For those that have replaced leaf spring hangers...

[racsan]

unfortionatly they are indeed "china parts". the bushings are all 1 piece units,if im reading the page right they are sold in sets, 13 for a set of 2 for the front, 15 for a set of 2 for the rear. i'll look through my photobucket & see if i have a picture, i know i took a few of the old hangers and some of my re-assembly, but i didnt think to do a all-out tech article like i did with my rear axle oil seal replacement. the steel in the new brackets is just as heavy as the original, and i lightly scuff-sanded them and gave them a few good coats of areosol truck bedliner a few days before installing them, getting new hardware with the hangers was great, otherwise i would have had to made a list and try to get it all at tsc, and probly got something wrong.
on edit: nope, no pictures of new bushings by themselves, best i have is 1 showing how i put new bushings in, a old mower blade, a long bolt, a socket that was the same size as the outer dia of bushing & and of course a flatwasher with a nut. could have used a air tool to draw it together, but if something was binding, id rather not ruin a new bushing. went together well.

and heres 2 of the worst brackets i had, l.r. & l.f. they wernt gone yet, but were on the way there.

and heres the new r.f. bracket along with another bracket i made with it for my traction bar experiment (but with chain instead of a soilid rod)

 

[Jimbo45]

Thanks for the help, racsan!

 

[F8LBITE]

I know the Ford ones are 2 pieces. They might be easier to install than a 1 piece. I'll definitely find out tomorrow how hard they are to install.

 

[det107]

Thank Goodness for this thread & tips !! My rear hanger (pass. side) broke before X-Mas & ordered Dorman #337 722-010 from Rockauto for $28.32 (rear pair). And it's labeled China-

 

[F8LBITE]

As others have said, if you can remove the bed it makes it sooooo much nicer/easier to not have to work on it while lying on your back.

 

[Jimbo45]

Ordered from Rock Auto:

2 Front hangers
2 Rear hangers
2 Shackle kits (comes with rear spring eye bolts and bushings too!)
2 Front spring eye bushings
2 Front Spring eye bolts
2 Rear shocks
2 Front shocks

Under $227 shipped.

Now, while I wait, I'm out to the garage today to install the other parts I have for it:

PCV valve
Double Platinum Plugs
Thermostat and new never leak housing gasket
Temp sender
Timing belt and tensioner
Accesory belt

Wish me luck. I need to find a how to on the timing belt, so I'll be back for that this afternoon.

Tires should be in to put on the new wheels I have in a few days too, so this beater is taking shape!

 

[F8LBITE]

Good Luck! I think those wheels are gonna look awesome on there. Cant wait to see pics

 

[Jimbo45]

Good Luck! I think those wheels are gonna look awesome on there. Cant wait to see pics

I got all my engine work and tuneup done after working on it the past couple nights, and its running like a champ!

So, I went ahead and bolted on the new (used Explorer wheels) and tires. Man, what a difference that made in appearance...

From:

To:

So, now I have this huge box of leaf spring hangers and shocks to put on later this week! Rock Auto is FAST! This stuff arrived on my porch via Fedex, about 23 hours after I ordered it! The front bolts and bushings were shipped from a different warehouse and should be here today or tomorrow, and I should get started on this later this week. Then, re paint the hood and front fenders, and this will be a pretty nice beater!

 

[racsan]

looks good! wheels do make quite a difference.

 

[F8LBITE]

New wheels look great! Are they the same diameter as the old ones?

 

[Jimbo45]

New wheels look great! Are they the same diameter as the old ones?

No, the old ones were 14", these are 15x7". Found a great deal on the new tires too!

 

[Jimbo45]

Got a later start than I wanted, but I am on it now. My help was needed diagnosing my mom's fuel pump that failed today, so I didn't get to this until after supper.

Anyway, the bed bolts came out without too much trouble using a breaker bar:

Ah ha! This is going to be soooo much easier with the bed off!!!!! :

Oh my, this looks even worse from the top view !!!!!! I can see now, that the axle is cocked rearward about an 1 1/4" on the passenger side, as evident in this photo. This explains why my steering wheel is off center to the right a little! :

Hey, anyone know if my rear axle breather tube is properly routed in this pic? I thought on the trucks I worked on years ago, they were always pointed downward. This one looks like it could take in some water!? I think I will do some rerouting and an elbow or something....

Well, back out to start grinding and cutting. Stay tuned....

 

[Jimbo45]

I worked on this thing for almost 4 hours tonight, and it doesn't look like I accomplished much. But, I think I did, it should be downhill from here (except maybe for the spring eye bushing installs...that may be sketchy). I removed the shocks, and got all 6 of the bushing and shackle bolts out. Ready to grind off the hangers next.

I learned a few things tonight:

1. If you don't have a good impact wrench and HUGE breaker bar, and lots of WD-40, don't start this job.
2. Who ever said "removing the bed bolts will be the hardest part" is on crack.
3. If you can't bench press at least 200 lbs., a strong helper would be a good idea.
4. I would like to meet the person that has done this job WITHOUT removing the bed. That is a special person right there...one with the miracles.

All in all, it went well so far, its just laborious and time consuming getting those rusty bolts out.

Removed the spare tire to give more room to work, and removed the shocks. This was easy:

Don't skimp on establishing a stable frame raisin'. Be sure to chock the front wheels well too. You need to get it pretty high, to ensure that when the shackles come loose, the spring drops low enough to allow you to get the bottom bolts out past and under the frame:

Everyone can appreciate the issue with this live action:

I found that repeatedly hosing the nuts and bolts with WD-40, and holding the nut with an adjustable cresent wrench, and breaking the bolts loose (and my neck) with a 38" breaker bar got things moving. After the nut comes off (and not pictured), I kept hosing the bolt, and used and impact wrench to slowly spin the bolts while prying outward behind the bolt head with a big flat screwdriver, and the adj. cresent wrench. This took forever because the bolts are SNUG in those sleeves, and they get smoking hot as you spin them.

All the bolts out, and I'm going to bed....

 

[F8LBITE]

Hey, anyone know if my rear axle breather tube is properly routed in this pic? I thought on the trucks I worked on years ago, they were always pointed downward. This one looks like it could take in some water!? I think I will do some rerouting and an elbow or something....

That looks the same as how mine is routed, I believe mine was routed on the other side of the shock tho.

I can't believe your shocks were that rusty! I have about 230,000 on mine and they weren't that bad. Looks like you're making great progress! With the exception of the leaf spring bushings, it should be all down hill from there

 

[det107]

If you don't have a good impact wrench and HUGE breaker bar, and lots of WD-40, don't start this job.

I would recommend a propane torch w/ map gas before starting this repair-