The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk spring/shackle mount repair

When I had my shackles/bolts replaced two years ago the shop told me that one of the bolts had worn through so far that it was wearing into the mount on the chassis.

I thought by packing it with grease it would delay the wear but it seems time has come to do something.

Rather than trying to find another shackle mount and replace the worn unit could this be welded and reamed or drilled out to accept the shackle bolt/bushing?

Would it be strong enough or does anyone feel I should try to get a replacement (which also could be worn) from another chassis?

I cannot recall exactly which end it is but from the noise I get when I hit a good bump I have the impression its front right.

Thanks

olblu,

The shackle mount can be repaired by welding and machining a new hole. I am pretty sure the mounts are cast steel; not cast iron. It would be much easier to remove the mount and do the repair; then reinstall it. Depending on your location, you might try finding a good used one. There is a guy on the swap meet board that is parting out a bunch of Chevys and GMCs. I have contacted him about some parts; he would probably have a mount. He is located in Northern California; his name is Jay.

Thanks for the tip. As it stands this is one job I would have someone do. As to the spare parts I cannot confirm which one I need.

I have a similar problem on my 1 ton, front hanger on the right rear spring, although it is only slightly worn, no noises yet.

If I put the truck back on the road I'll fix it, my plan was to replace it with a better used one. As they are not likely to go bad, and a used one has a good chance of being OK, obviously I would check it out before I bought or installed one.

Simplest way to solve the problem is to remove the old one and bolt the new one on with grade 8 frame bolts and nuts.

Proper way to do it is to re rivet the new one in place, just like the original, and this is the approach I will take.

Another possible solution would be to ream the old bracket oversize and permanently install bushings to take up the difference, or an oversize pin. This could all be done on the truck. This method would need some evaluation to be sure you have enough wall thickness. If an oversize pin is used I would look for a standard sized one for another application that may work. I would avoid having one made, because to make a new pin the right way (so it will last and be reliable) could be expensive.

I would not consider welding and re-machining, because to do it the bracket must be removed, and at that point it will be far cheaper to install a used one.

Grigg

My 1 ton and 2 ton trucks use the exact same rear spring hanger brackets, and all four are the same part, interchangeable. Not sure about a 1/2 ton, but take a look they may be similar, and if so then you can go ahead and get a used one, then decide which location needs it.
If yours is worn enough to make noises, then I would expect you can scrape the grease off and see the slop around the pin, or have someone jack the truck up by the frame while you watch for movement.

Grigg

I had the same problem and was going through all the options you are. During one of my weekly scans through eBay I found a guy in Texas that had a couple of the castings for sale. So I bought the front casting for the rear spring on my 1/2 ton Burb instead of trying to fix what I had. Cost plus shipping was $21, great deal from my perspective. I'm putting it on today with grade 8 hardware, the oxygen regulator on my torch is bad so rivets will come later.

Grigg, have you given any thought to how your going to rivet back to the frame??
Funny but I was just thinking about this the other day because of a couple of rear running board brackets that I might replace.
For a large rivet to be affective it should be set red hot, the whole thing should be set hot not just the end that is being set. This insures that the hole is filled not just the end being peened over also when the rivet cools down it shrinks down tight. Just heating the formed head with a torch and setting it will not give you a tight rivet, especially with a larger rivet.
I'm thinking that I'm going to have all the tools in hand and ready to go, a friend (my rivet catcher/bucker) standing by and then heat the rivets up to temp. I think I'll make a few dry runs and practice it a few times before the rivet toss.
I would think this would be especially important on a suspension part which is subject to a lot of stress.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny, this should answer most of your rivet questions:
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...g&topic=0&Search=true#Post380215

Sounds like you also understand the process.

Grigg