So, I've done lots of googleing and searching and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I'm putting a 58 chevy pickup front axle and springs under the front of my 57 chevy. I have found other guys who have done the same. But what I can't seem to find is the rear bushings for the leaf springs. Originally, the pickup had a cast iron bracket attached to the frame with funny threaded, greasable bolts instead of the normal rubber bushings. My plan is to make my own brackets that weld to the frame, but I need bushings for the springs! The eyelets in the springs are fairly small, 11/16 ID, so there won't be much of a bushing. Any ideas? Or what have others done? Thanks in advance.
Build a mount that matches original. Use the original cast brackets. Use new greaseable bolts like they had.
I thought about using the originals, but they're nowhere near working on the frame, and being they are cast, I don't think I can cut and weld em. The original style bolts thread into the original brackets, so I would have to make my own brackets and tap them. My other worry is at that point, there wouldn't be much flex and would think something could stress Crack over time.
did you look for nylon trailer spring bushings with that OD? they're a bit short, but you might cut them to 1" long and use two of them in each spring.
I don't think they'd be "good" for a car but they sure won't be any harsher than a greased bolt style bushing.
Went through this same issue with my '39 and the '58 Chev truck axle I used. I went to McMaster Carr and found bronze bushings that had the right OD and 1/2" ID and slipped right into my springs. I didn't use the '58 springs, but my aftermarket springs had the same small eyes on them. I thought bronze bushings might transfer more noise to the car, but I don't notice anything objectionable. I had to order a pair for each spring as they didn't have anything long enough in one piece to do the spring width.
I’m going the bronze bushing route and 11/16 is an easy to find OD. I’m going to have to “stake” the OD of my bushings as they don’t fit snug in the spring, unless someone has a better idea…?
uh...why not? They hold up trailers, which seem to get a lot of weight on them. The key is probably how you design and build the bracket, and how much room you leave on each side for clearance (just enough, hopefully)
So I did some more diggin and I realized there is also a bushing pressed into the spring eye. I didn't realize it was there, kinda looked like all one piece. Anyway, I was able to press that out, and now my spring eye is a 7/8 diameter, so hopefully that opens up more options! I'm gonna do some searching and see what I come up with.
3/4" OD x 1/2" ID x 1.5" long. https://www.ebay.com/itm/3552564167...1291&msclkid=2b4ee61f0fdd1e79a30b816a71d2bfa1
Not to hijack @Gus68 thread, but to be more clear… I only mentioned the 11/16 size because I thought that’s what Gus needed. My car does use the 3/4 OD bushings, and I have 3/4 OD bushings (just measured at .752”). They do fit in the eyelet(s) of the springs, but I wish they were a little more snug. You can easily spin them inside the eyelet and I wish or think they should have a bit more of an interference fit. Obviously, I would like the bolt to pivot inside the bushing and not have the bushing pivot inside the spring. I mentioned this issue mainly to see if anyone else has experienced this. At this point, I see only staking the bushings as a remedy. Val - your advice is always appreciated.
Depending on how lose they are, you could have them knurled possibly. But the best fix would be to find ( or have made ) bushings with the correct interference fit.
You don't need the original cast brackets to use the original style spring bolts and bushings you just need to drill your brackets to precisely fit the original bolts. That is what Fastcar1953 was saying in post 2. You measure the bolts, get the right size drill bit and drill the holes in the plates and then do as one would do on any other spring mount install from there. The big cost may be the right size drill bit. Or you can piddle ass around for a month trying to make something else work.
They can be knurled outside, or if you want to spend some time with a hammer and punch you can go over the outside and apply lots of punch marks to raise the metal and that should make them a closer fit. I've used punches to tighten up clearances before and depending on how much you need it can raise enough metal to make the bushings require them to be tapped in with a brass hammer.
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