I am having my local Ford dealer replace my front shackle brackets (hold rear leaf springs in place) on my 96 F150 4X4. The rear shackle brackets were already replaced years ago. The dealer requested that I order the parts beforehand fearing that the parts might no longer be available. I ended up ordering the parts from Fordpartsgiant.com and to my surprise, the box was shipped from the same local dealer anyhow - so they had the parts all along.

So, I have the front shackle brackets themselves (EOTZ-5775-H), as well as 8 nuts/bolts to replace the rivets, and the 2 long nuts/bolts which go through the leaf spring eye. However, I could not determine which bushings to order. My spring code on the door is "L5L", and the parts number on the diagram that I have is EOTZ-5781, but there seem to be various suffixes available. I asked the dealer if they knew the exact part number for the bushings and they said their parts department thought that my bushings were not replaceable. I find this hard to believe..

Can anyone shed some light on this? I was watching a youtube demo of a front shackle bracket replacement and the guy sort of sanded out the interior of the leaf spring eye with a tool he had made, then popped in a bushing (red plastic) from each side before inserting the bolt. They definitely looked like aftermarket parts.

 

The shackle is at the rear of the leaf spring - the bracket in your photo is the front leaf-spring bracket. The TSB in this caption explains how to R&R frame brackets:


(phone app link)

This & the NEXT several explain how to R&R leaf spring bushings, including links to the best brand (black Energy poly):


(phone app link)

But to get the right set for your truck, you MUST first identify the shackle bushings: molded-in (as in my pic) or sleeved. Shop this site for the correct PN for the set you need:
http://energysuspension.com/parts-search.html

Then shop Amazon, eBay, EnergySuspensionPart (etc.) for the best price on that set.

 

Thank you, Steve83 for the detailed reply. I did study all of the links you presented and I do not see where energysuspension.com tells me how to determine whether my truck has sleeved or unsleeved bushings inside the leaf spring eye.

I tried going out and looking closely at my front leaf spring brackets, but there is a very large nut (see my original photo) which totally obscures the entire interior of the leaf spring eye and the bushing type inside.

I do not see where energysuspension.com identifies how to tell which bushing type my truck has. At least it was not apparent to me.

Remembering that I am not planning on doing this project myself, but merely assembling the correct parts for my Ford dealer to do the job - maybe I could order both types of bushings and just return the incorrect one afterwards. It would only cost me a re-stocking fee and postage.

 

By looking at them closely. Some people have reported different bushings from one side of the truck to the other, due to previous replacement of a shackle with the other style, so check BOTH sides.It's ONLY the shackle bushings - the leaf spring bushings are always the same, and you might be able to buy them separately. But if some of the bushings are worn out, the others will soon follow, so I'd do the whole set together (front of the leaf, rear of the leaf, & shackle). And to get the correct set, you have to know which shackle bushings to get.Look in the bottom of the shackle, at the rear.But it's worth knowing how so you can be sure they're not overcharging you for the labor, and so you can check that it's done correctly.These are not expensive parts - you'd probably spend more returning them than just eBaying or CraigsListing them.

 

Not to beat a dead horse - but I "Amazon-ed" the bushing set that you (Steve83) had purchased and there was a review from a purchaser who found after he dismantled his leaf spring brackets that he had ordered the wrong type and since he already had the truck dismantled, he had to wait an addl. week to get the other type. But, I think the set you had ordered included both the front and rear bushings, so I am not sure which ones (front or back) he had the problem with.

Steve83, what confused me somewhat in your photos was the struggle to eject the old sleeve out of the leaf spring eye - yet when I look at various bushing replacements, none from energysuspension.com showed any that had an outer metal sleeve shown in the photos. Basically, all of energysuspension's bushings all looked alike.

These bushings seem to be a fairly common part sold by various performance stores, so I think that I will let the Ford dealer get the bushings themselves after they take things apart to see what type I have. It just strikes me funny that there are various bushing types that seem to be undocumented by Ford as to which one a particular truck might have - unless you take the whole thing apart to see what is underneath.

I think I mentioned that the rear shackle brackets had already been replaced a few years ago. It is only the front brackets that are so badly rusted - the original ones to the truck, now 23 years old. And I have no idea how the bushings inside the leaf spring eye are holding up since I can't see them behind the giant nut that conceals them.

 

I think there is some confusion because of terminology - the picture you are showing in the first post is of the leaf spring bracket or hanger. The only bushing that would need to be replaced would be that of the actual leaf spring itself.

The shackle bushings install into the leaf spring shackles, which are only located on the rear of the truck. They are what connect the rear leaf spring bracket/hanger to the leaf spring. There are two different types of shackle bushings, often referred to as common (metal sleeve on the outside and inside of the bushing) or molded (no metal sleeve on the outside, only on the inside - looks like the bushing was "poured" in).

When you order a set of leaf spring bushings from energy suspension, you will receive the same leaf spring bushings regardless of what type of shackle bushing you select. If you want to replace the actual shackle bushings, then you need to find out what type of shackles you have before ordering.

It sounds like you don't need bushings at all - you just need the front hangers replaced.

 

Order both and return what you don't need. That way your truck gets fixed same day regardless and you can deal with returns after.

 

It's not a dead horse until YOU understand the answers to your questions.Neither. You're still confusing the terms. It's not the SPRING bushings that are the issue. The issue is that the bushing set you SHOULD buy (a black Energy kit) will include the spring bushings AND the shackle bushings. But there are 2 styles (sizes) of SHACKLE bushing: one replaces those WITH a factory steel sleeve; the other replaces those withOUT a sleeve. None of the Energy bushings have an external steel sleeve, but they ARE sized to replace either a sleeved or unsleeved bushing. That's why you have to get the correct set.Forget about the SPRING eyes - those bushings are in the set, but you're right that they're all the same. Look inside the SHACKLE eye, and the bottom of the rear of the leaf pack. Or buy both sets & eBay the one you don't need.Right. Ford didn't document every little part on each vehicle back then - it required paper, and someone had to dig through all that paper. Nowadays, they DO keep track, because 1,000 vehicles can be stored on a microscopic speck of a HDD, and searched in a few microseconds from anywhere in the world.Irrelevant - there is no bushing in any of the brackets.It doesn't conceal anything but the bracket. You can take the nut off right now if you like - it doesn't even bear any weight. Just be sure to re-tighten it properly before driving >1,000 miles.


(phone app link)

It's the BRACKETS that block the ends of the eyes, but there should be enough room to CLEAN the shackle eyes & then look at how the bushings are made.

Here's another solution: go to a JY & buy a matched pair of shackles that fit your truck. Then buy the Energy kit that includes the bushings for those shackles. That way, it doesn't matter what's on the truck - you'll have the bushings for the JY shackles, and those can be installed when they do the frame bracket work.

 

OK, thanks for the replies. I am taking the truck in tomorrow - for pre-order parts, I just have the front brackets and associated bolts. I just wasn't clear on the bushing issue, so and time running out - so I will let Ford decide what to do. There are a couple of mechanics over there which are diehard 1990's vintage truck owners, so I think they can figure something out.

I am only doing this work because two separate places flagged me on the very rusty front brackets as a safety issue. Plus here in Pennsy - they are probably anticipating my failing state inspection because of them.

This truck has had all kinds of things replaced on it - its amazing it is still running. The spring tower replacement I did a few years ago is still admired by everyone who sees it - that took them a whole week to complete. So thanks, great forum!

 

Just to tie things off... Originally, the Ford dealer when asked what part number of front leaf spring bracket (shackle bracket) bushings my truck would take told me that based on my spring code from the door panel - that my bushings were not replaceable. I had sort of doubted that since I had a parts diagram of the rear suspension for my model and year and bushings were clearly shown. Since I couldn't assuredly determine which bushing type I would require (there were multiple selections on Fordpartsgiant.com) - I just dropped the truck off with the metal brackets and associated bolts, nuts that I did have with apologies for not including the bushings in the parts.

Well, a day later the new brackets were installed with never a mention about bushings at all. Also, there were no additional parts shown on my bill, just labor only since I had supplied the brackets and bolts. So, apparently they DID just re-use my old bushings. I am a little confused because I had watched a bunch of youtube videos showing front leaf spring bracket replacement projects with valiant efforts by multiple people to drill out, punch out, or sand out old bushings. I don't see any difference at all in the ride, it was just a precautionary repair because my old ones were so rusty that two repair places had told me that I should really replace the brackets - lest my axle become detached at some point.