Leafspring bushing removal trick..

[Blmpkn]

I'll start this by saying that it didn't work for me (lol)... And it'll only work on leafs who's eyes are wound back onto themselves just right.. anyways.. just learned about this "trick" the other day and it kinda blew my mind..

Instead of torches or hole saws or drilling a billion holes through the bushing or any of the other PITA methods for leaf bushing removal.. all you need is an air hammer accompanied by a chisel bit and a flat hammer bit.

Starting with the chisel bit.. chuck it up and drive it into the pictured gap. This will spread the eye open slightly AND keep a hang on the chisel bit so you can slide the air hammer off of it.. put the air hammer bit IN the air hammer.. and then wail on the inner sleeve driving the bushing out of the other side.

As I said.. didn't work for me. I chiseled the eye open a measurable amount easy enough, but no matter how hard I leaned into the thing I couldn't get it to hammer out the backside. The outer sleeve must be hopelessly siezed to the leaf.. I'll have to recruit my buddy again for some torch work.

Anyone had success doing this?

 

[RobbieD]

I'll have to recruit my buddy again for some torch work.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I'll start this by saying that it didn't work for me (lol)... And it'll only work on leafs who's eyes are wound back onto themselves just right.. anyways.. just learned about this "trick" the other day and it kinda blew my mind..

Instead of torches or hole saws or drilling a billion holes through the bushing or any of the other PITA methods for leaf bushing removal.. all you need is an air hammer accompanied by a chisel bit and a flat hammer bit.

Starting with the chisel bit.. chuck it up and drive it into the pictured gap. This will spread the eye open slightly AND keep a hang on the chisel bit so you can slide the air hammer off of it.. put the air hammer bit IN the air hammer.. and then wail on the inner sleeve driving the bushing out of the other side.

View attachment 127233


As I said.. didn't work for me. I chiseled the eye open a measurable amount easy enough, but no matter how hard I leaned into the thing I couldn't get it to hammer out the backside. The outer sleeve must be hopelessly siezed to the leaf.. I'll have to recruit my buddy again for some torch work.

Anyone had success doing this?

Did you wedge the chisel bit in the same direction as the arrow? That would tend to make it tighter even with a gap.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ve had leaf springs break at the eye because of rust on the bushing sleeve and the leaf spring forcing that apart where they are telling you to use a chisel to spread it so I’d be skeptical there…

I torch the bushings a bit and then poke it out and use a cold chisel on the sleeve. Rust belt problems. Seems to be the most effective yet annoying method.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I've seen someone take a small drill bit and let it go around the bushing loosening it up to the point the bushing came out easy...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

After replacing the bushings in my springs I have deemed them not worth the effort.

I dinked around for hours, I think at the time a new pair of springs was less than $200... and are not 20yo Explorer springs.

Best I came up with was hole saw the guts, sawzall a slot in the outer shell and then wad that up with a hammer and chisel (eventually culminating with an air chisel) until it falls out. Repeat 3 more times, good for hours of entertainment!

 

[Blmpkn]

Did you wedge the chisel bit in the same direction as the arrow? That would tend to make it tighter even with a gap.

Well.. mostly in that direction but kinda at a 45° angle.. didn't want the chisel to end up hitting the sleeve cause that would just have it stuck in there itself lol. It definitely opened the eye up.. but yeah no bueno when hammering on it.

I’ve had leaf springs break at the eye because of rust on the bushing sleeve and the leaf spring forcing that apart where they are telling you to use a chisel to spread it so I’d be skeptical there…

I torch the bushings a bit and then poke it out and use a cold chisel on the sleeve. Rust belt problems. Seems to be the most effective yet annoying method.

Breaking the eye was definitely a thought in my head because I've seen leafs break in exactly that way.. calculated the risk and decided to take it anyways lol.

After replacing the bushings in my springs I have deemed them not worth the effort.

I dinked around for hours, I think at the time a new pair of springs was less than $200... and are not 20yo Explorer springs.

Best I came up with was hole saw the guts, sawzall a slot in the outer shell and then wad that up with a hammer and chisel (eventually culminating with an air chisel) until it falls out. Repeat 3 more times, good for hours of entertainment!

Yeah this was what I was hoping to avoid lol. My buddy and his flame wrench seems like my best easiest option.

I want to replace all the rubber bushes with poly.. I seem to remember reading something here years back about a certain part number poly bushing having the perfect O.D to fit in the leaf WITH the stock sleeve still stuck in it.. gotta try and find that thread.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I want to replace all the rubber bushes with poly.. I seem to remember reading something here years back about a certain part number poly bushing having the perfect O.D to fit in the leaf WITH the stock sleeve still stuck in it.. gotta try and find that thread.

My poly pivot bushings make enough noise, I will pass on the spring bushings.

 

[Roert42]

Poly bushings are really easy to remove when they need to replace since they don’t have an outer metal sleeve to rust and get stuck. Only issue is they don’t last a long and can crack/ fall apart.

Best way I’ve found for removing and installing rubber bushings with metal sleeves is a ball joint press. I’ve never tried a hydraulic press, but I image it would be a paint to use without a few people to help hold the spring.

 

[Blmpkn]

My poly pivot bushings make enough noise, I will pass on the spring bushings.

No pain no gain.. I just want my suspension to move as freely as it can. I'm not gonna be sloppin the rig through mud and dirt and stuff like you do either so.. hopefully mine won't be as noisy lol. I've ran poly bushes before during my Subaru days and never experienced any noise from them.. although those cars were all loud enough to be heard *miles* away so we'll see.

Poly bushings are really easy to remove when they need to replace since they don’t have an outer metal sleeve to rust and get stuck. Only issue is they don’t last a long and can crack/ fall apart.

Best way I’ve found for removing and installing rubber bushings with metal sleeves is a ball joint press. I’ve never tried a hydraulic press, but I image it would be a paint to use without a few people to help hold the spring.

I'm really just a big fan of how the inner sleeve isn't bound to the bushing. I remember reading an article in Peterson's off-road or something forever ago where they did back-to-back RTI tests (same vehicle) comparing articulation between rubber & poly bushes and the poly ones provided a meaningful amount more articulation thanks to the suspension not needing to twist the rubber all up while its doing its thing.

Probably more of a benefit for off-road stuff.. but.. it's still a simple enough thing to try and eek out all the performance I can out of this old dog.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I grease the poly bushings well and haven’t had a problem with noise that I’ve noticed.

My green Ranger has a set of Explorer leafs in it, I actually had to make a new sleeve for the one pair of bushings. I forget the details but it’s in one of my YouTube videos

 

[Blmpkn]

I grease the poly bushings well and haven’t had a problem with noise that I’ve noticed.

My green Ranger has a set of Explorer leafs in it, I actually had to make a new sleeve for the one pair of bushings. I forget the details but it’s in one of my YouTube videos

What grease do you use? I know that some companies offer poly bushings embedded with graphite or something like that to try and quiet them down.. perhaps I'll double down and get some of those

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

What grease do you use? I know that some companies offer poly bushings embedded with graphite or something like that to try and quiet them down.. perhaps I'll double down and get some of those

I’ll use regular grease on the bolts, but I use the like silicone grease stuff on the actual bushings that comes with the bushings. I’ve heard that there is a grease plumbers use that’s very similar but I haven’t got any yet

 

[Snoranger]

Start a small fire in your fire pit. Set the spring down so the bushing you want to remove is in the fire. After a few minutes, remove from fire and push the remaining burnt rubber like substance out. (Do not do this over your nice paver patio, your wife will murder you.)

 

[901wd#2]

If they’ve already busted through the bed, it’s easier to do them above than below.