ok denny,
the bushings that were in the front leafs were not as tight to get out as the ones in the frame, but still used my home made puller to get them out. i would say they were half as hard to get out as the frame bushings. the bushings in the frame were really in there good.
putting the new bushings in the leafs were a little harder than the frame, needing me to hit them a little with a hard rubber mallet. the ones for the frame just slide right in with no effort, but have no "play" in them, other than they slide right in.
the new bushings and threaded shackle rods and shackles were purchased from LMC trucks, but the box says "made in taiwan", so im sure that probably all the vendors get them from the same place. which is sad. i would hate to either try and get my money back for this set, and order from another vendor, just to wind up with the same problem.
i measured the O.D. of the factory bushings and got .877".
the O.D. on the new bushings are right at .8735, .0035 smaller than the original bushings.
i know this is not the correct solution for my problem, but im leaning toward putting a small tack weld on the outside of each frame bushing to keep it put. its really a pain to order these new parts and have them not fit as factory. sad actually.
and since the leaf eye bushings are a tighter fit, i will leave them alone.
thanks for the help everyone...
are there any vendors that make these parts right here in the U.S.A. ??
leonard
