Hey, i just installed some belltech drop leafs on my 1992 toy truck.. Now the shackles bushings are garbage and i found that the belltech bushing, the pin inside had to be knocked out for the shackle to fit.. Is this suppose to be like that? It seems kinda loose on the bushing the shackle pin.. Is the shackle pin suppose to fit toght around the sleeve of the drip leafs bushing??

Thanks

 

if i remember correctly, if the shackles fit over the sleeves from the bushings you use them. once you snug down the shackles, it pinches the sleeves in place and the bushing rides on those sleeves.

 

that confuses the hell out of me. ive never heard of a shackle pin... leaf pin, dowel pin sure. so do you mean the bolt? the one thats parallel to the ground?

im gonna assume so.

the bolt should fit tightish on a new bushing and should take many combinations of swear words and beer or fire to get out a oem one loose/out.

also the new bushing is polyurethane and not rubber, so it doesn't compress as much as the stock one.

this part REALLY needs pics, like with circles and arrows.

but i think it translates to the "while your in there" rule. $5 says if you use all new bushings/sleeves and good bolts related to your upgrade your problem will be gone. sounds like your trying to reuse the OEM frame shackle bushing...right?


buy a energy suspension leaf bushing kit, sand the shackles/bolts and call it good.

no prob

 

Lol thanks guys.. Yeah i mean the shackle bolts are rusted to hell.. And they dont fit in the sleeve of the bell tech bushings and sleeve... Would you recommend the energy suspensions bushings over the bell tech bushings?? Thanks...

Im gonna try sanding/grinding down the shackle bolts until they fit properly in the sleeve of the new leaf springs..

 

i wouldnt be surprised if the belltechs were energy suspension.

 

From what I remember hearing, Belltech sends their leafs with the bushing on the wrong ends. Meaning the front bushings are in the rear of the leaf and the rears are in front. The buyer has to swap them.

Look at the leaf pack and make sure the shorter distance from leaf pin (the bolt holding the pack together) to the end of the leaf is forward, and longer distance is toward the rear.

The front bushing should have a metal sleeve that the front leaf-frame bolt runs through (14mm) and the rear bushings should be 2 piece that pull out easily by hand with a fatter hole (18mm) that fit the shackle, and no metal sleeve in the bushing.



2 QUESTIONS
1) Your shackles should look like the one on the left pictured below, correct?
2) Are the bushings in your new leafs both using a metal sleeve, or just on one end?

 

Yeah those look like the same shackles... Ahhh crap.. Ok so is it a big issue if i use the front bushings in the back and vice versa (the wrong way that belltech sends them)

Did not know about the bushings being shipped wrong and went ahead and got rusty shackles re done to work...

 

The shackle shouldn't fit through the metal sleeve in the bushing anyway. The shackle is 18mm and the metal sleeve should be about 14mm (but the sleeve will be standard not metric since it'll be a Energy sleeve made in the US) and should be around 9/16" or so. I doubt the shackle would even slide through the sleeve.

Let me ask again...did the new leafs come with a bushing that had a metal sleeve on one end and a 2 piece bushing with a bigger hole (for the shackle) and no sleeve on the other end?

All I know is I've heard a few times here on the forum that Belltech sends the leafs with the bushings in the wrong ends.

It's back together?

 

Yeah I got it back together but... I got the shackle to fit the sleeve... Strange... But I believe there was sleeves on either end... I'll take pics and update my build thread soon!! Thanks guys for your help!!