The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Rear shackle

I took the rear fender off a while back and have been meaning to clean this shackle. They all look about the same. Caked with decades of mud. I don’t have experience with how these are supposed to look. I see where one of the grease fittings is missing. I feel like the shackle probably needs replacing. The top part where it attaches to the frame mount looks like it may have excessive wear. I’d love some feedback. Any tips for removal and installation welcome. Like I said earlier, I have zero experience with these. I’ll get into the other ones and order whatever I need for replacement.

Looks like all that grease has been doing is collecting dust and mud. Those are badly neglected and it looks like in this picture that the upper bushing has been worn completely through. It's possible the lower spring bushing has also. You need a complete shackle kit, which includes threaded bushings that you'll need to press into the springs and shackle mount. You might entertain replacing that upper mount also (with a used one from another 'bolter,) as that cavity worn thru won't support the new bushing properly. Maybe a welder can restore it and redrill the hole for the bushing. The bushings on the springs on my truck were so bad that I elected to just replace all 4 springs. You might wind up doing the same.

The usual vendors carry shackle kits to replace the whole thing. HERE'S ONE OPTION for 1/2 ton trucks.

[on edit] You should add a signature to your profile that has info on your truck so we don't have to guess what you're working on. Click on your username at the top right and choose "edit profile" in the dropdown menu.

That is a pretty common sight. The old soap based grease we had 60 to 70 years ago wasn't very good. To do it right, you will probably have to sleeve the spring hanger. The spring eye may be in the same kind of shape.

Bill - Just a question. Have you gotten your hands on a shop manual yet? They are an immense wealth of information and will go a long way in teaching what's what for the most part on your truck. It won't help a lot when it comes to the later model engine, but the vast majority of what you need to learn/know about how things should be on your truck you will find covered in the shop manual.

1952 didn't seem to rate it's own shop manual, but you will find that the 1948-51 Chevy Truck Shop Manual covers your '52 for just about everything. That said, if you haven't acquired one yet, while you decide which vendor to buy from, here's a link to a free online copy of the 1948-51 Chevrolet Truck Shop Manual that you can read through to help you learn and work on your truck.

You may want to further check through the many other resources in the Keith Hardy's OLD ONLINE CHEVY MANUALS main page. Tons of useful and helpful information and resources to help in your project too.

Looks like the hanger is riveted in with the cross member.

I don’t have a shop manual. I referred to the link when doing the brakes. Absolutely a great tool when I remember to use it. lol. I looked at rear suspension page last night. Thank you for the reminder.

I’ll probably be in the market for a hanger pretty soon. Hopefully the other won’t be as grubbed up. I know this is run of the mill, and I have seen a lot worse be made to look new again on here, but every time I clean something I find more to fix. lol.
No complaints. Just an observation.

Bill - Feel free to post an ad in our Truck Parts Wanted forum with what you need. Be sure to note the vehicle specifics and which side rear spring shackle bracket you need to help us help you find what you need.

Oh yeah - and welcome to the world of old trucks - lol!

If you find a serviceable spring hanger, you can re-rivet it to your frame, or you can drill the holes out for a tight fit on grade 8 bolts. Riveting isn't too hard, but you need to get them red hot, and have a big chunk of steel to buck the back side, using an air hammer to set them.

I got the right side fairly cleaned. Compared to the drivers side it looks really good. Gonna clean a little more and pull those zerk screws and clean out as much gunk as I can behind them before re greasing.

They have partial kits (cheaper) if the shackles are ok. I’d pull it clear apart to see the wear on the treads to bushing fit. There are rubber end seals (originally cork)that go on the tapered ends to replace too. I used front shackles on the rear to lower it just a tad.