into the inner frame pivot?
should it be tight that you need a dead blow hammer to hit it in?

I had to work these mounts with a welder to get rid of some deep gouges after sandblasting so I figured I would have to do some grinding to true them out, which I did.
the ends do go in but with aggressive hits with a deadblow, the bolt hole will align and I can start the bolt and feed it with light hits with the deadblow untill it gets to the other side, where its now just slightly out of alignment hitting the inner portion of the frame pivot.

I am thinking I need to grind off more material on the pivot mounts, just want an idea of how easy this install really should be incase I am over looking something.

 

the rotation is present, but can there be side to side play? when you say snug I suppose that answers the question.

I am just trying to get an understanding on why I am having such difficulty getting the bolt all the way through. it aligns by eye but when the bolt gets more then half way it tweeks the alignment enough to where I cannot get the bolt all the way through. I am thinking the poly bushing has some distortion, just thinking out loud.
I suppose a break from that side and try the other.

 

Is the other end of the spring already hooked to the shackle? If so, unbolt it and use a large adjustable wrench to tweak the spring until the pivot bolt aligns. Hopefully the bolt is still parallel to the frame after the welding and grinding but you may need to tweak the hanger a bit if not. The pivot bolt should be just snug enough to eliminate the side play but still allow the spring to move without any resistance.

 

other end is not on the shackle. I will try the adjustable I am assuming hold it close to the leaf spring eye.
I believe this will work for me as its just slightly out.

I am also going to also check again for straightness will report back

 

I did get the bolt all the way, but when I manipulate the leaf spring up and down the bolt wants to turn on the pivot hanger not the bushing rotating on the bolt like it was designed to do.

I must be doing something very wrong. the splines on the bolt should keep it from moving on the hanger, the hanger hole is slightly oversized.
I can flip the bolt to the other side to engage the inner pivot where the castle nut usually would go, this is a tight fit as it should be but I dont want to risk spinning the bolt if the bushing is to tight. sheesh. perhaps this new hole will solve my problems with the current bushing I am using?

I am going to look online for bushings or I am going to make my own.

option one is to machine out the poly bushing I am currently using to take a steel sleeve with the OD of the bolt... (what grade of steel sleeve should I use? or is brass or bronze better although might be very expensive.)

option two is to make a solid bushing out of brass or bronze.