Gary Lewis Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 More progress in the rust bucket garage this weekend...and well, some non-progress. I pulled the rear leaf packs off one at a time to replace bushings and clean rust, add some steel plates here and there, and paint. I ran into a major snag with the rear leaf forward bushings. Apparently Ford changed the size of them (or, some of them) in 1994, but nobody told Moog as the bushings I had purchased were the older style (OD too small). I bought them from Rock Auto six months ago, but the issue is with Moog's listing. Seems it is a fairly well known issue...IF you know about it...lol, which I did not. The Moog parts were supposed to fit, so why research, right? Oh well, can't cry over it now. Found this with a little digging on Google... It looks like the bushings ARE available from a couple spring/suspension vendors, but they're bloody expensive at $30-$40 each, compared to something like $8 for the Moog ones. So I'll make some calls to the leaf spring shops tomorrow and see if they have or can get the correct bushings. If that doesn't work I'll either sleeve the bushings (sheet metal sleeve and tack it to the bushing shell) or worst case scenario swap out the 1995 main leafs for a set of 1980-1993 leafs. Anyway...a day in the life of a Frankentruck. I'm sure going to miss the use of this Forklift soon...it makes for a great leaf pack holder when pressing new bushings in. And it also doubles as a workbench, paint bench, etc... So I removed all four leaf hanger brackets. The forward ones I just cleaned up and painted, the rears I had to replace. The passenger rear was especially bad. I got the driver's side all back together and the outside of the frame rail painted. Passenger side is partially assembled. I need to weld in a couple small patches where the rear hanger mounts on the frame. Tomorrow is going to be All MIG Monday... It was my goal to have the whole back half of the frame finished by the end of Monday (Holiday in Canada tomorrow). That's all welded and painted up...EXCEPT without new front bushings installed. BUGGER. That is a bummer! But you'll get it sorted, I'm sure. And I can see how the fork lift was handy. Wow! That certainly would be. I know many times I've had to figure out how to hold the end of something long to get to it in the press. Not to mention the many other uses you've found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 Not to mention the many other uses you've found. Like dismantling trucks, swapping cabs, frames, and drivetrains, etc...lol. It's been very handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 So I removed all four leaf hanger brackets. The forward ones I just cleaned up and painted, the rears I had to replace. The passenger rear was especially bad. http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n88524/IMG_3806.jpg Closer to all the 'stuff' at the kerb. Hopefully the new hangers have a nice big drain hole in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 Hopefully the new hangers have a nice big drain hole in them. That's a good question, I didn't notice, but I will check tomorrow. While this truck will likely see some use in the rain, it will never see the winter or salt. I bought a gallon of Fluid Film black, so once it's all buttoned up this thing is getting SOAKED with a black film...lol. It's going to look like the Exxon Valdez hit it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 That's a good question, I didn't notice, but I will check tomorrow. While this truck will likely see some use in the rain, it will never see the winter or salt. That's a statement somebody makes when they're going to keep a truck. :fingerscrossed: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 That's a good question, I didn't notice, but I will check tomorrow. While this truck will likely see some use in the rain, it will never see the winter or salt. That's a statement somebody makes when they're going to keep a truck. :fingerscrossed: I can understand having A garage queen. I really can't understand having multiple trucks that don't get used as trucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 That's a statement somebody makes when they're going to keep a truck. :fingerscrossed: Haha! Now that's a good point. Well, there have been some developments lately that are changing my future plans. I don't know if I'll keep it or not, but it's more likely now than it was a few weeks ago. I can understand having A garage queen. I really can't understand having multiple trucks that don't get used as trucks. Well, it didn't start out that way. I only bought this 1980 as a make work project. I have no other hobbies, and I need stuff to do in the winter (or any free time, really). The plan for it was to leave it kind of rough so that I didn't mind driving it in the rain, or gravel roads, or even four wheeling if the mood hit. So I will definitely use it. I have a daily driver truck, so that's taken care of. I can't really have is TWO garage queens. If all there is to do is wax and polish them, then I'll get bored with that quick. I kinda need a project to keep busy. Things might change though...who knows. I'm having fun with this truck, so I'm just rolling with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 Hopefully the new hangers have a nice big drain hole in them. Jim, interestingly the new hangers DO have drain holes, about 3/8" in size. Oddly, the ones I installed on my '84 a couple years ago do not have the drain holes, and they are the same Dorman hangers. Looks like they added the hole recently?...I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Hopefully the new hangers have a nice big drain hole in them. Jim, interestingly the new hangers DO have drain holes, about 3/8" in size. Oddly, the ones I installed on my '84 a couple years ago do not have the drain holes, and they are the same Dorman hangers. Looks like they added the hole recently?...I don't know. Maybe Dorman figured out that it would cost them nothing to make better lasting hangers than Ford had? That is where the rot always starts. And it's 99% because the dinky hole gets clogged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 Maybe Dorman figured out that it would cost them nothing to make better lasting hangers than Ford had? That is where the rot always starts. And it's 99% because the dinky hole gets clogged. I should say that I think they're the same hanger as on the other truck. I bought the Dorman kits each time, but the '84 has 2.5" wide springs, and this one has 3" wide springs. However, I think the difference is only in the shackles and the hanger/brackets are the same in each case. I must say though, they're nice pieces, and very heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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