65 sportvan spring bushings

After reading this thread, this seems like a pretty straight forward job. I really need to do this on my van. There is a lot of noise going on in my front suspension when I go over any bumps. The bushings on the shackles are visibly deteriorated, so I think this will be a good upgrade. Im also gonna throw some new shocks on there while I'm at it.

Ordered the shackle bushings from sdtrucksprings.com and will make a trip out to national spring soon.

Thanks for all the research and info on this!

Just got off phone with Ben and got the 2056 and sleeves ordered. Should have them early next week.

For those wondering, the 4-#2056 bushings and 2- #6 sleeves came to $48 with shipping. I didnt know till now since he didnt have the shipping amount on hand.

donivan65 wrote:,,,,,you are only doing 2 springs?

I guess I am now. Thought these were only needed for the front.

To be honest I am just not even in the mind set to start on the rear end. This whole project with the springs, steering, brakes and all has me in knots. I am so over whelmed by the whole thing and trying to do it by myself that I dont even go out the garage right now.

Lol I already learned what "Not To Do".

When the wife says, "Lets restore a van, I promise I will help you", I need to RUN the other way. Haha!

Matt don't give up, Just do what I'm doing I work on small sections at a time. Just worry about the king pins , then the springs, then the tie rod, then the drag link. It will take a little longer but this is supposed to be a hobby, not a job.Take it from me its not hard to get over your head!!!!!!!!! bob

Ok so I got ALL the front end tore out. Been fighting long work hours at work and other personal issues but I decided to lose myself in the shop this morning.

Couple things happened...

1. Passenger side front bolt on the spring, couldnt get the bolt off. Heated it, soaked it in pen oil, impactor, etc. Decided it wasnt worth the frustration and I took my plasma and cut the nut right off. I will replace both front bolts, they dont look to be special. Back bolts on the top of the shackles came right off without an issue, happy about that since I would guess those are the ones that are a pain to find. (the shoulder bolts)

2. I want to drop the stance a bit so was going to pull a leaf. Should I remove a certain one? Thought I read someone else say pull the 3rd from the top (the longest).

3. When taking the alignment pin/bolt out of the spring, one striped the threads right off, the other snapped, what do I replace those with now??

4. When I pull the bands off the springs are they going to fly apart? Pulling the pin/bolt made them pop apart some.

5. Shocks are shot, source for those? O'reily wants $35 each and have to order them. Since I have to order them anyways, if I can get a better price online I would rather do that.

Well Matt - Im happy to see u with a chev. My personal things & no offense to any otehrs with diff vans! My experiences with springs - many too = are this - when working with springs - wishiing to raise / lower - its always best to visit a spring shop!! You will get the ride & height like you want to. See what they advise . If removing a spring leaf - usually you will be unhappy with the ride given. Then sadly=lesson learned. With what ever you are trying to accomplish with style , ride heights , and spring rates = its best left to a spring shop-esp. an older shop. Ive been thru all the styles of cars & vans & race stuff -up,down, jacked up=gasser style, lowered, everything!! =Ill always go to the spring man. Isn't worth mje getting hurt, Flustrated, and even killed by something ,i think i can do & maybe save some bucks doing? Just some things best left to a pro- not many with our talents -just some! Best ride i ever had was on a front & rear leaf springs done by a spring shop on a 40-ford coupe. Be careful - but=Wiser too!!
for shocks- always on net - and many auto parts on net give discounts if you have a code too-Even jc whitney-now 20% off any part - no minimum. Just my personal preferences on shocks are= the old style "load levelers" those with an external spring on them- also rear air adjustable ones. Again -just my pref. Happy vannin too!!

Most hardware stores have bolts with a hex inside. Hence a smaller rounded head. Got mine from Ace in stainless for about a $150 each. Doubt they need to be Grade 8 or any such thing as they don't hold much. More of a positioning thing I think.

Correction $1.50 each. I'm not THAT stupid ;-) And, about another buck for washers and nuts. Got them as long as I could. Cranked em down and then cut them with a bol cutter so as not to stick out too far. Actually, I am kind of amazed how little rust was in between the leafs. Gooped them up with grease to--to make them quiet.

Matt, My front springs are all still there but the previous owner took the smallest spring out ( the very bottom 6-8" spring) and put it on top of the pack. I would have just removed it . My van sat about 2" lower with a v8 with this set up. Hopefully kooky will chime in I think he took the bottom two out of his. As for center pins, I usually buy the longest I can and use it to pull all of the springs together then cut the excess off, just seems the safest way to pull the springs under tension. bob

Awesome guys! Thanks for the replies!!

Well I stopped and ordered the centering bolts Don posted from Napa, they will be here tomorrow. Also order shocks, Sensa Track, which he says will be a good shock for my application, $32 each. Those will be here in 3 days.

So I need to get the steel bushing out of the front part of the spring also?

Well thats peachy. Guess I am stuck again. Rofl

I have the rubber bushings out, that was the easy part. The bolt had cut right through them so there was nothing left of them. The steel outer bushing is really rusted in. I had a piece of tubing that fit perfect and it didnt even budge it... I will try cutting it.