Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Happy New Year: Out with the Old, and In with the New

I finished installing an Energy Suspension 4.2135G Shackle Set on the '66. I had noticed that the rear of the car would sway a bit and get loose under acceleration. Also, the driver's side of the rear was about 1/2" lower than the passenger side when the car was just sitting.

I knew that the car had a set of mid-eye 5-leaf springs with rubber eye bushings and stock shackles with Milodyne bushings from around 2002. I didn't want to spend the $250 and up for a set of new springs, and then $80 for shackles, until I knew I had to. So I bought the Energy Suspension shackle kit to update the old leafs.

Energy Suspension 4.2135G Leaf Spring Kit
includes 9/16" shackles and bushings for 1/2" front eye bolts.
The front eye bushing was in need of replacement.

[Photo Above] I removed the inner sleeve from the eye bushings by drilling them (the drill bit walks around the sleeve) and hammering them with a small socket extension. Then I used a 38mm socket and hammered the bushings and outer sleeves out together (lubed with PB Blaster), then hammered the socket back through. I originally bought the 38mm socket to fit the front of the Global West adjustable strut rods and it works here too. (Serendipity, baby!) Loud, lousy job, but it works...

The front eye bushings installed.
And on the car (before final torque).
Here are the new 9/16" shackles vs. the old 1/2" shackles.
Big difference.

[Photo above] Here's the driver's side (before final torque).. Notice the swapped bolts: This is the only way they'd fit. (Regarding tailpipe clearance on the driver's side, make sure you let the car rest fully on the springs to observe—the shackles pivot a great deal when the car sits on the ground vs. being jacked up in the air. I put a small dent in my large Magnaflow tailpipe to accommodate, but this probably wasn't even needed.) The top bolt requires pushing the sleeve in just a bit from the inside and inserting the bolt through the outside. I was puzzled for awhile on this one...


The passenger side installed (before final torque),
much more room thankfully.
The kit seems just great, and a great value as usual on Amazon. I'd recommend swapping the leaf bushings out one leaf at a time, and installing the shackles first, then the front eyes, then the axle u-bolts. I swapped leafs side-to-side, so I removed both leafs at once and tried to keep the rear axle on jack stands under the car, by myself. The axle did tip to one side and bruised the black axle paint a bit (and my ego), so be very careful if you work alone. Remember to use the supplied grease on the bushings and sleeves, and even on the bolts where they fit into the sleeves. Apply final torque to all the bolts while the car is resting on the ground, not jacked up.


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