The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Another spring shackle question

Got it apart but this looks pretty ugly. What is the best fix without breaking the bank? Thank you. I know they have information between the both of them. Weld and drill back out? Drill and some kind of sleeve? Is there replacement repops somewhere?

Larry,

Just a bit hard from the picture to confirm which shackle hanger this is - front springs or rear springs???

More than likely going to need to either weld and redrill or find a better condition replacement.

Folks can help look for replacements once we know which hanger it is.

Ouch! That is pretty ugly. Unless you can find replacement spring brackets (likely only from another old frame, which would be a pig in a poke, and possibly in similar condition) those would have to be repaired. They are probably cast material (steel or iron) and if iron, won't weld well. Here's some info on how to check between CS or CI A sleeve could probably be fabricated after drilling out, but it would be best to remove them from the frame to do that work.

The picture is drivers rear. I haven’t taken the other side loose yet and they do look like they are cast but I’m not sure which kind. They have the original rivets so I will have to grind those down and punch them out and probably go back with grade 8 bolts. This may be best left to a machine shop after I get them off. This poor truck was abused, pretty badly as a west Texas farm truck converted into a wrecker. The saving grace of West Texas is it’s lack of major rust.

You can get this style here.. Or at the major classic vehicle places.

This site only goes back to ‘47. There may be interchangeable if able to see in person but hard to say.I’ve checked my other typical sources and don’t seem to find them.

Jim Carter has replacement spring shackles to fit your truck, but I doubt that anyone has the spring hanger frame bracket. Ron's LMC link only includes shackles. According to Jim Carter's site, the shackles are the same from 34-55.1 1/2 ton trucks.

Maybe try Mongo?

I got a shock bracket from him a couple weeks ago.

Larry,

A little research in the Chevy Master Parts Catalogs (see screenshot below) shows the rear spring "rear hanger" on the frame is the same part number, GM# 593926 for both driver and passenger sides.

It is also shown to be "forged" instead of cast and has the part number displayed on the piece.

Although the piece isn't reproduced, it is one that Chevy used for ALL 1/2 Ton trucks from 1937 - 1955.1 (1st Series). That should help open up a little wider search to find a good used one.

I would 2nd Fibonachu's suggestion to contact Steve KCMongo as I am pretty sure he can help.

You might also contact Rare Parts. They'll custom make suspension parts if they don't already make them.

They might even be able to rehab your old ones.

They do have spring shackles for your truck.

https://www.rareparts.com/

[begin snark mode]
Just take the new hanger-eye bushing and assemble the shackle assembly as though it were OK. Then take a piece of hard West-Texas oak, make a tapered shim and drive that in between the bushing and the top of the bracket. Wire that in place with a length of bailing wire wrapped around real good and send it back to the farm. It'll out last the rest of us. [end snark mode]

Dan's discovery of that part being forged steel means you can weld on it to your hearts content. That probably means you don't have to get real precise on anything but the final hole for the bushing, which needs to be a fairly tight press fit. You might even be able to fill the worn part with weld metal, but welding inside a hole is a little tricky.

Good one. Every truck needs a little bailing wire.

1 ton, no one appreciates snark mode more than myself! Actually for no more than this truck will get abused in the future the suggestion of the Texas oak might just work, but let’s skip the bailing wire as it took me most of the first year to get the last piece of the bailing wire off this old Texas farm truck. I got the old bushings out last night, and the ugly isn’t quite as drastic as it first appeared since a lot of the wear was on the bushing. There is still an ugly groove from about 11 o’clock to a quarter before one. Thank you Dan for your research as it broadens my ability to find another one if I have to but since I can weld on it and it doesn’t have to be pretty (and I am not a pretty welder) I’m going to try to fill that notch at the top a little bit and drill it back out to match the bushing size. Kevin, I agree I find shackles all over the place, but not the hanger, and like you said the shackles interchange way up into the 50s, my 37 has short ones in the front and 4 inch in the rear and I bought four sets from Carter, but bought the 3 1/2 inch that I actually belongs on your AD just to lower the rear that half-inch. As long as they are the half ton, inch and three-quarter wide leafs they interchange.

Larry,

Drilling after you weld the notch might not be the best approach, as you won't be able to get the drill to follow the original hole if you have any weld metal sticking inside the original bore dimensions. It will make the drill take more off the good side of the hole. Unless you have a machine shop renew the bore with a proper tool (probably a fly cutter on a lathe after centering it on the original hole), you'll probably wind up with an oversize or out of position hole. You might get away with welding the notch up if you grind the excess with a dremel tool being careful not to touch the original bushing hole. I'd do that and then use some JB weld to fill any remaining gap.
Or for that matter, just install your new bushing and fill the gap with JB weld. The possibility of you needing to replace the bushing in the next 50 years is slim to none. You may need to use an expoy filler that's a bit thicker than JB weld, as I've found it prone to sag a bit before it hardens. I'd suggest something like PC7.

What would you think of brazing? It would be softer material and drill easier than the original metal and should cut straighter. I have thought about the JB Weld fix as well since it does have the majority of the circumference left for strength. I’m probably overthinking it and the bushing itself without doing anything would be just fine.

Yes, brazing material would be softer, but would still make the drill walk away from anything inside the original hole diameter. And you still have the problem of getting a drill to put the right size hole for the proper press fit of the bushing.
The bushing by itself might deform too easily where it would be unsupported at the notch, so filling with epoxy material would be my choice, just to give the bushing a bit more backup. When suspension is concerned, it's better to have suspenders along with the belt.

Thanks Kevin suspenders it is, since out of the 360 degrees about 30 degrees is missing…I’m going to try the jb weld fix. The truck is never going to see much abuse and I’ll watch it and can cut rivets and take the mount into town to a machine shop later if I it becomes a problem.