Custom Delrin/UHMU Shackle Bushing Replacement - 4th time is the charm? 

At 1:08 in your vid, if the truck had its weight on the suspension, the position the shackle is to far back. I.E. that's the position of partially compressed suspension. The shackles length doesn't give much of spring lengthening. Those are quite a high arch spring, and that amount of travel is eating up all the swing the shackle can give. Longer shackles could help a little, but if you are going to go to that expense the rear hanger should be moved back about an inch so the shackle at least starts from a neutral position. Or you could have a new main and wrap leaf put in that's a bit shorter to the rear. It needs to straight up ( or even slightly forward, 1/4" )when the truck is normally loaded, so that the shackle can swing far to accept the longer length of the compressed spring.40 years ago when I did this stuff for a living this was a common problem with lifting 4x4's using high arch springs.

Glad they fit. I hope they last longer.

Yo me los encontré, estaban en santa Elena en un hostal y por eso los pude conocer ❤️❤️

very glad you had a helping hand! Seems like the beast has a small chronic health problem but has a solid doctor to care for it.

What a legend Kristoff is and the machinist too! Good luck with the new Delrin bushings!

Nice job! The delrin was probably the right call. Global West makes some "del-a-lum" bushings which are delrin with aluminum sleeves. I've used them on muscle cars in the past and they really work well. They have grease fittings too.

In normal operation, both bushings in a spring shackle should be seeing exactly the same loads, and failing at about the same lifetime. If one of the bushings is failing regularly while the other is fine, the failing one is seeing much greater loads. This could be due to the shackle bottoming on something close to the failing end and therefore seeing increased loads due to leverage. I would think that this sort of contact would leave some wear or marks on the contacting parts and stress those parts considerably. Longer shackles, if they would fit, might or might not remedy the situation of having springs that are longer when fully compressed. It would be instructive to load the back end of the vehicle down to the bump stops and examine the shackle geometry. My best guess at a solution is to move the spring hangers aft some clever distance, like the difference in the arc lengths of the OEM and the aftermarket springs. Rubber bushings are used in suspensions for their ability to flex rotationally without need for lubrication. Some shock absorption is a side benefit. Replacing the OEM rubber bushings with a non-elastomeric material defeats this property and will either wear and squeak or require some regular lubrication. The predecessor to rubber bushings was bronze bushings that rotated on a shaft and required grease fittings and regular greasing.

Just did the alxe and bushings on my Boler. Your livin the dream!!

You do what you have to when doing on the road repairs! Good job.

Glad you're friend come to help . Congrats on getting it fixed .

Nice work Jon! Hopefully all goes well with these bushings and you’ve cured this lingering problem!

Thanks!

Great work! I like the engineering style!

Brutal what happened to those bushings . I'm surprised there wasn't similar wear shared by any of the others. Only thought on the new bushings is, with the outside edges engineered to take up the gap that is normally there from side to side, will that cause or amplify an issue. For some reason the rubber is being ejected out a side. Now there is no way for that to happen. That force still exists, how will it manifest itself now? I hope this fix does what is hoped for and resolves the problem. Take care.

Fantastic as always. Glad no accidents with the high lift and jacking arrangements. Can be a lot of stored energy release if the force support arrangements slip.

Glad to see those Brake hoses are still holding up. Unfortunate luck on the suspension though.

I will be fine the scenery will make worth while well done

Hello Everlanders I have had the same problem with my 7.3 with Dever spring pack after I mounted custom camper box ,the problem lies in how you mounted the box to the frame this comment page doesn’t give me room to explain in detail but I fixed the problem twelve years ago and haven’t had a problem sense.makeing longer shackles will only make the problem worse.The box should be mounted solid on the rear and free at the front with a combination of springs and rail guides the articulation should be happening in the mid section of the vehicle Fords frames are a “C” channel and are by nature twisty.After I made these changes my truck felt a thousand times better and enabled me to go to places I couldn’t go before think of it like the bed of a dump truck mounted solid in the back and free at the front . On mine the problem seem to be mostly on the driver side I would actually snap the shackle in half let me know if I can help or send pics of what I did

super curious how this holds up, as always great video and safe travels

I hope I'm wrong for your sake but I can't see the delrin bushings lasting very long. I agree with your other viewer that you need a longer shackle and you'll probably have to fabricate a new rear spring hanger with more drop to accommodate the new longer shackle eventually in order to have a longer lasting repair. Either way I enjoy your videos and keep them coming.

Great job!

Great great job. Let's hope it holds. If you pass by Argentina, specifically Cordoba, Mendoza or San Juan, I would like to help or invite you to a Argentinean "Asado" Safe Travels!

Delrin seems good, but the shoulder breaking on that one... Maybe too brittle for the forces that are destroying the rubber? I might have done one side delrin and the other UHMW plastic for comparison. One might be better, or both might get trashed. I wonder if there is a more heavy duty bushing or perhaps a slightly longer shackle to go with the greater load and longer springs.

What would be a permanent fix for this? Longer shackle? Different springs?

Maybe lower the bottom mount to make room for longer piece?

move the shackel mount back 13mm or so ... isnt bolted to the frame. need a good drill and some harden bolts.If you say it real fast it sounds easy so you got this in the middle f nowhere in another country with limited tool.... goood luck

Great video again. Around 07:50 I see some LED driving lights in your grill. I’m having all kids of trouble finding LED driving lights that DO NOT interferer with my radio. Yes I’ve tried ferrite core pseudo-filters with no success. . What brand LED do you run?

What!?!? No test drive? I hate cliff hanger endings.

Longer bump stops.

Are ya'll okay ? no hear from for over a month. ... do we need to send the posse?

What are you favorite places in the U.S.?

Do this ones don’t need some kind of grease?

still holding up?

Use OEM PARTS ONLY.

singing along... "time to do some sketchy shit, dooo dah, dooo dah" ... jesus holy christ those are smoked. bummer about the shackles maybe being too short...

Urethane bushings work for me