I got new original style metal sleeve shackles & the hole is real tight. I had a hell of a time taking out the just the old sleeves.
I have not seen one in years but,there was a special driver made for those .It had a threaded hole down the center that you screwed on to the threaded end sticking out of the metal sleeve ,screw it down against the metal sleeve and then drive it in without messing the sleeve up.,,drove the whole unit in as a unit
Well, I'd say more than kinda hard I'd say ruined. It won't work, the rubber will be burnt, weakened. I did my 35 rears and they went good with a socket. I cleaned up the bore real good and sanded it smooth, and greased both parts. Wipe the extra grease off later, as it can swell the rubber I suppose.
I did some on a '32 and couldn't get them to go no matter what I tried. Sockets, really cleaning the holes, lots of grease, etc. Ruined a couple by kinking the outer shells. I finally ended up grinding a slight bit off the shell's outer surface, then pressed them in with lots of grease and a socket. Not as tight as Ford did it, but they haven't fallen out yet.
Yeah, that's my fear, ruining the rubber. Im still gonna heat everything buy the shackles a little & grease it & give it a go. I did clean up the bore real good and sanded it smooth.
This is not old school,but I went with the nylon bushing. One heck of a lot easier. Acually works better.
The genuine Ford style sleeved shackles are meant to be installed dry. The rubber in them is compressed in the sleeves and gives resistance to twisting making the shackle stiffer than a rotating or sliding bushing. This style shackle was used on Fords in both spring eyes and axle/perch supports from 32-41, in 42-48 the springs were no longer mounted in tension(that's why they all have Panhard bars front and rear) and the rubber bushings were rotating on the shackle pins, larger on the spring eyes by 2X than the mounts.
OH MY GOD!! I FUCKEN HATE INSTAlling 1937 shackles!!!!!! Yeah, grease, sockets, & a vise. It works. The hard part, THE FUCKEN WiSHBONES, FUCK, what a pain in the ass. And with a drop axle, you have to make sure you could fit it threw after the shackles are installed.
They make a pre lube that helps get them in and wont hurt the rubber. I use this stuff all the time with great results on rubber or poly bushings. $16 for an 8 oz. container: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ENS-9-11104/
Whatever you do, don't heat the spring eyes to expand them! Maybe OK to heat the wishbone eyes (just enough to expand them, no more), but heating the spring eyes is a no-no unless you want to ruin your main leaf.
Yep, that is the correct tool--and hard to find! The main problem is, the newer re-placements bushings have a larger OD than the original ford items. This was discussed recently on the ford barn.
This is the correct response. Nylon or urethane bushings do not have any rotational or torsional shear capabilities - that's twisting in English. Use the correct rubber bushings....
Replacements with larger diameter bushings than the originals? Now I know the full meaning of a ream job.
The Jalopy Journal
