Now that was a pita!

For sometime now [a few years?] I have been hearing this creaking and metalic noise when my CJ flexs sometimes.. Never could find the source of the noise.. A few years ago I installed a BDS 2-1/2" lift and to me the bushings on the Jeep looked fine. After all there are only 22,000 original miles on the thing, and even less when I did the lift.. So last fall I get a brain fart and decide that what I really need is to install a set of M.O.R.E. greasable shackles.. So I tell the wife and kids that's what I want for xmas. I did extensive reading here and other places on the install and removal of bushings etc.. Pass side front went pretty good with little trauma, just needed a bit of hacksaw work. The air chisel helped immensly. On to the driver side.. Whole different story here. The bolt on the top pivot on the frame had eaten through the bushing parts and into the sleeve.. Further more the bushing in the spring which came out sooo easy on the pass side seemd to be welded in.. Took at least two hours to remove the bushing. Then looking at the pivot I can tell I need to do something there as the sleeve is grooved.. I measured the sleeve and had my machinst friend build 3 identical pieces to replace the grooved one. I had him make a couple extras just in case the rear is messed up too. Getting the sleeve out was another story as it is welded in at the factory and that guy knows how to weld.. Finally got all the old parts removed and cleaned up, installed the sleeve and welded it back in. The eye on the spring must be slightly tighter than the pass side cause the new bushing was a hassle to install... Finally done up front.. Now I need to get the ambition to start on the rear.

FWIW today I found the shackle hangers at Morris for $20 each..

 

Sometimes a guy will start to change these and after the first one wears him out he decides to do the others later and never gets around to it. That's why you will find one side in a lot better shape than the other. I have even seen different bushings from one side to the other.

 

Finally finished. The rear was a bigger pain than the front because the fuel tank is in the way as usual.. All I can say is a SawzAll is your friend. I cut a blade down and cut the siezed bushing parts right out... Wish I'd a had that SawzAll for the front...