a friend of mine has a '94 ranger that's "sitting low on the left rear corner". i took a look and saw that the forward spring mount on the left rear corner is rusted through, and the forward end of the leaf is just about up against the bed floor. the bracket appears to be held to the frame by some big-ass rivets. anyone got experience replacing one of these? where can i buy the replacement bracket?
It's VERY common for Ranger spring-shackles to basically disappear. So common, that where I live, dealer service-departments and most auto-parts chains keep repair kits in-stock. Haven't done one of these in awhile, but from what I remember, the parts were pretty inexpensive.
I looked into it a few days ago. Looks like you just drill out the rivets and bolt a repair bracket on.
They are like $27 from ford; I bought four of them like that cheap a couple years ago. Three hours of work and good as new..
grind or drill rivets, put new crap on. my dad had to do all 4 on his 97. front hangers and rear shackles. one was still ok but he said eff it and did them all.
any issues with getting the bolts out of the leaf spring eyes? i don't have a blue-tip wrench. :-(
It's the rust belt, of course there will be issues.
Rather than drill the heads off, I go at them with a grinder. Creates enough heat that an air hammer drives out the shanks plenty easily, shouldn't be much harder with a punch and good sized hammer.
Rust belt or no, your goal is to obliterate the rivets.
you will probably fight with the spring eye bolts. much cursing if you are anything like my dad. this is why i buy southern vehicles anymore. they are usually fused to the bushing sleeve.
I would plan on having a new eye bushing on hand for after you have to burn the existing one out. A propane torch works great.
Bumboclot wrote: I would plan on having a new eye bushing on hand for after you have to burn the existing one out. A propane torch works great.
solid advice. thanks!
While you're down there, check out the leaves and other shackles. I noticed some future work while I was replacing the leaves on the F150.
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