My 89

[Bronco_Chuck]

Figured i would share my ride. its an 89 i picked it up in November for $400
got bored today so decided to throw my 31's on it to see how they fit. came to find that my left leaf spring is totaly fawked, the front spring bolt has rusted and broken and can now be pulled out by hand while the truck is sitting there. and the rear eye that connects to the shackel is broken in half. didnt think to get pics of it. going to the jy soon to get some new springs probably some sploder leafs.

Specs: 89, 2.9, 5speed, 2X4, 31X10.5X15's on white steel wheels (stole em off my 84) no lift.

got a picture of that front bolt... or whats left of it.
how i found it.

the bolt after i gave it a little tug.

 

[footee]

Wow! Lucky you found that now instead of running down the highway or something. Should be a pretty easy fix. I'd imagine you could find some parts on here pretty easy, or just put that thing up in the air!

 

[Bronco_Chuck]

yeah very lucky. i hope to get it up in the air a bit. about 2" or so higher so i have a little space for the 31's. but the true fun doesn't start till tomorrow when i get to roll around in the snow pulling leafs at the JY.

 

[country0001]

Aint nothin like rollin around on the ground in the cold!

 

[Bronco_Chuck]

Aint nothin like rollin around on the ground in the cold!

oh it gets better i get to roll around in the cold mud. should be fun.

 

[countryboy]

good luck mud duck

 

[country0001]

I need to do my rear springs too, just waitin for warmer weather. Good luck.

 

[Bronco_Chuck]

well i got some sploder springs out of a 91 4 door. and saw some 3 inch lift blocks i felt i needed so i got them too. got home and couldnt get the damn shackels off the sploder springs. since i needed to figure some way to get the thing moving agin i threw the lift blocks in and replaced the rusted/broken spring bolt. decided while i was there i didnt want to reconnect the sway bar that i unhooked to put in the blocks so i pulled it out. so now i need to get new shocks and figure out how to get those damn shackels off the sploder springs, the bolt seems to be rusted inside the bushing or something.

also sorry but i didnt get any pics since i dont have a camera and my phone was dead.

 

[footee]

Have fun getting that bolt out. It runs through a sleeve in the bushing and I'm sure that's what it's rusted to so that sleeve is just turning inside the bushing. I went through the same mess on a ranger, just ended up cuttin the bolt out with a grinder or something. Good luck to ya!

 

[Bronco_Chuck]

yeah it is rusted to that sleeve but the sleeve isnt moving inside the bushing. so grinding the bolt off would be useless unless i can figure out how to get the whole bushing out and replace it.

 

[Chris88GT]

Same thing happened to me. I just cut the eyes off the explorer main leaf and added my stock B2 leaf to the explorer pack.

 

[retep88]

for the shackles I took the nut off and then beat on the bolt until it popped out. cutting it works too. B2s are really bad about screwed up leaf springs.

 

[99_3.0]

A torch can be your best friend in these wonderful situations.

 

[footee]

A torch can be your best friend in these wonderful situations.

Yep, make a mess and a stink and just burn that rubber bushing out of there. Probably your best bet.

 

[Bronco_Chuck]

ha ha if i had a torch or knew some one with one that i could use i would have already burned them out.

to retep88: ive tried that with no luck.... maybe i just dont have a big enough hammer.

to Chris88GT: i would have done that if the eyes on the bronco's leafs werent messed up.