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[cuffm]

Hello All,

What's the general consensus, do rubber/urethane bushings make much difference with leaf spring shackles?  Wondering whether to use standard or heavy duty shackles? Briefly standard use rubber as the isolator - heavy duty don't have an isolator.  Standard uses a small non-greasable bolt, heavy duty a much bigger greasable bolt!  As Jeep won't see much road time, I'm leaning towards heavy duty, however as I've little leaf spring experience (except for pottering around in M201 for a while) I thought I see what you guys think.

Cuffy

[Dave The Sparky]

No general consensus, just me but i have found Rubber disappears very quickly with off road use, poly bushes are far better but still wear quicker than they would do in normal use.
So long as you use the top hat style bushes that push in from each side then they are easy and quick to change when they do wear though.
Never used greasable, probably a good idea so long as you grease regularly and shove the dirt out, maybe not so good if the grit sticks to the grease....

[wildwood]

Various sizes available from Ruff Stuff
Got them on the 1 Tonne and they seem bullet proof.

[JamesH]

For off-road then the two piece poly bushes with greasable bolt are longer lasting and easier to change when they do go. They squeak more than rubber so grease points are a good idea. Getting the right length spring and shackle combination to get the 'leaning back' shackle angle is the challenge

[5536paulj]

x2 on what James and others say, top hat style bush with greasable bolts. Never had an issue in 5 years on and off road, not noticed them squeaking much, or maybe their drowned out by all the other noises. Mine are poly.

Most important thing on shackle bushings is not to tighten them too tight, 30ftlbs is plenty, allowing the shackle to move freely, use nyloc nuts, none of mine have ever come loose even though they are not that 'tight'. Tight shackles will give rock hard ride and no articulation.

Hope this helps

[Bubba]

 

[johnnyboy]

Getting the right length spring and shackle combination to get the 'leaning back' shackle angle is the challenge

OK. I give in. What do you mean by "the leaning back" shackle angle?


(I am new to all this "leaf spring" stuff - and know little about them beyond getting replacements from a scrapyard when they broke on my old ford escort....)

[wildwood]

When you look at the side view of the shackles where they join the çhassis.....the angle should not be straight down to the spring eye...but further away from the vehicle IE not 90 degrees.
This reflects in the ride and at max articulation ensures that the shackle does not flip forward and jam .....
Same applies for the front....

[JamesH]

 

See pics below. Shackle relocation brackets or slightly longer leaf springs like some lift kits come with will do it. It's fine tuning but helps the Jeep flex and ride properly and more smoothly.

[cuffm]

Top hat it is.  Thanks for the suggestion.

Cuffy