Does anybody have a good method of removing the old ones & getting the new ones in?? I see they are metal encased bushings pressed into the spring eyes.

 

last resort would be to burn the rubber out with a torch and then chiss the rest out!

 

I used a ball joint press, powered by an impact gun with a bushing driver of the correct size to get the bugger out and the new one back in.

 

They are that hard to remove?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

The one I did was miserable, couldn't have done it without the ball joint press, the replacement bushing I got was a new one that was pressed out of a new spring from the spring shop, you could say it was a tight fit. I wasn't going pull the spring pack to put it in the hydraulic press to get it out, would have put a new stack of springs in.

 

That's nasty, &, I don't have a ball joint press or tanks for my torch at this moment.

 

My ball joint press is a cheap one out of harbor frieght or equivilent.

What happened to yours? Someone replaced the bolt in the front and didn't do something right and it shattered the inner bushing on mine, it also chewed up the spring hanger. That required welding to build the area back up for the new bushing, the one side of the hole was elongated the diameter of the bolt.

 

What happened to mine?? 418,000 miles of day to day use. They just look very chewed up & I have the dreaded "death wobble".

 

I have tried and cried dozens of methods to replace leaf-spring bushings and none of them could remotely be considered easy.

If you don't want to take the spring-pack out of the truck, take a long drill-bit and drill many many holes through the rubber, until it can be knocked out.

Actually, if the springs are old enough to need bushings, then the leaves are not far from fatigue failure.

Look them over, closely, for cracks in the tie-bolt area.

The main leaves on the rear of my old 78 Chevy, with 400,000+ miles, were both almost broken in two.

Shop around, as new spring packs are not as expensive as you might think.

I got both sides for one-ton Chevy for around $400 at Bill's Truck Spring in Louisville, KY.

 

Right now I just want to get the "death wobble" out of it. Eventually i'd like to get a full set of 2 inch lift soft ride skyjackers. I don't need the lift for the way i use the truck, but, i think the extra travel & softer springs would help handling more than the slight lift would hurt it. (the ride on this thing is brutal)

 

Well, guys, I took the springs off the truck & used a vice with A few sockets I don't mind abusing to install the bushings.
The truck drives much better, but I still have a wobble somewhere.

i'm glad this truck is well kept & hasn't seen much salt. :-)

 

Truck wobble or steering-wheel wobble??

If it is a steering-wheel wobble, check the frame, where the steering gear-box mounts, for cracking.

Both Dodge and Chevy are notorious for the steering-box cracking the frame.

I point out at least one a day to customers in my tire-shop that were completely unaware of the situation.

Sometimes, just raising the vehicle to do tire work will cause the crack to open dramatically.

 

I can feel it in the steering & the floor.
After a test drive last night I inspected the suspension & steering. During this inspection a small crack was found in the steering box bracket, so, I guess I better take that off & weld it today.

BTW. do you guys know how hard it is to pick the front of one of these up with a 2.5 ton floor jack.

 

Yes I do. And the driveway has the dimples to prove it.

 

Yup, especially when the front weighs just over 4000 lbs.