Leaf Spring Shackle and Bushing replacement

I am about to replace my Leaf Spring shackles and bushings and want to make sure I have the appropriate procedure for securing the 74 CJ5 while replacing these.

I am going to use a hi-lift jack on the bumper near the side I am working on. I will then support the bumper with a jack stand. Once I have removed the tire and wheel, I will begin lifting the axle with a floor jack near the leaf springs to relieve any load. Remove the bolts, shackle, and bushings. Replace bushings, shackle, bolts. Remove floor jack. Replace tire and wheel. Remove jack stand, and lower hi-lift. Proceed to next corner.

Am I leaving anything out or completely missing a crucial support step. This is the first time I have worked on the suspension and am a little intimidated by the possible power that could be tied up in the springs if I don't support them right. TIA for any help.

 

I would reverse the two steps above, just in case something goes really wrong, at least the tire/wheel will be there for the Jeep to land on.

 

Great catch. I will be sure to replace the tire and wheel before I start lowering anything.

 

Lift the whole front or rear. Trying to do one corner twists the springs/shackles/ bushings making everything very difficult to get apart and put together as the suspension is in a bind. It can be dangerous when parts under load suddenly come apart. Damage to parts can happen as well

 

Don't final tighten any of the nuts till you're done replacing all four corners.

Jump up and down on the front and rear bumpers to to settle the springs before torquing the nuts. Sometimes this can help soften the ride.

 

Thanks for all of the guidance. I got all four replaced yesterday. The PO had installed poly bushings and I had to torch them out. It was probably easier to do that than cutting the OEM bushings with a hack saw.

I installed the OEM style metal/rubber bushings back into the jeep. One thing that helped in getting the bushings into the eyes on the springs and mounts was to build a little pusher out of some all thread and some washers. I put two nuts on the driving side with a stack of washers. This went through the eye and the bushing on the far side with some more washers and another nut on pushing side.

Using an impact wrench, I was able to drive the bushing into the eye fairly easily. Just some advice to anyone else who might be doing this.

 

Recheck your u-bolt torque after running it around a bit. My exhaust shop found my rear u-bolts were finger tight after I installed my kit. Fortunately, I did the exhaust AFTER the lift. Could have been bad.

 

I was about to go out and re-torque everything. Thanks for the reminder.

 

T3,

Thanks for posting this. I need to do the same to my Jeep. Where did you get you're OEM style bushings?

Using Ru-Glide or a similar rubber lubricant would make the bushings a lot easier to get in and out!

 

I purchased everything from 4wd.com. They were the crown replacement parts. Unfortunately their website makes it hard as **** to find what you want. It looks like they don't have the crown ones anymore, and instead have the Omix-Ada brand. Here is the link.

http://www.4wd.com/Jeep-Lift-Kits-J..._s=399&t_pt=3647&t_pl=105602&t_pn=OAI18270.15

Make sure you order four if you are going to do the whole jeep.

There is also a HD shackle kit from Omix-Ada that includes greasable bushings. They are about twice the price of the OEM kit, and I couldn't justify it since my Jeep is mainly used for hunting and farm not really any hard core wheeling.

 

i have a set of the omix greasable ones they work slick,but don't run a stock bushing they have a bronze sleeve that goes in instead

 

I got mine from rock auto.
Still need to install them, though.

 

Those look like the ones that came with my crown kits. I haven't ordered anything from rockauto yet. It seems like they have great prices, but the shipping on the items is killer.

 

How high do you lift the frame and how high do you lift the axle to take the tension off the springs so you can replace the front shackles (without having to remove the shocks and u-bolts)? Today I put the frame on jack stands and then lifted the axle with a floor jack and put it on jack stands a little lower than the frame and when I took out the bolts for the shackles, the tension on the spring caused the front eye of the spring to rise and rest against the frame mount. I ended up having to take off the shock and remove the u-bolts to be able to put the front shackle on and then put it all back together.

 

I had a front leaf do this (only one strangely). I ended up spreading the leaf and frame apart, then pushing the bolts in, along with the shackles.

 

This puts tension on the springs. The best way I have found is to lift the frame, remove the wheel and shock, then remove the nuts. There should be no tension on the springs at this point. Use the floor jack only to support the weight of the axle while the bolts are out. You can do one end of the spring at a time to preserve alignment.

 

I totally missed where he posted about lifting the axle. If you do this you're basically trying to change the shackles while they are under load. You want to lift the frame until the weight is *just* no longer on the springs

 

Thanks Roschmbo and 68BuickV6. This makes total sense and explains why taking the u-bolt nuts off was such a challenge (and why the last nut went flying when I backed it off). My project has grown from just replacing the front shackles to now replacing the front shackles, both front shocks, and one leaf spring and its rear bushing (turns out my left front leaf spring was twisted which was causing my front shackle to bend . . . it had stock shackles and the side plate was worn half way through . . . found a used leaf spring and used the suggested methods from this forum to get the old rubber bushings out . . . easy peasy). I went ahead and purchased a new u-bolt kit for the Dana 30 from 4wheelparts just in case I need it. Looks like one u-bolt is longer and wider than the other three to account for it sitting over the front diff instead of the axle. Is this right?

 

Yup.