The leaf spring bushings need replacing

[Raider L]

I am going to replace my leaf spring bushings and am waiting for them to get here. I ordered the wrong size, 1 3/8" and had to send them back for 1 1/2". I managed to come across the original bill when I had poly bushings put in back in '95. So, thank God i had that to go on. Sometimes trying to figure out what you need from the Energy Suspension site can be confusing. And Summit is no help unless you already have the P/N or they will try and help you but there's some chance it will be the wrong part, especially when it comes to bushings since there are so many. It's different if you were wanting a engine part or something new you're putting on.
But here's the existing bushings, Energy Suspension in Yellow they don't make anymore. They just make Red and Black now.

Right Side:

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Kinda funky and dried out.

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There's something catching my eye on the bottom hanger.

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OMG! The spring has shifted over and smashed the left side into the hanger and the shrunk bushing has slid out of the eye...great!

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Left Side Front. The dang thing is split!

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[Raider L]

Well, what do you expect, they've been in there for 25 years! I talked to a tech one time at Energy Suspension and he asked me how long had the bushings been in the truck..?At that time, I told him 17 years. He said, "What?!" We've never had anyone leave our bushings in for that length of time. JHe said to send him some pictures. So I sent him 46 photos of the front end. They didn't look as bad as these do now, but you don't even want to see the front ones as they are now....bad!

 

[RecklessWOT]

When I lifted my truck it had the original 29-30 year old (at the time) bushings in it front and rear. They were dry and cracked but they were still there doing their thing. The ones in there now will probably get changed by the new owner after I die and the truck changes hands. That's assuming a freak accident doesn't somehow put the truck in a junkyard before then.

 

[Raider L]

@RecklessWOT,

Dang, Man! That truck doesn't ride like a tank on roller skates? You should at least replace the front one's. Use polyurethane and you'll be an old man before you'd have to even look at them again. Unless you're already an old man. In that case you'll be even older. Most everyone completely forgets about the leaf spring bushings. I don't know why. I guess it's because they are only concerned about the handling in turns and all that. And with a burb you've got so much weight to be swinging around turns, I'm surprised it's not wiggling and swerving all over the place in turns and stops. I would have forgot about the leaf springs to but because someone mentioned it to me to go ahead and change the rear ones while I was at it since I was rebushing the whole suspension anyway.

 

[Curt]

Measure the the OD of the spring eye with calipers.,then measure the thickness of the spring.Minus the later and you have the ID.

New bushings made a huge difference in my ride.No squeaks.

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[RecklessWOT]

@RecklessWOT,

Dang, Man! That truck doesn't ride like a tank on roller skates? You should at least replace the front one's. Use polyurethane and you'll be an old man before you'd have to even look at them again. Unless you're already an old man. In that case you'll be even older. Most everyone completely forgets about the leaf spring bushings. I don't know why. I guess it's because they are only concerned about the handling in turns and all that. And with a burb you've got so much weight to be swinging around turns, I'm surprised it's not wiggling and swerving all over the place in turns and stops. I would have forgot about the leaf springs to but because someone mentioned it to me to go ahead and change the rear ones while I was at it since I was rebushing the whole suspension anyway.

Hah, actually I've been told it rides like a lumber wagon. But I just like to think it rides like a 4 wheel drive full size truck from the 80s on leaf springs.

Sure it does "wiggle and swerve", but I expect it to do so especially with the stock steering shaft so I just kind of plan for it and captain it down the road like the boat that it is. I still typically outpace most people with "normal" vehicles without even thinking about it as that's my normal driving style, and something about being familiar with the way my vehicle feels when I drive it .

Hah, seriously if the suspension geometry ever suddenly changed while I was driving it it might be a surprise, but even on vehicles I've owned that had completely snapped springs (coils or leafs) if I'm used to the way it feels it's a non-issue to me as I can predict the way it will react to my input.

You're right, these trucks would probably feel noticeably better with new bushings, but honestly the thought of changing leaf spring bushings on any truck that I wasn't also in the process of lifting has never once crossed my mind. I'd probably consider changing rear brake shoes before I did that lol

 

[Raider L]

@RecklessWOT,

See! See! Most people don't ever t5hink about the leaf spring bushings. I didn't until my friend said I ought to do it to.

And Yes, I'm the same way about driving my truck and am used to the way it handles even though I know the front end is just screwed!! But I go ahead and slide down the road anyway. And no, no one is allowed to drive the truck as it is because they know it's messed up, right now. I've been telling my son that anyone who needs to will be able to drive it after I get everything done. I've got this one doctor's appointment tomorrow and I might go ahead and try to drive it to the appointment. Unless my daughter would be willing to loan me her car to go, I'll be going in the truck.

Right at first as long as it's cold it does okay. But when it reaches operating temp. it starts messing up. It acts like it's slipping out of gear. Then other times it is actually not making with any gear. In the first thing I just put it in neutral and back into third and it goes back into third. But the second thing is what scares me because I've sat for several minutes, easily giving it gas, shifting back and forth in the drive gears until it finally went back into gear. One time I actually thought it wasn't going to ever go back in gear and I was going to have to turn the engine off, let it cool and then crank it and see if it would go into gear.

Oh yeah, we were talking about leaf springs. Ha, ha.

 

[Raider L]

@Curt,

Yeah Curt I was thinking seriously about getting all new bolts for the leafs. I didn't think about the zerk fitting kind, but I couldn't do that since the poly's use silicone, and I don't have a gun with silicone in it. And don't want to go to the trouble to clean out the other grease that's in the gun, put silicone in it, get the dang thing working, pump it a couple of times to do the leafs, clean out the silicone and put regular grease back into it, pump it as many times as it would take to clean the silicone out of the hose... You know?

 

[Bextreme04]

The good news is that someone has already replaced them before, so you don't have to burn out the old rubber and cut/press out the metal sleeve. I just went through that yesterday while replacing all of mine with the ORD kevlar greasable bushings.

 

[Niori]

I'm having to start the hunt for new leaf springs myself. 1986 Chevy C20 with a 305. Can anyone recommend some good springs that I could/should go with? if i measured correctly, they look to be 56" (26/30) with about a 2.5" stack.

I've looked on RockAuto and they only have 7/1 stacks, but my truck has what appears to be a 6/1 stack, unless I'm miscounting. But there are 7 leafs on each spring set. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Frankenchevy]

@Curt,

Yeah Curt I was thinking seriously about getting all new bolts for the leafs. I didn't think about the zerk fitting kind, but I couldn't do that since the poly's use silicone, and I don't have a gun with silicone in it. And don't want to go to the trouble to clean out the other grease that's in the gun, put silicone in it, get the dang thing working, pump it a couple of times to do the leafs, clean out the silicone and put regular grease back into it, pump it as many times as it would take to clean the silicone out of the hose... You know?

ORD says any nlgi chassis grease works with the poly bushings they supply.

 

[Grit dog]

RaiderL, sounds like you're getting along well now if you're tackling leaf springs! That's great to hear!

I know those Energy Suspension bushings are 25 years old, and I've never personally used them, although it looks like the '86 may have them in front (and they're pretty new), but I thought they were suppose dot last basically forever. Isn't that how they were advertised back in the day?

 

[nabeshin]

Did you go off roading a lot, Raider? I guess 25 years is a long time on any bushing.

I'm having to start the hunt for new leaf springs myself. 1986 Chevy C20 with a 305. Can anyone recommend some good springs that I could/should go with? if i measured correctly, they look to be 56" (26/30) with about a 2.5" stack.

I've looked on RockAuto and they only have 7/1 stacks, but my truck has what appears to be a 6/1 stack, unless I'm miscounting. But there are 7 leafs on each spring set. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.generalspringkc.com/lea...mc/chevy-gmc-truck/3-4-ton-20-2500/1973-1987/

 

[Raider L]

@Grit dog,
Yeah, 25 years is way to long even for polyurethane. They were gone after probably 15 or 17 years and I've been flopping around on them since then. That's why I'm replacing everything from front to rear again. The tech's at Energy Suspension were shocked when I told them how long they had been on my truck when I told them then, they had been on my truck for 17 years. They said no one had had their product on their vehicle that long before. Hmm.

But yeah, they do last two or three times as long as rubber if you did nothing but drive slow I guess and never put any stress on them. But even if you did nothing to rubber it'll split, dry out, and crack and that's what poly doesn't do. Except if you drive the hell out of them like I did but it still takes 15 years before you see anything happen to them.

 

[Raider L]

@nebeshin,

No, never did do any off roading. I'm a hot rodder. My truck would never see mud or a rock unless I ran through some mud on the street, or hit a rock driving down the road, ha, ha.