leaf springs bushings

Sorry to ask so many questions but here goes another.
I am changing the bushing on the leaf springs.
On the front of the front which is the ones that get the pressed on bushings the sides are different.
1 side is 1 5/8 ( passenger ) and 1 side is 1 1/4 ?
i pulled up a photo of an old 65 and it is the same thing in the photo.
my axle guy says the grommets should be 1 inch but mine are definately 1 1/8 with 9/16 bolts.
his 1/18 only have 5/8 holes ......
i didnt think this was supposed to be difficult.
every thing looks original
any help is appreciated
cheers

Well,,,we are kind of talking about springs here,,,,,,,,,however,,,,,,,,,until you put down in your profile which one of the 3 Vancouvers you are in,,,,,,,I am not going to tell you more,,,,,,I kind of like to get to know who I am talking to,,,,,,,,

https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t50115-1st-gen-rear-leaf-spring

Ok Donivan - never really saw the profile stuff but its all updated !! you will hav eto drink with me to find out more .. hahahah
and i drink with anybody !!
i am vancouver pacific northwest, hows that for politically correct ?
cheers

Canada,,,,,,,,,then you are up by my Buddy, M1Dadio,,,,,,,do you ever go over to his Island,,,,,and you got Twin Pilot and Kooky Krispy to the South of you,,,,,,,now I'm ready to work,,,,,,,,I would say the front metal cartridges in a 1st Gen, 1964-66,  are 1 1/8" in diameter,,,,with 2" wide springs,,,with a 9/16" bolt through them,,,,,2nd Gens, 1967-70, use a 1/2" bolt through their 3" springs,,,  but you never know what you will find on the vans now,,,,,,The shackles are plain old rubber,,,,,now the fronts have a metal cartridge,,,you might be able to find one,,,,but my spring shop went out of business and we are looking for those #2056 polyurethane bushings and the sleeves to go in instead of those metal ones,,,,,I have seen 1 1/8" fronts on the drivers side and 1 1/2" on the fronts of the passenger springs,,,,you just have to see what you find and when we get on the same page, you will get a good answer,,,,,,and it usually takes me a couple of questions and answers to dial in to your problem, so dont expect a real fast answer,,,,,the longer I take, the better the answer I can give,,,,,,

thanks donivan - Yes M1 dadio is just over the water from me. wish he lived on the coast as he is a talented man !! thats some awesome work hes doing.
I was checking the archives and i see you are one of the experts ! i do appreciate the help and please forgive me as i am not very literate socially on websites. i am more a special needs guy when it comes to typing things out . hahahahah. i acnt even move one of those icons, happy faces to this message.
i am forging forward, i am confused as to why the 2 fronts springs have the 2 sizes for the steel
one is 1 1/8 and thge other 1 5/8 ??
Is twin pilot and kooky crispy close to me ?
cheers

Those other guys are In Washington and Oregon,,,,,,,give it time people will jump in and help,,,,,,,my hands are made for wrenches and not for this keyboard, so I aint very good at typing,,,,,,(come to think of it,,,,it has taken me almost 10 years to type all these 10,000 messages I have posted) ,,,,,,,,,,do you have your springs off,,,,what is wrong with them,,,,,the front metal cartridges should be 1 1/8",,,,,,EXCEPT,,,,,,the passenger front could have that 1 5/8" ,,,,,probably to support  the engine and passenger weight ,,,,is that what you got,,,,,,,,

I would say this is the 1 5/8" Napa cartridge,,,,,,the red polyurethane bushing is  #2061,,,,,
the 1 1/8" Napa cartridge is NCP 2748861 ,,,,do you have the cartridges out for a sample,,,,,are the left front and right front cartridges not the same size on your front springs?



http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx/Leaf-Spring-Bushing-Front-Susp/_/R-RPC36138_0507188916

yes i have them out .
the rubber bushings were cooked so i thought if i am going to do it i might as well go all out and do everything underneath !!Kingpins were shot also.......
yes i have the 2 sizes on the front?? i didnt know i was sitting on the passenger side, guess that is to support my beer belly !!
I see in the photo the steel bushing is replaced by neoprene with sleeve. Is that the better way to go ?
i was a carpenter by trade years ago ( in the office now )but when we were teenagers we were wrecker rats, so for a few years i learned just enough to hurt myself !!I had one of these about 35 years ago and i guess i am having my second mid life crisis.
i am gonna check out napa
cheers

,,,see,,,,,,we are getting there,,,,,,when I started looking for these metal cartridges way back, they were hard to find,,,sometimes they wanted almost $100 each,,,,,and they,,,,and the spring hole they fit in, need to fit perfect,,,now my hot rod buddies were using those polyurethane bushing for better handling and were way easier and cheaper to use so we put them in,,,,until,,,,,my spring shop closed down and I could not find them anywhere,,,,,,,BUT,,,,,,we are on to something here in Wisconsin,,,,,,,


https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t50115-1st-gen-rear-leaf-spring

OK,,,,,,I just ordered the #4.2126 box of 4 bushings and 2 sleeves,,,,,,,for our 1 1/8" cartridges and 9/16" bolts,,,,,$18 shipped,,,,,does 2 springs,,,,,so,,,,,lets see what happens,,,,,,$9 of polyurethane bushings and a sleeve, to replace that metal cartridge,,,,,,,,they dont have sleeves for the 1/2" bolts for our 1967-70 2nd Gen vans,,,,,,,

found a guy in langley not far from me that has a bunch of the polyurethane bushings and sleeves. They look like they have been on his wall for 10 years or more.
a question - can you replace all the rubber ones with poly urethane or would that mess up the ride ?

that is cheap in place of the steel ones.
i have found some steel ones. If you bought those for me not to worry i will still buy them from you.
i notice just around the corner from me a 67 sportvan delux has showed up and is sittting there all lonely and needing love.
it doesnt have side doors, i have yet to see one with out side doors. Is that rare ?
i will take some photos and see if i can figure out how to send them

Hi donivan - ok just got springs back - i managed to get the 3 steel sleeves at 1 1/8 and the 1 at 1 5/8 on the passenger side front.
as discussed i also sourced some of the poly urethane ones but as i said do you think i should replace the riubber bushings with polyurethane or order the rubber ones online ?
- i manged to get a photo of my ride posted but i cant seem to post photos to a discussion yet.
man i need help !! or a beer.

I ordered some just to find out if they are something we can use,,,,,lots of people ask me about bushings and my place went out of business last month, so maybe, if these work out, I can tell them where to get them,,,,so its just a test for me,,,,,,and heres an answer for your shackle bushings,,,,,the rubber ones are like $5 a bag of 4,,,,,,,now tell me about the metal ones,,,,,did you have your springs off,,,,,did they press them out,,,,,and how much did it cost,,,,,,lots of people are interested in spring bushings,,,,,,,,

yes i have removed the springs , sand blasted and painted them.
had the old ones pressed out and new ones pressed in.
to supply and install the steel ones it was around 180.00 canadian peso !!
for the polyurethane onesi got around 40 pcs and 6 steel sleeves for 57.00
the extras i can mail to you .
the steel bushings they installed were a little wider so they just cut them down to the right size.
i think they were 3 inches

so what is that in American dollars,,,,,,,so you gave them 2 springs and they put new cartridges in them? do you know the part #,,,,,,so you got 40 polyurethane bushings and only 6 sleeves to make them fit your 9/16" bolts or shackles,,,,,you aint using them on the front,,,so you need 4 bushings and a sleeve to do 1 shackle,,,,,so you got extras if thats your plan,,,,,,how about the back springs,,,,,are you going to use the polyurethane/sleeves instead of rubber ones that dont need sleeves to do your shackles? you are doing a good job here,,,,,we are getting some good information that everyone will need,,,,,,,once,,,,,,they crawl under their van,,,,,,,,

so i installed 2 steel sleeves in the back ( front back ) and will go with polyurethane for the back back.
for the front i put the steel sleeves in the front of the front, driver side had the 1 1/8 and the passenger had the 1 5/8.??
i will use the polyurethane for the back of the front - yes the poly urethane have the steel sleeve for 9/16 bolt.
i only got 6 sleeves because one of the packages was open already and i figured we could use the extra pcs
170.00 canadian peso would be around 125 - 130 US
thepolyurethane package says Mc Coy bros group inc. part # 4.2113R , says its for 57-72 f-100 f-150 ( go figure )

but thats how we roll over here,,,,,we use parts that are still made and we make fit, that are made for other types of vehicles,,,,,,,,and those Ford pick up neoprene bushings will fit our Chevy/GMC vans,,,,,,we need to work a little harder for our 2nd Gens,,,,,,,they are 3" wide,,,,,use a smaller 1/2" bolt,,,,,,so we need to find longer sleeves with smaller holes to make those bushings fit them,,,,and I dont think they make those sleeves long enough for the 3" springs so we cut up another sleeve and add a piece to make the sleeve longer,,,,,,but this is all good,,,,,,the REAL parts are getting harder,,,,and more expensive, to find,,,,,and besides,,,,,,the newer parts use more modern technology and are safer and more dependable than our 50 year old stuff,,,,,,

i think the spring place had some 1/2 sleeves. I will check next time i am out that way for the gen 2 guys.
is there not a gap between the 2 sides ? the reason i ask is that i think i may need to cut a little off the lentgh of the poly bushings so they would actually work on a wide spring ?

Donivan - on the rear does the double loop go to the front with the steel sleeve.
i hope they installed this in the right holes ?
the guy said thelong end goes to the back and has the shackle.
my guy didnt take a photo of anything before he tore everything apart ??

well,,,,,,we need to fill a  2 1/2"  wide space in the frame and shackle,,,,,,,and we got a 2" wide spring,,,,,those sleeves are 2 3/4" long,,,,,,but,,,,,,the cartridges hold the spring from sliding side to side,,,,,those polyurethane need to be squashed in tightly, so the sleeves need to be flush to keep the spring from sliding side to side,,,,,I think your McCoy kit is for doing 2 springs up in polyurethane,,,,,,

if,,,,,,,you got safety springs,,,,,,,then,,,,,,,the loop goes over the metal cartridge on the forward ends,,,,,this is my RR spring forward end,,,,,,I changed the cartridge over to polyurethane,,,,,

thanks donivan

long end from center bolt goes to shackle......




The better answer is long end goes to towards the bumper,,,,,,,,,

spent friday night and sat rolling around under the ol orange crush cruiser !! hard on a fat guy.......
shes all back together and on the road. i like how clean yours is underneath as i sure ate a lot of old loose dirt.Notice to self - Steam clean under side of Van before starting this work!!!
thanks for the help Donivan !!