How do I remove the rear leaf spring shackle sleeves from a 41 Ford? Seems a common enough issue that someone would have made a good tool to remove these. Any tips?
I use a large carriage bolt with the head ground down to just a little smaller diameter than the O/D of the sleeve, and on the other end I have a piece of tubing whose I/D is just a bit larger than the O/D of the sleeve. Put the carriage bolt through the sleeve, slip the tubing over the protruding end of the bolt, then put a couple thick washers on the end of the bolt, and finally a nut. Tighten the bolt up just enough to center everything, then crank down on the nut. It'll pull the sleeve out. Sometimes a little heat will help.
Cut with hacksaw blade and drive it out on the stuck ones. Lots of times I can drive them out with a bushing driver and BFH...aka ford tool #1
Lots of good ideas. Maybe this one is another. Try welding a stringer weld bead on the inside. The idea is cooling quickly and shrinkage. Failing that you have the option of gouging it out or a stub welded in to pound against.
I have the same setup with Socket head bolts and another one just to use a hammer with. If I see cheap old large Socket head bolts (5-6" long) at the swapmeet I'll grab them and I can toss them in the lathe to get the right size.
With the cost of elbow grease these days I think I'd try it with a metal blade in a reciprocating saw first.
I machine a step on the end of a piece of round rod to use as a driver. and hit it with a 3 lb hammer, after warming the sleeve with a torch.
Warming the sleeve, or warming the shackle? Doesn't warming the sleeve make it expand (and hence be tighter in the shackle)? Cheers, Harv
Well, Harv, heating the sleeve it will want to expand but can't be due to restraint of the shackle. On cooling it will however still shrink inside the shackle. The term is called upset. Heating the shackle...not the same effect. Matter of fact, in theory, that has the effect of holding the sleeve tighter in the bore.
I use an old deep socket same size as bushing, and my air chisel with the attachment that looks like a engine valve.. BURRRRPP
I cut them with the torch. They're thin and heat fast so the metal around it will not cut. Pull the trigger, move fast
Well, I finally got them out using a cheap ball joint press with some inserts that I made on the lathe, along with a bottle torch and an air hammer. What a pain!!!!
I've fought them on other rigs but find that with a bushing like that just popping the blade out of a hack saw slipping it through the bushing and often putting it back together with the blade to the inside of the saw frame and using the saw upside down to just slice through the bushing. A bit of elbow grease but it beats the hell out of hammer and chisel trying to split the bushing.
first heat the bushing till it goes on fire then drive the center shaft out. now put a hack saw blade through the hole. attach the hack saw frame. saw through the bushing remove saw blade. drive bushing out. clean the hole. hears where you can get trouble. mike the new bushing a lot of the replacement bushings are to big if its not the right dia you will not get it in. you want a press fit not an inposable fit if bushing dia is to large file it till it feels right.
When I was messing with my first 40 in 62 I ruined so many of my Dads Craftsman sockets [and returned to Sears] trying to accomplish that. I had no idea what to do. Then a local 40 guy gave me the Ford tool to do it, what a happy kid I was. Sorry to say that Dad later threw it away, he hated having a hot rod son.
When you heat the sleeve red hot it looses all strength it can't expand out because it is confined when it cools it shrinks in all directions. It is called confined expansion
Take a pneumatic hack saw and put a deep cut inside along the length of the sleeve. Heat the entire sleeve with a torch and then cool with penetrating oil. (may have to do that a few times) Take a sharp edge chisel and collapse one side of the wall at one of the ends where the cut was made. Hammer the sleeve out with the chisel around the top edge of the sleeve making sure to rotate around the edge.
When you are putting the new bushings in -actually BEFORE you do , check that they are the correct length that will let the shackle swing when tightened fully-I just stripped my axle and the bushes were smaller in length than the axle sleeve so when the shackle was tightened it rubbed on the axle sleeve!
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